DAN DA DAN is using a pattern to develop the character of Jiji which it had already used with Aira.
It introduces these characters as infuriating and somewhat selfish buffoons, and a big part of what makes them infuriating is the way that they disrupt the chemistry between Momo and Okarun. Both of them try to blow up their relationship,and place a wedge of jealousy between the two protagonists.
But then they’re given the opportunity to redeem themselves in a naction sequence, and the tables turn very suddenly and they become very loveable.
This happened really quickly with Jiji in Episode 14, when the Evil Eye demon began to reveal its backstory as a tragic child who was offered as a brutal blood sacrifice to a god. When Jiji realizes that the demon is just an innocent child whose soul has been warped by trauma, he very suddenly puts his life on the line to save the child from its spiritual imprisonment.
This sudden impulse for compassionate self-sacrifice has the effect of cleansing him of any ill will that the audience might have developed when he was trying to put a wedge between Momo and Okarun. And this reversal is reinforced by the way that he puts himself in serious harm’s way to save Momo and Okarun when they try to take their own lives under the influence of that scary mind control.
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