‘Dan Da Dan’ Is the Surreal Rom-Com Horror Future of Mainstream Anime

Everyone loves a meet cute; it’s a tale as old as time. Boy meets girl, girl hates boy. But there’s something there, just beneath the surface. Through a series of mishaps and mixed signals, the two eventually grow on each other. Love blossoms. Then a turbo-charged granny demon steals the boy’s genitals.

Okay, so not all meets cutes are exactly the same. But it’s the core dynamic of clashing personalities that ultimately attract which hooks people of all ages. That setup is what makes this year’s breakout anime series Dan Da Dan such a hit, as well as a witch’s brew of other genre inspirations and warmly familiar tropes that coalesce into one of 2024’s most entertaining series, animated or otherwise.

Adapted from the Shōnen Jump+ manga series (i.e. Japanese comics) that began its run in 2021, the anime version of Dan Da Dan is a gonzo blend of different genre fare that weaves occult horror, science fiction, and a sugary sweet romantic comedy center together that has immense crossover appeal, even for those who might be skeptical.

And some skepticism is warranted. Even if you’re normally into the more bizarre side of streaming entertainment, Dan Da Dan’s eccentricities can seem like a lot. The story follows two teens, the popular girl Momo Ayase and the nerdy boy Ken Takakura (nicknamed Okarun), who are polar opposites. Momo believes in the supernatural but doesn’t think aliens exist. Okarun doesn’t buy into the idea of ghosts but is a believer in the extraterrestrial. The two meet when Momo defends Okarun from some high school bullies, after which the two spark up a debate over their diametric views. With a simple dare to prove each other wrong, the pair discover that both aliens and ghosts most definitely exist and, from there, shit gets weird.

Since premiering in October 2024, Dan Da Dan has aired under unique circumstances, releasing weekly on both the anime-centric Crunchyroll service and Netflix, which usually reserves weekly rollouts for its live series and reality programming. With its season one finale airing on Dec. 19, Rolling Stone recently sat down with the series’ director Fûga Yamashiro to discuss his inspiration for the anime’s tone and visuals, how the romantic comedy elements elevate the show, and why adapting any manga is extremely hard.

What is Dan Da Dan?

In its simplest form, Dan Da Dan is a love story. But by mixing the contrasting philosophies of its protagonists, it also becomes something of a genre-bent mystery of the week. In the first episode, Momo and Okarun make a bet that sends each person to a specific location that will prove once and for all that each of their beliefs are true — although neither are prepared for the consequences.

Momo finds herself instantly abducted by aliens from a local hotspot of UFO activity, while Okarun wanders down an abandoned tunnel where he comes face-to-face with an apparition hilariously named Turbo Granny. The result leaves Okarun cursed by the ghoul, who literally absconds with the teen’s balls (weird, yes) but leaves him with the ability to transform into a more confident, superpowered hulkish form.

It’s a good thing, though, at least in that it allows Okarun to spiritually rip through Momo’s cell phone just in time to prevent the aliens from impregnating her (as they’re wont to do). With her latent psychic abilities unlocked and Okarun’s garish feral form, the duo kicks some alien ass and escape. From there, it’s all about solving the mysteries of what’s happened to them both.

Now, that might sound like a lot (especially the missing testicles thing), but it’s surprisingly effective as both a mixed-genre story and a romantic comedy. Think of it as the animated equivalent of shows like The X-Files or Evil, but cranked up to 11. The teens must work together despite their differences week-to-week to combat various supernatural and extraterrestrial forces, all the while playing into the “will they or won’t they” dynamic that drives so much popular media.

To his credit, Yashamiro knows that it’s a lot to ingest, but believes that Dan Da Dan’s unique twist of familiar tropes complement each other and provides an accessible entry point for viewers. He points toward the source material, which hooked him instantly, as proof.

“I think it’s a really energetic story in the way that it feels, and I think it has lots of stuff all sort of jammed together in it,” Yashamiro says. “I think that the original author of the manga [Yukinobu Tatsu], kind of took all the stuff he liked and shoved it all into one story together. And it’s not a mess! It makes it all really lively, very exciting. He really tied everything together super well, I think.”

Like all good genre shows, the key to Dan Da Dan’s success is striking the right balance between its humor and action, while leaving room for more tender moments. While plenty of shows try to toe the line, the ones that do it truly effectively have also become some of the most beloved in television history, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Again, Yashamiro believes that the key ingredients for that balance were fully present in the manga. “When I first read the manga, I was really impressed at the way that it managed to both get down the really sharp, kinetic action, but also the romantic comedy aspect as well,” he says. “And it would go really fast back and forth between those two things. It created this sense of a gap, a difference between those two things. It created a really good tempo to it; it’s just really fun.”

For fans of anime, Dan Da Dan was highly anticipated ahead of its release, but there’s something to be said for its mainstream appeal. Despite the gonzo premise, the show’s romantic comedy roots are inherently engaging and makes for an accessible watch even for those who don’t generally like anime. It appears to be working, with the show regularly reaching the top 10 most popular shows on Netflix over its 11-week run, despite also airing on Crunchyroll, where the more anime faithful viewers are likely to watch.

Yashamiro notes that his ultimate goal for viewers is to enjoy the series’ characters for the people they are, beyond the sci-fi or horror trappings. That is the key to opening it up to a larger audience.

“I try to make the characters human,” he says. “I think that people can find relevance in that. I think that also, Dan Da Dan has a lot of themes that a large number of people relate to across different lines.”

A Stylistic Treat

For mainstream viewers and anime fanatics alike, a huge part of the joy of the medium is its often the insane visuals that only detailed animation can provide. Shows like Dragon Ball Z and Naruto that helped usher in the popularity of the medium in North America were known for their insane action and fight sequences, none of which would be possible in live-action — or, at least, not done well. But like with most pop culture, trends come and go. In recent years, anime has shifted away from the more super heroic vibes of shows like One-Punch Man or My Hero Academia to a more horrific tone with a greater emphasis on gore with series like Chainsaw Man (2022).

Arriving at a time when anime has become more surreal, Dan Da Dan feels like a natural evolution of shows like Chainsaw Man, while being not quite as alienating for those with a more squeamish palate.

As part of the current surrealist wave, Dan Da Dan can often be hypnotizing to watch, and that’s intentional. Yashamiro has deep reverence for the illustration work done by the manga’s creator, Yukinobu Tatsu, but is keenly aware that to do justice to his work in an anime adaptation, some things need to change to match the medium despite strengths of its source material, or even to retain it with a different skill set.

“I wanted to make sure that the gap, that feeling of difference, is recreated accurately,” he says. “I tried to make that sense of difference and discrepancy when I could, for example, by changing the colors between the everyday scenes and the strange paranormal scenes. Keeping the tempo fast, not having a lot of breaks in between dialogue. When we have a real emotional, impactful scene, then we have a lot of breaks. In all the tools I had available — the music, color, visuals — I was trying to replicate that sense of variety in the tempo.”

One of the key differences between manga and anime is the level of detail that each medium allows for. While many of the most popular anime manage to maintain a high level of quality in its animation episode after episode, year after year, it can be extremely taxing on the production. For many fans, the frequent degradation of the visuals in their favorite shows can be a real sticking point. Just combing through a Dragon Ball subreddit for a few minutes will bring up tons of posts about the simplicity of the animation seen in the most recent series like Dragon Ball Super compared to what many consider the heyday of Dragon Ball Z in the Nineties.

A more recent (and depressing) example is this year’s Uzumaki, a four-part adaptation of the acclaimed manga series that ran on Adult Swim and Max. Its premiere was highly praised for beautifully replicating the monochromatic, surrealist body horror of the comic, but it was short lived. By episode two, viewers found that the animation quality had dropped off tremendously, leading waves of criticism and controversy around the behind-the-scenes turmoil that ultimately killed enthusiasm for the show.

Yashamiro won’t call out any specific anime that faltered in their production, but he’s keenly aware of the pitfalls that face animation studios like Science Saru, which produced both Dan Da Dan and last year’s Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, both of which have been highly praised for their visuals.

“If you’ve read the manga, you probably know that the art is kind of overwhelmingly detailed at some points,” he says. “It’s super dense, takes your breath away. I wanted to, of course, replicate that in the anime. But when you get to making anime, you have to think about the schedule and who can work on it, and the money involved. You have limits to it. So, I was fun for me to think, ‘Okay, how do I replicate that feeling — how it made me feel — the density of it within the limits we have and figure out a strategy.”

The director says he hoped to “trick” viewers into thinking the anime was as detailed as the manga. The best way to do that? Stick to the emotion. “People might think that anime is just drawing, but the drawing isn’t everything, right? You have the color, the music, the direction, so many other elements to it,” he notes. “It’s really multiple disciplines within one. What I can do as director is look at, not just the art, [but] how is the emotional flow of the scene? How much emotional depth and development is packed into the scene? And I was trying to be careful about that with each episode to make sure it’s done well and done properly.”

He adds that, even when individual scenes looked “weird” or “not great,” he’s convinced that if the story is good enough, it can pull viewers in regardless.

Great Inspirations

While Dan Da Dan has a rich backlog of comics to pull from, currently spanning 18 volumes consisting of over 170 chapters in order to imbue the series with its unique voice and aesthetic, Yashamiro and the team at animation studio Science Saru sought inspirations from tons of other media, some of which dates back decades.

The director cites the work of Japanese screenwriter Kankurō Kudō, whose scripts for feature films like 2003’s Kisarazu Cat’s Eye helped inform the balance of humor and drama that the series aspires to. “You get a lot of funny moments,” Yashamiro says, “but then he’s very adept at the serious moments that get to you.”

Another one, more surprising inspiration is English filmmaker Edgar Wright, whose movies like Shaun of the Dead (2004) and Hot Fuzz (2007) often deftly thread the needle between comedy and drama that perfectly describe the direction Yahamiro was aiming for. But there’s another connection there, too. Wright directed the 2007 the comic book adaptation Scott Pilgrim vs. The World — itself heavily inspired by manga and anime — and executive produced the 2023 anime adaptation Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, whose animation was provided by Science Saru.

The director of Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Abel Góngora, also had a hand in one of Dan Da Dan’s most defining pieces: its incredible opening credits sequence. Launched prior to the series’ premiere, the show open hit big online as a teaser for the adaptation, and currently has over 33.5 million views on YouTube. Scored to Creepy Nuts’ track “Otonoke,” it’s a trance inducing mind fuck of a video, that bounces between multiple genres and sonic footprints in ways that evoke the consistently shifting tone of the anime it precedes.

“The opening of an anime is like the face of the show,” Yashamiro explains. “You have to [convey] the characteristics of the show, but you have to do it in a very short time. You have to do it very efficiently and smartly. So, what was important, especially in the Dan Da Dan opening, was to show the atmosphere, the kind of horror-y, eerie aspects.”

Beyond the horror vibes, Yashamiro was adamant that the opening sequence has a distinctly retro aesthetic that pulls from the history of Japanese entertainment. Combining his own sensibilities with those of Góngora, the result falls perfectly somewhere in the middle. “[Góngora] has amazing timing,” Yashamiro says. “I first proposed the silhouette scenes in the opening [as] an homage to the original Ultraman’s opening. It uses silhouettes against colored backgrounds. I think if I had just done it myself, it would have just been parody or homage. But he took that idea, and he built on it. He adds, “You know, a lot of the trend recently is kind of sharper and colder, and maybe gorier. But we were looking for more retro stuff, like Showa style, old Japan. Warmer stuff, like old tokusatsu [special effects] that was done by people in costumes. The Tetris-y look of the font was inspired by Kon Ichikawa’s films like The Inugami Family (1976).”

Looking back on all his references, Yashamiro feels the Dan Da Dan offers modern viewers something special as a retro pastiche that fits today’s genre-mashup heavy appetite. Season One has only just wrapped but fans are clamoring for more — which is lucky, considering the second installment has already been announced to return in July 2025.

In the meantime, he suggests that fans should check out one of his key points of inspiration, even though it isn’t an anime. “I would recommend a very old Tsuburaya Productions show called Kaiki Daisakusen,” he says. “I believe the English title is Operation: Mystery. It’s like 50 years old, from the Sixties, but it has a lot of similarities to Dan Da Dan about solving paranormal mysteries.”

With the official tease of the Season Two, it’s clear that Dan Da Dan has struck a chord with viewers across demographics. With its nuanced take on multiple genres and dozens of stories left to tell, including the burgeoning love story between its leads, Dan Da Dan has the recipe to continue breaking through into the mainstream consciousness beyond its built-in audience. For all we know, it could be the future of anime.