Dandadan

Dandadan (ダンダダン) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yukinobu Tatsu. It has been serialized in Shueisha's Shōnen Jump+ app and website since April 2021, with its chapters collected in 15 volumes as of July 2024. An anime television series adaptation produced by Science Saru is set to premiere in October 2024.

Plot
Momo Ayase is a high school girl who believes in ghosts but not aliens, while her classmate Ken Takakura believes in aliens but not ghosts. In a bet to determine who is correct, the two decide to separately visit locations associated with both the occult and the supernatural—Ayase visiting the former, and Takakura visiting the latter. Ayase is abducted by a group of aliens who accidentally unblock her chakras, enabling latent psychic abilities. Meanwhile, Takakura is possessed by a spirit who takes over his body. By using Ayase's abilities and Takakura's possessed form, they defeat the aliens together. The rest of the story follows the two as they attempt to cure Takakura's curse, fight spirits and aliens, and develop romantic feelings for each other.

Main characters

 * Momo Ayase (綾瀬 桃)
 * A high school girl who believes in ghosts and the supernatural. After being abducted by Serpo aliens, she discovers she has psychokinetic powers, allowing her to visualize the "auras" of people and objects, and visualizes her power as giant hands to "grab" and control these auras. She has a crush on actor Ken Takakura, because of that, she refuses to call Okarun by his name because he does not look anything like him. Throughout the course of the story, she develops strong feelings for Okarun.
 * A high school girl who believes in ghosts and the supernatural. After being abducted by Serpo aliens, she discovers she has psychokinetic powers, allowing her to visualize the "auras" of people and objects, and visualizes her power as giant hands to "grab" and control these auras. She has a crush on actor Ken Takakura, because of that, she refuses to call Okarun by his name because he does not look anything like him. Throughout the course of the story, she develops strong feelings for Okarun.


 * Ken Takakura (高倉 健)
 * A shy and friendless high school boy who tries to connect with Ayase over their shared interests in the supernatural. She calls him "Okarun" (オカルン) from "occult", since he shares a name with the actor Ken Takakura, her celebrity crush. After being possessed by the Turbo-Granny, Ken gains the ability to enter a powerful demonic state, granting him immense speed. Throughout the course of the story, he develops strong feelings for Ayase as well.
 * A shy and friendless high school boy who tries to connect with Ayase over their shared interests in the supernatural. She calls him "Okarun" (オカルン) from "occult", since he shares a name with the actor Ken Takakura, her celebrity crush. After being possessed by the Turbo-Granny, Ken gains the ability to enter a powerful demonic state, granting him immense speed. Throughout the course of the story, he develops strong feelings for Ayase as well.

Supporting characters

 * Seiko Ayase (綾瀬 星子)
 * A spirit medium and Momo Ayase's grandmother, whom she lives with, despite appearing to be in her 20s. She helps Ayase and Okarun deal with dangerous spirits and . Though she has no innate powers, she has an extensive knowledge of supernatural entities and curses, and uses various artifacts and the borrowed power of the god residing in their city to seal and exorcise, though this power is only limited to the city itself.
 * A spirit medium and Momo Ayase's grandmother, whom she lives with, despite appearing to be in her 20s. She helps Ayase and Okarun deal with dangerous spirits and . Though she has no innate powers, she has an extensive knowledge of supernatural entities and curses, and uses various artifacts and the borrowed power of the god residing in their city to seal and exorcise, though this power is only limited to the city itself.


 * Aira Shiratori (白鳥 愛羅)
 * A student at the same school as Ayase and Okarun. After becoming aware of the existence of the supernatural, Shiratori proclaims herself as the "chosen one" on a mission to protect the world from evil and directs her attention towards Ayase, believing that she is a demon that has to be stopped. Similar to Okarun, she can transform into a demonic form with powers inherited from a called "Acrobatic Silky" (アクロバティックさらさら), giving her immense agility and prehensile hair. She has a crush on Okarun.
 * A student at the same school as Ayase and Okarun. After becoming aware of the existence of the supernatural, Shiratori proclaims herself as the "chosen one" on a mission to protect the world from evil and directs her attention towards Ayase, believing that she is a demon that has to be stopped. Similar to Okarun, she can transform into a demonic form with powers inherited from a called "Acrobatic Silky" (アクロバティックさらさら), giving her immense agility and prehensile hair. She has a crush on Okarun.


 * Mr. Mantis Shrimp (シャコさん)
 * Peeny-Weeny (ぺニーチンコス) is an alien resembling a mantis shrimp who attacked Momo, Okarun and Aira but later befriends them after they helped him cure his son Chiquitita's disease. He now works at a farm and still assists the gang in every way he can. He has immense endurance, can shift into a more powerful form, and like an actual mantis shrimp, attacks with bullet-speed punches.


 * Chiquitita (チキチータ)
 * Chiquitita is Peeny-Weeny's cheerful son, who inherited his mother's disease.


 * Jin Enjoji (円城寺 仁)
 * Ayase's childhood friend and first crush. He goes by the nickname "Jiji" (ジジ). After his parents were hospitalized as a result of his house being haunted, Enjoji moved in with Ayase and Seiko before transferring over to Ayase's school. Okarun feels jealous over his relationship with Ayase, but Jiji tries to become friends with him. He is possessed by the Evil Eye, who goes on a blind rampage when in control of Jiji's body.
 * Ayase's childhood friend and first crush. He goes by the nickname "Jiji" (ジジ). After his parents were hospitalized as a result of his house being haunted, Enjoji moved in with Ayase and Seiko before transferring over to Ayase's school. Okarun feels jealous over his relationship with Ayase, but Jiji tries to become friends with him. He is possessed by the Evil Eye, who goes on a blind rampage when in control of Jiji's body.


 * Manjiro (万次郎)
 * Manjiro is Seiko's pupil and a spirit medium who is asked to help out in the Evil Eye case.


 * Taro (太郎)
 * Taro is an anthropomorphized anatomical model that resides at Momo and Okarun's high school.


 * Hana (花)
 * Hana is an anthropomorphized anatomical model that resides at the Ayase residence.


 * Hayashi (囃子)
 * The Hayashi are a band of musicians who sometimes help Seiko exorcise evil spirits using Heavy Metal music.


 * Rin Sawaki (佐脇 凛)
 * Rin, mainly referred to as Class Rep (委員長), is the dutiful and over-bearing class representative of Class C, which most notably includes Okarun, Kinta Sakata, and Vamola.


 * Vamola (バモラ)
 * Vamola is a Sumerian and the sole surviving child of her race. After arriving on Earth from escaping an invasion on her home planet, she honors her adoptive mother's wishes to find a worthy husband who can help her preserve the Sumerian bloodline, leading her to Okarun and Momo.


 * Kinta Sakata (坂田 金太)
 * Kinta is Okarun's chubby and somewhat anti-social classmate, who is deeply into the supernatural and extraterrestria, but tries to get Okarun to make him more popular with girls.


 * Mai Kawabanga (川番河 舞)
 * Mai was the childhood friend of Rin Sawaki who had died due to a car accident. Her spirit then went on to become an Ombudsman bound to Rin.


 * Bega (部賀)
 * Also known as Bega the Demon (鬼の部賀), is an extremely strict, but kind police officer stationed at the Kamikoshi Police Box, who takes Unji in.


 * Unji Zuma (頭間 雲児)
 * Zuma is a student at Renjaku High School who is the leader of a gang of delinquents from other high schools, who lost his family as a child and is subsequently adopted by Bega. After gaining supernatural, umbrella-based powers from coming across one of Okarun's kintama, Unji makes an attempt at beating the diorama board game Danmanra. However, he is soon possessed by a powerful named Umbrella Boy.


 * Umbrella Boy (アンブレラボーイ)
 * Umbrella Boy is a sweet, but impulsive, who possesses Unji's body after the latter comes in contact with Okarun's kintama, who can get very violent as a defensive impulse.

Antagonists

 * Turbo-Granny (ターボババア)
 * A who takes the form of a cruel, foul-mouthed elderly woman, Turbo-Granny used to comfort the spirits of girls who died horrible deaths, but started cursing and stealing the genitals of anyone who entered her territory. After Ayase and Okarun defeat her, Seiko seals her spirit inside a maneki neko doll, and she agrees to aid them for the time being until she can fully regain her powers.
 * A who takes the form of a cruel, foul-mouthed elderly woman, Turbo-Granny used to comfort the spirits of girls who died horrible deaths, but started cursing and stealing the genitals of anyone who entered her territory. After Ayase and Okarun defeat her, Seiko seals her spirit inside a maneki neko doll, and she agrees to aid them for the time being until she can fully regain her powers.


 * Alien Serpo (セルポ星人)
 * The Alien Serpo are an entirely male alien race who come from Planet Serpo. Due to their race being exclusively all male, the Serpo have no way of reproducing naturally and resort to using cloning technology, but since biological evolution cannot occur within identical beings, the Serpo seek to gain reproductive organs by abducting humans from Earth and stealing their sex organs (or "bananas").
 * The Alien Serpo are an entirely male alien race who come from Planet Serpo. Due to their race being exclusively all male, the Serpo have no way of reproducing naturally and resort to using cloning technology, but since biological evolution cannot occur within identical beings, the Serpo seek to gain reproductive organs by abducting humans from Earth and stealing their sex organs (or "bananas").


 * Naki Kito (鬼頭 ナキ)
 * Naki Kito is a subterranean who spent over 200 years offering human sacrifices to the Tsuchinoko in order to prevent her village's destruction, until Enjoji brought Momo and Okarun to the village.


 * Evil Eye (邪視)
 * A powerful and sinister born as a human sacrifice in the feudal period. He harbors a hatred for all humanity and tricks Jiji into forming a contract so he may eradicate them. The Evil Eye, in addition to its immense physical abilities, uses the grudges of the sacrificial victims to form powerful, nigh-invincible constructs which frequently manifest into something akin to a soccer ball.


 * Kur (深淵ケの者)
 * The Kur are a militaristic alien race who originate from the farthest reaches of space. Described by Serpo as globalists, they have been actively seeking out planets within the galactic system to conquer, including Vamola's homeworld.


 * Reiko Kashima (カシマレイコ)
 * Reiko, also known as the Slit-Mouthed Woman (口裂け女, Kuchisake-onna), is a that formerly resided in a ruined area in Kamikoshi City. After being bested by Momo, Reiko Kashima harbored a grudge against the girl and vowed to get revenge on her the next time they met.


 * Count Saint-Germain (サンジェルマン伯爵)
 * Count Saint-Germain is an alien and an affiliate of the Kur, working as the deputy head teacher and advisor of the History and Culture Research Club in Momo and Okarun's high school, while under the assumed name Sanjome (三丈目).


 * Fairy-Tale Card (メルへンカルタ)
 * The Fairy-Tale Card is a sealed within the Danmanra board game and the creator of the cursed trunk's inner world.

Production
Before the serialization of Dandadan, Yukinobu Tatsu had worked as an assistant for Tatsuki Fujimoto's Chainsaw Man and Yuji Kaku's Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku. The serialization was confirmed during a meeting for Shōnen Jump+ in the second quarter of 2020. However, Tatsu started Dandadan after Chainsaw Man and Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku had finished because he wanted to complete his role as an assistant until the end.

Manga
Dandadan is written and illustrated by Yukinobu Tatsu. It began serialization in Shueisha's Shōnen Jump+ app and website on April 6, 2021. Shueisha has compiled its chapters into individual volumes. The first volume was released on August 4, 2021. As of July 4, 2024, 15 volumes have been released.

The series is simultaneously published in English and Spanish on Shueisha's Manga Plus platform and in English on Viz Media's Shonen Jump website. In February 2022, Viz Media announced that they had licensed the series in print format; the first volume was released on October 11 of the same year.

Chapters not yet in tankōbon format
These chapters have yet to be published in a volume.

Anime
An anime television series adaptation was announced on November 28, 2023. It will be produced by Science Saru and directed by Fūga Yamashiro, with scripts written by Hiroshi Seko, character designs by Naoyuki Onda, alien and supernatural entity designs by Yoshimichi Kameda, and music composed by Kensuke Ushio. The series is set to premiere in October 2024 on the Super Animeism Turbo programming block on JNN affiliates, including MBS and TBS. The opening theme, "Otonoke", is performed by Creepy Nuts. Prior to the television premiere, the first three episodes will be released theatrically as Dan Da Dan: First Encounter, with screenings starting in Asia on August 31, 2024.

Crunchyroll will stream the series outside of Asia, but included the Middle East and CIS, while Netflix will stream the series globally. Muse Communication licensed the series in Asia-Pacific. In June 2024, GKIDS announced that it had acquired the theatrical, videogram, and digital transactional rights to the series.

Reception
By November 2023, the manga had over 3.2 million copies in circulation and over 360 million views on the Shōnen Jump+ platform.

In June 2021, Dandadan was nominated for the seventh Next Manga Award in the Best Web Manga category and placed second out of 50 nominees. It ranked fourth on Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! 2022 list of best manga for male readers. It was nominated for the 15th Manga Taishō in 2022 and placed seventh with 53 points. The series ranked first on both the Nationwide Bookstore Employees and Publisher Comics' Recommended Comics of 2022. The series ranked fourth in Tsutaya Comic Award 2022.