It was April 2021, the first chapter of a new series was published on the Manga Plus app and it immediately caught my eyes. A teenage series mixes elements of the great Shueisha classics, a series that combines Japanese folklore and yokai with the most famous alien-themed conspiracy theories. An extremely dynamic and clean graphic sector and paneling, which draws on the Toriyama, Kishimoto and Kubo school. In the pot the elements mix skillfully, the touch of dementedness and the adolescent love story end up delivering the final blow. Dandadan starts running as soon as he is born, and runs very fast. The sagas follow one another at a fast-paced pace, the adventures of Momo and Okarun lead them to explore the world of the invisible more and more deeply. Finally we arrive at the end of 2024, Science SARU announces the anime, in the West it is distributed by Crunchyroll and Netflix: it is a worldwide success.
Now that the first season is over, now that everyone is talking about it, let me gloat a little and let me say “I knew it!”. Because I had great faith in Yokinobu Tatsu and his bizarre way of approaching shonen, and I wasn’t much wrong…
Original title: ダンダダン (Dandadan) English title: Dandadan Japanese release: October 2024 Italian release: October 2024 Platform: Crunchyroll, Netflix Genre: Sci-fi, Supernatural, Adolescent Number of episodes: 12 Duration: approximately 20 minutes Animation studio: Science SARU Adapted from: manga by Yukinobu Tatsu Language: Japanese/Italian (two different dubbings)
We reviewed Dandadan via the Crunchyroll streaming platform.
Yokai, alieni e kaiju
We have already anticipated what the main themes of the series are, namely aliens and yokai, but how are these elements distributed within the plot? The story opens like a normal adolescent slice of life. Momo is a very extroverted girl, looking for her first love. She is not a very lucky girl in this sense, for those who have ever read Slam Dunk, we can define her as a female Sakuragi. After being disappointed for the umpteenth time by the boy she liked, however, she meets the school nerd, Ken Takakura (Okarun) and a strange understanding immediately develops between the two.
In fact, they both discover that they have particular interests, Okarun is in fact passionate about ufology, while Momo believes in spirits and ghosts. The two immediately begin to clash, supporting their own beliefs to the detriment of those of the other, and after several arguments they decide to make a bet: Momo will have to go to a place famous for alien apparitions while Okarun will have to reach a very famous tunnel haunted by ghosts , whoever is right wins. The result? Neither of them will find out they are wrong, aliens and spirits BOTH exist!
From here on their bond will become ever closer, the two boys will find themselves facing more than bizarre adventures, between aliens who want to invade the earth and terrible spirits who haunt and curse the streets of Japan. Absurd characters and situations follow one another at a truly impressive pace, among the craziest colors and designs, all inspired by the most famous urban legends. All seasoned with an awkward adolescent romance of two boys who like each other but are still too immature to admit it to themselves. In short, a plot that is never banal, never boring, irreverent at the right level and exciting.
The work of SARU Scientific
The adaptation of the manga was taken on by Science SARU, an animation house co-founded by Masaaki Yuasa, the undisputed genius of Japanese animation. The animation style we can say takes a very different path from manga from a graphic point of view. While the manga in fact has an extremely clean, at times manneristic style and an out-of-control dynamic direction, the anime sacrifices cleanliness and detail to focus much more on the bizarreness of the designs, the stroboscopic colors and the dynamics of the action that bends the shapes. But the result is absolutely no less than the manga, on the contrary, it goes very well with the audiovisual medium and allows the bizarreness contained in the work to be conveyed very well.
There is no shortage of differences, albeit minimal, in the storytelling and in the way in which some flashbacks are used within the work, differences which in this case work in favor of the anime. In particular, the flashback of the silky hair acrobat (which allows us to present a very famous yokai and the link with one of the secondary characters) is, in my opinion, more effective than the manga. In fact, the scene, which is silent in both the manga and the anime, is supported in the anime by a soundtrack that greatly enhances the emotional subjective and allows for better empathy with the character in question. For the rest, the differences with the manga are very few in terms of plot, the animated work is, in this sense, a 1:1 transposition of the original work.
Momo Okarun
However, let’s get to the themes and messages that this work conveys to us right away. First of all we notice a great focus on the vertical relationships between characters, sharing, friendship and love. Yes, because Momo and Okarun, in addition to having to come to terms with their feelings and declare themselves to each other, will find other characters on the street who will soon become their friends. Cooperation in emergency situations therefore becomes a key theme and chorality becomes increasingly popular in this work. Those who have read the manga know this even better.
Another fundamental theme is certainly tolerance, the acceptance of other points of view. In fact, clashes very often turn into moral clashes rather than physical ones. In fact, aliens and Yokai also have feelings and a history that has made them so, this will allow children to develop a more complex vision of the world in which they live, they will soon understand the importance of understanding and empathy. In short, from a moral point of view it is not a divisive work, there are no good and bad in absolute terms, only points of view.
The Italian adaptation
The Italian dubbing, or rather the dubbings, were made separately by Crunchyroll and Netflix. For Netflix, the dubbing was entrusted to CDC Sefit Group, while Crunchyroll entrusted the task to Molok Studios. The adaptations themselves and the dialogues differ, the Netflix one appears a bit more foul-mouthed in tone but the performance is almost identical. Both do not censor almost anything of the original work, they are foul-mouthed at the right point and reflect the foolishness of the product. The choice of voice actors is very fair in both cases, even if I personally prefer Netflix’s a little more.
However, there is a consideration to be made regarding the Italian dubbing, namely that in this case more than ever the linguistic-cultural barrier is felt strongly. The Japanese original appears much more suitable for zany and comical scenes as the tone used and the comedy that emerges have a rhythm typical of their culture. But it doesn’t just stop at a question of comic timing, it is also reflected in the numerous references to Japanese urban legends, clippings on the daily life of teenagers or some puns understandable only by those who speak the language of the Rising Sun. But this is definitely not a problem for those who made the adaptation, on the contrary, it is an extremely tiring barrier to overcome.
Who do we recommend Dandadan to?
I recommend Dandadan to those who adore Japanese craziness, to those who adore the classic elements of shonen (Yu of the Ghosts, Bleach, Dragon Ball, Arale) but mixed in an extremely chaotic and original way. To those who don’t want new ingredients on the table, but only new dishes with which to delight their palate.
Visually spectacular. Fun and zany
Perhaps a slightly too truncated ending
Taste
Total chaos!
Aliens invading the earth, terrifying spirits capable of the worst actions. In the world of Dandadan there is no moment of respite, once the invisible is revealed, chaos erupts and nothing will ever be the same again. Let yourself be carried away, tossed around and entertained like never before by this series, you won’t be able to do without it!
