It’s a love story as old as time. He believes in aliens, she believes in ghosts, and they each think the other is absolutely crazy for not agreeing with them. One-dare-gone-wrong later: she’s abducted by aliens, and he’s possessed by a demon, and Dandadan only gets wilder from there.
This hit show inspired by the manga of the same name took the anime world by storm last year, and after binging the entire first season recently I can see why – it’s easily one of the best shows to come out of 2024.
Season 2 starts today (July 3) at 11am EST / 8am PST / 4pm BST (1am AEST on Friday, July 4), on Netflix and Crunchyroll (and Hulu in the US), here’s why you need to binge season 1 and tune into the new episodes as they release.
Full of heart, but utterly weird
At its core, Dandadan is an endearing high-school drama. Our protagonists, Momo Ayase, and Ken Takakura (nicknamed Okarun by Momo) are your classic awkward teens, and it’s a delight to watch their friendship and later will-they-won’t-they relationship develop over the course of the first season’s 12 episodes.
This show has everything that makes a high-school drama what it is: the duo face the wrath of the popular girl, experience the perils of the rumor mill, there’s love triangles, and the return of the first crush.
Oh, and of course battles with other-worldly forces.
And it’s in the combining of the familiar mundane with a healthy dose of absurdity, and full-throttle action, where Dandadan finds its rhythm.
If the first season’s incredible theme song wasn’t enough to clue you in, there’s a weirdness to Dandadan out the gate.
You may have noticed I’m trying not to go too deeply into specifics about this show beyond its premise, and that’s because describing the plot would not only spoil the fun of watching the show, it would make me sound like I’ve lost several of my marbles.
Dandadan exhibits a strangeness that for most other shows would be extremely off putting.
But by combining this with its heartfelt core – which is fuelled by its well-developed characters – Dandadan tames its absurdity and transforms it into the secret sauce that keeps you coming back to feast on what each new episode brings to the table.
Once I started episode one, I couldn’t put it down until the episode 12 finale forced me to stop.
The complete anime package
And, of course, you couldn’t face off against aliens and ghosts without plenty of action scenes.
While our protagonists have a few supernatural gifts it’s not to the extent you’ll see in other anime like Jujitsu Kaisen or Solo Levelling.
Momo and Okarun feel like elevated humans rather than gods, and this leads to more grounded and often tense action that focuses on our heroes finding a clever solution to their problems rather than simply punching their foe hard enough.
So if you’re now convinced you should try Dandadan, but also thinking you don’t have much time to prepare for season 2, worry not.
Yes, season 2 is debuting today (July 3) at 11am EST / 8am PST / 4pm BST (1am AEST on Friday, July 4), but it’s only the first episode.
Plus season one of the show can be binged in under five hours as its 12 episodes are a mere 24 minutes long – you could save it all for this weekend, or cram through all of season one and the start of season two in an extended evening.
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hamish.hector@futurenet.com (Hamish Hector)
