I will start this off by saying that I have a particular attachment to this manga. You know when you can watch the same movie a gazillion times? Like a ghibli movie – I’ve watched Spirited Away at least twenty times (trust me, it’s a good movie). This is sort of like my ghibli movie of shoujo mangas. I re-read it every now and then for fun.

Urhm, Yeah. This is sort of one of my favorite shoujo mangas ever.
So, just warning you guys. I tried to stay unbiased, but of course, when is anybody 100% unbiased?
Oh yeah, and bit of spoilers below.

Daa Daa Daa (which I will call DDD from this point on) seems like a rather typical shoujo at first, but it’s absolutely not. A little sci-fi aspect makes DDD unique – what may have been the typical live-in-lovers teenage story turns into a random but funny comedy-packed, adorable, sci-fi ride with little bumps of emotion.

Plot/Story
Our story starts with Miyu’s new home. Her mother and father both need to travel to America for their jobs (Miyu’s mom is a world famous astronomer), so Miyu is going to be staying at a family friend’s place. Which is a temple. Lovely start. At the new home, she meets Kanata while she takes a bath. Another great start. Soon after that, Kanata’s father has to leave home for some training? I don’t even remember what it was – this series is pretty random with its comedy, but it’s funny, so it’s all good. Anyways, point is that Miyu is now living with Kanata. All by themselves. Just then a UFO hits the temple and inside they find Ruu, an alien baby separated from his parents and Ruu’s babysitter cat robot, Wannya. Ruu opens his eyes and calls Miyu and Kananta “mama” and “papa”. Now, we start the story of mama Miyu, papa Kanata, extraterrestrial baby Ruu, and babysitting cat Wannya.

Told you this is pretty random. And there’s nothing evil about DDD. Ever. There are no real villains, no huge bad guy, nobody to hate. Just a lot of cute comedy and adorable shoujo moments.

But nevertheless, the plot line is something you’ve never seen before. When have you last read a story about an alien baby in a shoujo? (Gakuen Alice doesn’t count shoujo fans – no matter what you say, Youichi isn’t an alien.) The little sci-fi twist in the story line makes the whole manga just a level more unique. This seeming no-evil randomness is cute, hilarious, and for some really strange reason – it actually flows pretty well.

So, for its unique, random but funny, cute, and really amusing plot, DDD gets a 4.5 in the story section. I couldn’t give it a 5 for one reason – if you’re a hardcore ‘realistic shoujos only’ person, you probably won’t like DDD. Alien babies are definitely not realistic.

Characters
Characters – DDD displays a wide range of characters for a shoujo manga. Although there is no ‘villain’, every character is memorable because they all have their quirks and unique points. For example, Chris, the Kanata obsessed rich lady. She stands out as the supreme example of a memorable side cast. While not all side characters in DDD are as memorable as Chris (who is really, really hard to forget), they all manage to stand out and be different. Don’t you love it when you can tell who’s who in your otherwise hard to differentiate shoujo side cast?

Miyu, our heroine. For some reason, while Miyu is a rather typical shoujo female lead, I can’t find anything bad to say about her. She’s spirited, clumsy, ordinary, but you really can’t hate her. Maybe because she’s not annoying – I can’t remember a time where Miyu was actually “annoying.” In fact, she’s actually a pretty realistic character. Minus the part where she’s an alien baby’s human mom – the emotions she display in the more dramatic parts in the story (especially the parts concerning Miyu’s mom) is real. Loneliness, sadness, disappointment, and love for Ruu, who may not be her real child, but who she cares and considers as – it’s really nice to see an actual variety of emotions, rather than just happy-go-lucky.

Kanata, our hero. I don’t know where to start with him. Just like Miyu, he’s nothing amazingly unique. The popular, good-looking, smart male lead. The most unique thing about him is that his dad’s a priest, so he gets a few exorcist moments in the story (which I consider to be the coolest thing about him – You got to admit, exorcist male leads are pretty awesome). While his first impressions are more typical, he actually isn’t that bad at all. He’s a pretty funny guy, and his romance with Miyu is really, really cute. The moment all shoujo fans live for. The chemistry between the two leads is great, and they’re just a really adorable couple.

Now, while I gave two long paragraphs for our leads, I cannot leave out Ruu, our extraterrestrial baby. Ruu is adorable. There’s no other way of putting it. He’s the cutest alien baby ever.

Big fat 5 for the character department for you, DDD, for your really memorable side cast, above average leads that are really adorable as a couple, and the really cute alien baby.

Drawing Style

I know that some of you people HATE old school shoujo art. I’ve seen those people. They can’t stand the larger than average eyes, slight disproportionate body, and cutesy, non-realistic style of art.

But guys, it’s a 90s shoujo. You can’t help it. Have you read ‘Candy Candy’? The characters in there have giant eyes. They literally sparkle. This is actually a pretty nicely drawn series for a more old school shoujo, so I’m going to give it a 4. Besides, you can’t say no to Ruu. He’s just…just adorable.

Enjoyment

For shoujos like DDD, it all boils down to this: How much cute comedy are you willing to take in?
Surely DDD is nothing dramatic or realistic – if you’re looking for that, I’d recommend that you go look somewhere else. If you can’t handle even the slightest bit of random, but cute fun, DDD is not for you.

If you can handle the cute randomness, well, welcome. Every arc of DDD is a new situation concerning Ruu and his alien powers, and the diversity of it is pretty impressive. The author manages to make funny, adorable situations without getting too repetitive. It’s really enjoyable, as long as you can handle the double whammy of cute randomness. I’m telling you, it’s really stuffed with cute. So if you shudder at the sight of “adorable” or “cute”, I suggest you turn away. Otherwise, you’ll most likely enjoy DDD.

For enjoyment, DDD gets a 4.5. I would give it a 5 because of its amazing original plots and just sugary, but lovable cuteness, but I’m also considering the points of views of the cute-o-phobias.

Overall

Overall, the unique, random, funny, cute story of alien baby Ruu and adorable couple mama Miyu and papa Kanata along with the diverse cast, and amazingly original plot situations gets a 4.5.

This review’s really long. I think this might be longer than my Kimi ni Todoke review, which was pretty long…