Dandadan

, also script displayed as ''Dan Da Dan'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yukinobu Tatsu. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''Shōnen Jump+'' app and website since April 2021, with its chapters collected in 19 volumes as of April 2025. The series follows two teenagers with supernatural powers fighting and aliens with help from multiple allies.

An anime television series adaptation produced by Science Saru aired from October to December 2024. A second season is set to premiere in July 2025.

Plot

Momo Ayase is a high school girl who believes in ghosts but not aliens, while her fellow high schooler, Ken Takakura, whom Momo nicknames "Okarun", believes in aliens but not ghosts. In a bet to determine who is correct, the two decide to separately visit locations associated with both the extraterrestrial and the occult—Momo visiting the former, and Okarun the latter. Momo is abducted by a group of aliens who accidentally unblock her chakras, enabling latent psychic abilities. Meanwhile, Okarun is possessed by a spirit who takes over his body. By using Momo's abilities and Okarun's possessed form, they defeat the aliens together.

The rest of the story follows Momo and Okarun as they ally with fellow students, friends, family, and new acquaintances to combat supernatural entities, including spirits and extraterrestrial beings, while also navigating the evolving romantic tension between Momo and Okarun. Initially, a central plot focuses on Okarun's quest to retrieve his missing testicles (). After succeeding, the story then shifts to Momo when she becomes afflicted by a mysterious curse that gradually diminishes her physical size and erases her presence of those around her. This development drives the latter half of the plot, as the other characters work to undo the curse and restore Momo to her original state.

Production

Manga

Before the serialization of ''Dandadan'', Yukinobu Tatsu had worked as an assistant for Tatsuki Fujimoto's ''Chainsaw Man'' and Yuji Kaku's '' Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku''. The serialization was confirmed during a meeting for ''Shōnen Jump+'' in the second quarter of 2020. However, Tatsu started ''Dandadan'' after ''Chainsaw Man'' and ''Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku'' had finished because he wanted to complete his role as an assistant until the end.

When discussing Tatsu's propensity to have meal scenes after major scenes, he stated that they were inspired by multiple factors, including the belief that people who work hard deserve to eat well. He cited a quote from the manga ''Jarinko Chie'' about how the worst thing to be is hungry and alone, as well as the familial intimacy of eating scenes in Hayao Miyazaki films like ''My Neighbor Totoro'' and ''Porco Rosso''. He also discussed his struggles as a poor manga assistant, receiving 1000 yen from his teacher to treat himself to stir-fried pork and a can of coffee after work. He added that, because it is entertainment, he wants readers to feel hopeful.

Anime

The anime was directed by , and it was his directorial debut. According to producer Hiroshi Kamei, he would use notes from watching other media. Kamei discussed how the anime uses "small moments" of the camera lingering on characters' faces. He called these "everyday action" or "everyday direction," expressing that the staff wanted to put heightened attention on these compared to other anime and that they wanted to use these instead of words to depict these "small interactions." He also discussed the use of "lead scenes," scenes that lead into other scenes down the line; he cited an example of Momo handing Okarun's magazine to him, and Okarun later handing his clothes to Momo, intended to demonstrate how their relationship changes by how similar they are.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Yukinobu Tatsu, ''Dandadan'' started its serialization in Shueisha's ''Shōnen Jump+'' app and website on April 6, 2021. Shueisha has compiled its chapters into individual volumes. The first volume was released on August 4, 2021. As of April 4, 2025, 19 volumes have been released.

The series is simultaneously published in English on Shueisha's ''Manga Plus'' platform and on Viz Media's ''Shonen Jump'' website. In February 2022, Viz Media announced that they had licensed the series in print format; the first volume was released on October 11 of the same year.

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced in November 2023. It is produced by Science Saru and directed by Fūga Yamashiro, with series composition and episode screenplays by Hiroshi Seko, character designs by , alien and supernatural entity designs by , and music composed by Kensuke Ushio. The series aired from October 4 to December 20, 2024, on the Super Animeism Turbo programming block on all JNN affiliates, including MBS and TBS. The opening theme song is , performed by Creepy Nuts, while the ending theme song is "Taidada", performed by Zutomayo. Prior to the television airing, the English dub of the series premiered at Anime NYC on August 24, 2024. The first three episodes also were collected and released theatrically outside of Japan as '' Dan Da Dan: First Encounter'', with screenings starting in Asia on August 31.

Crunchyroll is streaming the series outside of Asia, including the Middle East and CIS, while Netflix is streaming the series globally. Hulu is streaming the series in the United States. Muse Communication licensed the series in Asia-Pacific. In June 2024, GKIDS announced that it had acquired the theatrical, videogram, and digital transactional rights to the series.

In August 2024, prior to the premiere of the English dub, the first two episodes of the anime were leaked alongside many other anime productions that were localized by Iyuno. Episodes 3–6 were later leaked prior to the anime's premiere.

After the airing of the first season finale, a second season was announced and is set to premiere on July 3, 2025. Abel Góngora will co-direct the season with Fūga Yamashiro. Crunchyroll and Netflix announced that they will stream the season worldwide, while Hulu will stream it in the United States. The season's first three episodes were released in theaters outside of Japan under the title '' Dan Da Dan: Evil Eye'' on May 30 in Asia, June 6 in North America, and on June 7 in Europe. The opening theme song is , performed by Aina the End, while the ending theme song is , performed by .

Reception

Manga

Sales

By November 2023, the manga had over 360 million views on the ''Shōnen Jump+'' platform. The series had over 3.2 million copies in circulation by November 2023; over 4 million copies by October 2024; and over 5 million by December 2024.

In North America, the volumes of ''Dandadan'' were ranked on Circana (formerly NPD) BookScan's monthly top 20 adult graphic novels list since October 2022.

Accolades

In June 2021, ''Dandadan'' was nominated for the seventh Next Manga Award in the Best Web Manga category and placed second out of 50 nominees. It ranked fourth on Takarajimasha's ''Kono Manga ga Sugoi!'' 2022 list of best manga for male readers. It was nominated for the 15th Manga Taishō in 2022 and placed seventh with 53 points. The series ranked first on both the Nationwide Bookstore Employees and Publisher Comics' Recommended Comics of 2022. The series ranked fourth in Tsutaya Comic Award 2022. It was nominated for Best Shōnen at the 30th Spanish Manga Barcelona Awards in 2024.

Anime

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season of ''Dandadan'' holds an approval rating of 100% based on 14 reviews, with an average rating of 8.8/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Gorgeously animated and bringing a big heart to go along with its bonkers imagination, ''Dan Da Dan'' comes roaring out of the gate as an exceptional Shōnen anime." The series premiere was positively received by nearly all the writers of Anime News Network. Caitlin Moore and James Beckett gave it a perfect score; Moore complimented Science Saru's animation, the dynamic between Momo and Okarun, and their voice acting while Beckett praised the studio's art in bringing the anime to life, noting its romcom tropes combining with horror and science fiction and Okarun's reference name. Richard Eisenbeis acknowledged the animation and story as he was enthusiastic about following the series. In contrast, while Rebecca Silverman agreed that the animation and visuals were great and premise was interesting, she did not enjoy the episode and expressed she was done with the series due to the use of sudden bright lights and flashing images, a vast majority of the dialogue was "spoken in a scream", and the distasteful handling and depiction of the sexual assault scenes.

Mike Mamon of ''IGN'' praised the first three episodes of the anime for its animation, storytelling, visuals, direction, characters, and voice acting, concluding that "''Dandadan''s first three episodes manage to stick the landing by focusing more on the anime's lovable protagonists and less so on the absurdity of the occult and extraterrestrial world they inhabit." Toussaint Egan of ''Polygon'' praised the adaptation for its animation and character designs, while complimenting the studio's decision of elevating the visuals and color design in combining with art direction to the anime's action sequences. ''Vulture'' named ''Dandadan'' as one of the best anime series of 2024. Kambole Campbell praised the series for its humor, animation, colors, art direction, and Kensuke Ushio's musical score. The anime ranked second in Anime News Network's "Top 10 Anime of 2024". Furthermore, James Beckett applauded the series' premise, humor, action, production values, characters, and the chemistry between Momo and Okarun.

Accolades

Notes

References

External links

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