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

Acrobatic Silky Supporting

Inoue, Kikuko Japanese

Iwakami, Atsuhiro Producer

Kamei, Hiroshi Producer

Aoi, Hiroyuki Producer

Ishikawa, Tatsuya Producer

Reviews

Mar 22, 2025

Conflagr8

Recommended

This anime is like if you fused the best elements of Jujutsu Kaisen and the Ghost Stories dub.

If you can get past the initial weirdness of the series (the 1st episode is a fair benchmark for what to expect throughout), you'll find a super fun story with loads of personality, memorable characters that feel and act decidedly real, and a fairly novel mishmash of a bunch of different genres in one. This anime can take you between roaring with laughter, being on the edge of your seat in anticipation, and melting your heart with touching, emotional sequences--all within one episode. ...

Honestly, I only have one major gripe with it, and I know it's a product of the release schedule, but...cutting off Season 1 on a mid-arc cliffhanger should be a crime 😤

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Mar 15, 2025

Belts

Mixed Feelings

In my review of the Chainsaw Man anime I mentioned that Dandadan, which I was still watching at the time, seemed to borrow tonal cues from Chainsaw Man's irreverence. The main point of comparison, and what caused me to make that claim, is the emphasis both works have on the literal and figurative emasculation of their protagonists. Not only do CSM's Denji and DDD's Ken lose part or all of their penises, they are both surrounded by forceful, controlling, or outright aggressive female figures who propel the plot.

And could there be a more irreverent take on shounen, a genre literally called "Boy," than emasculation, the ... elimination of its maleness? Both shows may cleave to certain shounen tropes to the letter (especially in their fight scenes), but in this way they set themselves apart. It's certainly a far cry from, say, My Hero Academia, where female characters are relegated to minor supportive roles.

In Dandandan, the purpose of this emasculated hero is much more clear. DDD uses a familiar nerd-to-coolguy storyline for its protagonist. He begins friendless, isolated, defined by his nerd hobbies. As a symbolic representation of his situation, he not only loses his penis, but his name; Momo, the female lead, refuses to call him "Ken Takakura" due to it also being the name of her favorite actor/celebrity crush, and refers to him instead as "Okarun," a play on "occult," which his otaku interest centers around. The real-life Ken Takakura was known as a stoic, tough, and thus stereotypically masculine figure, the opposite of DDD's Ken Takakura; the suggestion of the narrative arc is that Okarun will gradually develop into a character more deserving of the name, at which point Momo will call him by it. Then he'll also get his balls back.

The emasculated hero also stands in foil to the Serpo, the all-male alien race who serve as the show's recurring villains, and who are the only other male characters in the show until its last couple of episodes. The Serpo are, like the hero, depicted as emasculated, with high-pitched effeminate voices and a lack of sexual organs. Also like the hero, they're depicted as nerds, wearing stiff tucked-in white shirts buttoned up to the neck and spouting sci-fi technobabble. The difference is that they cannot "evolve," as they claim. This is explained as a byproduct of their reliance on cloning for reproduction (and is the reason why they want to harvest human sexual organs), but symbolically suggests a state of perpetual manchildness, the otaku who never develops or grows, compared to Ken, who does. Meanwhile, for lack of a better word, the Serpo are rapey. An involuntarily celibate failure state of otaku-ness, and by the implication of the foil what Ken must work to avoid. After all, the Serpo also have no penises. They have replaced them with whirring phallic probes, a literally weaponized masculinity. They introduce themselves to Momo as simply wanting to be friends, before revealing their nefarious sexual ulterior motives; this contrasts Ken who first sees Momo legitimately as a friend before he even begins to develop romantic feelings for her.

It's in Dandandan's simple, unified clarity of purpose that I find my comparison to Chainsaw Man to be ultimately flawed. As it goes on, this simplicity starts to make DDD saccharine, treacly. The same dramatic loop is wrung again and again: Ken or Momo say something mean to one another, or lie, or make a mistake, then they mentally kick themselves over it ("I was such a jerk!"), and lastly give an earnest apology for their behavior. This happens countless times, sometimes rooted around the flimsiest, most obnoxious of misunderstandings. The show pulls the same bullshit as Parasyte (another nerd-to-coolguy story!) where Girl A sees Boy A touching Girl B, and assumes that means Boy A is being unfaithful, but really Girl B was being forcefully sexually aggressive and Boy A didn't like it and was trying to get away, but Girl A doesn't know this, and it becomes this whole big thing despite nobody (except Girl B, morality's sacrificial lamb) actually having done anything wrong. I hate "misunderstanding" plots like this. They're complete contrivances for the sake of drama.

But that's more-or-less the level DDD is operating at. There's a part near the end, when the show's only other human male character shows up. He's Momo's childhood friend, he has a rapport with her, and even though it's clear to the audience Momo has no romantic interest in him, Ken gets jealous, which the audience knows because he stews over it in class while the teacher lectures about the word "jealousy." It's facile. If Chainsaw Man invited the audience to turn its brain off, DDD is doing something much more annoying by inviting its audience to turn its brain down to the level of a 10-year-old.

Meanwhile, the supporting cast doesn't have much going on. Momo is ostensibly at least a deuteragonist and is in some ways framed as the main character, and while she is certainly active in the story and its battles, she is also a much flatter character than Ken. The basic conceit of the show seems to be what happens when an otaku meets a gyaru, with the indication that this unlikely combination will somehow improve them both, but the onus for improvement is placed entirely on Ken, other than a few instances where Momo says something mean and then immediately apologizes for it. She is introduced as getting romantically involved with a series of dirtbag guys who she mistook as masculine ideals due to their superficial similarities to the actor Ken Takakura; but the moment she meets the character Ken Takakura, she ceases to have any romantic interest in anyone else and is essentially waiting around for the character Ken to develop into something akin to the actor Ken. She's quite patient about it, too.

Momo is not defined by her gyaru-ness the way Ken is defined by his otaku-ness. There isn't a suggestion, say, that she is stereotypically superficial or vain, the way Ken is stereotypically awkward and monomaniacal. (In fact, the show introduces Aira as superficial and vain, which only makes Momo look more put-together by contrast.) She is, at most, prone to emotional outbursts, which can always be papered over by an "I'm sorry." She even has her own friends! There are significantly lower emotional stakes in her relationship with Ken compared to Ken's relationship with her.

Because of this, while Ken is emasculated by the story, he is also centered within it, core to its foundation. This is in contrast to CSM's Denji, who increasingly comes across as a minor part of his own show, a pawn in the schemes of others who is emotionally divorced from the consequences of anything that happens. It creates a narrative that is doing one thing and devoting all of its energy to that one thing, but it doesn't give the show much breadth, or much to think about. Ultimately, where forcing myself to think more deeply about Chainsaw Man improved the experience and led me to some insights I otherwise wouldn't have made, thinking about Dandadan didn't lead to a similar result. It doesn't help that Dandadan's story is far more episodic than Chainsaw Man's, rarely compounding upon itself. This episodic nature is emphasized by how the studio didn't even bother to end the season at a logical place, instead cutting its current episodic arc right down the middle.

Lastly, I suppose I should mention that, like Chainsaw Man, this show looks amazing. The production values are all excellent, especially the OP. It feels like any flavor-of-the-month anime is going to look great, but I am currently trudging my way through a rewatch of Sword Art Online, and it's staggering how cheap that show looks, how it cuts corners at every conceivable opportunity. Can't take "looking good" for granted in this racket.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Jan 22, 2025

Panda_Roll

Not Recommended

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.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Certified Fresh™

by JBrual

35 Entries · 19 Restacks

Certified Fresh™ (Series)

by JBrual

27 Entries · 11 Restacks

Favorites animes of all time

by mostyda0992

35 Entries · 10 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 (40 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)

	Poll: Dandadan Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Dec 19, 2024	504 replies	by 1234ANIMEU »» Mar 21, 11:31 PM
	Poll: Dandadan Episode 7 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Softhenic03 - Nov 14, 2024	1,313 replies	by PapRedpaw »» Mar 19, 10:31 PM
	Poll: Dandadan Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) IzanaSolos - Aug 6, 2024	734 replies	by BananaGreen69 »» Mar 18, 2:20 PM
	Poll: Dandadan Episode 4 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Softhenic03 - Oct 24, 2024	333 replies	by AcustikBrocoli »» Mar 18, 1:13 PM
	Poll: Dandadan Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Softhenic03 - Nov 21, 2024	311 replies	by maomaoie »» Mar 17, 10:48 AM