Dandadan (ダンダダン) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yukinobu Tatsu [ja]. It has been serialized in Shueisha's Shōnen Jump+ app and website since April 2021, with its chapters collected in 15 tankōbon volumes as of July 2024. An anime television series adaptation produced by Science Saru is set to premiere in October 2024.
Momo Ayase is a high school girl who believes in ghosts but not aliens, while her classmate Ken Takakura believes in aliens but not ghosts. In a bet to determine who is correct, the two decide to separately visit locations associated with both the occult and the supernatural—Ayase visiting the former, and Takakura visiting the latter. Ayase is abducted by a group of aliens who accidentally unblock her chakras, enabling latent psychic abilities. Meanwhile, Takakura is possessed by a spirit who takes over his body. By using Ayase's abilities and Takakura's possessed form, they defeat the aliens together. The rest of the story follows the two as they attempt to cure Takakura's curse, fight spirits and aliens, and develop romantic feelings for each other.
A high school girl who believes in ghosts and the supernatural. After being abducted by Serpo aliens, she discovers she has psychokinetic powers, allowing her to visualize the "auras" of people and objects, and visualizes her power as giant hands to "grab" and control these auras. She has a crush on actor Ken Takakura, because of that, she refuses to call Okarun by his name because he does not look anything like him. Throughout the course of the story, she develops strong feelings for Okarun.
A shy and friendless high school boy who tries to connect with Ayase over their shared interests in the supernatural. She calls him "Okarun" (オカルン) from "occult", since he shares a name with the actor Ken Takakura, her celebrity crush. After being possessed by the Turbo-Granny, Ken gains the ability to enter a powerful demonic state, granting him immense speed. Throughout the course of the story, he develops strong feelings for Ayase as well.
A spirit medium and Momo Ayase's grandmother, whom she lives with, despite appearing to be in her 20s. She helps Ayase and Okarun deal with dangerous spirits and yōkai. Though she has no innate powers, she has an extensive knowledge of supernatural entities and curses, and uses various artifacts and the borrowed power of the god residing in their city to seal and exorcise yōkai, though this power is only limited to the city itself.
A student at the same school as Ayase and Okarun. After becoming aware of the existence of the supernatural, Shiratori proclaims herself as the "chosen one" on a mission to protect the world from evil and directs her attention towards Ayase, believing that she is a demon that has to be stopped. Similar to Okarun, she can transform into a demonic form with powers inherited from a yōkai called "Acrobatic Silky" (アクロバティックさらさら, Akurobatikku Sarasara), giving her immense agility and prehensile hair. She has a crush on Okarun.
Ayase's childhood friend and first crush. He goes by the nickname "Jiji" (ジジ). After his parents were hospitalized as a result of his house being haunted, Enjoji moved in with Ayase and Seiko before transferring over to Ayase's school. Okarun feels jealous over his relationship with Ayase, but Jiji tries to become friends with him. He is possessed by the Evil Eye, who goes on a blind rampage when in control of Jiji's body.
Rin Sawaki (佐脇 凛, Sawaki Rin)
Rin, mainly referred to as Class Rep (委員長, Iinchō), is the dutiful and over-bearing class representative of Class C, which most notably includes Okarun, Kinta Sakata, and Vamola.
Kinta Sakata (坂田 金太, Sakata Kinta)
Kinta is Okarun's chubby and somewhat anti-social classmate, who is deeply into the supernatural and extraterrestrial, but tries to get Okarun to make him more popular with girls.
Manjiro (万次郎, Manjirō)
Manjiro is Seiko's pupil and a spirit medium who is asked to help out in the Evil Eye case.
Hayashi (囃子, Hayashi)
The Hayashi are a band of musicians who sometimes help Seiko exorcise evil spirits using Heavy Metal music.
Masamichi Bega (部賀正道, Bega Masamichi)
Also known as Bega the Demon (鬼の部賀, Oni no Bega), is an extremely strict, but kind police officer stationed at the Kamikoshi Police Box, who takes Unji in, due to also loosing his family as he is, whereas the former lost both of his wife and daughter.
Unji Zuma (頭間 雲児, Zuma Unji)
Zuma is a student at Renjaku High School who is the leader of a gang of delinquents from other high schools, who lost his family as a child and is subsequently adopted by Bega, who too lost his family as he is. After gaining supernatural, umbrella-based powers from coming across one of Okarun's kintama, Unji makes an attempt at beating the diorama board game Danmanra. However, he is soon possessed by a powerful yōkai named Umbrella Boy.
Peeny-Weeny (ぺニーチンコス, Penīchinkosu) is an alien resembling a mantis shrimp who attacked Momo, Okarun and Aira but later befriends them after they helped him cure his son Chiquitita's disease. He now works at a farm and still assists the gang in every way he can. He has immense endurance, can shift into a more powerful form, and like an actual mantis shrimp, attacks with bullet-speed punches.
Chiquitita (チキチータ, Chikichīta)
Chiquitita is Peeny-Weeny's cheerful son, who inherited his mother's disease.
Vamola (バモラ, Bamora)
Vamola is a Sumerian and the sole surviving child of her race. After arriving on Earth from escaping an invasion on her home planet, she honors her adoptive mother's wishes to find a worthy husband who can help her preserve the Sumerian bloodline, leading her to Okarun and Momo.
Rokuro Serpo (セルポ 6郎, Serpo 6rō)
Rokuro is the Serpo clone who helped fight the Kur invasion. Afterwards, he was branded as defective and exiled from the Serpo; he works part-time.
Count Saint-Germain is an alien and an affiliate of the Kur, working as the deputy head teacher and advisor of the History and Culture Research Club in Momo and Okarun's high school, while under the assumed name Sanjome (三丈目).
Taro is an anthropomorphized anatomical model that resides at Momo and Okarun's high school.
Hana (花, Hana)
Hana is an anthropomorphized anatomical model that resides at the Ayase residence.
Mai Kawabanga (川番河 舞, Kawabanga Mai)
Mai was the childhood friend of Rin Sawaki who had died due to a car accident. Her spirit then went on to become an Ombusman bound to Rin.
Umbrella Boy (アンブレラボーイ, Anburera Bōi)
Umbrella Boy is a sweet, but impulsive yōkai, who possesses Unji's body after the latter comes in contact with Okarun's kintama, who can get very violent as a defensive impulse.
A yōkai who takes the form of a cruel, foul-mouthed elderly woman, Turbo-Granny used to comfort the spirits of girls who died horrible deaths, but started cursing and stealing the genitals of anyone who entered her territory. After Ayase and Okarun defeat her, Seiko seals her spirit inside a maneki neko doll, and she agrees to aid them for the time being until she can fully regain her powers.
Evil Eye (邪視, Jashi)
A powerful and sinister yōkai born as a human sacrifice in the feudal period. He harbors a hatred for all humanity and tricks Jiji into forming a contract so he may eradicate them. The Evil Eye, in addition to its immense physical abilities, uses the grudges of the sacrificial victims to form powerful, nigh-invincible constructs which frequently manifest into something akin to a soccer ball.
Reiko Kashima (カシマレイコ, Kashima Reiko)
Reiko, also known as the Slit-Mouthed Woman (口裂け女, Kuchisake-onna), is a yōkai that formerly resided in a ruined area in Kamikoshi City. After being bested by Momo, Reiko Kashima harbored a grudge against the girl and vowed to get revenge on her the next time they met.
Fairy-Tale Card (メルへンカルタ, Meruen Karuta)
The Fairy-Tale Card is a yōkai sealed within the Danmanra board game and the creator of the cursed trunk's inner world.
The Alien Serpo are an entirely male alien race who come from Planet Serpo. Due to their race being exclusively all male, the Serpo have no way of reproducing naturally and resort to using cloning technology, but since biological evolution cannot occur within identical beings, the Serpo seek to gain reproductive organs by abducting humans from Earth and stealing their sex organs (or "bananas").
Naki Kito (鬼頭 ナキ, Kitō Naki)
Naki Kito is a subterranean who spent over 200 years offering human sacrifices to the Tsuchinoko in order to prevent her village's destruction, until Enjoji brought Momo and Okarun to the village.
Kur (深淵ケの者, Keru)
The Kur are a militaristic alien race who originate from the farthest reaches of space. Described by Serpo as globalists, they have been actively seeking out planets within the galactic system to conquer, including Vamola's homeworld.
Before the serialization of Dandadan, Yukinobu Tatsu had worked as an assistant for Tatsuki Fujimoto's Chainsaw Man and Yuji Kaku's Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku.[7] The serialization was confirmed during a meeting for Shōnen Jump+ in the second quarter of 2020. However, Tatsu started Dandadan after Chainsaw Man and Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku had finished because he wanted to complete his role as an assistant until the end.[8]
Dandadan is written and illustrated by Yukinobu Tatsu [ja]. It began serialization in Shueisha's Shōnen Jump+ app and website on April 6, 2021.[9] Shueisha has compiled its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. The first volume was released on August 4, 2021.[10] As of July 4, 2024, 15 volumes have been released.[11]
The series is simultaneously published in English and Spanish on Shueisha's Manga Plus platform and in English on Viz Media's Shonen Jump website.[12][13] In February 2022, Viz Media announced that they had licensed the series in print format; the first volume was released on October 11 of the same year.[14][15]
"That's How Love Starts, Ya Know!" (それって恋のはじまりじゃんよ, Sorette Koi no Hajimari jan yo)
"That's a Space Alien, Ain't It?!" (それって宇宙人じゃね, Sorette Uchūbito ja ne)
"It's a Granny Vs. Granny Clash!" (ババアとババアが激突じゃんか, Babā to Babā ga Gekitotsu jan ka)
"Let's Go to the John" (トイレにいこう, Toire ni Ikō)
"Kicking Turbo Granny's Ass" (ターボババアをぶっ飛ばそう, Tābo Babā o Buttobasō)
Momo Ayase, a high school student obsessed with actor Ken Takakura, befriends a nerdy boy she nicknames Okarun (instead of his actual name, Ken Takakura) who mistakes her kindness for a shared obsession with paranormal phenomena; while she believes in spirits, he believes in aliens, and they send each other to notorious places to prove their respective interests. At abandoned Negi Hospital, Momo is abducted by the extraterrestrial Serpoians; meanwhile, Okarun is cursed by Turbo Granny, a yōkai who has joined with a bound spirit and takes his schlong. After rescuing each other, Momo uses her newly-awakened psychokinetic power to suppress Okarun's curse, which gives him a depressed demon form with Turbo Granny's powers. Returning to the shrine she shares with her granny, Momo and Okarun battle the Flatwoods monster. When Momo's grandmother Seiko, aka disreputable spirit medium Santa Dodoria, returns and saves Momo from Okarun, she coaches the teens how to defeat Turbo Granny. Momo challenges Turbo Granny to a race and tricks her into sending her full spirit into Okarun; the bound spirit awakens and begins to pursue them as an immense freshwater crab.
Momo loses her grasp on Turbo Granny during the pursuit, but manages to grab the recombined spirit crab-human, electrocuting it on an overhead line. The next day, after a series of misunderstandings, Okarun and Momo accidentally kiss. After Okarun learns that his schlong was returned but his balls are now missing, Seiko forces Turbo Granny's consciousness out of him into a maneki-neko doll; he retained her spiritual powers, and they strike a deal to return those powers in exchange for his restoration. However, Turbo Granny lost them after changing their appearance to golden spheres; fellow student Aira Shiratori picked up one by accident, awakening her spiritual power, and Aira mistakes Momo as a devil. However, Aira's awakening also makes her visible to the Acrobatic Silky yōkai, who proceeds to swallow Okarun, Aira, and Momo; Momo burns her from inside, setting the trio free.
"Let's Just Call Her 'Acro-Silky'" (アクサラって呼ぼう, Akusara tte Yobō)
"Acro-Silky" (アクさら, Akusara)
"To a Kinder World" (優しい世界へ, Yasashī Sekai e)
"Eat Some Somen Noodles or Something" (そうめんでも食べよ, Sōmen demo Tabeyo)
"I've Got This Funny Feeling" (なんかモヤモヤするじゃんよ, Nanka Moyamoya Suru jan yo)
"They're, Like, Back Again" (また来たじゃんよ, Mata Kita jan yo)
"Gotta Put On Some Clothes!" (服が着たい, Fuku ga Kitai)
"Momo Still Has Some Pent-Up Feelings" (モモちゃんまだモヤモヤしてます, Momo-chan Mada Moyamoya Shitemasu)
"You're Bothered, Aren't You?" (気にしてるじゃんか, Ki ni Shiteru jan ka)
Momo and Okarun defeat Silky, but Aira dies; to revive her, Momo transfers Silky's aura to Aira, and Momo empathizes with both after learning their similarly tragic family histories. After sharing a meal together, Aira insists Momo is a demon and vows to break Momo's hold on Okarun. At school, Momo catches Okarun and Aira in a compromising posture, which occurred after Aira confessed her feelings to him because of her romantically awkward notions. The Serpoians return, flooding the school to aid their mercenaries: two aliens similar to a plesiosaur and a mantis shrimp. All three humans fight ineffectively on their own, even after Aira and Okarun draw on their yōkai powers as the Silky and Turbo Granny, respectively. Okarun is stripped naked and the Serpoians attempt to harvest his sex organs. Momo finds an effective teamwork strategy, but the Serpoians, having tired of their gig workers' incompetence, have merged into a single aquatic monster.
"It Makes Your Heart Race, Don't It?" (ドキドキじゃんよ, Dokidoki jan yo)
"We Picked Up a Kappa Monster" (河童を拾いました, Kappa o Hiroimashita)
"Have You Ever Seen a Cattle Mutilation?" (キャトルミューティレーションを君は見たか, Kyatoru Myūtirēshon o Kimi wa Mita ka)
"That's a Premonition About the Turmoils of Love" (ラヴ波乱の予感じゃんよ, Ravu Haran no Yokan jan yo)
"First Love" (初恋の人, Hatsukoi no Hito)
"Don't Give Up!" (あきらめるなよ!, Akirameru na yo!)
"The Life of an Anatomical Model" (人体模型の生活, Jintai Mokei no Seikatsu)
"Let's Go to the Cursed House" (呪いの家へレッツゴー, Noroi no Ie e Rettsu Gō)
After the trio defeat the merged Serpoian-Nessie-mantis creature, they wake up in school, naked, damaging their social reputations. Aira and Momo find a grudging respect, and bring the wounded mantis shrimp to Granny Seiko, who denies his alien nature and calls him a kappa, but treats him and finds that cow milk will heal him and his son, Chiquitita. That night, Momo answers the door to find her childhood friend and first love, Jin Enjoji (Jiji), who has come to live with them while his parents are hospitalized. Once Jiji began to see spirits, his parents became sick; after multiple failed exorcisms, he was directed to contact Seiko, which she delegates to Momo. At school, Jiji is popular and Momo banters with him, making Okarun feel lonely. When an anatomical model runs by and Momo spots a golden ball, they catch the model, named Taro, and reunite him with his love, a female anatomical torso named Hana. Taro's declaration of love gives Okarun the courage to fight for Momo. Okarun, Jiji, and Momo travel to Jiji's cursed house.
"Better Decide Which One's Into Her" (どっちが好きか決めようや, Dotchi ga Suki ka Kimeyō ya)
"The Kito Family Is Coming" (鬼頭家が来る, Kitō-ka ga Kuru)
"Where's the Tsuchinoko Monster?" (ツチノコはどこ, Tsuchinoko wa Doko)
"The Kito Family's Old Lady" (鬼頭家のババア, Kitō-ka no Babā)
"Like, This Is the Legend of the Giant Snake" (大蛇伝説ってこれじゃんよ, Orochi Densetsu tte Kore jan yo)
"Mongolian Death Worms Are Deadly" (モンゴリアンデスワームはやばい, Mongorian Desu Wāmu wa Yabai)
"The Evil Eye" (邪視, Jashi)
"Contract" (契約, Keiyaku)
Momo goes to the hot springs, leaving the boys alone at the house, where they bicker and bond over her. After finding a secret room, a group of middle-aged women arrive; they are the landlords from the Kito family. Momo is similarly beset by middle-aged Kito men, but she is rescued by Turbo Granny. On the way back to the house, Momo visits the Tsuchinoko shrine and meets the priest, who relates a local legend: historically, villagers sacrificed children to pacify a giant snake, which kept a volcano quiescent; the Kito family attempt to sacrifice the trio at the house, which was built on the site of the ancient altar. Falling into a pit below the house, they spot the creature, which Turbo Granny realizes is a Mongolian death worm. Driven by its psychic energy, Okarun and Momo keep trying to hurt themselves; they resume normal thoughts in the presence of Jiji's spirit, which he learns was one of the sacrificed children. The spirit hates the Kito family; sympathizing with its loneliness, Jiji welcomes it inside himself, but it is an Evil Eyeyōkai, untrustworthy and violent to humans.
"You Won't Get Away with This!" (ゆるさねえぜ, Yurusa nē ze)
"This House Is a Damn Eyesore" (目障りな家じゃんよ, Mezawari na Ie jan yo)
"It's a Pump" (ポンプです, Ponpu Desu)
"Put That Fire Out" (消火しよう, Shōka Shiyō)
"That's, Like, Way Deadly" (やば過ぎじゃんよ, Yabasugi jan yo)
"That UFO Is Awesome" (UFOすげえ, Yūfō Sugē)
"He's, Like, Sealed" (封印じゃんよ, Fūin jan yo)
The athletic Evil Eye/Jiji targets Momo and Turbo Granny, but Okarun protects them and throws Momo to the surface, where she sets the house aflame. Okarun and Evil Eye fight as the wounded worm spews venom; as the fire department pours water on the house, the worm surfaces and is consumed in sunlight, then regurgitates the Kiyo family. As the volcano erupts, Momo uses the worm's body as a hose to divert water onto the lava. The Tsuchinoko shrine priest defends her from the Kiyo matriarch. All three unite to face the Evil Eye; he is delayed by the mantis shrimp and then defeated by Seiko and Taro. Taro seals the Evil Eye inside his shell, which is lined with ofuda amulets. Chiqutita continues fighting the lava from aboard their flying saucer and lifts a ball of worm phlegm from underground, which protected Okarun and Turbo Granny. Sharing a meal of oden together, Seiko discovers that hot water will turn the Evil Eye back to Jiji, and cold water reverts to Evil Eye.
"Let's All Carry Around Hot Water" (みんなでお湯を持とう, Minna de Oyu o Motō)
"We Can All Stay There Together!" (みんなでお泊まりじゃんよ, Minna de Otomari jan yo)
"The Hayashi Performers Are Here" (囃子が来ました, Hayashi ga Kimashita)
"We Became a Family" (家族になりました, Kazoku ni Narimashita)
"Get a Part-Time Job" (バイトをしよう, Baito o Shiyō)
"Moe! Moe! Tri-beam!" (モエモエ気功砲, Moe Moe Kikōhō)
"Feeling Kinda Gloomy" (なんかモヤモヤするじゃんよ, Nanka Moyamoya Suru jan yo)
"Scary Dudes at School" (学校の怖いやつ, Gakkō no Kowai Yatsu)
"Symphony No. 6" (交響曲第6番, Kōkyō Kyoku Dai Roku-ban)
The crew go to visit Jiji's parents in the hospital; the names of the shrimp alien (Peeny-Weeny) and the Kito matriarch (Naki) are revealed and she declares that Momo is her enemy while unveiling herself as a Subterranean alien. As Okarun and Momo grow closer, she asks him and Aira to stay at the house and help control Jiji with hot water. Seiko starts an exorcism to separate the Evil Eye with the help of the heavy metal Hayashi band, but Jiji begs to let him stay, promising to play with the lonely spirit. After inadvertently wrecking the house as Evil Eye, Jiji begins training to control his chi. Momo starts a part-time job at a maid café; Okarun is denied fight training by Peeny-Weeny, who uses the name Mr. Penny while working at a local dairy farm. Turbo Granny volunteers to help Okarun become strong; accompanied by Aira, the three sneak into school at night, where Turbo Granny summons musical spirits to train their sense of rhythm.
"Symphony No. 9" (交響曲第9番, Kōkyō Kyoku Dai Kyū-ban)
"You Can Do It, Okarun!" (がんばれオカルン, Ganbare Okarun)
"The Evil Eye's Briefs" (邪視のブリーフ, Jashi no Burīfu)
"I Want to Rebuild the House" (家を建て直したい, Ie o Tatenaoshitai)
"School Life" (学生生活, Gakusei Seikatsu)
"The Secret Art of Being Attractive" (モテる秘訣はなんだ, Moteru Hiketsu wa Nan da)
"I Can't See Them!" (見えないじゃんよ, Mienai jan yo)
"Hey, It's a Kaiju" (怪獣じゃんよ, Kaijū jan yo)
"The Kaiju's Wicked Strong" (怪獣はめちゃ強い, Kaijū wa Mecha Tsuyoi)
Okarun and Aira defeat the musician tulpas and return to the house, where Okarun challenges the Evil Eye and enters a contract to fight him exclusively; this eliminates the threat to all humans but the house was completely demolished. Peeny-Weeny and Chiquitita help rebuild it using alien nanotechnology. Jiji slips into the Evil Eye, but his muttered threats are treated as a joke. An awkward male classmate seeks romantic advice from Okarun, who is defended by the class rep from Momo over what she sees as Momo's bullying. Okarun, Momo, and the awkward student investigate the apartment block ghost, which they learn is a kaiju wearing a retroreflector suit to appear invisible. As it rampages through the city, they escape back to the shrine, where Okarun devises a plan to defeat it using the alien nanotechnology.
"Let's Eat Some Takoyaki" (タコヤキを食べよう, Takoyaki o Tabeyō)
"Let's Go to School" (学校へ行こう, Gakkō e Ikō)
"Ran Into Someone Deadly" (やべえ奴に遭遇しました, Yabē Yatsu ni Sōgū Shimashita)
"What Do We Do With Her?" (どーするこいつ, Dō Suru Koitsu)
Okarun's plan calls for transforming the house through visualization; the awkward classmate, Kinta Sakata, succeeds with a daibutsumecha he pilots. Working together, Kinta, Momo, and Aira defeat the kaiju with a powerbomb, causing it to shrink and reveal it is a suit piloted by a female alien, who then kisses Okarun. They take her to Peeny-Weeny, who uses a glitchy translator mask to learn her name is Vamola; she is seeking someone powerful enough to defeat her, who she will then marry. At Negi Hospital, the Serpoians meet an invading, lizard-like alien, which overwhelms them. Vamola learns to talk while walking to school with Momo and demonstrates the golden ball is not Okarun's; detouring through ruins, they encounter a kuchisake-onna (slit-mouthed woman) yōkai, who Momo dispels. At school, Vamola is assigned to Class C with Okarun, and the class rep bars Momo and Aira from visiting, to their frustration.
"This Person Is a Pain in the Butt" (めんどくせえ奴, Mendokusē Yatsu)
"A Pulse-Pounding Night" (ときめきナイトじゃんよ, Tokimeki Naito jan yo)
"Just Who the Heck Is This Person?" (こいつは一体何者なんだよ, Koitsu wa Ittai Nanimono Nanda yo)
"Ran Into Some Deadly Dudes 2" (やべえやつらに遭遇しました2, Yabē Yatsura ni Sōgū Shimashita 2)
"What Do We Do About These Deadly Dudes?" (どうしようやべえやつら, Dō Shiyō Yabē Yatsura)
"Number One Deadliest Dude" (一番やべえやつ, Ichiban Yabē Yatsu)
"At Work" (バイト中, Baito-chū)
"Annoying Dudes" (ムカツクやつら, Mukatsuku Yatsura)
"The Power of Nessie" (ネッシーの力, Nesshī no Chikara)
Seiko explains Momo's "pomade" spell only temporarily sent away the invincible yōkai, named Reiko Kashima, and to keep Momo safe, she is barred from being outside or near an uncovered mirror for a week between 10 PM and 5 AM. That night, Kashima attempts to lure Momo outside by pretending to confess Okarun's love, and keeps her awake by pounding the windows. The invading aliens are physically similar to octopus, piloting mecha suits, including the lizard-like leader and others. Silky and Evil Eye are knocked out quickly but manage to escape through the sewers; after dropping Vamola off at the shrine, Turbo Okarun is also defeated and his remaining testicle is extracted. At the maid café, Momo is pinned down by a horde of clones, who call Vamola a scout; a Serpoian teams up with Momo to repossess the clones, and she learns to use the moe-moe tri-beam to defeat an extradimensional alien.
"I Just Wanna Leave Already" (早く帰りたいじゃんよ, Hayaku Kaeritai jan yo)
"Can Never Sleep at a Manga Cafe" (マンガ喫茶は眠れない, Manga Kissa wa Nemurenai)
"Spy" (スパイ, Supai)
"Argument" (ケンカ, Kenka)
"What're We Gonna Do?" (どーするかねえ, Dō Suru ka nē)
"Initiate! The Road to Counterattack!" (始動!逆襲への道!, Shidō! Gyakushū e no Michi!)
"Just Can't Sleep" (寝てられないじゃんよ, Neterarenai jan yo)
"Astral Body Adventure" (幽体離脱の冒険, Asutoraru Bodi no Bōken)
The surviving Serpoian, named Rokuro, tells Momo the mysterious invading aliens must have warped to Earth via transmission systems housed in pyramids and kofun mounds. They rent a space at a manga café overnight, narrowly avoiding an attack from Kashima; returning to the shrine, Peeny-Weeny tells Momo all her friends are wounded after fighting aliens; she finds a ball similar to Vamola's in the mecha suit of one of the dead octopus-like aliens, and kicks her out, infuriated. When Rokuro learns Okarun's nut was taken, he realizes the 'globalist' alien invaders are an advance party which intend to use its power to bring their main force to Earth in five days. They morph the house into a car that Peeny-Weeny drives to the Negi Hospital site to train in secret, which goes poorly. Jiji uses his chi to silence Kashima overnight, allowing Momo to rest. Okarun awakens from his coma and, using astral projection, visits his friends and seeks out Seiko for help.
"Please Tell Me How to Get Back Into My Body" (体の戻り方教えてください, Karada no Modorikata Oshiete Kudasai)
"Day of the Decisive Battle" (決戦の日, Kessen no Hi)
"Motivation" (やる気, Yaruki)
"What to Do About the Name?" (どーする名前, Dō Suru Namae)
"What to Do About My Beauty Treatment" (どーする美容, Dō Suru Biyō)
"My Turn" (おれのターン, Ore no Tān)
"Close That Gate" (ゲートを閉じろ, Gēto o Tojiro)
"Vamola" (バモラ, Bamora)
"Vamola 2" (バモラ2, Bamora 2)
Seiko and Turbo Granny cannot help, but coach Okarun how to return to his body. During the desperate fight with the globalist aliens, Jiji names his chi blast as the Evil Gun, multiplying its power and turning the tide. Kinta finds a note at the shrine asking for help and builds an Akira-esque motorcycle. Momo is sent ahead to close the Tokyo Tower warp gate; Vamola returns to help her, but the lizard-like mecha extracts Vamola from the kaiju suit and impales her. Momo grabs Vamola back and begins treating her. Connected by telepathic chips, the friends learn Vamola's background during a flashback: as the sole surviving Sumerian child, she was saved and raised by Banga after a battle with the globalist aliens which killed all Sumerian men. Banga's small squad tries to rejoin another surviving group, but it is a trap. During the fight they encounter a Big Mama, which is a globalist mecha factory that uses people as raw materials, and they watch it create the kaiju suit, a symbol of the Sumerian religion.
Banga, who was a royal cook before the war, attempts to enter the palace and activate the warp gate to escape; she liberates the imprisoned men and saves Vamola by donning the kaiju suit, using the last of the gate's energy to send her to Earth with the advice to find a kind, strong man to marry. Vamola succeeds by identifying Okarun, but guiltily realizes she also drew the globalists to attack the friends; Rokuro heals her and she carries on fighting the globalists with Momo. The other students and Peeny-Weeny defeat the advance squad, but Momo has a tough fight with the lizard-like mecha before Okarun returns; buoyed by reuniting with the rest of the students, they face off against the globalists, who have brought reinforcements.
"It's Kinta's Turn Onstage" (金太の出番じゃんよ, Kinta no Deban jan yo)
"Howl, Great Kinta!" (唸れグレートキンタ, Unare Gurēto Kinta)
"Out of the Frying Pan" (一難去ってまた一難, Ichinan Satte Mata Ichinan)
"The Power of Reiko Kashima" (カシマレイコの力, Kashima Reiko no Chikara)
"That Note" (あの手紙, Ano Tegami)
"Reiko Kashima's Maiden Heart" (カシマレイコの乙女心, Kashima Reiko no Otomegokoro)
Although the reunited students quickly defeat most of the alien mecha, the lizard-like leader stands strong until Momo figures out its weakness, releasing a jellyfish-like alien which infiltrates Vamola's kaiju suit. Kinta arrives, reviving his Great Kinta battlemech to fight the hijacked Tokyo Skytree-wielding kaiju with a Tokyo Tower 'sacred sword' before defeating it with a spiraling powerbomb. Before the gate closes, a globalist fleet slips through. Kashima, appearing at 10 PM for Momo, experiences a flashback to the bombing of Tokyo and traps the fleet in her mirror before destroying it; after seeing Okarun and Momo's mutual love, she walks away. At the celebratory yakiniku barbecue, Rokuro shows up to thank Momo. A transformed Kashima vows to steal Okarun if Momo is not more honest and forthright with her love. Far away, Banga leads a squad of Sumerians towards Earth; eavesdropping on the Serpoians, Turbo Granny learns they have named the globalist aliens the Kur, who are hosting the mysterious Count Saint-Germain.
"The Class Rep's Secret" (委員長の秘密, Iinchō no Himitsu)
"Ombusman" (オンブスマン, Onbusuman)
"Let's Do an Exorcism" (おはらいしようぜ, Oharai Shiyō ze)
"It's a Parade Float. It's a Festival. It's Ninomiya" (山車だ祭りだ二宮だ, Dashi da Matsuri da Ninomiya da)
"Float Performance Face-Off" (ひっかわせ, Hikkawase)
"Let's Be Idols" (アイドルやろうぜ, Aidoru Yarō ze)
"Kawabanga" (カワバンガ)
After Okarun's retrieved gonad is restored, Mr. Sanjome emerges from The Gates of Hell at the National Museum of Western Art in Ueno Park and becomes the faculty supervisor for the students' occult club; despite not having prior memories of him, everyone agrees he seems familiar. Class rep Rin Sawaki approaches Okarun and collapses under the weight of an ombusman yōkai; after she picked up the other missing golden ball and turned it in to a kōban (police box), she began seeing spirits. The ombusman is Mai Kawabanga, Rin's childhood friend who shared a dream to become a junior idol before dying in a car crash. Seiko's remedy involves the Hayashi band and a dansha; they fight through waves of kinjiro ninomiya statues and Rin takes over for the lead singer after he is incapacitated, belting out an emotional song. Mai returns and they tearfully forgive each other; although not dispelled completely, Mai becomes a guardian spirit. Momo and Okarun convince Turbo Granny to help infiltrate the kōban, operated by humorless Officer "Bega the Demon", so they can learn who picked up the missing ball.
An anime television series adaptation was announced on November 28, 2023. It will be produced by Science Saru and directed by Fūga Yamashiro, with scripts written by Hiroshi Seko, character designs by Naoyuki Onda, alien and supernatural entity designs by Yoshimichi Kameda, and music composed by Kensuke Ushio.[38] The series is set to premiere on October 4, 2024, on the Super Animeism Turbo programming block on JNN affiliates, including MBS and TBS.[3][39][40] The opening theme, "Otonoke" (オトノケ), is performed by Creepy Nuts, while the ending theme, "Taidada", is performed by Zutomayo.[41][40] Prior to the television airing, the English dub of the series premiered at Anime NYC on August 24, 2024.[4] The first three episodes will also be released theatrically as Dan Da Dan: First Encounter, with screenings starting in Asia on August 31.[5][42]
Crunchyroll will stream the series outside of Asia, but included the Middle East and CIS, while Netflix will stream the series globally.[43][44]Muse Communication licensed the series in Asia-Pacific.[45] In June 2024, GKIDS announced that it had acquired the theatrical, videogram, and digital transactional rights to the series.[46]
Earlier August 2024, prior to the English dub premiere, it was reported that the first two episodes of the anime were leaked alongside many other Iyuno localization company works.[47]
By November 2023, the manga had over 3.2 million copies in circulation and over 360 million views on the Shōnen Jump+ platform.[48]
In June 2021, Dandadan was nominated for the seventh Next Manga Award in the Best Web Manga category and placed second out of 50 nominees.[49][50][51] It ranked fourth on Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! 2022 list of best manga for male readers.[52] It was nominated for the 15th Manga Taishō in 2022 and placed seventh with 53 points.[53][54][55] The series ranked first on both the Nationwide Bookstore Employees and Publisher Comics' Recommended Comics of 2022.[56] The series ranked fourth in Tsutaya Comic Award 2022.[57]