Minor spoilers for Dandadan ahead!
With the year drawing to a close, so does the last anime season of 2024, as well as its most sensational premiere - Science SARU's Dandadan. A genre-bending shonen adventure that mixes together everything from riveting action to romantic comedy to tear-jerking drama, Dandadan has been a true highlight of the year, endearing a large fanbase to its whimsical story instantaneously. The plot of Dandadan is a refreshing breakaway from recent shonen trends. An urban fantasy blend of sci-fi and supernatural fiction, the series follows Momo and Okarun after they accidentally uncover the existence of both ghosts and aliens, the revelation sucking them into a dangerous yet exciting adventure with a slow-burn romantic flair. Unpredictable, hilarious, and full of palpable sincerity, Dandadan effortlessly captured the hearts of myriads of fans in just its first cour.
With such an explosive start, the series predictably left fans wanting more as the credits rolled on the last of Dandadan's 12 episodes. The show's opening arcs successfully enamored the viewers with its world and characters, leaving them with a promise of more exciting adventures to come. The series' fast pacing and dynamic narrative style allowed it to cover a lot of ground in one season, providing the audience with a full spectrum of what Dandadan has to offer. Nonetheless, the most pressing question all anime fans face after finishing an ongoing adaptation remains - how much of the story does the show adapt, and where should curious viewers start if they think of picking up the manga?
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Dandadan's First Season Ended on a Cliffhanger
The Last Two Episodes Were a Sneak Peek at the Cursed House Arc
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While still a new-gen series, Dandadan didn't burst onto the shonen scene out of nowhere - the series standing as a favorite among manga readers for quite some time. Yukinobu Tatsu's original manga has been serializing on Shonen Jump+ since April 2021, giving the Science SARU adaptation quite a head start. Currently, Dandadan stands at almost 180 chapters and is in the middle of its tenth arc - the Pygmy Princess. Nonetheless, arcs in Dandadan, especially in the beginning, are not particularly long, averaging at around 10 chapters. As such, the anime's first cour managed to cover three of them - Turbo Granny, Acrobatic Silky, and Serpo arcs - with its last two episodes venturing into an entirely new adventure.
The Cursed House arc is a beloved fan favorite among Dandadan's readers. Beginning with the arrival of an entirely new character - Momo's eccentric childhood friend, Jiji - this plotline centers around investigating the alleged curse that recedes in the boy's mountain home. In Dandadan's 12th episode, the trio makes their way to the uncannily tranquil mountain village, only to find no evident spiritual activities on the house's premises. Yet, the adaptation's finale turns the tables on both the audience and the unsuspecting heroes. In the episode's final stretch, Jiji and Okarun locate a disquieting secret room covered in protective talismans. All the while, Momo faces off against a group of eerie attackers at the local hot spring. An effective cliffhanger, the season's finale leaves the audience inching with anticipation.
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On average, anime adaptations cover two chapters of the manga per episode. Dandadan commonly breaks this rule, moving through the story at a swifter pace - outside the Turbo Granny arc, which takes five episodes to cover eight chapters of the manga, the anime squeezes approximately three chapters of content into each episode. As such, the first season's finale takes the viewers to the end of Chapter 33, which ends with Okarun and Jiji peeking into the hidden talisman room. While most manga readers expected the adaptation to wrap up a few chapters earlier - either at Chapter 30 or 31 - the series decided to up the suspense for the next cour by breaking the Cursed House arc between seasons - a choice that can be seen as both controversial and advantageous.
Science SARU Exceeded Expectations with Their Treatment of Dandadan
The Anime Is a Near-Flawless Adaptation That Elevates the Source Material
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At the hands of Science SARU, Yukinobu Tatsu's original manga transforms into an even more riveting adventure, the bold directorial choices, splendid animation, and top-tier voice acting elevating the source material to new heights. Adapting Dandadan to screen was never seen by fans as an easy task. The series' shockingly detailed art and whimsical tone worked stellarly in the original medium, yet bringing it to life required a competent and confident creative team that matched the series' eccentric energy. Thankfully, Science SARU has long since established itself as the master of experimental and daring animation with such series as Devilman Crybaby and Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, making the studio a perfect fit for the genre-bending, boundary-pushing story Dandadan tells.
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Staying faithful to the source material while adding to the original story in unique yet fitting ways was Science SARU's priority when handling the adaptation of Dandadan. The anime covers the manga without error, with many of its shots being almost exact replicas of Tatsu's panels. Nonetheless, the series does take a few creative liberties and adds its own spin to certain scenes, as expected of a truly remarkable adaptation. Most notably, the anime expands the Acrobating Silky backstory in Episode 7, giving it a more experimental, cinematic treatment that makes the already stirring flashback endlessly more heart-rending. Be it significant changes that alter the tone of a given scene or small adjustments meant to ease the transition between mediums, every creative choice Science SARU makes serves a purpose and elevates the source material without challenging what lies at its heart.
Few faults can be found in Science SARU's adaptation of Momo and Okarun's adventures. Yet, as no adaptation is perfect, some fans - both anime-onlies and manga readers - wished the series was a bit less fast-paced. As a manga, Dandadan is already quite hectic, with events unraveling at a breakneck speed. However, the anime's pacing is even more hectic, which did sour the experience for some viewers. This issue was most prevalent in the anime's adaptation of the Serpo arc. What took the manga 10 chapters to cover, the anime adapts in just 3 episodes, with the climactic confrontation between the heroes and the aliens suffering the most from feeling rushed. Nonetheless, many see Dandadan's fast pacing as a merit instead of a flaw, welcoming the show's refusal to stretch out plot points.
Anime Fans Have a Thrilling Adventure Ahead of Them
Most of Dandadan's Peaks Are Yet to Come
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The first season of Dandadan might've stunned the viewers with its cliffhanger ending, yet, thankfully, fans wouldn't have to wait long for Momo and Okarun to return to screens. The second season of Dandadan is to premiere in July 2025, making it a short wait. The sequel will continue the Cursed House plot and, if the second cour sticks to the pace of the first season, cover the following Evil Eye arc, in which Jiji officially joins the protagonists' makeshift occult-fighting team. The finale of the season is likely to tease the beginning of the Kaiju arc - a fan-favorite plot marked by the return of alien adversaries, the introduction of two crucial heroes, and the setup of the series' most ambitious storyline to date, the grand Space Globalists arc.
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Closely connectedto the mystery of Jiji's haunted home, the arcs set up for the second season are even more thrilling than what the anime has showcased thus far, filled to the brim with high-octane flights, intriguing conspiracies, and emotional highlights. Anime fans have a lot to look forward to with Dandadan's adaptation. As an ongoing manga, Dandadan is yet to lose its momentum, and some of its most impactful parts are yet to come.Currently, the manga already has enough material for five cours, and with the series' explosive popularity, it's unlikely that Dandadan won't be adapted in its entirety.
Regardless of how exceptional the series' anime adaptation is, those eager to continue adventuring alongside Okarun, Momo, and their friends without having to wait years for the anime to catch up would definitely benefit from checking out the original manga. Outstanding in both its visual presentation and narrative quality, Yukinobu Tatsu's magnum opus offers some of the best storytelling in new-gen shonen - as vibrantly demonstrated in the series' adaptation. A captivatingly refreshing title in both of its iterations, Dandadan definitely deserves its acclaim and will, without a doubt, continue surprising fans with its rivetingly unpredictable story.
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Dandadan
TV-MA
Animation
Action
Adventure
Comedy
Fantasy
Release Date September 13, 2024
Creator(s) Yukinobu Tatsu
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
Main Genre Animation
Seasons 1
Studio Science Saru
Creator Yukinobu Tatsu
Number of Episodes 12
Streaming Service(s) Crunchyroll , Netflix , Hulu
Based On Manga
MyAnimeList Score 8.72
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
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