It ’s been a bumper year for unbelievable anime adaptation , with the likes ofFrierenandDelicious in Dungeonfaithfully bringing their source material to life sentence on the small screen . ButDan Da Dan‘s anime adaptationmight already be a dark horse contender for the good looking show of the year .
drop today , October 3 , on Netflix , Hulu , and Crunchyroll , the first episode of Science Saru’sDan Da Dancarries the spirit of its informant material incredibly . A chaotic premiere thrusting its two protagonists together — Momo Ayase(SSSS . Dynazenon‘s Shion Wakayama ) , a untried girl who comes from a family with ties to the occult arts and paranormal , and Ken “ Okarun ” Takakura ( Demon Slayer‘s Natsuki Hanae ) , a lonely otaku who is haunt with UFOs — like Tatsu ’s manga before it , the series gleefully meet with form and stylisation to quickly dance between its mish - mash of genre underpinnings to create one of the most energetic gum anime I ’ve seen in a while .
From its electric opening ( directed by Abel Góngora , and set to hip - hop duo Creepy Nuts ’ thrumming , bass - backbreaking new runway “ Otonoke , ” already destined to become as auricle - wormable as their other heavy anime OP of the year , Mashle‘s “ Bling - Bang - Bang - Born ” ) through to its climax , Dan Da Dan‘s first episode jukes where you ’d wait it to jive in its loving approach to the supernatural and sci - fi genres its playing in . One of the immediate strengths of Tatsu ’s manga was just how fluid and kinetic it could be , defy your expectations from Thomas Nelson Page to Thomas Nelson Page . One good turn could get you to an action - pile plash break with momentum , the next detailed , visceral body repulsion , the one after that , stylise , cartoonishly exaggerated body fluid as Momo and Okarun Riffian on each other and wring their look and bodies into increasingly derisory ratio .
©Yukinobu Tatsu/SHUEISHA, DANDADAN Production Committee
The anime play with this fluidness brilliantly , with nearly every scene bending stylus as much as the tale itself jump between genres with a sensation of joy . This is right in Saru ’s oeuvre , one of the most impressive liveliness studios around right now with a consistency of piece of work that covers everything fromStar Wars Visionsshorts , to the gross horrors ofDevilman Crybaby , the East - meets - West blend ofScott Pilgrim Takes Off , and of class , much of the filmography ofbeloved director Masaaki Yuasa . Dan Da Danis ooze with the authority of a studio apartment that has such an eclectic mountain chain to its name , not just in its sense of movement and its exaggeration , but in how it can rapidly flip between a grounded , cinematic approach path to its drama and this over - the - top exploration of the form . WhenDan Da Danneeds to be tense , or versed , it can be , with cunning tricks of framing that can make moment of horror or bit of connection between its two friend spark , but when it allow itself to glint with a little outlandishness — a goof expression here , a stark dab of psychedelic coloring here ( or in some cases , a lack thereof ) there — its inventive visual flair matches its chaotically energetic narrative in a compeer made in heaven .
Almost every scene in the opening episode has a wondrous fiddling twist that keeps you in veneration of howDan Dan Danlooks — as when a dejected Momo , fresh off being dumped by her dirtbag boyfriend , slink down a high school day corridor in a elbow room that ’s practically slithering towards the camera , noggin - limbed and quivering with every step , only for everything to snap back to a austere , still reality when she comes across Okarun for the first time as he ’s being ballyrag in his classroom . In the episode ’s climax , in which Momo awaken to spiritual psychical powers after a invasive encounter with a group of alien , the panorama bursts with a kaleidoscopic array of bold , bright colors as Momo comes into her own , an incredible contrast to the tense , restrained horror that came moments before as the show saltation around the edge of portray a horrific moment of rape . It ’s a testament to the premiere that I could go on about little optical detail in practically every scene , butDan Da Dandoesn’t just attain the ground running , it does so with a remarkably check sense of itself , in an version that could ’ve very easily struggled to capture the similar assurance of Yukinobu Tatsu ’s manga and its own narrative and visual flexes .
In a year of some sincerely fantastic look shows — enliven or otherwise — Dan Da Danimmediately digest out , a clean burst of energising energy on our screenland as the nights draw in for the surrender TV season . Anyone who ’s read Tatsu ’s manga at this point knows things are only going to escalate from where the anime ’s premiere leaves off , but if it can maintain that vitality throughout its 12 - installment time of year ( and hopefully well beyond ) , we ’re in for what might be one of the year ’s finest bits of goggle box .
need more io9 newsworthiness ? Check out when to expect the latestMarvel , Star Wars , andStar Trekreleases , what ’s next for theDC Universe on plastic film and TV , and everything you need to fuck about the succeeding ofDoctor Who .
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