Dandadan Review: Is the Anime Worth Watching?

Dandadan is worth trying if you want supernatural action with an awkward, developing romance at its center. Its appeal comes from the friction between Momo and Okarun: they can cooperate in a crisis and still struggle to talk normally at school. The ghosts and aliens give them problems to solve together, rather than simply providing a new opponent each week.

The opening includes sexual threat, crude jokes and frightening imagery. This review discusses early-story examples and the first two seasons without revealing their major resolutions.

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Dandadan at a glance

What is Dandadan about?

Momo believes in ghosts but dismisses aliens. Her classmate Okarun takes the opposite position. An argument sends them to places associated with the things they refuse to believe in, and both discover that the danger is real. Momo develops psychic abilities; Okarun becomes entangled with a curse.

Both are forced to admit they were wrong, so neither can simply lecture the other about how this world works. Their trust develops as they figure it out together.

Why Momo and Okarun make the chaos work

Momo is usually more direct in conversation, while Okarun is eager to connect but easily embarrassed. Their imbalance gives the dialogue energy. She can take charge without understanding everything; he can have useful knowledge without becoming socially confident overnight.

Their abilities also create a practical reason to stay together. In the early episodes, Momo helps contain the force affecting Okarun. A fight therefore asks more than whether one character can hit harder. The pair must coordinate, keep track of each other’s condition and respond when a plan stops working.

The ordinary scenes matter just as much. Episode 5 returns them to school after an intense shared experience. Knowing someone in an emergency does not automatically make it easy to approach them in a corridor. That gap between intimacy and embarrassment is where much of the romance works.

Is Dandadan a romance, an action anime or a horror story?

It uses all three, but do not expect equal portions in every episode. Romance often appears through awkward encounters and attention to the other person’s reactions. Action brings immediate physical problems. Horror makes a place or a creature feel unsafe before the comedy cuts across it.

The comedy can break the tension abruptly. That keeps a frightening encounter from setting the mood for the whole episode, but it also means you rarely get the sustained dread of a dedicated horror series. Romance develops between confrontations rather than replacing them.

What makes the animation distinctive?

Science SARU makes the shift from school life to supernatural danger immediately visible. Familiar classrooms and domestic spaces give way to harsh colors and exaggerated movement. The characters still look like the same awkward teenagers, even when their surroundings become unrecognizable.

The designs are memorable without all following the same template. A towering alien and an elderly-looking spirit suggest different kinds of danger. The human reactions keep those encounters readable: a startled expression or an awkward posture gives you a point of reference amid the spectacle.

A confrontation leaves little visual downtime. That intensity suits the frantic teamwork, but can be tiring if you prefer quieter staging or longer pauses between attacks.

Does Season 2 change the experience?

Season 2 continues the situation introduced at the end of Season 1 rather than giving you a fresh beginning. Its opening follows the group into the troubling circumstances around Jiji’s home. The haunted-house setting keeps attention on one connected problem for longer than the initial encounters that introduce Momo and Okarun.

That is a good fit if you want the threats and supporting characters to have more room. It can feel slower if your favorite part is the quick movement between everyday awkwardness and a new bizarre discovery. Longer confrontations give the action more weight, but they also postpone the quieter interactions some viewers come for.

Jiji also brings a history with Momo that Okarun does not share. That gives Okarun something to worry about outside the fights and makes the expanded cast matter to the relationship.

What might put you off?

The first episode places a teenage character under sexualized threat. Later episodes include disturbing backstories and violence, so this is not a light family adventure despite its comedy.

Crunchyroll’s title page lists advisories including sexual violence, suggestive dialogue and suicide. Check the episode-level information if a particular subject matters to you. A service’s age rating can vary by region and should not be treated as a guarantee that every teenager will be comfortable.

The recurring anatomy jokes are more persistent than the premise alone might suggest. If that humor annoys you in the opening episodes, expect it to remain part of the series.

Where should you start, and where can you watch?

Watch Season 1, then Season 2, in episode order. The opening four episodes show how the central partnership works in a crisis; episode 5 tests that connection back at school. Together, they offer a fair sample of the show. Stop earlier if the sexualized material or humor makes it uncomfortable to watch.

You do not need a separate movie between the seasons. GKIDS describes DAN DA DAN: Evil Eye as a theatrical event combining the previous season’s opening of that arc with the first three episodes of Season 2 and an interview. Watching the television episodes covers that story material. See the official release description if you are comparing editions.

Use the official DAN DA DAN page on Crunchyroll or DAN DA DAN on Netflix to check access in your country. Both Japanese and English audio are listed on Crunchyroll. Choose the version that lets you follow the rapid dialogue comfortably, and check the available seasons before subscribing.

What if Dandadan is not your kind of anime?

Dandadan’s best reason to continue is the relationship between two people who can save each other and still misread an ordinary conversation. If the crude humor overwhelms that appeal, choose a different kind of supernatural story. Our Jujutsu Kaisen review focuses on a more combat-led alternative, while the thriller anime guide compares stories built around sustained suspense rather than rapid switches into comedy.