Review of Dan Da Dan
Before I begin, if it matters to anyone I am an anime only fan! I have not read any of the manga and therefore this review will be based on how well the anime stands alone, not on how well it adapts the source material. Story: 5/10 Honestly, I'm not sure about the story at all. The premise got me hooked immediately from episode one, but from there it got a bit confusing to follow. I'm not sure if this show will become easier to understand in later seasons, but for now I'm just left scratching my head and trying to remember the difference between the aliensand the ghosts. The pacing, however, was brilliant. Every arc and moment felt like it got just the right amount of attention and runtime given to it. I don't think I've ever seen a show nail it's pacing quite like this one.
Also, the overtly sexual nature of the show did not sit right with me considering the ages of the main cast. I don't know about you guys, but I prefer my shounen without high school characters in their underwear. On a similar note, did the mcguffin of the show have to be a teenage boy's genitalia? Call me a snowflake if you want, but the whole thing didn't really sit right with me.
Art: 10/10
Peak! My god, the artstyle and animation of this show is incredible. It sort of gives me Jujutsu Kaisen energy, mixed with a little bit of the spike shots from Haikyuu. It's fluid and beautiful to look at. No notes, 10/10, incredible.
Sound: 10/10
No notes, incredible, especially the opening theme! That song is going to be stuck in my head for about a million years!
Character: 6/10
The characters are fine. They're likeable enough. Momo was my favourite, and I found her grandma pretty enjoyable (if not annoying at times) but the rest of them were either unlikeable, annoying or just kind of boring. You can find Ken Takakura starring as the MC in literally any other shounen anime ever. Sure, the 'pathetic loser who turns out to be the hero' trope can be endearing at first, but honestly at this point it feels tired. Aira was downright unlikeable for most of her screentime, but that sort of feels like the point of her character so I have a very love-hate relationship with her, and that's about all I have to say as the other characters have left my mind already.
Enjoyment: 9/10
As I've already mentioned in the story segment, the only thing that knocked my enjoyment of this show was the overly sexual nature of some of the episodes. Other than that, I had an absolute blast with this show. This is the fastest I've binged an anime in several years by far, and I can't wait for season 2 to drop!
Overall: 9/10