Dandadan

Reeling from her recent breakup, Momo Ayase, a popular high schooler, shows kindness to her socially awkward schoolmate, Ken Takakura, by standing up to his bullies. Ken misunderstands her intentions, believing he has made a new friend who shares his obsession with aliens and UFOs. However, Momo's own eccentric occult beliefs lie in the supernatural realm; she thinks aliens do not exist. A rivalry quickly brews as each becomes determined to prove the other wrong.

Despite their initial clash over their opposing beliefs, Momo and Ken form an unexpected but intimate friendship, a bond forged in a series of supernatural battles and bizarre encounters with urban legends and paranormal entities. As both develop unique superhuman abilities, they learn to supplement each other's weaknesses, leading them to wonder if their newfound partnership may be about more than just survival.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Ayase, Momo Main

Wakayama, Shion Japanese

Takakura, Ken Main

Hanae, Natsuki Japanese

Shiratori, Aira Supporting

Sakura, Ayane Japanese

Ayase, Seiko Supporting

Mizuki, Nana Japanese

Enjouji, Jin Supporting

Ishikawa, Kaito Japanese

Turbo Granny Supporting

Tanaka, Mayumi Japanese

Mr. Mantis Shrimp Supporting

Seki, Tomokazu Japanese

Rokuro Supporting

Nakai, Kazuya Japanese

Chiquitita Supporting

Oozora, Naomi Japanese

Tarou Supporting

Sugita, Tomokazu Japanese

Iwakami, Atsuhiro Producer

Kamei, Hiroshi Producer

Aoi, Hiroyuki Producer

Ishikawa, Tatsuya Producer

Reviews

Jan 5, 2025

Kazuma_satou64

Recommended

This anime is an absolute rollercoaster. Like, there’s zero chill—it’s just back-to-back action, no room to breathe. And I mean that in the best way possible.

The story is basically about Momo Ayase and Ken Takakura (who is called Okarun by MOMO), and let’s be real, they’re the heart of the whole thing. Momo’s this badass high schooler, and Okarun’s this alien-obsessed dork, and their banter is chef’s kiss. They’re constantly arguing over aliens vs. ghosts, which is hilarious, but then it somehow leads to wild supernatural battles.

Oh, and let’s talk about the humor for a sec—so many *pee-pee* jokes. Like, maybe ... too many? But somehow it works. You’ll either roll your eyes or crack up (probably both).

The animation? Solid. The action scenes are on fire, and even when the animation dips into that intentionally low-budget style, it’s done so perfectly that it just adds to the comedy. It’s the kind of anime you can binge in one go without even realizing it.

Long story short, if you’re into wild fights, weird jokes, and chaotic energy, Dandadan is gonna be your jam. Give it a shot—you’ll love it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Kazuma_satou64 (10)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Dec 19, 2024

topfloorboss45

Mixed Feelings

The most hyped anime of the season has finally wrapped up and in all honestly it's pretty fun, but that's about it.

Even though Dandadan lacks a proper storyline, or fails to really be impactful in any way, in spectacle alone, it certainly delivers.

It's a comparatively well-done comedy/action that often succeeds in it's efforts to appear outlandish and do something different to what most other mediocre recycled battle-shonens appear to be spewing out nowadays.

Being able to go from stupid scenes about retrieving one's balls to a genuinely masterfully animated and emotionally gripping sequence, Dandadan is like a little box of chocolates that'll have an episode ... to amuse almost any viewer.

But that's the thing. Dandadan is a box of mixed chocolates that doesn't even know what brand it is. An inconsistent bunch of episodes that don't know whether to be good, great, or plain mediocre. Many times I've tuned in to just be completely disappointed by the lack of substance in certain episodes, which shouldn't really be happening in a twelve episode production.

The one thing that you can't discredit this show for is it's beautiful animation. Watching DDD, it's made obvious that the animation team poured their heart and soul into producing it. The overall ambiance and aesthetic of the show is something that you don't have to look for. It's right in your face pinching your cheek and always grabbing your attention.
You could say the same for the music and voice acting. The VAs never fail to capture the essence of every character in the show, definitely contributing to their iconic presence on social media.


Overall, Dandadan is a show that isn't one with many major faults, but also isn't one that'll blow your socks off and change your life with its quality, which is completely fine.

Leave your expectations of an objective masterpiece behind when you hop into this show, and I'm sure you'll have a little fun.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by topfloorboss45 (2)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Dec 20, 2024

Cyrose

Not Recommended

Welcome to 2024 where there is no such a thing as a bad anime.

Thanks to the fact that anime as a medium has become more mainstream, the Overton window on the perspective of what constitutes a good anime has shifted.

This is because the popular anime of today create a bias for what is expected of the medium. This baseline influences what others think is good.

Dandadan is everything that the current generation seeks. Crazy, colorful, absurd, erotic, and geared towards a low attention span.

It’s perfect.

If viewers of this era would start with any anime from before 2018, they would think it’s boring and slow. As usually ... anime typically handle their settings like this:

Introduction > some conflict > get to know the characters > rising to a climax > action > resolution.

In today’s case Dan Da Dan looks like this:

Intro > //Dan Da Dan Da..// > tiny bit of Introduction > action > more action > nudity > action > nudity > action > more action > end.

It is necessary to understand that the consequences of this aforementioned anime viewing behavior have affected the production quality of anime in general. This has resulted in the mass production of slop anime, that aim to hit the largest possible audience at once.

Regardless that supernatural themes are often hit or miss. The concept about aliens and ghosts are always intriguing and who hates these paranormal concepts anyway?

This statement is only true if it is done right.

The issues with this series started with the plot that progressed way too quickly, making it difficult for me to emotionally connect with the characters and the circumstances. Although I was excited to see the supernatural genre from a fresh angle, it lacked depth and felt like it was just made for cheap entertainment without offering any genuine or valuable storytelling.

So much information is thrown at you in either by a silly conversations or yakety-yak. Not like anything that happens makes a bit of sense anyway.

Shows like this must be funny as the setting is strange and the plot farcically ridiculous. However the jokes and funny moments completely lacked chemistry and since everything else happened so fast, when they tried to squeeze a little funny moment in it, it felt dragged which usually ended up coming off as cringe rather than being funny.

100 romance manga or not, despite the author had to sit through this amount of romance manga to create a strong romantic relationship and story between the two main character. It backfired since they both got along with each other as if they were close friends from the beginning. Not to mention the way Momo falls immediately for Ken just because of his full name and not because of his personality say a lot about the romance of this anime.

The way people are getting emotional after episode seven is the biggest reflection of how low the bar has been settled for standards in this era of anime viewers. I am a type of person that can tear up by just hearing a beautifully composed song or even by listening conversations between 2 characters, but that scene was way too fabricated therefore after six episodes of absolute blather, so it was more funny than weepy for me.

Animation was decent, overall when there wasn’t a lot of movement the art was nice and colorful. However, I can’t say the same to the animation smoothness as often it wasn’t consistent. Although in action scenes you could say it was intentional to be inconsistent to appear quirkier. There were non-action scenes where the animation really lacked and not done on the same level as the opening credits, which tells.

The design of the ghosts is very similar to the Arrancars from Bleach while the UFO’s are just ugly humans who want to rape, actually ghosts also have sexual assault desires. But even fan service became more fake and over exaggerated in modern. The whole “banana scene” and the hot granny.. why does everything and everyone has to be perverted and over-sexualized? Just why?

On last note, I would like to mention the voice actors. As for me personally it was a complete disaster. The two main character’s voice was an absolutely mismatch, didn’t fit to their characters and personalities. Although Hanae Natsuki is one of my favorite VA, he couldn’t make his voice more like an “Okarun” type of person as Ken was. He could have change voices when he turns into a ghost, but he just wasn’t nailing this role unfortunately. Ayase Momo voiced by Wakayama Shion and although she is quite unpopular and this role probably is her first major role, this character just didn’t suit her voice at all. Her voice was way too natural and deep.

Pros and Cons

🔴 Rushed Narrative
🔴 Weak Comedy
🔴 Boring Dialogues
🔴 Shallow Characters
🔴 Predictable Romance
🔴 Unbalanced Story
🔴 No Meaningful or Educational Value
🟠 Decent Background Art
🟠 Opening
🟢 Accessible on Netflix

In conclusion

It is a pity that this new generation of anime can be so highly regarded despite lacking to provide any valuable messaging.

By that means, Dan Da Dan is an absolutely perfect anime for the modern target audience where viewers want a spectacle but don’t care for plot. Unfortunately, it takes more than it gives to those who still have the access to the entire scoring system.

It might work for social media content as it is fictitious and has so many cringe content that some video creators might be able to force out reactions to. However for any normal anime watcher, watching grass grow would bring out more facial expressions out of them than watching this nonsense.

In Summary: For the past few years Anime is on a downfall and it is disheartening to see one of my favorite media in a chaotic dive to decay.

Personally, I prefer meaningful quality content over generic, goofy over-sexualized ones.

Final score: 2/10 ⭐️ Peak cringeworthy.

I’m grateful to you for taking the time to read my review, your feedback is kindly appreciated.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Cyrose (27)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Anime with wacky or repetitive titles

by JohnDimension

14 Entries · 5 Restacks

new gen manga adaptations

by azadoderso

44 Entries · 18 Restacks

The Highest Rated Animes of all time (1 Per Franchise, No Sequels)

by l3en

50 Entries · 42 Restacks

'Dandadan' Second Season Announced for Summer 2025

The 12th and final episode of the Dandadan television anime series announced a second season and revealed a visual (pictured) on Friday. The anime is scheduled to pr...read more

Dec 19, 2024 8:05 AM by DatRandomDude | Discuss (41 comments)

A Glimpse Into the Wacky World of Dandadan

With its blend of supernatural thrills, extraterrestrial encounters, and quirky humor, Dandadan (Dan Da Dan) has become one of the most anticipated anime of the yea...read more

Oct 27, 2024 7:58 PM by tingy | Discuss (5 comments)

	Who are your top five favorite characters from season 1 of Dandadan? ( 1 2 ) GinInYourJuice - Jan 13	59 replies	by illmachine »» Yesterday, 9:56 AM
	Well, S1 is finishing. Will Dan³ become a bit less annoying later? ( 1 2 ) Rob7 - Dec 13, 2024	53 replies	by J3_Omega »» Yesterday, 3:36 AM
	Poll: Dandadan Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) IzanaSolos - Aug 6, 2024	728 replies	by BlackSse »» Yesterday, 3:36 AM
	Poll: Dandadan Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Dec 19, 2024	480 replies	by bucciest »» Jan 21, 9:13 PM
	Poll: Dandadan Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Softhenic03 - Nov 21, 2024	312 replies	by KingOfPneumos »» Jan 21, 12:29 AM