Review of Dan Da Dan

Man, I don't know about you, but it's pretty rare that I have THIS much fun with any single anime series. Dandadan is what you get when you combine boundless creativity with flawless execution. It's a crazy idea that was given to the exact crazy people that could make it shine. The result has something for everyone - action, comedy, hype, tension, romance, worldbuilding, you name it. If you consider yourself on the open minded side, do yourself a favour and check this one out! You won't regret it! The first thing that stands out about Dandadan is the batshit insane premise. A boy who believesin aliens, UFOs and conspiracy theories and a girl who believes in ghosts, demons and the paranormal take a bet with each other to prove who is correct. But it quickly turns out, they were BOTH correct and all of the aforementioned things are real, and then some. From then on, shenanigans ensue. Honestly, as someone deeply interested in all of those things, I am fully on board with this and I'm rooting for both of them to uncover all the secrets they seek! It's just so refreshing to take all these crazy ideas and just indulge in them to the fullest. Dandadan embraces all the cliches and stereotypes associated with aliens and ghosts alike and takes them even further. With all the weird and wacky powers that those beings have, this also allows basically anything to happen. It's basically X-Files on crack and steroids. The only limitation is imagination and that's what makes this so fun. In the small snippet of the story we get in this season, the whole experience remained thoroughly exciting, emotionally thrilling and absolutely unpredictable in the best way possible!

Craziness for craziness sake doesn't make a good story however and you need a strong foundation to build off of. This to me comes from the characters and their chemistry. Each character is rich, multilayered and engaging. Among all the insanity, they have very well developed personalities and surprisingly realistic flaws. Even when their quirks are exaggerated for comedic effect, they still feel quite real at the end of the day. Ken (AAAAHHH!) in particular is my boy! I know I used to be the same loser as him, so watching him come out of his shell and grow is pure joy. Plus, I can still learn a thing or two. The interactions are also very engaging and are a core part of the plot. Normally, I personally hate love polygons. They tend to be forced, overly dramatic and distracting from the main plot. But here, it works oddly enough. It feels like real people trying to get to know and understand each other and the bonds they form are strong and tangible. It's really cool to see and everyone grows from the moments they share together. Also it's well balanced, giving us more than enough stakes in the meantime and using the intimate personal moments as quiet respite between the madness. Plus, a lot of the bonding happens during their most intense moments, so it all flows as this one cohesive wonderful rollercoaster of emotions. While the crazy supernatural stuff is what makes Dandadan what it is, it's the characters and their genuine interactions that hold it all together.

And all of this greatness really comes together thanks to the wonderful execution courtesy of Science Saru! Man, this studio really found their project here! Like they were destined to work on this. The visuals are absolutely phenomenal on many levels. Firstly, all the crazy ideas allowed by the aliens and ghosts really let the studio go wild and experiment with visual styles and exaggerate the movement more and more. Secondly, while the use of single colour filters for certain moments can feel a bit odd, it works really well and usually doesn't detract from the visual clarity. It's also an instrumental part of the visual language helping convey the various supernatural phenomena taking place. When things explode into action, the animation is just something else! Everything is dynamic, vibrant, yet clear and easy to follow. To cap that off, the sound design fits perfectly, the music is absolutely stellar and the voice acting is sublime. Everything just falls together perfectly to bring one of the wackiest manga series to life in the best way possible!

Dandadan is a series like no other and definitely deserves your attention! It takes some of the craziest and wackiest ideas in existence and mashes them together into an adventure without limits, held together by some truly spectacular characters with amazing chemistry. It offers incredible fast-paced action, fantastical worldbuilding, awesome humour, a heaping dose of pop culture references and even surprisingly good romance. It offers something for everyone. With all of that rich awesomeness presented through some stunning animation and sound, Dandadan is a feast for the senses just as much as it's wonderful food for the imagination. The only criticism would be how abruptly the season ends in the middle of an arc! I'm glad that for once, me being slow to get to things worked out in my favour and I didn't have to wait for the continuation.

So for anyone who hasn't taken the plunge yet, do it! The truth is out there!