Dandadan Season 1 Anime Review

THE BATTLE SHONEN ROMCOM FOR NUTJOBS, BY NUTJOBS

This anime adaptation of Yukinobu Tatsu’s manga of the same name is directed by Fuuga Yamashiro at Science Saru was released in 2024.

THE BATTLE SHONEN WITH/ABOUT BALLS!

Dandadan was the hit everyone saw coming a mile away, an instant classic manga that alongside Frieren Beyond Journey’s End was being tapped as the next big thing for adaptation and with studio Science Saru in charge it was just a matter of waiting for the inevitable. Even so Episode 1 hit like a hurricane, a almost unparalleled display of artistry and enthusiasm for a story so irreverent and bizarre that it could only be treated with said seemingly drug induced fervour. I knew this was gonna be a personal favorite of mine enough to buy all 10 volumes of currently translated manga without the slightest thought of reading them pre anime and with that total but completely ignorant confidence I must say Dandadan delivered, duh. But what did it end up delivering, what the hell is this thing actually about? Well it’s a balls to the walls battle shonen romcom that was obviously written by someone on acid, than dipped in milk(plot relevant milk only), before being handed to a little child who splashed it with melted crayons before uttering a stream of fart and ball jokes that somehow passed a human editor which would eventually be given to the most wackass studio in the biz… after GoHands of course. It’s alot to put it lightly and I think the highest praise one can offer it is the fact that somehow it works. All of it. So let us go on a journey of self discovery and witness our loveable leads Momo and Ken Takaimean Okarun find the balls to confess to each other oh and maybe find Okarun’s actual balls which are missing but hey let’s not sweat the small stuff, they can come later.

SHONEN’S NEWEST DYNAMIC DUO

Yes this is a battle shonen where a key plot point isn’t becoming the strongest but just finding a dude’s nuts which were stolen by an old bat who’s definitely appeared on those hot hags in your area ad’s. Okarun’s a weird fellow even without the whole family jewels in jeopardy thing going on, as a conspiracy theorist his brain is full of aliens and unknowable entities which alongside crippling anxiety leave him with absolutely no friends. That is until a gyaru casually strolls into his life, defends him from teasing before leaving immediately, satisfied with her good deed. Meet Momo who’s harsh personality leaves her alluring but alarming in equal measure even though deep down she’s a earnestly empathetic person. She finds herself followed by the four eyed freak and within seconds they’re butting heads like nothing else because no way are aliens real because supernatural beings are the truth duh… wait how is that duh. Yes not only is our newly formed dynamic duo the living embodiment of opposites attract but they believe in two entirely different fantasy worldviews which shock horror both ending up correct because if there’s one rule of Dandadan as an creative work it’s that there’s no rules. That nonexistent sense of logic serves as the bones and musculature of this story as it runs headlong into just the most random ideas humanly imaginable, all in service of the beating heart that is the cast who are just the darndest thing. Momo and Okarun stand out in a season stacked with romcoms by having just the best damn chemistry I’ve seen in forever, they’re so funny and comfortable with each other that their immediate friendship works wonders even before the feels are caught.

KEEPING IT REAL

Alot of this chemistry can be attributed to the script which is lighthearted and at times childish, emphasizing realistic banter and casual human tomfoolery over any sense of sophistication. The lines are never deep nor thought provoking and that just works, this isn’t teenagers being written to be smarter than they should be by any means and while maybe some will find it low-brow I find it appropriate and hilarious. That’s a element the manga probably has already but the anime has to take the cake because if there’s an even bigger reason I love Okarun and Momo so much it’s their pitch perfect voice acting, done by established legend Natsuki Hanae and quickly ascending Shion Wakayama. Effective voice acting is the standard so I rarely mention it in reviews but I just had to here, I cannot emphasize enough how outstanding these twin performances are on every level. Comedically their delivery is Jun Fukashima in Konosuba level banging and if you’ve watched the recent Season 3 than you know what I’m talking about, that ability to make any line or phrase gut busting through unexpected pronunciation or pitch, all delivered heaping with character. They also nail the little things, the heart flutters that catch in the throat, and just live and breathe their characters from top to bottom.

IT’S A FAMILY MATTER

The goods don’t stop there either as the ball snatching hag herself Turbo Granny is voiced by none other than Luffy VA Mayumi Tanaka which is just a treat, never before has a old bat been so batshit crazy and getting a talent like her is just the nail in the coffin, Turbo Granny is peak. As is self proclaimed main character Aira Shiratori, the pink haired self obsessed darling of the school who finds herself a true nemesis in Momo because she was a dick to Okarun once and earned a washtub to the face as a result. Aira has Okarun by the balls by which I mean she has one of his golden eggs and ends up wrapped into this steadily growing gang of misfits because of it and while she remains frosty with Momo we do see a bit of respect forming between them as Aira is also a sweet person underneath her shallow exterior. This gang of superpowered dimwits is centered at Momo’s place with her grandmother as it’s head and she’s a whole different thing, Seiko Ayase hasn’t aged a day it seems and that’s reflected in both her looks and fiery personality. By having a home base that everyone ends up congregating at between bouts of battle Dandadan gives a lot of time for slice of life hijinks which is something our current era of high intensity fast paced action series are really missing out on, letting the characters breathe, stuff their faces, and develop their relationships in a much more natural environment. I love it, basically all the best comedy bits take place at the Ayase house including but not limited to Okarun having his ball(singular for now) returned by a viscous throw from Turbo Granny in her semi safer cat form as everyone else play acts a game of baseball because why not to… …an alien crab shrimp dude having his species terminal blood condition saved by a regular household item. Yes this is a callback, he needs some plot relevant milk! It’s his blood, duh(for the second time how is this duh!?) which leads to the classic UFO abducting a cow image entering this universe with cheers from all sides, what a show.

A BALACED TONE…NOT

It’s not all giggles though, sometimes Dandadan can pull at the heartstrings in a slightly more mature manner like the entirety of Episode 7 which I’ve already written an entire essay on but the summary is that it’s a shockingly brutal yet beautiful story that gives possibly the most effective backstory to a monster I’ve seen since what, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein?(I love this book so this isn’t a bit) Yes it’s mainly in the supernatural where serious subjects come up as most of these phenomena form due to the evils of humanity whereas the alien equation is mostly plain evil buggers, aside from the milkbloods. This show doesn’t handle all subject matter with grace though as a minor gripe of mine has taken shape as a major turnoff for many and with the travesty of a season ending I really can’t ignore it. Momo starts this series almost getting sexually assaulted by some alien bastards and while she thankfully awakens her powers in time and alongside a specifically motivated Turbo Granny proceeds to shrek them it’s definitely a questionable way to start a series, hopefully it doesn’t become a problem. For most of its run things were looking good on the whole fanservice front as it didn’t really appear, heck there’s a whole episode where Okarun is butt ass naked and it’s the funniest thing ever before ending on quite possibly the most unhinged thing I’ve ever seen in a shonen, all without any unsavoury taste by anime sexulization standards. So when I tell you that this season ends with Momo actively being drowned by a bunch of perverts for what in real time will be half a year I hope you can understand why I was not left with a good taste in my mouth. Scratch that it’s honestly the worst season cliffhanger I’ve ever witnessed, a total catastrophe of a script with absolutely zero conceivably reason for this to be a logical or fitting endpoint, like seriously how did that end up the final shot of our MC. So while overall these scenes where overshadowed by how good everything else is I can understand why some won’t accept these scenes at all and that ending is indefensible, Dandadan is peak but not without stains.

ADAPTING INSANITY

Of course all of this is nonsense storytelling is coming from Science Saru so as a production it goes without saying this is a banger on all fronts, maybe even their best? This studio which has been the home of Masaki Yuasa and recently Naoko Yamada has never been on the mainstream of things so Dandadan as the most out there hit property up for grabs ended up a very natural pick for this studio to take on, to say they delivered is an understatement. Director Fuuga Yamashiro has worked under both Yuasa and Yamada as an episode director so this show was his first opportunity as a series director and bro blew it out of the park with tons of inspired creative choices. The most well known is his heavy handed approach to color design and monsters, when the action gets going without fail certain colors will wash across the screen to dominate for the entirety of the fight to flashy effect, with Turbo Granny being represented as red and Loch Ness Zilla as green to name a few. While this means that the these sequences look kinda sickly and lack the visual sharpness of the regular palette I can’t see this as anything other than brilliant, it’s simply so fun to see entire sequence of expertly animated action being given a final neon soaked coat of paint for no reason other than because we can. And the animation is brilliant no doubt, full of lively and loose character acting punctuated flashy finishing moves assisted by ultra detailed still frames to make big moments look grander than they could’ve otherwise without a sense of movement being lost. CGI is also fitted in expertly because the overpowering colors cover up any potential compositing issues and keep the whole picture cohesive no matter what’s on screen. From the character designs to the backgrounds everything is well detailed with sharp linework and warm colors, it definitely pops more than your average show even without the ambitious storyboards that also frequently make themselves known. Episode 1 and 7 are absolutely triumphs of TV production that go so far above the average that it’s kinda offensive, this team is unrestrained and confident in their output and they have every right to be, I can’t wait to see more just to see them evolve.

KENSUKE USHIOOOOOO!

The final cherry on top which immediately made me decide to go anime only was my boy in charge of the music, yes we got Kensuke Ushio on the score and bro understood the assignment. This is a goofy show so the soundtrack is goofy too which resulted in the single most brilliant track of anime score this year when we got a EDM remix of Gioachino Rossini’s William Tell Overture(delightfully titled William Hell Overture) for Episode 4 which yes you’ll 100% recognize by ear even if you don’t recognize the name’s I threw at you, because I sure as hell didn’t know squat. That sequence was the absolute height of entertainment from Japan circa 2024 and it perfectly showcases literally every element of this production I have praised. Oh yeah and don’t worry Ushio still slammed us in the feels with Episode 7’s Love Theme which slowly but surely tore my heart to pieces all while I admired its overwhelming beauty. What a guy, I love no other artist of any type more than Ushio so him being here is objectively the best thing that could’ve happened.

TIS THE END!

So that’s Dandadan, a show that can be summed up succinctly as nuts. It goes nuts, it’s got nuts(ok maybe not but ya get the point) and has nuts as a central plot point which is both the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard and the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s an overwhelming display of creativity and craft that with very few dents shines brightly as the freshest new kid on the block. I loved what we got this season but I’m fairly sure we’ve seen nothing yet, let the Dandadan hype train continue forevermore(also known as summer)!

FINAL RATING: 8.5/10

Dandadan can currently be streamed on Crunchyroll and Netflix or purchased from Viz as single volumes.