So I Finally Watched Dan Da Dan. The Results Pleasantly Surprised Me.

Happy Halloween everyone- now that I have finished the first season; have begun the second ahead of the newly-announced third, and even started reading the manga (in an incredibly rare instance of enjoying it more on the second time around than the first), here is a post showing what I have found from watching the smash hit anime Dan Da Dan.  

From left- Jin "Jiji" Enjoji, Momo Ayase, Seiko Ayase, Ken "Okarun" Takakura, Aira Shiratori and Turbo Granny.

The basic setup is as follows- boy meets girl. He believes in aliens, she believes in ghosts. The two set out one night to prove each other wrong, and instead prove each other completely right. Moreover, the boy; Ken "Okarun" Takakura ends up imbued with the powers of an ancient yokai known as "Turbo Granny" (whose consciousness later ends up inside a maneki-neko plush with all the sass intact), and the girl, Momo Ayase awakens dormant psychic powers after narrowly being probed by aliens for her "banana organs." Her grandmother Seiko (who has been her guardian since the untimely death of Momo's parents) is also a powerful medium in her own right; who ends up being vital to helping the teens deal with a whole slew of very Japanese aliens and paranormal threats. 

I will admit I was skeptical, but unlike some people who dig their heels so far in they're touching the bedrock; I'm not above being proven wrong when the results are better than I imagined.  

The anime comes from Science Saru, a studio who has worked on a number of anime I've enjoyed. Their work here is incredibly impressive, capturing the look and feel of the manga by Tatsu Yukinobu in a way that hooked me with a pleasant surprise. I've always had way better luck choosing my own entertainment than others trying to do it for me. So, I've had great pleasure adding it to my weekend rotation alongside One Piece, Dragon Ball Daima and Bleach: The Thousand-Year Blood War.

There are multiple key elements that I can credit for this anime being an international hit as well as one in its homeland. Wholeheartedly embracing the Japanese takes on aliens and ghosts, the creative fight setups, the offbeat humor (the popular girl, Aira Shiratori faking her ditziness is balanced out with Okarun fittingly having his reclaimed private parts being put back in with a shot below the belt) and surprisingly engaging character drama. Horror fans are an obvious demographic I can attribute to the worldwide success too, as the scenarios are indeed as spooky as they are bizarre.

On top of Momo's childhood friend Jin "Jiji" Enjoji complicating their budding love life, he is a character I was yet again pleasantly surprised by. I won't be getting into all the details right now- but I will give you the short version: he also lost his parents at a young age, but despite growing into a very handsome young man; he's arguably even more "adorkable" than Okarun. He's even yet another character who gets infused with the power of an ancient spirit- wouldn't be the first time somebody was beating the stuffing out of enemies while wearing his underwear on the outside. Though not the first story to use these elements, it's the way they're presented that definitely helped this title become a breakout hit of the "dark era" of Shonen Jump.

In many respects, this anime succeeded stateside in every area Yo-Kai Watch failed in. Some compare it to another take on Shadowside; but I will go a step further and say it's what Level-5 should have done a decade ago- fully embracing the Japanese elements instead of trying to homogenize them. I'm seriously considering expanding on that contrast another time.  

Suffice to say, I'm pleasantly surprised with my experience so far. It's not many works I've experienced where characters can have a bond as a found family after the deaths of their real ones while also having grandmother that looks and acts like a teenage "yankii" who spends the time she isn't fighting spirits drinking, chain-smoking and watching "Shoten." That will be all for now, and I will see you all again in November. Happy Halloween everyone.