Dandadan 2. Sezon

Our heroes Momo Ayase and Okarun's strange adventures continue right where they left off, but this time accompanied by even more action-packed and bizarre events. The storylines that began in the final episodes of the first season—Jin Enouji asking our team for help and Momo Ayase seeking assistance from her grandmother for a spirit exorcism at the family home—grow increasingly complex as the second season unfolds. The season remains engaging thanks to Momo Ayase's kidnapping attempt and her difficult escape (this girl has to be kidnapped every single season or it doesn't count 😊), Okarun and Jin being ambushed by the owners of the cursed house for a dark ritual, and many other mysterious occurrences. The efforts of Okarun, Jin, and Momo to escape these mysterious incidents threaten the very foundations of this enigmatic town, shrouded in legends and mysteries. Realizing that the salvation of the mysterious town is tied to the strange ritual of the people in this cursed house, Momo, Okarun, and Jin find themselves drawn deep into the realm of supernatural beings. To survive and unravel the secrets of this enigmatic town, each of them must utilize their unique powers. Our heroes must overcome both the family and the supernatural entities hidden in the depths of the cursed mansion. Will they be able to succeed?

Production

The anime's director is Fuuga Yamashiro, just as in the first season. However, there is a difference in this season: the series now has a second director. The distinction doesn't end there. The second director is also not Japanese. Abel Góngora, a Spanish animator and director known for his work with the Japanese animation studio Science SARU, serves as the co-director of Dandadan's second season. Having joined the studio as one of its earliest employees, Góngora currently serves as head of Science SARU's digital animation department and is an expert in using Adobe Animate. Although Góngora was born in Barcelona, he grew up in the town of Elche. He received training in animation and graduated from the Technical University of Valencia. While Shion Wakayama voices the series' main character, Momo Ayase, as she did in the first season—also lending her voice to anime such as Trillion Game, Lazarus, and Dr. Stone—Natsuki Hanae voices Ken Takakura. Hanae is also known for his roles in Tokyo Revengers, Tougen Anki, Tokyo Ghoul √A, Jitsu wa Watashi wa, Gamers, Kimetsu no Yaiba, and Sakamoto Days. You can access the trailers for Tokyo Ghoul √A, Jitsu wa Watashi wa, and Gamers on our website. As with the first season, the anime was produced by Science SARU and consists of 12 episodes. It was again released on the streaming platform Netflix.

Review

Much like the first season, the second season is filled with plenty of weirdness and absurdity. One of the most striking elements I noticed this season is how our heroes grow increasingly close, becoming more tightly bonded to one another. Amidst all that absurdity, everyone wants to do something for each other. This sense of solidarity adds a warmth to the series, and I generally enjoy this kind of message, even if it can feel cliché. I can almost hear you saying, “You always talk about the good points of anime; you should also discuss the weaknesses.” Of course, Dandadan's second season does have its drawbacks. The first is that the plot repeats itself quite a lot. Every new member who joins our group possesses a new soul and power, and this cycle continues endlessly. While the action scenes accompanying these events are solid, watching the same idea over and over can become boring after a while. The second drawback is the overly exaggerated character designs; at some point, the human drawings start to look as strange as the alien or creature designs, making it hard to tell which character is an alien, which is a paranormal entity, and which is human. After the main story focused on Jiji for a long stretch, another notable point was that once the Jiji-centric arc concluded, the episodes dealing with subplots in the final stretch gave the impression that I was watching an anime movie rather than a TV series; the visuals were truly impressive from a cinematic standpoint. Another missing element is that, despite seeing strange and action-packed things in the second season, the story did not progress. I still have questions like why all of this is happening and why it exists. Another point I find odd is that there is no main villain in the anime. I can't quite classify whether this is a negative or a positive, but it is certainly one of the show's quirky aspects. Additionally, the relationship between Okarun and Momo, which contains a light touch of romance, continues, which could be a plus for female viewers and fans of shoujo-style anime. In short, although it repeats itself in certain areas, I can say that Dandadan's second season met expectations for those looking for an anime where the action and weirdness never end and that offers different facets.