Where are my anime lovers?
I came onto Dandadan out of curiosity—curious about the hype, the genre mashup, and the high praise from fans. The trailer teased a wild mix: ghosts, aliens, teens in over-the-top supernatural chaos. That peek was enough to pull me to Crunchyroll, where I braced for something absurd—and yep, it delivered.
Momo Ayase does not believe in aliens but believes in ghosts and psychic abilities. Ken Takakura Okarun believes in aliens and makes fun of ghosts. These two misfits go out to investigate haunting and UFO hotspots together and things get strange, quick. Imagine alien probes, the shape of bananas, ghost spirit possession capers, then add in screaming action, adolescent angst and embarrassment and a languid romance that passes unnoticed under the mayhem.
Momo battles the horny ghosts; Ken battles the vanishing anatomy; both learn to depend on each other in weird, funny, and endearing situations such as desperately trying to avoid peeing in front of each other in the middle of possession
The first episode was disquieting; even disturbing, with alien bizarreness and lack of consent. However, when Momo destroys the extraterrestrial danger, I understood: this show is not glorifying shock, it is reflecting the fear of teens and physical insecurities disguised as supernatural allegory.
The horror became less graphic and more meta and comedic as the series went along. Teenage needs such as the need to relieve oneself became an evil on par with ghosts and aliens. I cringed and laughed with him during a scene when Ken gets nearly ready to urinate in front of Momo in order to keep his curse at bay. It became clear that the world of teenage shame was more comprehensible than the world of the battle in epic fantasy.
The emotional beats were good despite the boundary-pushing visuals. Gradually, the quarrelling of Momo and Okarun turned into trust, friendship, and sincere concern. Their bumbling, natural progression became the pulse through the non-sense. And it is true that the show is paced like crazy, you do not even have time to recover after one shock before it shocks you again with a twist that will melt your brain.
The animation by Science Saru is strong at providing surreal horror and action-packed panoramas, loopy camera angles, gritty texture, and nimble characters. Its aesthetic style is as exuberant as its storytelling: all the ghost battles are shuddering with action and horror.
The opening theme, titled Otonoke by Creepy Nuts, is a certified banger, having won Best Opening Sequence at the 2025 Crunchyroll Anime Awards.
It is also a very introspective film. I almost lost it in the first episode but recovered to find out that senior high traumas take many forms: alien, ghostly, or all too humanly embarrassing.
The chemistry and emotional connection are drooled over by fans of the series on Reddit:
“Momo and Okarun, chemistry I do not find even in other romance-oriented stories
Essentially it covers every type of genre…and it takes me through every single emotion of a human being”
It seems so well deserved: a show people experience, that causes people to laugh, to be hopeful, to be scared, to blush, to shiver (like the Dover Demon ghost).
Although there is massive acclaim, there are critics who believe it is overdoing fanservice or lowbrow shocks. Critics say some scenes are overfilled with horniness, and the pace is overstuffed. The same goes in the alien sex humor, which does not suit everyone.
With that out of the way, the anime manages to salvage the earlier cringiness with raw earnestness and shifts in tone that actually count.
Dandadan felt like a rollercoaster that I watched blindfolded: it was unexpected, uncomfortable, and tiring. I flinched as Ken almost urinated- and giggled as Momo set alien banana probes on fire.
Even more so, I experienced their adolescent anxiety: am I normal? Do I have a weird factor? Am I sufficient? Those were simpler questions than any battle.
Their developing bond- the bond between two children who would rather die than appear strange in the eyes of the other- struck me right to the heart. It was not mere action with romance but it was anxious hope.
This performance triggered a memory of the vulnerability of our teenage years--the fear, the shame, the electric charge of a glance.
Thumbnail is designed by me on pixelLab and other images are screenshot from the movie
