Dandadan

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.

Every time I watch a Dandadan episode, I get confused, not because it is deep or because it is difficult to follow or anything, but because I just fail to understand why would anyone watch this and consider it something great or revolutionary or different from other battle shonen series they have seen, and while I guess it has something different, it’s the same thing that leads Chainsaw Man to be called different, and that reason is because it is written to attract late zoomers/gen alpha people with short attention spans who watch too much TikTok. Dandadan is like a complete mismatch of genres where the author doesn’t know how to write any of them, as he does a terrible job at doing a battle shonen, he does a terribly childish job at comedy, he is doing an atrocious job at doing romance and he is doing a terrible job at doing compelling characters. I have been seeing the joke, or the thing I was hoping that was a joke, that shonen MCs are being more and more emasculated over time while citing as examples characters like Deku or Eren, so when you sit down, watch this show, and see that the premise is that the MC was literally emasculated, it feels ridiculous and surreal, as if trying to double down on what was supposed to be a joking statement. The humor in this series is extremely childish, who else would laugh at jokes like “dud, he has, like, no balls” and stuff like literal toilet humor unless they are a kid, and this will show some of the most childish comedy while characters are acting stupidly and making “funny faces”, but when I say “comedy” I don’t actually mean it as the show doesn’t have actual jokes. And I guess that’s a problem with the series, it is basically like Kimetsu no Yaiba in this aspect too, but with even worse comedy somehow, as they will show multiple gruesome scenes but still trying to be a show that a kid will watch because everything else is extremely silly. For example, they might show the main girl in underwear and about to be raped, but you know that won’t happen as it was only made to titillate you somehow before it gets interrupted by the MC possessed by a spirit who was asking to suck on his “weenie” in a previous scene; if you can tell, that scene isn’t actually a serious one and it doesn’t make the show less stupid to show some breasts or blood from time to time, one of the times I dropped it in my unpleasant time while reading the manga was when Okarun turned into Kaneki and started rapping about being depressed, it’s really like checking social media like BlueSky and seeing people saying that they are depressed without comprehending the meaning of the word “depression”, because this manga is written as if the author was saying the meme of “how do you do fellow kids?”. I know I’m not the first one to make this comparison, but this show is basically Chainsaw Man, but while Chainsaw Man is for teens who just entered their edgy phase, Dandadan is for people who are still laughing alongside their classmates saying “pee” and “poop” as if they just discovered they aren’t bad words. There’s a scene where Okarun and Momo are swimming, and in that very scene Okarun says that he can’t swim, but 10 seconds later he is swimming again, it’s like this series cannot keep basic consistency during only one scene. And this lack of consistency happens multiple times, Momo’s grandmother looks completely different in the first episode than how she does when she debuts, even if you think this is a mistake on the manga then it didn’t get fixed by the anime either. The show will also sometimes try to get people to cry about their antagonists by saying some sad thing or that they were actually doing something good before, as if trying to bring some sympathy towards them, but the problem with this is that it’s always only said after the fact, there’s an entire episode dedicated to some antagonist that tells their sad backstory and how they came to be, and this episode is supposed to be extremely emotional or some shit, and seeing the reactions to it tell me that some people are extremely easy to manipulate emotionally, as I cannot build any kind of sympathy for a character we know so little we aren’t even told their name. I have known for a long while that a lot of writers who do battle shonen usually are incapable of writing romance, and this author is not an exception, he makes the “generic romcom where 2 people blush at each other and that gets considered as romantic development” type series look like masterpieces, none of the romance development here feels earned or that it should have happened at all. For example, there’s Momo with Okarun, where the reason why she has a female boner for him is because he has the same name as her favorite actor, and unless you are incapable of thinking, you can notice how stupid that is, Okarun doesn’t even look like Takakura Ken, but she gets flustered every time his actual name gets mentioned because of this, it really makes me prefer the very simple reason of “I like him because… he was nice to me ONCE!” as that makes more sense than this, and that isn’t even getting into the episodes that try to focus on this “romance”, as they just focus on minor miscommunications that don’t actually amount to anything while their relationship stays the same every single time. And it only gets worse from there, as a second girl falls in love with Okarun, and for absolutely no reason whatsoever, I don’t think he and Aira interacted positively once before the series tells us that Aira loves him, she was nice to him basically to make fun of him in one episode and that’s the most significant interaction they have before the love triangle appears, it’s like this show doesn’t understand that romance isn’t their forte and it actually becomes annoying to watch because of how badly done it is. You can tell the animation is well done, which I guess is the only positive thing I could mention about it, even if I find funny the first thing Science SARU airs after being bought by a big corpo is premiering a Jump battle shonen, but with writing this bad, it might as well be a turd in a silver plate. However, it almost seems like the direction of this show is actually pretty incompetent, take for example the scene in episode 1 where Okarun mentions his real name towards Momo, in the manga, it is basically a spread where there are petals behind him, meanwhile in the anime they added an explosion behind as if this show was directed by Michael Bay, and it might as well be, because that explosion not only wasn’t there, it wasn’t necessary at all, and all this was while some of the most horrid background music was playing. Really, every time I hear that OST my ears feel like they are hearing a fork scraping a plate, I felt that the guy who did the music for this anime needed to get fired, and it took me by surprise when I saw that the person who did it was Kensuke Ushio, the same Kensuke Ushio who did such magnificent OSTs such as Ping Pong’s and Koe no Katachi’s is doing this kind of terrible earbleeding job, was he being threatened to do the worst he could ever do? Is he ok? Because this definitely is not the same guy I know and he couldn’t have fallen this much in the span of a couple of months, because the soundtrack is absolutely the worst part of this adaptation. It isn’t helped by the fact that the opening is probably the most obnoxious anime opening I have heard this year, I'm surprised Shitty Nuts surpassed themselves this very year after the already horrible Mashle season 2 OP, it’s like they are competing with themselves to do worse openings every time. Unless you are the kind of kid who watches Skibiddi Toilet, I can’t possibly recommend you Dandadan, everything about it is, in zoomer slang, “not cooking”. Thank you for reading.

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.

Like Hell's Paradise, Dandadan gets a lot of attention amongst recent shonens because both authors were former assistants to Chainsaw Man's Tatsuki Fujimoto and there are some mildly novel touches: HP has an unusual setting and, yeah, that's probably about it; meanwhile, Dandadan, well, uh... is basically a battle shonen that takes the standard otaku-pandering incel romance you'd find in school-based romcoms and pushes it into becoming the ultimate piss-take snub of self-insert pandermancy and cuck romance shippers that has increasingly become the norm in anime. There's a lot of humor, and almost all the punchlines hit below the belt, which probably won't go well for those who aren't too keen on lowbrow jokes centering around, in this case, dick jokes—"Give me your banana" (please don't). The whole series is simply one humongous dick joke (likely a petite one, if we're talking about the MC and his 5 cm kintamas that just dropped), and there probably isn't any other kind of media that sorely needed this passionate kick to the nuts more. The series effectively plays a savage South Park-styled game of Roshambo with self-inserters, as Dandadan's motto when it comes to our MC is "Give us your balls, your dick, we'll make you a eunuch." If you're not "too mature" for a few dick jokes, it can be amusing, but other attempts at humor aren't as smoothly integrated, such as milking the "I finally noticed she's cute" trope. What might appear at first to be a mere acknowledgement of the average anime functioning as a feel-good waifubait simulator for unwashed otakus who skitter about in the shadows, where a 10/10 moeblob who is way out of his league will throw herself upon him without any effort, for she has seen his true inner beauty and manages to look past surface details like BO, and he'll sweep her off her feet, whispering arcane lore into her ear about the intricate plot developments of the final arc of LotGH, becomes a surprisingly hilarious mockup of these kind of series. Instead of just making jokes about being neutered or spayed or presenting a pathetic low-t dweeb with his balls in the usual vice-grip, the series literally emasculates him by having almost the entire plot revolve around a high-speed chase to recover his stolen family jewels, with his dutiful gyaru love interest checking every nook and cranny, searching high and low, to recover his missing balls! In a way, it almost resembles a demented sexual misadventure version of Dragon Balls, with various characters vying for control of the protagonist's balls, which grant them power! One episode is even titled "Like, Where Are Your Balls?" The thing about a lot of shonen is that that's often one of my burning questions about the protagonist, but Dandadan does its own ball count, allowing one to save valuable mental energy. While not especially deep and just as accessible as most shonen, Dandadan at least foregoes one of the mistakes of its mature™ seasonal peer, Orb: My God Heliocentrism, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?, a series so inept as to pose the question "DUUUUHHH, what be subtext?" and then proceeds to turn all of its subtext into straight-up dialogue and double down on making sure the audience doesn't miss a single thing. Dandadan doesn't feel the need to shamelessly go balls deep down that scandalous hole (kind of hard when they're missing), even if it's waving its influences right in our face in the same way an exhibitionist might flash his private parts. To get the balls rolling, there is blatant influence from the Egyptian Osiris myth (which also influenced Dionysus and various other repackaged gods and syncretized religions). The MC can be seen as Osiris and the FMC as Isis. Seth kills and dismembers Osiris, splitting his body into 14 pieces (in reference to the Orion constellation), leading to what could be referred to as the Mystery of the Missing Phallus (sometimes Mystery of the Missing Balls in the case of Dandadan, though the Phallus gets misplaced often as well). Each piece of Osiris has a partial amount of power, much as a few characters in Dandadan unlock dormant powers by fondling one of the MC's golden balls. Isis tracks down all the pieces of Osiris, except for the phallus, which was eaten by either a fish or crab, depending on which version of the story you read, with Turbo Granny being associated with a crab. Isis reconstructs the body, and there are different accounts of what happens: She usually uses her powers to craft him a new penis, fashions a foreign object into one, or even constructs a literal lady boner out of her own flesh and grafts it onto Osiris. Soon after, they give birth to Horus. Since she's a dickball stealer, Turbo Granny could loosely be seen as a Seth-like character, and there is even a part in the legend where Horus and Seth race each other on boats, much like how she challenges tunnel trespassers to a race; though she does have a more interesting dynamic with the main characters in this story, starting as an enemy, becoming a comic relief mascot, and maybe even something like a friend, though always scheming, not unlike Ekubo/Dimple from Mob Psycho 100. There's also, of course, the fixation on occultism and the sky (aliens), with the ancients being deeply invested in the sky and many of their practices now falling under what we call the occult. Anyway, this lengthy digression is meant to showcase that the author put a surprising amount of effort into presenting his NTR fetish. Admittedly, some of the cuck pandering can become hardcore, even cringe-inducing. At first, it doesn't seem all that heavy because after the alien-obsessed MC and the ghost/supernatural-believing FMC send each other off on a dare, the series plays out like a balls to the wall boss rush for several episodes, as the characters try to harness their powers and are attacked by one enemy after another. But once we finally have some downtime, like in episode 5, the MC goes back to his pity party lines, hoping his mommy—I mean, waifu—will save him. When the MC transforms he'll do some kind of clownish self-deprecating rap, but then he'll be moping at school and dropping lines like, "Is it so embarrassing to be friends with me? WAAAAAAH!" There's also an over-reliance on downer internal monologues around this time, and during the oddly synchronized yin-yangish bit between the couple, she'll be thinking stuff like, "Ungh, I'm so bored. I wish Okarun would teach me all about aliens, especially the anal probing part. *____*" Feels ridiculously pandering and almost out of tune with the blue balls pit that the show tends to dive headfirst into otherwise. That aspect of the series feels better motivated or smoother in earlier episodes. Of course, once we realize his balls are missing, his pathetic behavior kind of seems justified. You have to wonder if the author planned it a bit where the MC is subtly more or less pathetic depending on those circumstances. Probably not, but using his balls as a plot device allows material that would be far more embarrassing in other anime to roll far more smoothly here. It's also worth noting that the MC is not a total doormat and will insult the FMC when she insults him, instead of just taking abuse, like too many MCs for me to name. Thankfully, Crappa, the most hardcore corner-cutters in the industry, having churned out Chainsaw Man, Jujutsu Kaisen, Hell's Paradise, and many other extremely popular shonen in the last few years, didn't get their grimy hands on this series. I had read up to about episode 2-3 in the Dandadan manga back when it had first surged in popularity, and, while it seemed alright, there wasn't anything about it that kept me reading it over whatever else. Science SARU, handling the series instead, is a company that tends to have impressive animation or a distinct aesthetic but has put out a lot of mediocre or questionable titles and has been disconcertingly cozy with Netflix. One of their biggest manga adaptations a while back, Dev…

DDD was the most hyped anime of the year. On first glance the reason why is obvious. An amazing OP, Bright colors, great animation and loads of action. It's a spectacle for sure... but that's all. The format for the show is action scene, action scene, action scene, fan service, action scene. The characters never get a proper introduction so even after a full season I don't feel like I know them. There is no plot either, just a series of action scenes with some prize at the end if they manage to clear the level, yes like in a game. DDD is great on the surface but scratch that surface and there's nothing below it. For example the show has two major side characters. One only gets introduced half way through the season while the other shows up in episode 11, literally just before the finale! Also for an action anime that "finale" was so lame. Personally, I did not like this show. I do value good characters and plot over everything else so this wasn't for me. I do think it was carefully calculated to appeal to a young demographic though. Just wish it actually had something to say... other than "BUY ME" that is.

Final Review: Ah, Battle/Action Shonen has long been a staple genre, captivating massive audiences with its compelling storytelling and unforgettable characters. From the rise of classics to modern ones, it has consistently provided stories that audiences can root for from start to finish. Yet, in this era, it feels as though the genre is entering its twilight, exemplified by Dandadan, a series hyped as the "next big thing" that utterly fails to deliver. Even the manga sales suggest the audience isn’t buying the hype Let’s be honest: is this anime/manga made for anime/manga fans? Or is it designed for the TikTok crowd, or worse, the author’s misguided assumptions about what the TikTok generation likes? Dandadan feels tailor-made for an audience that craves edgier, shock-value content without the need to think critically about what’s happening—or why it’s happening. Nothing in the series invites analysis or introspection. It’s a fast-food product: a quick hit of superficial entertainment with no lasting substance. You get in, get your "cool" moments, and leave. Maybe you come back next week for another flashy scene. Maybe you don’t. Is this really where Shonen wants to go? Catering to an audience that values content not for its quality, but for its rapid-fire, flashy, and ultimately weightless moments? The premise itself is absurd: the female MC is obsessed with finding a guy who reminds her of an actor she liked growing up, and the story devolves into her inability to cope with this fixation. And the characters? They’re memes. Momo is a meme. Ken is a meme. Aira, the Cat, and even Juji exist solely to generate more memes—they’re all shallow, one-dimensional caricatures. Parody labels aside, this story can’t even decide what it wants to be. At least FLCL fully embraced its identity as a parody, but it did its homework by creating a compelling narrative around it becoming a staple in anime history for that very reason. Dandadan, by contrast, hides behind the guise of a legitimate Battle Shonen while shamelessly churning out memeable panels to bait views and clicks. Because, that's the thing, Dandadan looks like it has all the right ingredients for greatness: supernatural elements like spirits and aliens, an intriguing premise, and a vibrant aesthetic. Yet, 12 episodes in, the story has lost itself in its own setup. Those supernatural elements? They’re nothing more than superficial hooks designed to lure viewers into the first episode. Plot progression and compelling character development? Absent. Instead, what we get are moments clearly engineered to go viral: shock-value scenes, questionable angles, eyebrow-raising dialogue, and crude humor that feels like a poor imitation of Chainsaw Man—but with an even lazier concept. The result is a hollow spectacle that values shock over substance, memes over meaning. The result? A medium increasingly dominated by stories that cater to a narrow, superficial taste, prioritizing excessive body horror and memeable panels over genuine storytelling. Dandadan is a parody masquerading as a Battle Shonen. Its romcom elements are mediocre, its action is uninspired, and its characters are hollow memes. If you’re willing to turn off your brain, you might enjoy it for what it is: a mindless collection of flashy moments designed to distract, not to engage. But for those who value story, character, and depth, this series is an empty shell hyped up to be something it’s not. TL;DR: If you want to enjoy Dandadan, you’ll need to set your expectations—and your brain—at the door.

Rent-a-girlfriend but directed by Diddy As a manhwa/manhua reader there is something obvious about Japanese authors and their obsession with minors. I wish I'd speaking about particular cases, but in this scenario the decent ones are the exception. Dandadan just follows this norm: make middle school characters and portray them like adults, having the same amount of sex jokes and harassment scenes as Nanatsu no Taizai. All this hype and good animation spent on something that would fit the tastes of the author of Samurai X. But whatever, if you pretend this is just for comedy and ignore what makes 40% of the plot, Dandadan Schneider is still a terrible anime, poorly written and just an overestimated copy paste of teenage romance cliche, worthy of being in kpop wattpad stories or Brazilian and Mexican telenovelas. I read somewhere that Dandadan "is an original story that breaks tropes" and I don't know which anime those people were watching, because it's not this one. I've watched a lot of romcom anime in the past and I'm comfortable to say that the only thing that makes this one better is the animation. In fact, as for "breaking the romcom genre" aspect, that is a trashy seasonal 12-episodes anime called Gamers that does this well for a few episodes, making a hilarious and unpredictable story about miscommunication and fake love triangles. Dandadan is nothing but predictable, from the beginning to the end. Two girls fight for an absolute loser of a guy they just met, there are scenes worthy of telenovelas like accidental kisses, being caught in a misunderstanding situation, jealousy, female and male rivalry, people who barely know them shipping, and that's the plot. Some will pretend this is an action story for whatever reason, but all the plot revolves around this cliche romance. Even the villains will be brought in for this reason, or for more sexual harassment scenes. Not giving this a 1 because of the good animation and some enjoyable scenes that made me laugh. There was also a good side story for one episode, but good side stories don't matter that much if the main plot is garbage.

It's a shonen-action school romcom. Except none of the attempts at humor were funny, the "romance" as always goes nowhere and was especially cliched virgin cringe dialogue/overacting, and the story itself went nowhere beyond an excuse for battle of the week shonen action that was well animated but boring without any stakes, just watching the canonically plot-armored main characters get slammed through concrete without any consequence before casually smacking their enemies out of existence. The show lacks focus on anything like it has ADHD, whipping between slapped together emotional melodrama and slapstick potty/sex jokes only a child could find funny. Plus it ends in the middle of nothing without any attempt at any meaningful season finale, so anticlimactic the whole season's nonstory is a waste of time. It's juvenile and terrible and yet the bar of other anime during its season is so low that it's still one of the better ones coming out at the time. 3/10 (where 5/10 is average)

Man, the anime starts off really strong, but from the second half onwards, it gets really lazy. Dan Da Dan is the TikTok of anime, delivering everything Gen Alpha loves to see: quick content that doesn’t require brainpower, chaotic and erotic to lift the spirits of a 15-year-old boy who doesn’t have everything he wants. Anyway, that said, we’re witnessing a new wave of anime arriving with this same formula to please the new generation. I had already finished my review, but they didn't let me post it because it was too short. What else can I say? The anime doesn't have much content besides fights (well-animated, by the way), balls, and nudity.

Out of all the anime that was set to air this year, Dan Da Dan was the one I was looking forward to the most… for some reason. I honestly don’t know why that is, but I have said before that I really enjoy when animated projects, especially anime, fully embrace being goofy and allowing itself to go all out creatively. While I like good narratives above everything else, I also like when an anime is just unapologetically bizarre and fun, and that is exactly what Dan Da Dan is. Now, does Dan Da Dan have a good or well-rounded narrative? Not exactly. As a fan of this series, I understand and recognize that the overarching storylines revolving around trying to find Okarun’s balls is quite flimsy and shallow, however what really carries the writing are a few aspects: the overall tone of the series, the fun character dynamics, and the over-the-top action sequences. As someone who is so tired of “hype” battle shonen animanga, Dan Da Dan felt like a huge breath of fresh air to me. The first two episodes of the anime did such an amazing job hooking me into the rest of this series that I decided to pick up the manga and was able to catch myself up with the source material before this season finished airing. The reason why this action anime managed to hook me in ways other battle shonen weren’t able to can be attributed to how this series tonally handles itself. I’m so tired of narratives within the shonen demographic taking themselves more seriously than they really need to be, like Demon Slayer or Jujutsu Kaisen, or not understanding which tonality to streamline itself in, like Kaiju No. 8. Dan Da Dan is unapologetically goofy as hell and I love it. Having a series revolving around a bunch of teenagers fighting both yokai spirits and aliens with unconventional abilities is pretty much everything I can ask for in both the action genre of anime and the shonen demographic. While there are other shonen anime that I greatly prefer over Dan Da Dan (i.e., Attack on Titan, The Dangers in My Heart, Frieren, etc.), I really like how this series just accepts how unserious the overall atmosphere is and doesn’t hold back in giving us some fun episodes and chapters that kept me engaged. However, that’s not to say that Dan Da Dan needs to be *all* serious. There are moments throughout this season - and more beyond this season - where we are given a very riveting and emotionally deep subplot related to the backstories of the yokai spirits, which I think is executed really well. Acrobatic Silky’s backstory was already very well executed in the manga, but the anime further elevated that subplot with some creative cinematography coupled with beautiful animation and soundtrack. While these moments are more emotionally driven than what the rest of the series leads on, I don’t mind the tonal shift since it’s very few and far between and it makes sense within the context of how humans who lived tragic lives end up becoming these spirits. This doesn’t take away or make the series tonally inconsistent, but rather adds depth to an otherwise pretty shallow series, and I welcome that. At its core, Dan Da Dan is essentially an action adventure shonen animanga. “Adventure” in the sense that the characters take us to various locations that elevate the action of this series and help transport us viewers to this strange world of spirits and aliens. However, these adventurous arcs wouldn’t have been as interesting or entertaining to watch if it weren’t for the characters and the goofy dynamic they all share with one another. The main cast of Ken Takakura, aka Okarun, Momo Ayase, Seiko Aayase, Turbo Granny, Aira Shiratori, and Jin Enjoji, aka Jiji, are all massive goofballs in their own right, so when you put them together in chaotic situations like what this series throws at them, you just get an overload of fun in my opinion. Don’t get me wrong, I find the whole “loud characters” trope in shonen anime and manga to be quite annoying, but I like how it’s utilized in Dan Da Dan because the characters are such goofballs to be taken seriously like in other battle shonen. Are the characters a bit obnoxious? Sure. However, within the tonal context of this series, it works pretty well in terms of maintaining the overall insanity of this series. With that said, it’s not perfect. The “romance” for lack of a better term between Okarun and Momo is quite shallow and flimsy, but again, I don’t mind it in this context since these two characters are teenage loose cannons who are still trying to figure out their place in the world. Seiko and Turbo Granny are very similar to characters like Dimple from Mob Psycho 100 where they are good supporting pieces while having a fun spin to their relationships with the main cast. Aira and Jiji can be seen as annoying at first, however they are given enough room for them to grow or have an interesting dynamic with the main duo, although we will see a truer side to these characters in later seasons. As mentioned earlier, the narratives in Dan Da Dan are elevated by the stunning animation, and Science SARU has knocked it out of the park for this anime. Not only was the Acrobatic Silky episode - at least in my opinion - a masterpiece in visual storytelling in animation, the over-the-top nature of the fight sequences in Dan Da Dan is further brought to life with the stunning visuals in the anime. Out of all of the action anime to air this year, I truly think Science SARU and Madhouse did it the best with both Dan Da Dan and Frieren respectively. Whenever Okarun uses his Turbo Granny form, it is pretty much guaranteed that the fight scene is going to be a visual spectacle. The directing for this anime adaptation elevates the source material to new heights, so much so that I truly think that this will make Dan Da Dan a household name when it comes to new gen battle shonen anime. Now, while I really enjoy this series, it isn’t perfect. Easily the worst part of this series has to be the fan service, both in the manga and the anime. I find it a bit uncomfortable when the main characters, who are minors, are being sexualized in a way that is quite suggestive in terms of the animated frames we are given in the anime. What’s worse is that the fan service is a bit more muted in the source material than it is here for some reason, which is a shame since I don’t see any reason to “enhance” this aspect within the adaptation. It was especially bad in the first episode/chapter, however, a good thing is that the fan service is not only very few and far between, but also non-existent moving forward past this season. If Dan Da Dan does get picked up for more seasons (which I personally hope it does), rest assured that this uncomfortable aspect of the series is not prevalent in the slightest moving forward. I know other people will complain about the pacing and how short some arcs can be, but I honestly don’t mind the pacing since the more segmented form of storytelling helps keep the series fresh and new every few episodes. I really want Dan Da Dan to get more seasons because as a manga reader, I can assure you it only gets better from here, and the shorter arcs really become a treat as the series keeps us on our tippy-toes with fresh storylines and fun character dynamics to continuously gauge your interest. I understand Dan Da Dan might not be for everyone, but if you want a fun and silly battle shonen anime to watch, then check this anime out.

I'm sorry, I'm not as enamored with this show as I feel the general vibes are. It starts out decent but it quickly fizzles out. What did I like about the show? - Science Saru did their part. It's not, like, Devilman Crybaby amazing production, but for a TV anime, it looks good. - There's a fight about 3/4ths in that was really inventive - I initially liked the Okarun/Momo romance - Episode 7. I'll admit that one part was very good. However, the more I thought about the show, the more I realized... I don't really like this show? First, the characters. Okarun's fine. If I had to pick a "favorite", it'd be him. Okarun's alternate personality isn't funny though, although I like his design. Seiko (Momo's grandma) isn't good but she doesn't actively annoy me, so that's a plus. The other 3? Not so good. Momo's fine on a conceptual level but (in the sub, can't speak to the English dub), she is SO annoying. It's one of my biggest issues with this series, it seems to think loudness = funny. By, like, episode 4, I was ready to stab out my eardrums because Momo's voice was grating on me. Aira is probably the best of the three I'm mentioning here but idk, her delulu pure pretty pretty princess wasn't doing it for me. Part of it is that she was a total bitch in her introduction so I don't believe she's this uwu pretty Christian girl. Didn't pass the taste test imo. Even if that's supposed to be the point... okay, well, it didn't work for me, I didn't find her entertaining and her schtick kinda wore off. Jiji, OH MY GOD, he was the absolute worst. He's only in the last couple episodes but I have no idea what they were going for but what it was giving was "obnoxious jackass". I at least get Momo and Aira but who finds this guy funny? He's okay when he's not doing his routine or when they're not talking about girls but, like, that's SO much of his character this season. There's probably, like, 10 minutes of "good" Jiji. Speaking of Jiji, how about the comedy? It's not funny. I'm not going to be so bitter and jaded and cynical as to say it was never funny, but so much of it bombed, including entire characters. Jiji, the puncher mantis crab dude or whatever, gross. The time Momo had to put on some random impression, Okarun and Jiji poorly and loudly singing love songs, just no. It's also kind of rapey? There are multiple scenes of groups of men holding down Momo, trying to rape her. Not to mention the FuNnY scene of Okarun/Momo/Aira being almost nude because of plot and then everyone in class seeing and Aira being like "oh no, my perfect pure image!" So, yeah. It's not without its charms but it's an aggressively mediocre series because it has several fundamental issues. It's not even the best shonen anime involving romance from Shueisha in Fall 2024 that you can find on Netflix.

I would have rated this higher. The animation is astounding, the story is great, the premise is funny and interesting, its a shoujo shonnen and the characters are endearing. But the sexual assault. And how it treats it. I can't. It's so gross, so in your face, and it happens almost every episode. Given, its not just momo that suffers from it, but 1. that shouldn't be plus, and 2. momo still suffers from most of it. At some points you can excuse it anymore. Because even if its "tearing down the comedy gag of the SA troupe in anime" its still not treating it with the seriousness it deserves. Fuck. Momo is almost abused and is touched and assaulted almost every episode yet every time she's saved its "oh, well ok, moving on-". No Okarun asking if she's ok. No scenes showing how it could be affecting her. No grandma talking to her about it. Nothing. And might I say, the aliens are not better than the kinto family. If I'm pinned down naked and about to be raped, I don't care if you're doing it for science, or survival of the species, or for your own personal gratification. You're still a monster committing a selfish crime and I wish you the worst life has to offer. These are teenagers. Momo is a teenager. And she's constantly on the verge of being assaulted/abused on this series. I will watch season 2, but will skip every scene like that as it is not threaded as seriously as it should and is just used as a tool for...shock value? Horniness? Weirdness? I don't fucking know.

The bad ultimately outweighs the good for this anime, hence the score, however, it does have some highlights and, I will be checking out the second season. I don't see me ever rewatching the first season though. It seems like it just wouldn't be very enjoyable and a slog to get through. There were really only a handful of episodes and scenes I really enjoyed. The other stuff annoyed me and was hard to sit through. The first episode is strange and fast paced, not terrible but, a bit of a disappointment. The season really didn't brighten up until Aira got more involved, but that was also short lived. She quickly became overshadowed by the stupid antics of Momo and Okarun again. Then Jiji shows up but, there's nothing really interesting about him until the last episode. The animation is really not all that stellar to me. I really don't like this style of fluid motion they got going on, it looks shoddy to me. Other people do seem to love it though. I really like some of the creepy stills they do, but, other than looking pretty cool, they don't add much else to the story. I think the anime struggles with keeping itself on track. I haven't read the source material so, perhaps the manga is just as bad but, it seems like the story struggles with balancing out a comedic and serious tone. I guess that wouldn't bother me if the comedy actually landed for me, but I can't get over Momo's annoying masculine voice. It's grating for me. Okarun's voice isn't the greatest either but, I've sort of gotten used to it. When Momo isn't being a spaz, her voice is fine, but when she gets excited, I get no enjoyment from her shenanigans. It's a very personal thing though so, some people may really enjoy it. All in all, I personally didn't find anything to write home about. I don't think the series is without potential but, the first season was not very enjoyable for me. It's quirky though so, I guess to each their own. I wouldn't recommend it to anybody though since I personally didn't enjoy it.

At first, you look at it and think "wow, this is so fresh! The guy is so creative! And the action is so dynamic and beautiful" Then you think "oh wow, the world is so unusual, let's see how it's organized! By the way, it would've been interesting to show some character development". But then you suddenly understand that it's not about people. It's not even about the story. You're just watching recording of a small boy playing with his toys. This toy goes bwam! And that toy goes brrruumm! You watch this toy fight by the eyes of this boy, that's why it's so colorful and energetic. But it's not a story, there is no new idea - or old idea, it's simply a set of motion pictures, like a benchmark used to check the GPU of a computer.

Great animation styling, awesome scenes of comedy and seriousness. Great characters, trash writing, zero plot. That's Dandadan. I read this on release expecting it to be good only to be slapped in the face. I watched the anime expecting a better product and was met with a subpar anime, as I should have expected. The plot centers around getting this MC's peenar back, but seems to lose its way down the line really quick. The show loves chaos, but uses none of it. Anyway, it's a good time waster, but if you're looking for a real story and plot that makes any sense, this is not the anime for you.

Dandadan gained attention for three main reasons. First, its animation. Second, the manga was written by one of the assistants of the creator of Chainsaw Man, another popular title. And finally, there simply was not much else to watch in that season. The anime is eccentric and random for most part of the time, mixing different elements like occultism and science fiction, which doesn't really mean anything, as most anime are a mix of many elements. It is very straightforward, the problem is that there is not much going on, like plot progression or thematic exploration. It is often about mundane school life and teenage romance. The real spectacle is when something unexpected appears and then the characters need to deal with it. It looks very random for the sake of being random. Also, it is filled with sex jokes, misunderstandings and shouting here and there, which is annoying sometimes, but it is for comedy sake. As for the characters, there are two protagonists. The nerdy boy who believes in aliens and was cursed by a spirit. The gyaru girl who believes in ghosts and was abducted by aliens. They find what they were looking for in each other. Nonetheless, they are mostly remembered for their powers, which is part of the empowerment fantasy aspect of this show, teenagers receiving super powers and fighting weird stuff, it is easy to relate and self insert. Besides them, there is the grandmother, who is noted more for being hot. The yokai sealed inside the cat doll, which is like the mascot of the series. The pink haired rival girl, who is just another waifu. The childhood friend, who is very forgettable. They don't really go much further than that and the story doesn't seem really concerned about this as well. The most remarkable feature is the animation. The show is very colourful and expressive. There are action scenes with different uses of colours and exaggerated expressions during humorous moments, which fits in the weird nature of this show. This style is also seen in other works by the same studio. Dandadan's success is not a surprise. It is a popular manga that got an attractive adaptation. Unfortunately, this kind of quality is often fleeting, and it will likely be overshadowed when the next well animated title comes out. Also, it increases the expectations for next seasons, which can be disappointing if it ended up being inferior in comparison to the animation of this season. The anime is highly regarded, but it seems undeserved. It is a notable modern title, but this seems to be partly due to the lack of competition. Furthermore, it is mostly remembered by its animation and its randomness, nothing really new in anime. Don't watch it with high expectations, it probably will disappoint. It is not really special in any way. However, it is entertaining for what it is: an action driven show with juvenile jokes and eye-catching visuals as its main appeal.

The anime starts good, something strange for my taste, though, but then the plot is revealed and it is so absurd and silly. The aliens want Okarun's dick, then Turbo Granny places a curse on Okarun that made his dick disappear and finally when they defeat Turbo Granny they have to recover Okarun's testicles. It's so absurd... also in one episode, Okarun wants to help an alien, his problem is that his son has a disease that causes him to expel blood from his body, and it turns out that Momo's grandmother discovers that the blood of that alien species is cow's milk. I don't understand how anyone could like this, it's extremely absurd. Another thing to highlight is Dandadan's humor, personally I think it's stupid and cringe sometimes, but I think some people might like it, although I don't understand how that could be possible. LOL There were things that I liked, like Okarun and Momo's falling in love and how their relationship develops, another thing I liked was the appearance of Shiratori, the way she fell in love with Okarun was a little strange, but it's okay. That's what I can highlight about Dandadan. Personally, I don't recommend it since it's so stupid, but if you like the absurd and you like stupid humor, this is your anime.

Yukinobu Tatsu's Dandadan evokes countless expressions of freedom and creativity. While many shows of the supernatural genre tries to play it safe with traditional themes, Dandadan showed us how far creativity and imagination can really take us. As someone who enjoys anime not just for the viewing experience, Dandadan itself feels like an art form, crafted with vivid imagination. Watching the OP song itself is madness enough. It felt as if we were being pulled into the Twilight Zone of bizareness. Then, the music beat hits and we are greeted with perhaps the most stylistic and catchy opening of the year. "Otonoke" by Creepy Nuts is almost indescribable by words alone. The amount of colorful elements are embedded with its alluring tunes, dancing movements, and body language. To say the least, even if you've never planned to watch Dandadan, we should agree tha the opening song is far from normal. Dandadan's plot synopsis shows tons of potential although not not entirely unique. We've seen it in similar anime such as Mob Psycho 100 and FLCL: characters who meets and building a bond through fated encounters. Momo Ayase's encounter with Takakura Ken (nicknamed Okarun) is such an example. Their idealogy clash about the existence of supernatural pits the two as rivals but this quickly changes into an unique friendship and perhaps something even more. That's the basis of the plot but it goes beyond much further than dealing with the supernatural. Dandadan's ability to use witty lines and character language is one of its highlights. The two main characters are so different in personalities that you'd think they are from different planets. It's what makes this show's chemistry contagious enough to draw an audience. We want to see what they fight for, and how they do it every episode. From early, the duo goes up against a flatwoods monster and later confronts the infamous Turbo Granny (yes, you can practically picture what she may resemble). Dandadan's 'monster of the week' translates to how the protagonists approach these monsters. All common sense are tossed out the window when confronting these monsters. However, Dandadan doesn't rely on shounen style strategies or battle tactics. They fight the monsters head on almost in cartoony fashion at times. A main selling point of the show is not how to confront these monsters but the cinematic battles themselves. It's an expression of creativity but also intertwined with madness and colorful usage of its cinematics and emotions. Speaking of which, emotions is among an important factor for character development and relationship bonding. We find out through episode 7 when the character Acrobatic Silky receives perhaps one of the most emotional background story in recent anime memory. You'll have to truly watch and experience it for yourself to understand its impact. But because of strong emotions, Momo and Okarun builds a closer relationship among themselves. These range from a comical accidental kiss to real trust forged between the duo. To add on to the mix, characters such as Aira Shiratori adds even spicy drama among them. By far, Dandadan takes advantage of its small yet colorful cast through its usage of character emotions. Momo, Okarun, and later on Aira, are at the epicenter of this. The nature of this show draws its attention on how characters behave around other. For example, Aira quickly develops an infutation towards Okarun while the latter is unable to respond accordingly. Meanwhile, countless teases are thrown between Momo and Okarun as they show their attaction towards each other. In classic example, Okarun also shows signs of jealousy when Momo's childhood friend pays her a visit later on in the show. Other characters such as Seiko serves as role models for the younger cast even though they are decorated with peculiar characteristics. From day one, we can see that Dandadan is far from an ordinary show despite taking place in a familiar normal setting. The line that draws between normalcy and the supernatural really goes out the bounds. Dandadan's success should be counted for what it set out to do from the very first episode. The bizarreness of its themes and unorthodox humor is a major draw for the audience. It might not be suited for everyone but certainly evokes emotions. The one element holding back this season is its shortened length at 12 episodes. There are far more material in the manga that deserves to be adapted but with season 2 announced, our hopes aren't far away.

Like watching the feverish dreams of a horny teenager. Imagine asking the average highschool student, huge fan of supernatural action animes, to write a story appealing to their classmates. This is the result. A cool concept ruined by a terrible writing and recurrent mentions of sexual topics. One step away from being the typical H anime with more ero scenes than an actual story. Almost everything in DanDaDan is made in such a way that it eventually leads to either an action scene or a sexual pun. The typical arguments and misunderstandings between teenager characters. The typical worries of teenager characters. Add a sad secondary backstory and call it a day. Everything powered by weed. The only reason why I'm not giving it even a lower rating is because it's yet another anime carried by a superior production quality. The animation is technically perfect: beautiful lighting, choreographies and camera angles. And the music is always on point. Never distracting, but a great complement to what's happening on screen. It's a shame because the premise of telling adventures about aliens and youkai/akuma was interesting. Could have been like one of those ero works that despite the H topics, somehow manage to deliver a well written story, but this is only for teenagers who have nothing else in mind.

I think Dandadan got slightly more enjoyable the further I got into Season 1. However, overall I still feel like it lands at a 6/10 at best. My biggest complaint early on was that everything happened too fast with little to no explanation and weak fleshing out. We barely got to really know the 2 main characters besides "generic anime teens acting like generic anime teens" and suddenly Shiratori gets a genuinely well fleshed out backstory that none of the ACTAUL main characters got, only for her to be shafted the rest of season 1. I don't get it. Especially when we shove in Jiji into the main cast who adds... literally nothing to the plot??? Except for making Okarun act like insecure and jealous (spoiler alert, Jiji literally just talks and breathes) so it just feels like he's thrown in there to make Okarun go on some side-plot jealous arc I don't give a single fuck about. Okarun's transformation is probably the coolest thing ever if you're like.... 15? Didn't do anything for me. I think it's corny as hell when a typical nerdy anime protag suddenly transforms into a cool mode and say corny edgy 1 liners. The anime has some neat moments. But overall? Nothing special. I can't believe this was hyped so badly. It's an average anime at best. You know, I was gonna say 6/10, but the overhype the internet gave this anime actually has me tight as hell. Dandadan gets measly 5/10.