OP: “Otonoke” (オトノケ) by Creepy Nuts

My history with Dandadan could hardly be a longer one. That is, I started reading it with the very first chapter after seeing the instantaneous buzz it generated. And immediately pegged it as a future kaijuu candidate. The mangaka being Tatsu Yukinobu is part of that, sure. Any Fujimoto assistant seems like a breakout candidate. But it was clear from the beginning that this manga had “it”, whatever “it” is. Star quality, sparkle, distinctiveness. You’d ever experienced anything quite like Dandadan and weren’t sure you ever would again (or if that would be a bad thing).

The manga presented some clear challenges as an anime candidate, however. At the very base level visuals had to be exceptional if it was going to work. Impact is everything with Dandandan – without it, it’s just noise. But how do you recreate an impact that Tatsu generates through paneling and, foremost, incredibly detailed and complicated artwork? Artwork that could never be replicated in anime, no matter what sort of budget you had. Science Saru getting the call as studio was a cryptic signal. You figured it had to be a big name, but Saru is not Production I.G. or Bones – their production quality has been inconsistent to be sure.

In a sense they’ve chosen the most obvious path. Rather than try and replicate the background detail they’re overloading the senses with what anime can bring – constant motion and perspective shifting. Director Yamashiro Fuuga has worked on some very interesting stuff but never helmed a project like this. Working with Animation Director Onda Naoyuki – 30 years his senior and a veteran of every big-time studio including Gainax – Yamashiro has crafted a frenetic and exhausting roller coaster of an episode that stylistically sits at an intersection of Saru under Yuasa Masaaki and vintage Gainax. Does it work? On balance I would say yes, because for the most part Dandadan the anime leaves me almost as breathless as Dandadan the manga, using completely different methods.

Dandadan is basically a kitchen sink of the occult – wait long enough and every unreal phenomenon in the human imagination will turn up. Heroine Ayase Momo (Wakamiya Shion), granddaughter of a spirit medium, is a bad girl (though only in persona) who believes in ghosts. Hero Takakura Ken (Hanae Natsuki) is a put-upon otaku who believes in aliens and cryptids (though hilariously turns up his nose at ghosts). Ayase saves Ken from a bunch of bullies in his classroom, and he mistakenly takes this to mean she shares his occult proclivities. She shoots him down harshly, feels bad about it, and the two of them find the other is surprisingly easy to talk to.

One reason Dandadan works is that these two are quite sweet together, though so much happens to so many characters that they tend to get swamped a lot of the time. For now, the two of them challenge each other. He’ll go to a famed haunted tunnel and she to an abandoned hospital reputedly an alien hot spot, and if either comes away a believer they’ll become the other’s gofer. Of course this being Dandadan they’re both right and both wrong – aliens and ghosts both exist, because everything exists.

Ken winds up being cursed by a youkai named Turbo Granny, who’s played by Tanaka Mayumi, and I can’t tell you how hard it makes me ROFL that Luffy is voicing her. Turbo Granny is easily my favorite creature in Dandadan, and she makes a big entrance – she offers to let Ken suck her shaggy teats if she lets her gobble his schlong (which the official subs disappointingly translate as “weenie”) – which she’ll later steal. Meanwhile Momo is being abducted by the Serpoians, an all-male race of “friendly” aliens who want to have intercourse with her and steal her “banana”.

The funny thing is, this is actually relatively tame for Dandadan. The amuse bouche, never mind the appetizer. For now, Turbo Granny possesses Ken and zips over to the hospital through Ayana’s smartphone, and proceeds to kick Serpo ass. Momo having been saved (it’s not entirely clear where Ken’s will begins and Turbo Granny’s ends), she pops back to her tunnel with Ken’s thingie and challenges the kids to follow her if they want to retrieve it – the only way to break her curse on him. A curse Momo must keep in check at all-times. using her spirit power or he’ll go off. Oh, and she has a raging obsession with Takakura Ken the late tough-guy actor, and when she finds out what Occult-kun’s real name is she just about loses it on the spot.

Really, this is great fun in manga form and happily, Yamashiro and team seem to have found a way to capture that. I have issues with the manga but the early part is pretty much pure adrenaline, and I think that’s going to translate. The manga is very successful, but it’s entirely possible that with the anime boosting it the Dandadan franchise could become a true monster commercially. It was obvious from the previews (no, I did not watch the episodes stolen from Netflix’ servers) that Science Saru was pulling out all the stope here – because they had to. In much the way Production I.G. elevated a very good manga (better than this one) in Tengoku Daimakyou with a tremendous adaptation, Saru may be about to do the same with Dandadan. It won’t surprise me if it’s the most talked-about anime of fall, and maybe of 2024.

ED: “TAIDADA” by ZUTOMAYO