We be bloggin'

Ghosts and ghouls alike, welcome to 13 Days of Otakutober! I’m so ecstatic to be coming at you with some spooky and Halloween-themed anime-related content. I can’t wait for the next 13 days as we get to talk about all things horror, spooky, and downright creepy in the world of anime/manga/games. Fall is my favorite season so this is one of my favorite holiday campaigns to continue doing. To kick things off right, I thought I’d start with a good ole first impression of one of the hottest topics right now: Dandadan!

So, if you’re up to date with the most recent season of anime, I’m sure you’ve heard of Dandadan by now. A wacky concept pairs up a ganguro girl whose grandmother is an exorcist and a nerdy boy who believes in aliens and they discover that the world is a lot weirder than either can imagine as both their beliefs are proven real. I think that’s honestly the best short description I can give of the premise. I originally read a few free chapters of Dandadan on Viz media a few months ago after a close friend of mine told me what he thought of the manga. When I first read it, it was totally awesome. Don’t get me wrong–totally weird, and really wild, but also super fun. There was something about the humor and the fast-paced, kind of dirty jokes and dialogue that really reminded me of some classic shounen manga. I really don’t know how else to say that. But it reminded me of some of my favorite anime/manga from growing up. I really enjoyed reading it, but I wasn’t ready to start buying volumes of it for my already overflowing bookshelf. So instead I told myself I’d wait until the anime came out to consume more of it.

Lo and behold, the anime premiered in theaters on September 13th with a special showing of the first few episodes. I went to see it with the same friend who had recommended it and boy. It was done SO well. The anime version of the manga was great. Even though there were some visual gags in the manga that didn’t quite work in the anime, the directors and writers of the anime thought of ways to get across similar dramatic or comedic elements that were lost in the medium change. However, what was really impressive about the anime to me was the animation style. The studio that picked up Dandadan is called Science Saru and they also did visually stunning anime such as Devilman Crybaby, Japan Sinks: 2020, The Heike Story, Yurei Deco, and many more. So naturally, I had been excited to see them do such a wild story such as Dandadan and they delivered so well. From switching up to simplified art styles for humor, to removing color from a scene to emphasize the haunting and dooming presence of a spirit, the decisions made by the animators and directors are always so visually interesting.

Aside from the animation, the voice acting is impeccable. I couldn’t be happier with the way the voice cast plays off one another. Every voice fits their character so incredibly well that it really feels like whoever was in charge of casting knew exactly what they were doing and did a fantastic job. The lines are delivered with such comedic and dramatic timing and expertise. Overall just really impressive. During the premiere in theatres, they highlighted the voice cast and even the creator said that the voices ended up being so perfect and really brought his characters to life perfectly. In fact, the Dandadan creator was very impressed all together and so was I.

In terms of the characters themselves–you know–as written in the story–I really like them. Okarun and Momo are their names and they honestly are so good together. Momo definitely feels like a tsundere. At first. she seems to have an abrasive personality but she’s so earnest and good-natured though. She really is just a teenage girl underneath her rough edges and can actually be very caring. Meanwhile, Okarun is honestly a bit stubborn, nerdy, but genuinely a good person. Though shy initially, he gains some backbone pretty quickly after meeting Momo — and also getting his supernatural abilities from turbo granny. There are other important characters that haven’t been introduced yet, so I’ll avoid talking about them for now. But let’s just say that there are no characters in Dandadan that I dislike.

Overall, would I recommend Dandadan for a fun anime to watch for Otakutober? Yes. Would I also recommend Dandadan on an average day? Absolutely yes. This anime is incredibly fun and entertaining. So wild and wacky. It’s honestly a delight through and through and so much passion clearly went into this anime project. And as a bonus, the opening is a complete and utter bop.

Thanks for reading this first day of 13 Days of Otakutober! I hope you enjoyed this little review and I hope you go and watch Dandadan if you haven’t already. Meanwhile, we’ll see you tomorrow for day two and another spooky anime review!

xoxo,

Luna