DAMARAMU SPOILER!
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A massive warrior sent by King Siva to dispose of Mink and a man so committed to calling himself the Mighty Damaramu that it effectively becomes punctuation. His first battle with Mink ends with his own energy blade driven straight through his head. This would normally settle the matter. Damaramu returns in the second OVA as a cyborg and explains that his unusually compact brain prevented the injury from killing him. He then spends so much energy demonstrating his upgrades that Mink gets another chance to remove him from the fight. Dragon Half could not have designed a more appropriate recurring henchman.
DAMARAMU THROUGH THE ARCHIVE //
BRUTAL KILLER MARTIAL ARTS TOURNAMENT GUIDE //
Open page →Damaramu returns to the tournament with a cybernetic body and a long list of improvements he is desperate to demonstrate. The upgrades are real. The problem is that Damaramu is still the person controlling them.
The Breakdown
Instead of conserving his new power for the match, Damaramu burns through energy showing off what his rebuilt body can do. Mink is then able to knock him out of the fight with much less trouble than the machinery suggests she should have.
Why it matters
Dragon Half understands a basic comedy rule perfectly: making Damaramu stronger only creates a more expensive way for Damaramu to lose.
Mink Enters the Tournament to Fund the People Potion Quest
Open →Episode two gives Mink a brutally practical obstacle: adventures cost money. The Brutal Killer Martial Arts Tournament offers a 50,000-gamble prize large enough to keep the People Potion search moving, so Mink enters.
Naturally, the tournament also gathers almost everyone who has a reason to make her life worse. Dick Saucer is there. Princess Vina is there. Damaramu returns rebuilt as a cyborg. Dug Fin enters as an actually dangerous demon warrior. Rosario and King Siva are still trying to turn the event against her.
Naturally, the tournament also gathers almost everyone who has a reason to make her life worse. Dick Saucer is there. Princess Vina is there. Damaramu returns rebuilt as a cyborg. Dug Fin enters as an actually dangerous demon warrior. Rosario and King Siva are still trying to turn the event against her.
Why it matters
The tournament is not a detour from the quest. It is Dragon Half's version of travel expenses.
DRAGON HALF COMEDY MECHANICS //
Open page →Damaramu's first encounter with Mink ends with his own energy blade driven through his head. In most fantasy OVAs that would be the end of the henchman.
Dragon Half brings him back as a cyborg in episode two and explains the survival with the most Damaramu answer possible: his brain was so compact that the blade barely damaged it. He then wastes so much energy demonstrating his upgrades that Mink vs. Mecha-Damaramu becomes another opportunity to remove him from the tournament.
Dragon Half brings him back as a cyborg in episode two and explains the survival with the most Damaramu answer possible: his brain was so compact that the blade barely damaged it. He then wastes so much energy demonstrating his upgrades that Mink vs. Mecha-Damaramu becomes another opportunity to remove him from the tournament.
Why it matters
Damaramu is not funny because he is weak. He is funny because every upgrade gives his incompetence a larger machine to operate.
Super-Deformed Is Not a Separate Mode From the Story
Open →Dragon Half constantly snaps between ordinary fantasy proportions and exaggerated super-deformed comedy. The switch is not reserved for harmless side gags. Characters can move into ridiculous visual shorthand in the middle of danger, romance or a fight and then return to normal without the story treating the change as unusual.
That visual instability is part of how the OVA tells you what kind of fantasy this is. The setting may contain kings, dragons, demon warriors and tournaments, but no amount of fantasy seriousness is protected from becoming a joke.
That visual instability is part of how the OVA tells you what kind of fantasy this is. The setting may contain kings, dragons, demon warriors and tournaments, but no amount of fantasy seriousness is protected from becoming a joke.
How you can tell
When a scene starts resembling a conventional sword-and-sorcery anime, Dragon Half often changes the drawing before it changes the plot.
