In Dan Da Dan, high school girl Momo has just been dumped by her loser but hot boyfriend and is depressed. In this funk, she sees Okarun, an obvious outcast, being picked on and decides to help him out of anger at the moment. Okarun, thrilled at her defending him, tries to share his interest in aliens with her. She tells him off, saying she doesn’t believe in aliens, and doesn’t care about his interests. But offhandedly she mentions believing in ghosts because of her grandmother being a medium, to which he then laughs at her. In typical high school kid fashion they dare each other. Momo will go to a hospital where aliens are known to appear and Okarun will go to a tunnel where a ghost is known to haunt. Surprisingly, they are both right, with Momo getting abducted by aliens and Okarun getting possessed by Turbo Granny (the name makes sense when you see her).
In the first three episodes a lot of the dynamic is being set up. The aliens and ghosts are creepy in design, and it is clear they are trying to hurt people and are taken seriously as a threat. What the aliens want to do to Momo in episode one is very dark and you really want to see them killed by Momo and Okarun because of that. It also seems likely that there may not be an overall “big bad” behind everything but now that these two teenagers have had their eyes opened they will have to deal with all sorts of aliens and ghosts, and their lives will never be the same.
That all being said, there is an inherent goofy quality to what they are going through as well as the horror on screen. Momo and Okarun have an instant bond as friends that have picked on each other forever. They can argue about psychic powers and how possession changes someone’s body in horrifying and embarrassing ways (better to see for yourself) and then get mad, the other one farted, and both treat it with the same level of teenage anger. Also, people picking on them for liking each other are already getting the classic denials and the yelling that anime is great at.
As characters both Momo and Okarun give quick details about why they chose to believe, which tells us a lot about them very early on. It lets us see how they fundamentally view their relationships with the world. Okarun feels isolated from the world and hopes aliens understand him, and Momo is embarrassed about her grandmother’s spiritualism and her rebellion, but later shows appreciation for her grandmother and her beliefs (but can still get aggravated with her). We have two typical teenagers now dealing with things beyond the world and yet it never changes that they are messed up teenagers.
As for the animation style, I liked the designs of the monsters in how unique they were. If they are based on anything else in particular I am not aware of it. The design for the people is a style that looks a little off from the anime design I am used to, but after watching for a while I noticed it less and less with so much going on. There is a lot of great color and fast movement with the battles that create tension, and the visuals keep you engaged.
This is an anime whose popularity will depend on if you like stories about fighting monsters. It is doing a good job of opening up the world and defining powers. From the opening sequence with a talking cat, I predict more characters are coming. Our two leads already have a great dynamic going with a good deal of humor to balance out the horror. While not my usual anime storyline, I will watch a few more episodes and see where it is going, especially with the larger cast coming into focus and the humor it has going for it. I know anime fans in general are excited for this one, and so far I believe they will be pleased.
Dan Da Dan premieres on Oct 3rd on Crunchyroll.
