Ahead of its premiere next month, the highly anticipated anime adaptation of Yukinobu Tatsu’s Dandadan by Science Saru had early screenings of the first three episodes at SM North EDSA and SM Megamall. The original work, described as a romantic comedy mixed with high-octane action and supernatural; occult intrigue, tells the story of Momo Ayase and Ken Takakura (nicknamed Okarun), two high school students who get caught up in the world of aliens and ghosts.
[NOTE: This review contains minor spoilers for the Dandadan anime’s first three episodes]
Before showing the episode, a special featurette played as an introduction to the anime. First, the voice actors of Momo and Okarun, Shion Wakayama and Natsuki Hanae respectively, talked about their experiences doing the voices of the characters. Wakayama spoke of her admiration of the character of Momo as a character who is bold, assertive, and stylish. Hanae spoke of the different sides of Okarun and how he was able to relate to the character.
More surprisingly, the author himself appeared on screen. Yukinobu Tatsu, with his signature egg avatar over his face, and with his editor Shihei Lin, talked more in-depth regarding the manga, its genesis, and their experience and thoughts regarding the production of the anime. The director of the anime, Fūga Yamashiro, also took to the camera and spoke about the decisions he made in bringing the unique world of Dandadan to video.
When the short documentary finished, the big screen lit up in shades of neon colors as the opening played. With the song by Creepy Nuts, the opening is a blend of frenetic and experimental sounds and ethereal music which perfectly captures the different sides of Dandadan. Moments of high energy and calm music matched with the equally chaotic and beautiful animation put forward by Science Saru. The visuals, like the music, switch from feverishly fast animations of the characters’ faces showcasing their personalities to avant-garde sketchy animations, to the characters dancing, and then it slows down for scenic shots of the characters and their environments. The opening does a great job of preparing the audiences for an anime that juggles tones and genres.
After the opening ended, and without skipping a beat, the anime introduced one of the main characters, Momo Ayase, a spunky gyaru who had just broken up with her then-boyfriend. While sulking to her friends, they make fun of her preferences for boys. She has a penchant for people similar to the Japanese actor Ken Takakura. Momo continued to sulk in the hallways until she met Okarun, a gloomy student who always gets picked on. She intervenes, however the pair quickly come at odds with each other. Okarun believes in aliens and the paranormal but denies the existence of ghosts and spirits. Momo is the opposite; she believes in the supernatural and rejects the paranormal.
Right away, the anime translates the oddball, fast-paced nature of the manga through the creative use of animation. An early example was the few scenes of Momo in the hallway. Still panels expanded into amusing walk cycles. Another is when Okarun and Momo are arguing, their bodies almost squash and stretch to exemplify their interactions. Science Saru utilized their long history of pushing what anime can be and used it in adapting the manga. It also cannot be understated how much a good job the voice actors have done to bring to life these beloved characters. From Momo’s brash and bold voice to Okarun’s shakier but firm tone, they help harmonize with the playful animation and turn each scene into an amusing ride. Other voices like Mayumi Tanaka as Turbo Granny gave off a very distinct and haunting performance, and Nana Mizuki as Momo’s Grandmother was cool but also funny.
The episode moves to Momo and Okarun visiting the hotspots separately, the anime fully captures the awe, and terror that was present in the source material. The manga is known for page-turners that use the medium to instantly surprise the readers with full-page reveals of Turbo Granny, and the Serpoians. The anime used the strengths of video, motion, and audio, to retain the essence of the manga while delivering a new way to experience the story. From using the light to guide the viewers on the reveals, to using some experimental animations to dive into the uncanny beings. The visuals were also at times more overtly distorted like in a key moment with Serpoians, and more stylized when Turbo Granny showed off her powers.
The anime also does a good job of reworking scenes and using the environment to give the same impact. Episode one ends with a dramatic reveal, and in the manga, Momo’s reaction was a double spread to show the emotions that swept her. In the anime, the scene happened differently but retained the same impact. The show also incorporates some of the manga’s characteristics to give the audience a different flavor. Episode two adapts the dialogue between Okarun and Momo at the start by cutting the screen into manga-sized panels, and throughout the anime, they used techniques like limited framerates to give character interactions a jerky and kinetic flow, and the quick succession of frames rather than fully animated sequences which helps in retaining the anime’s frenetic speed. However, the series also knows to slow down when the story calls for it. Intimate character moments like some of the interactions between Momo and Okarun and the interactions between Momo and her grandmother are not sacrificed nor do they ruin the flow of the episodes.
Across the episodes, the anime was also able to retain and match the humor from the source material. Using the perks of video, aside from animating the funny character poses, verbal jokes were able to land and bring laughter to the audience. Another humorous moment that took advantage of being animated came in episode two; in this scene, the camera zooms in on Momo’s shocked expression without cutting away.
The series also is not shy in playing with the colors to match the scenario play. The usual bright colors are at times muted and even turned black and white when the story calls for it. While the changes to the anime completed the story, it also did a great job of retaining specific moments from the manga, like Okarun’s big Episode Two moment.
The screening ended with episode three. While it felt like a cliffhanger, it was a good endpoint as it left the audience wanting more.
Based on what we’ve seen, Dandadan has all the makings of a big shonen anime hit, and as such, it should be a show to add to your watch list when it premieres next month. As for the screening experience, we loved seeing the show’s first three episodes on the big screen, and we hope to see even more screenings like this in the PH soon.
Dandadan premieres on October 4, 2024, on Muse Asia, Netflix, and other streaming platforms.