I’m a sucker for two kinds of anime: shounen battle and rom-coms. Both are the epitomes of masculine fantasies: being badass and being loved. One is vanilla, the other chocolate. Combine them both and you get an utterly delicious treat.
Not my most subtle metaphor, perhaps. But it more than captures my feelings on the subject of today’s article: ‘Dandadan‘.
Written and illustrated by Yukinobu Tatsu, ‘Dandadan‘ debuted in April 2021 and is still running today. I haven’t read the manga yet, but I’ve only heard universal praise. The bits and pieces I heard sounded so wild and bizarre that I just had to give it a look. So, on October 4th, 2024, I decided to give the anime adaptation a shot. And I immediately fell in love with it.
Our tale begins as so many do: with a girl and a boy. Momo Ayase is a tough as nails gyaru with a massive crush on real-life Japanese actor Takakura Ken. After being dumped by her scumbag boyfriend, she meets the coincidentally named Takakura Ken, later nicknamed Okarun, a lonely and socially anxious boy obsessed with the occult. When a competitive bet spirals out of control, Okarun ends up possessed by a powerful evil spirit and Ayase awakens her psychic powers after being abducted by aliens. Now the unlikely pair must battle ghosts and extraterrestrials in order to…
…how do I put this…
…retrieve Okarun’s stolen genitals. No, I’m not joking. No, it’s not as weird as it sounds. It’s weirder. And it’s fantastic!
Ayase and Okarun are the heart and soul of the series. Their relationship feels so sweet and genuine in a way few anime I’ve seen have managed. It starts as an unlikely but natural friendship that helps both characters break out of their shells; she teaches Okarun to open up socially, and he teaches Ayase not to be embarrassed by her interest in the occult. They bicker, tease one another, and get overly jealous as only hormonal teenagers can. But whatever the circumstances, whether they’re dealing with aliens or ghosts or the school rumor mill, they’ve got each other’s backs without needing to ask. Seeing that stellar friendship slowly develop into an awkwardly adorable romance is compelling and endlessly entertaining.
The excellent writing is elevated to another level by the voice cast. Shion Wakayama does an amazing job as Ayase, perfectly balancing her delinquent tough girl demeanor with her cute and bubbly side. Natsuki Hanae is perfect for Okarun; he plays the passionate but depressed nerd astonishingly well. When Okarun transforms, he drops his voice several octaves to add to the ghastly effect. Both actors give five-star performances every single episode.
Speaking of, I love Okarun’s transformation. Sure, it looks cool, but it’s more what it does to his personality that I enjoy. Watching this shy dork turn into a depressed wannabe badass spitting the cheesiest one-liners ever is genuinely hysterical. Plus, he’s a speedster, not a brawler, which is something you don’t see a lot in shounen. It makes for some incredible battle scenes. But we’ll get to those later.
Side note: I love Ayase’s gyaru friends. Any other anime would have had these two be petty popular girls who hate Okarun for no reason. Instead, they’re immediately understanding and supportive of the relationship, cheering Okarun on and endlessly pushing Ayase towards him. So far they’ve only been minor side characters, but they steal the show in their every scene!
On the subject of side characters, we gotta talk Aira and Jiji. Aira initially makes for an obnoxious but effective antagonist to Ayase as a self-absorbed delusional ‘savior of mankind.’ But her hidden layers quickly become apparent, and she becomes a much more interesting character. Beneath all her vanity, posturing, and petty behavior beats a heart of genuine gold. Her voice actress, Ayane Sakura, knocked the ball out of the park with her performance. You can tell she had a blast in the recording booth just by listening to her. All in all, Aira is a great character and I can’t wait to see how she develops in the future.
Though I could do without the love triangle. A problem only perpetuated by the arrival of Jiji, who turns it into a weird love diamond. He only got two episodes at the end of the season, but so far he’s made quite the impression. The pretty boy being an extreme goofball is certainly entertaining, and Kaito Ishikawa kills it in the part. However, given that his introductory arc was cut short by the season’s end, I can’t really pass judgement on him yet. As far as first impressions go: it’s worrisome, but not bad.
No, I’m not going to read the manga yet. If I go down that rabbit hole now, I’m not coming out for a good long while. I’ve got stuff to do. Like talking about the show’s granny duo.
Seiko Ayase makes for such a fun mentor character! Namely because she doesn’t really do any actual mentoring. She’s basically the lazy old grandma that knows everything but leaves you to solve your own problems. Which makes the few times she does step in to fight even cooler. Her voice actress, Nana Mizuki, is a perfect fit for the character; she walks the line between a crazy old lady and a grizzled badass masterfully!
Then there’s Turbo Granny. The best character in the show. Not just because she’s voiced by the legendary Mayumi Tanaka, though that certainly gives her some massive points. As an antagonist, she’s downright chilling! Unstoppable, unpredictable, and genuinely frightening, she steals the show in every scene! She straight-up interrupts the training arc and forces our heroes to fight her unprepared! Why don’t more shounen villains do that?!
After her defeat, she takes on the role of cute animal mascot. Just like that, she goes from utterly terrifying to endlessly hysterical! Every single scene she’s in is hilarious! She carries this ‘I’m too old for this shit’ energy everywhere and I can’t get enough of it!
Being a romance show, ‘Dandadan‘ requires strong characters to function. As has been established, it has that in spades! But what about as a shounen? Does it provide the thrills fans expect from the genre?
Yes. But not like how you might expect.
See, fights in ‘Dandadan‘ don’t function as they do in other shounen anime. It isn’t a slug fest where only the most powerful fighter emerges victorious. Rather, they’re structured more like puzzles for our heroes to solve. In every single encounter, Ayase and Okarun are completely outclassed in terms of power. So instead of becoming stronger than their enemies, they have to find a creative use of their abilities and the environment to outsmart their foes.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love a good ol’ fashioned shounen brawl. But I’ve already seen those more than a hundred times across dozens of shows. If I wanted a flashy martial-arts action scene, I’d rewatch ‘Jujutsu Kaisen‘. Watching a shounen series where brain trumps brawn is as refreshing as it is captivating. There are only a small handful of battle scenes in this season, but each one had my eyes glued to the screen!
Of course, cool action doesn’t mean much if the show looks bad. Just look at what happened to ‘Blue Lock‘. Which brings us to the talented team behind the anime: the good folks of Science Saru.
Science Saru is a name I was unfamiliar with before watching ‘Dandadan‘. They’ve been around since 2013, having worked on several projects, such as ‘Inu-Oh‘, ‘Ping Pong the Animation‘, and more. I’ve only seen a few of these, namely ‘Devilman Crybaby‘ and ‘Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!‘, but those were some of the best looking shows I’ve ever watched!
This team brought their A+ game to this show. Their work on ‘Dandadan‘ is nothing short of incredible! At worst, the show looks great. At best, it is a jaw-dropping masterpiece of mixed-media animation!
Nowhere is this more apparent than in episode seven. It tells a haunting story of heartbreak and loss across one of the most powerful montages I’ve ever seen in an anime! There is only one or two lines of dialogue. The rest is told exclusively with spectacular direction, buttery smooth animation, and beautiful music. Its most haunting shot isn’t even animated! I already loved the show, but this one episode elevated it into a masterpiece!
On the subject of beautiful music: composer Kensuke Ushio absolutely killed it with the OST! His remix of the ‘William Tell Overture‘ (appropriately titled the ‘William Hell Overture‘) is far and away the best track. But his other pieces each play their parts masterfully. From casual bops to heart-rending symphonies, not a single piece of music in this show falls flat.
Then there’s the OP. ‘Otonoke‘ by Creepy Nuts (which is an incredible band name) is one of the hottest bangers of any anime I’ve ever seen! Skipping this opening would be an act of heresy against art as we know it. Not to mention the ED, ‘TAIDADA‘ by ZUTOMAYO, which is equally unskippable in my book!
My biggest problem with this anime is that there isn’t enough of it. Which is more a compliment than a critique. Still, the cliffhanger this season ends on is nothing short of an act of cruelty. Luckily, season two is set to air this summer, so we won’t be waiting all that long.
‘Dandadan‘ is one of those shows where everything fits perfectly. The story, the characters, the voice actors, the visuals, the music, every gear is running smoothly with the others. The first four episodes alone make for one of the best anime stories I’ve experienced in a long time, and the following eight only make that better! If you haven’t watched this show yet, you’re doing yourself a huge disservice!
I only hope this series can keep up its momentum. We’ve seen a lot of shows lately that start at the highest of highs only to crash into the lowest of lows. Just look at the aforementioned ‘Blue Lock‘ or the disastrous ‘Uzumaki‘ adaptation. Conditions in the anime industry are rough, and they affect the teams that make them as well as the products they create. I only hope the good folks at Science Saru don’t get hit in a similar way.
But that’s just my fear for the future. Right now, we have one season of ‘Dandadan‘, and it is nothing short of a masterpiece. There’s nothing to do now but lay back with a stack of occult books and wait for season two.
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