Dandadan is available to stream now in the UK on Crunchyroll and Netflix.
Synopsis
When high schooler Momo, from a family of spirit mediums, first meets her classmate Okarun, an occult geek, they argue—Momo believes in ghosts but denies aliens, and Okarun believes in aliens but denies ghosts. When it turns out both phenomena are real, Momo awakens a hidden power and Okarun gains the power of a curse. Together, they must challenge the paranormal forces threatening their world.
Review
Dandadan is back for Season 2 and wastes no time diving back into the supernatural chaos that surrounds this group. Picking up right where Season 1 ended, Momo, Okarun, and Jiji head to Jiji’s family home in a small hot springs town to investigate the curse afflicting his family. The season does not ease viewers back into the series but instead throws us in with barely a second thought.
While this review covers the first four episodes of the season, it primarily focuses on the remainder of the Cursed House Arc. Other reviews will follow a similar pattern rather than a weekly breakdown.
It’s worth noting that this arc delves into some serious topics and scenes that could be distressing for some viewers. Specifically, Momo fighting off middle-aged and older men in a bathhouse while wearing nothing but a towel, and the backstory of both Jiji’s parents and the Evil Eye, which involves self-harm and child torture. The manga, and by extension the anime, does an interesting job of balancing its extremely wild world of sci-fi and supernatural elements with more distressing and heartbreaking scenes of realism. Season One also featured this balance, notably in its first episode and the flashback of the Silky Yokai. While I personally have no issue with how Dandadan delves into these topics and how they’re handled, it’s understandable why they might be more significant concerns for others.
Elsewhere, however, the fights in these arcs are absolutely epic. Once Evil Eye joins the fray, we’re treated to some awesome Yokai-vs-Yokai battles, as well as Momo taking on more than five people at once and holding her own! On top of that, we’re then shown a three-on-one battle with Evil Eye versus Momo and two other unlikely candidates before even more join the fray! The fights are violent, visceral, and visually spectacular, with some shots peeled right off the pages of the manga.
The mystery of the ‘Great Serpent God’ is also fun, with a hint being introduced last season during their train ride into town. The flashbacks for both Evil Eye and Jiji, both tugging on the heartstrings, as well as their interactions with each other, highlight why Jiji quickly became a fan favorite among Dandadan fans.
Verdict
The first four episodes of Dandadan absolutely knock it out of the park, making this anime most certainly one of the highlights of this year. The pacing is fast but steady, and the animation is high quality, with the English Dub voice cast absolutely nailing their dual roles in both human and Yokai form.
I cannot wait to see what the rest of the season looks like!
⭐⭐⭐⭐
