Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
uchu_no_otaku
This anime is weird as hell 😂 but somehow the story is actually really good. I went into it not really knowing what to expect, and somehow I ended up getting hooked. It can go from something completely ridiculous to a serious or emotional moment so fast, and thats probably one of the things I enjoyed the most.
I also really like how exaggerated the animation is. The movements, expressions, action scenes, everything feels so over the top in a good way. Sometimes the animation is so crazy that Im just sitting there thinking, “What the hell am I even watching?” 😂 But thats exactly what makes Dandadan stand out.
The mix of comedy, supernatural stuff, romance, and action is honestly a strange combination, but somehow it works. There are definitely some moments that caught me completely off…
Read at the sourceoystr_
this show goes from silly to quite dark in the blink of an eye, but most of the time we're in sillytown. for me the strongest part of this series is the protagonists. Okarun and Momo are charismatic and have great chemistry
the show deals in paranormal and supernatural, monsters and aliens, and you never know when one will flip into the other. I think there are quite a few similarities to Mob Psycho 100, though Dandadan has less finesse when switching tone or just in its writing in general
I really like this show, and as I said Okarun and Momo are a great leading pair but there are elements to Dandadan that prevent me from unreservedly calling it great
Read at the sourcekoku357dzj__
Dandadan is an entertaining, witty, and commercially highly ambitious project, as well as one of the fastest-growing shonen series of the modern generation.
It is recognizable for its numerous pop-culture references, skillful use of character comedy, and the organic development of its cast in a world full of absurdity; while its greatest strength lies in a unique blend of urban fantasy and traditional Japanese demonology, as well as its ability to organize potential narrative chaos into well-executed, high-energy entertainment.
Its narrative approach gains even more impact through fast, fluid animation, a striking visual identity, and a brilliant soundtrack, alongside an authentic synthesis of staple shonen motifs such as love, empathy, friendship, celebrating differences, and mutual gro…
Read at the sourceTooootla
Dandadan is basically an anime where the writers threw aliens, ghosts, romance, comedy, random powers and trauma into a blender and somehow called it a story.
The anime starts with an interesting premise, but very quickly becomes a collection of random bullshit happening one after another. One minute it's ghosts, then aliens, then some cursed creature, then suddenly we're supposed to care about someone's tragic backstory. The show keeps changing its tone so much that it feels like five different anime fighting over the same script.
The animation is good, I'll give it that. But apparently because something looks amazing, we're supposed to ignore how chaotic the actual writing is. Every fight has flashy animation, crazy camera movements and characters screaming their lungs out, while the p…
Read at the sourcethecoolfish
Dandadan has a very good production, with pleasing animation and action, but falls short of telling an actual good story.
Story
The plot of the story, altough unique, is a poor attempt at being a little humorous: Guy with no friends loses his balls and now they fight aliens and ghosts to get it back. We spend the first 6 episodes getting introduced to the characters and world. Essentially they just fool around and get into some action. This works fine, but the plot feels childish. Dandadan deals with some more mature themes that could balance it out. The problem lies in how they deal with it.
After fooling around for 6 episodes, the show suddenly throws in a tragic backstory of an enemy that works as a sob story and feels completely out of place. No build up, no foreshadowing, just a su…
Read at the sourcequezgot
[ Hood Review ] 🥷🏾🎬
Yerrrrr, so I finally watched this anime after the hype died down, and I can definitely see why people was talking about it. It ain’t your typical anime at all.
The storyline is super fye 🔥. It’s different and not really predictable. You never know when something crazy about to happen. One minute you fighting some wild Yokai spirit, then the next minute you fighting an alien from a whole different planet. I ain’t never really seen nothing like it before, and I definitely fw it.
The characters cool as hell too. Every character brings something different to the table, and they all end up complimenting each other in their own way. Nobody really feels useless.
As for the soundtrack, I don’t really pay attention to music unless it really stands out. Nothing really ju…
Read at the sourcearifandi13
This is my favorite anime of the season.
Why? Because it’s funny, exciting, and the animation is insanely good.
And for those who say the Dandadan opening is mid… yeah, I actually agree. 😅
The story starts by introducing Okarun (our MC), a lonely kid who has been bullied since childhood. Because he feels isolated and has no friends, he starts reading books about aliens as a way to cope with his loneliness.
His logic is actually kind of sad but funny—he hopes that by learning about aliens, one day an alien might abduct him, and at least then he’ll finally have a friend… even if that friend is an alien. 😅
Then one day, while his classmates are throwing paper balls at him, our second MC, Ayase, suddenly sits right in front of him and blocks the throw.
Because of that moment, they start talk…
Read at the sourceTheGOF
If I really have to call this a 'shonen', which I rather resent doing, then I'd also have to say it's one of the best modern shonen anime alongside Chainsaw Man (Part 1) and Frieren. All of these so-called shonen anime play the same trick. They manage to be excellent shonens by not really being a part of that genre. Dandadan is actually just a romantic comedy with extra steps. Sure, there are fights, but they're in the Jojo school of fights where the charm comes from the ludicrousness. At the heart of all this is a standard romantic comedy elevated by the sheer wackiness of the situations they get thrown into.
If you don't find Dandadan funny, I could imagine this being a chore. Sure, there were some jokes that didn't land and the anime does descend into literal toilet humour a little to…
Read at the sourceTheEggMeister13
The first season of DANDADAN feels like a terribly told joke missing the entire punchline, it resorts to extremely childish humour in what I can hardly see as an attempt to make you laugh. This show is fun but it just genuinely is not worth watching over anything else. The characters are bland, the story is bland, the power system is bland and it took them until season 2 to realise maybe they should lean into it being a joke and that’s when it move from a 4 to a 5 (maybe). There’s no real main antagonist and the monsters/aliens and their abilities are entirely unoriginal, otherwise I could probably compare this to Jojo’s if it was made for an extremely young audience that didn’t care about complexity . The intro is fire tho 🤷♂️
Read at the sourceOkamii_JA
Dan Da Dan is one of the anime that brought back my passion for watching anime after I lost it. Lately, a lot of new anime have felt boring or distracted from what really matters they forget that anime is supposed to be entertaining, fun, and enjoyable.
This anime was amazing. I finished it in just one day. The animation is incredibly smooth, the frame quality is top-tier, and the OST, opening, and ending themes are all great especially the opening, which I never skipped. The characters hooked me immediately, and there’s clear character development that keeps you invested.
I’m definitely going to watch the second season, and I just hope they don’t ruin it.
Read at the sourceNotTommy9
Honestly quite good. It's very distinct for a new-gen anime I feel, it's supernatural and sci-fi but the battles aren't everything and Okarun's and Momo's dynamic is about as important as anything in the series. From there of course, there's the question of how well is that handled and I'd say pretty good but not flawless. It can fall into being typical with a lot of the drama, but when they resolve it it's very rewarding. Those two and Seiko, the hot granny, are the characters with the biggest appeal and strongest writing. Turbo Granny was good in the first ar, but when they got trapped in the cat, it felt pretty typical to have a villain turned reluctant ally/associate and I don't really think it goes anywhere interesting in the first season beyond exposition in a given situation.
I fel…
Read at the sourceIcebaetz
It's an anime worth watching, but I'm a bit surprised it got such a high rating. To start with, the drawings seemed a bit strange to me; they tried to make them realistic, but it didn't really work out that well.
I'm not really a fan of the dumb love interest trope, and that's kind of the direction it takes they're right next to each other but can't see each other, or they're searching for each other but can't find each other there were a lot of scenes like that, and honestly, those parts brought it down a bit.
Ken being such a wimp is also a bit annoying, in my opinion, but overall, the character development, the story, and the enemies they fight are quite good and gave me a different viewing experience.
It's a highly above-average anime series worth watching, and I'll be tuning in for…
Read at the sourceemberreviews
Dandadan was by far the most highly anticipated new IP from this batch of seasonals, and it certainly didn’t disappoint based on my expectations. Ayase and Okarun are easily one of my favorite protagonist duos of the season with how strong their comedic and potentially romantic chemistry is, and their tendency to actually sit down and talk about what’s bothering them instead of letting misunderstandings lead them down the wrong path was quite refreshing. The seamless blending of supernatural and sci-fi elements germinates a spark of uniqueness that seems to be growing rarer and rarer in a climate of intentionally derivative works. This aspect is further enhanced by Science SARU’s astounding production quality. Eye-catching color design, fluid animation, and mind-blowing action set pieces f…
Read at the sourceggultra2764
Color me impressed that something gives me enough enjoyment where I get out of my year-plus long slump of doing a review here on MAL. Dandadan mashes up various elements of the supernatural as our two leads, high schoolers Momo Ayase and Ken “Okarun” Takakura, get caught up in various predicaments involving aliens and spiritual phenomena as the former realizes she has powerful psychic abilities and the latter becomes possessed by and gains the powers of the demon, Turbo Granny, after finding his genitals have been stolen by her as part of a cursed pact between them.
I remember Dandadan getting a good deal of hype back in 2024 and as I’ve often been in the bad habit of doing due to being occupied elsewhere in my anime viewing, I’m late to the party on it. This series relishes in being pret…
Read at the sourcebeenielson
This is a really fun watch, and I don't think it needed any of the fanservice/anime bullshit going on, but it's fun to watch, the dub is fun to listen to, and it has some really beautifully animated fight scenes. Other reviews mention a lack of over-arching story, and that isn't wrong, but Dandadan is really at its best when characters are interacting and playing off of one another. The relationship between the main two characters is cute, and I enjoyed the romantic elements a lot, even if they were predictable. If you go into this show not expecting anything groundbreaking and profound, you'll have a good time.
Read at the sourceSEIK47SU
Dan da Dan is a mixed bag for me. It has very novel ideas, distinct character designs, and a strong identity, but it is also deeply flawed and hindered by regrettable anime stereotypes.
I hate how perverted it is; it ruins the premise for me, not to the point of not wanting to watch it altogether, but it is a pity it doubles down so much on that. The whole paranormal girl/ aliens boy thing is sooo good on paper, but it really doesn't go anywhere in this season. I feel like a lot of the development on that comes to a halt to give way to a very annoying love triangle (and at the end a... square?) during the latter half of the season. The plot is a little slow, and the finale felt like it happened at a very random spot. I didn't like it too much, but I really hope the next one builds on the…
Read at the sourcegentle_comet
This series does not simply defy genre classification... it gleefully shatters it, emerging as one of the most uniquely unpredictable stories in recent anime memory. The premise, a bet between an occult believer and a UFO fanatic that accidentally validates both of their obsessions, is brilliantly original. While certain narrative beats follow familiar shonen and romance tropes, the execution is so wildly inventive, sincere, and packed with surreal detours that predictability is never an issue. You do not watch it to guess what happens next; you watch it to be constantly amazed by how it happens.
The true magic of this adaptation lies in its masterful tonal alchemy. It pivots seamlessly from laugh-out-loud comedy and surreal visual gags to moments of shocking body horror and genuine emoti…
Read at the sourcecoralbeau15
Upsetting, because I really enjoy the visuals, the characters, the score, the plot, but it has so much fanservice that I can't help but feel uncomfortable whenever I watch it. I'm 22 man I don't wanna see this girl in her underwear! It comes across as pathetically cringey and creepy in that regard, and makes it hard for me to recommend this to anyone (well also partially because I think I'd get judged, and fairly so, for doing so). I can't even feel inclined to watch season 2 due to this. Maybe I'd like this if I was still cringe and 14 but I'm a grown adult, and this is genuinely the shows biggest detriment.
Read at the sourceShadowSleeper
It was solid pretty good just one thing
Fat guy pissed me off sooooo much he isn't even a likable character honestly make me wanna stop watching but I "somehow" pushed through,no way in hell to actually like him he's just creepy weird cocky and the stalking bit aged in a very bad way
Extra bit just bc it won't let me post
I think other poeple would dislike this because of the random guy I wanted him to die at some point or just kicked out immediately at the end but sadly my dreams went down the gutter
Stories pretty good just got off topic atleast they remembered they were looking for the ball at the end also kaiju part was mid in my opinion mecha was stupid but maybe that's just my bias on not liking the new guy but yeah
Read at the sourceDemilightning
Peak Fiction or Freak Fiction ?
Generally I enjoyed this first season but that season one ending would've made me drop this and never come back. Thankfully I don't have to wait for S2, it's already out- but that ending was atrocious and I'm worried that that's just going to be how they end seasons now.
Cool concept, really good animation and I enjoy what portions of the story we see. The main characters dynamic can be really sweet. lets stop hyper sexualizing the main characters every 2 or so episodes, yeah ?
Would've been a 7, but that s1 ending really creeped me out.
Read at the source
