#1 DandaDan – alien/supernatural high school anime

The main blog photo was taken from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dandadan_episodes

Plot Summary

Momo Ayase just broke up with her terrible boyfriend and happens to run into Ken Takakura who is a loner kid in school who believes in UAPs. Momo thinks aliens don’t exist -but she tells him that ghosts sure do because her grandma is a medium and he laughs in her face and they decide to test each other’s theories.

He send her somewhere she might get abducted and she sends him somewhere that he might see ghosts – but in the end they encounter some VERY strange beings (maybe ghosts AND aliens?) and they become friends. Somehow through all of their wacky adventures, some very weird and strangely inappropriate connections occur and through it all a wonderful relationship begins to blossom between Momo and Ken.

Dandadan’s Opening:

Taken from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di3Twnc7ACY

Why Do I like Dandadan?

This anime is incredibly strange, but delightful. The animation is beautiful. The colors are gorgeous. The opening sequence is incredibly catchy and is a fantastic ear worm. Momo is a wonderful character. She is different than the usual anime high school girl tropes in that she is very open to those around her and she has a wonderful inner strength that I appreciate. She is not embarrassed to like Ken who is very obviously one of the “loner geeky” kids at school. I like that at the core of this anime is a romance despite all of the paranormal weirdness that is involved. There is a beautiful episode that has nothing to do with the main characters and everything to do with a ghost and sex trafficking that occurs in real life that made my heart break and sob. Such a beautifully done episode and gives an explanation about the ghosts and how they come to be and why they are the way they are.

Director Background:

The director is Fūga Yamashiro. He is a young, new director on the scene which is probably what makes this anime so fantastic! He has directed a few episodes of other anime such as Tatami Time Machine Blues and The Heike Story. Dandadan is his first big project (IMDB, 2025).

This is an interesting article where he talks about his inspiration for the ideas on the characters, particularly the aliens versus the ghosts. Color plays a HUGE role throughout the entire series. https://animecorner.me/interview-fuga-yamashiro-shion-wakayama-dan-da-dan/

Critical Evaluation for the Series

The first episode has Momo being violently abused and sexually mistreated by her ex-boyfriend which is why he dumps her. She doesn’t want to have sex with him and he sees this as a reason to hit her so she is feeling down and out. I can absolutely see this as a reason to immediately turn this show off, but I truly hope that the watcher will continue because this is a reality for many teens.

They are dating the wrong people or people who mistreat them and abuse them. Luckily for Momo she leaves him and does not go back which I am proud of her because not everyone is successful at this endeavor. While she does feel sad about it at first, things change for her when she finds Ken who isn’t her “type” at first but realizing the kind of person that he is makes her slowly but surely fall for him which is how relationships should be.

Creative Use for a Library Program

There are several awesome ways to incorporate Dandadan in a library program! Use this in a manga book club/anime screening where teens can read the manga ahead of time and then watch the episode and compare/contrast the two and decide what they think about the screen adaptation.

Another thing that a library program can do is have an art contest with the Dandadan characters! There is so much to choose from and drawing manga characters is fun. They can choose any medium, including digital art!

A cosplay event is always a fun time! This could tie in with the book club/anime screening! The teens could dress up as their fave characters! Maybe even prizes for the best cosplay?

Speed Round Show Talk

Momo believes in ghosts and Ken believes in aliens, but the absurd idea that they both could be right is impossible – right? That’s exactly what happens to high schoolers Momo and Ken as they learn to work together to fight ghosts and aliens all while falling in love with each other.

Potential Challenge Issues and Defense Preparation:

The rating for this anime is MA due to some character sexualization. However, after watching the series, while there is some sexualization of both male and female bodies, this goes back to where I feel that this is an incredibly natural thing that occurs during this age group and for the most part is depicted as being “cringey” and “weird.” There is so much more of the sweetness to the main characters that it overrides this for the most part. I think that adults forget how awkward this stage is for teenagers and having it pointed out in this anime makes it just a little bit less weird and a little bit more normalized. The paranormal weirdness of this anime and the female main character being so uncharacteristically and effortlessly cool makes this such a great anime to watch, especially for older teens.

Reason for Inclusion:

I included this in my collection because it is recent, it’s awesome, and it is so relevant to teen life. Navigating relationships and friendships is what it’s all about! The main character, Momo is taken care of by her grandmother which is another unconventional relationship but an experience that many have. Adding the elements of ghosts and aliens is so creative and quirky which makes it all the more interesting.

Where To Watch and Is it Coming Back?

You can watch Dandadan on Netflix, Hulu, Crunchyroll, YouTube, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video to name a few! Season 2 will be out July 2025! I’m excited it is going to be back so soon!

Title: Dandadan (October 4, 2024)

Author: (Director) Fūga Yamashiro (Wikipedia, 2025).

Genre: