Dandadan arrived with the Fall 2024 anime season, and it’s making waves in the viewing community. Audiences that have seen the show love it for its quirky animation and over-the-top story. For shonen fans who are still holding out on the series, there are many reasons to should start watching this stellar anime.
Dandadan is a unique shonen tale that brings in elements from various genres to create a show that isn’t chock-full of typical shonen tropes. Dandadan is a breath of fresh air in a genre that can become overburdened with familiarity. The show breaks many molds but keeps a few to maintain its shonen feel. Any shonen fan who isn’t watching Dadadan should check out this strange and entertaining show.
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10 The Choreographed Action In Dandadan Is Striking
Dandadan Features Beautifully Smooth Combat
Some of the best things about Dadadan are the fights. Dadadan focuses primarily on its action sequences to give the show its signature frenetic energy. While the combat scenes are chaotic, they are all beautifully choreographed.
Fight scenes in anime can be hit or miss. Some are gorgeous and capture every stunning move with precision. Others overuse jump cuts to create something more stilted. Thankfully, Dadadan is the former. No matter who they’re facing or where they are, Momo Ayase and Ken Takakura’s (Okarun’s) actions are fluid. The creators even managed to make a fight in almost complete monochrome in Episode 2 look just as dynamic as any colorful battle. The seamless action makes Dadadan a must-watch for shonen fans who love the excitement of combat.
9 Dandadan Boasts Colorful Animation by Science SARU
Dandadan Is As Vibrant As it Is Fluid
Science SARU has been responsible for some of the most beautiful and bizarre anime from Devilman Crybaby to Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!. Therefore, it only makes sense that another delightfully strange anime by Science SARU would be just as gorgeously animated. Dadadan boasts excellent animation with wonderfully saturated colors and one-of-a-kind uses of light and darkness.
Not only are the colors brilliant, but the smoothness of the animation is intoxicating. The fights don’t leave anything out. The movements are fluid, as if the characters were somehow real despite their sometimes exaggerated movements. Dandadan is another masterpiece for Science SARU thanks to its exceptional team of animators.
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8 Dandadan’s Intro Slaps
Dadadan Has One Of The Best Intros Of Fall 2024
While this feature doesn’t deal with the story specifically, a lackluster opening song can make or break a person’s interest in a show. Fortunately, that is not the case for Dandadan. Creepy Nuts, known for their song “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born”, is back to lend their talents to another anime opening. The opening, entitled “Otonoke”, is a little less driving than the famous Mashle opening, but it is nonetheless catchy.
This intro alludes to the chaos of the show to come and features some beautifully colored visuals to entice viewers. The song only adds to the story and is a fun listen for audiences who are about to watch the show. It’s a great shonen opening to a fabulous shonen anime.
7 Dandadan Gives Audiences Two Protagonists to Root For
Momo & Okarun Are Both Protagonists
Typically, shonen anime focuses on one main hero. This protagonist is often overly powerful and has an indomitable spirit. Dandadan, however, has two protagonists, and both have staunch downsides to their powers. This means that they are forced to rely on each other – especially in the face of battle.
By having two protagonists, it ensures that no one character will become too overpowered. It also allows writers to tell the story from different angles without having to leave a protagonist behind for an episode or two. Momo and Okarun are both equally important to the story. In this way, fans get two dynamic shonen protagonists for the price of one.
6 Dandadan Has Compelling Characters
Dandadan’s Characters Feel Dynamic
Dandadan has some of the best new characters of the season. From Momo and Okarun to the aliens and Old Granny Ghost, everyone shines in this series. The aliens and ghosts are truly frightening with their otherworldly appearances and relentless aggression. The beings bring a distinct sense of dread to the story whenever they are onscreen. However, the story shines best where Momo and Okarun are concerned.
Despite their opposite personalities, Momo and Okarun are the perfect match. Their opposing views on the occult and their shared stubbornness help them to seem like real teenagers. Their banter is also brilliantly written and executed by the writers and actors. There is strong chemistry between them, even if their romance has yet to truly begin. Audiences can’t help but root for the dynamic duo with each new episode.
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5 Dandadan Is A Dark Comedy
Dadadan Helps People To Laugh At The Horror
A recent trend in shonen anime has been dark themes. More and more new shonen are coming out that lean toward the horror side than the action-adventure side. Dandadan certainly has its dark, unsettling moments, but it goes a step further to make it a dark comedy.
In a market that has increasingly somber shows, Dandadan stands out for its grasp on humor. Momo and Okarun, in particular, have a lot of great banter that tickles fans’ funny bones. Many scenarios in the show are also hilariously absurd. The comedy in this anime only adds to this energetic tale. It provides levity to the heavier subjects, while also adding some emotional color to the story as a whole.
4 Dandadan Features Romance
Momo Ayase & Ken Takakura Are Becoming More Than Friends
If there’s one thing action shonen anime lack, it’s romance. Plenty of shonen romance anime exist, but romance is often missing from the more adventurous series. This is one of the many things that makes Dadadan different. Although it’s still early, there seems to be a blossoming romance between Momo Ayase and Ken Takakura (Okarun).
Romance isn’t always needed for a great story, but it helps to flesh out the characters. Plus, it gives fans something else to focus on when the action dies down. Romance isn’t needed for every shonen anime and many fans would be fine without it. However, the romance aspect of Dadadan helps it to stand out in a genre that seems to forget that humans have a range of emotions – not just righteousness or rage.
3 Momo Ayase & Okarun Have Symbiotic Powers
Momo & Okarun Rely On Each Other
Unlike a lot of shonen anime, Dandadan gives audiences two characters who practice two different magic systems. Momo has psychic powers that can affect ghosts, aliens, and humans alike, while Okarun derives his power from the ghost possessing him. The two powers are spiritually similar, but they work in vastly different ways.
It also happens that Momo and Okarun need each other’s powers to be effective. Momo uses her psychic powers to keep the ghost from completely taking over Okarun’s body. Okarun then uses his powers to do the majority of the battling to give Momo the chance to use her abilities. Not many shows display this type of mutually beneficial magical talent, where one person relies completely on the other. It’s a fresh take on an anime magic system that isn’t often shown.
2 Dandadan Blends Genres
Dandadan Combines Science Fiction With the Supernatural
Dadadan is one of the best new anime because of its creativity. Rather than focusing on one specific supernatural entity, Dandadan blends alien myths and ghost stories to make something utterly unique. Focusing on both aliens and ghosts allows the story to stay fresh.
What makes Dandadan so fun is how the two mythologies of aliens and ghosts come together. Although they are both vastly different beings, they have some similarities that viewers see played out on screen. Blending the supernatural and science fiction genres helps Dandadan come up with distinctive world-building that draws audiences into the story. The melding also allows Momo and Okarun to show off their powers in different ways against diverse enemies.
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1 Dandadan Is Strange, and That’s What Makes It Perfect!
Dandadan Has Quite A Unique Premise
The biggest reason shonen fans should watch Dandadan is because it’s so unique. It does have some of the same tried-and-true shonen tropes, but it goes deeper than that. Dandadan appears to have captured lightning in a bottle with its specific brand of shonen action.
Dandadan is deeply weird, but that’s what makes it so great. It provides fans with something new and interesting in a sea of sameness. Good shonen anime are good for a reason, but great anime stand out for the things that make them special. Dandadan doesn’t shy away from any particular themes but rather brings light and dark, raunchy and wholesome, scary and hilarious moments all together to make something great.
New episodes of Dandadan currently drop on Crunchyroll every Thursday.
Dandadan (2024)
- Release Date
- September 13, 2024
- Cast
- Natsuki Hanae , Shion Wakayama , Nana Mizuki , Ayane Sakura , Kaito Ishikawa , Mayumi Tanaka , Kazuya Nakai , Kaori Maeda , Miyu Tomita , Ryûnosuke Watanuki , Hikaru Tanaka , Seitaro Taniguchi , Satomi Kobashi , Mayuko Kazama , Ryuuzaburou Ootomo
- Seasons
- 1
- Character(s)
- Ken Okarun Takakura , Momo Ayase , Seiko , Aira Shiratori , Jin Jiji Enjōji , Turbo Granny , Serpoians , Miko , Muko , Momo’s Boyfriend , Male Student A , Male Student B , Elementary School Boy , Flatwoods Monster
