Shueisha's Shōnen Jump+ has been home to various highly popular works, much like the flagship magazine, and many titles emerging from the Shōnen Jump+ platform are gaining immense popularity. Titles like SPY x FAMILY by Tatsuya Endo, or CHAINSAW MAN by Tatsuki Fujimoto, or even Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku by Yūji Kaku and various others have become highly successful in their own right.

Among this class of new shōnen titles that are making waves is Yukinobu Tatsu's Dandadan, an action-packed supernatural thriller with romance. With its interesting storyline that marries aliens and the occult, Dandadan is one of the best up-and-coming titles in Shōnen Jump at the moment. Here's what you need to know about the series.

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Plot and Background

Ken Takakura and Momo Ayase – Dandadan

Dandadan is an ongoing series that follows Momo Ayase, a high school girl who believes that ghosts exist, but does not believe in the existence of aliens. On the other hand, her gloomy, unpopular classmate, Ken Takakura, believes in aliens but not ghosts. To determine who is actually right, the two decide to hold a bet in which Ken must visit a location famous for supernatural phenomena; while Momo must visit a place known to be frequented by extraterrestrials. As it turns out, the two were half-right: both ghosts and aliens do exist. After their primary encounters with entities they once thought to be fiction, Momo and Takakura find themselves setting foot in a world unlike anything they've ever known, and to make things even worse, Takakura's first ghastly encounter leaves him possessed by an incredibly powerful evil spirit. VIZ's description of Dandadan is as follows:

When a boy into UFOs collides with a girl into ghosts, the universe will never be the same!

The author of Dandadan, Yukinobu Tatsu, has worked as an assistant on two other major Shōnen Jump+ titles, which are CHAINSAW MAN and Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku, and it is interesting to note that both those series lean heavily into the supernatural; the occult and horror elements. The series began serialization on Shōnen Jump+ on April 6, 2021, and has since run for 83 chapters, with 7 volumes compiled as of October 2022. Dandadan has amassed over 22 million views on Shōnen Jump+ as of July 2021, in addition to being nominated in Kadokawa's Da Vinci magazine's 7th Next Manga Award in the Best Web Manga category, and the 15th Manga Taishō in which it placed 7th; as well as placing 4th in Japanese publisher Takarajimasha's 2022 Kono Manga ga Sugoi! list of the best manga for male readers. Dandadan also bagged 4th place in the 2022 Tsutaya Comic Award.

Characters

Turbo Granny – Dandadan

Momo Ayase

Momo is a high school girl who believes in the supernatural, partly due to the fact that her grandmother, Seiko Ayase, is a spiritual medium who has worked with such phenomena for as long as Momo remembers. Despite holding these beliefs, Momo does not entertain the idea that aliens exist, at least until she is abducted by Serpo aliens. During her abduction, Momo learns that she possesses psychic powers and can visualize and manipulate "auras". She is bold, unrelenting and is compassionate despite her short temper. She has a huge crush on the actor Ken Takakura and has actually been in a relationship with someone simply because they resembled him. It is also because of this crush that she absolutely refuses to call Ken Takakura (the other protagonist) by his actual name, opting for the nickname "Okarun" instead. Momo has also forbid Takakura from saying his own name around her, for it calls forth great emotion, and also because he looks nothing like the actor.

Ken Takakura

The other main character of Dandadan is the sci-fi and aliens otaku, Ken Takakura. He is introduced as a friendless introvert who tries to connect with Momo after finding out that they share an interest in the occult. He soon realizes that they're on opposite ends of interest in the supernatural, but comes to greatly value her because she's the first friend he's ever had. He shares a name with Momo's all-time favourite actor, and as a result, Takakura is referred to as "Okarun" (from the word "occult") due to his intense obsession with aliens. His beliefs around ghosts change when he encounters and is later possessed by the Turbo Granny, a yōkai that assumes the shape of a foul-mouthed elderly woman who goes around cursing and stealing people's genitals (yes, really).

Themes

Dandadan Temple Spirit

As one would expect, Dandadan presents various flavours of the occult and the supernatural, with extraterrestrials and ghosts being the central concepts to the plot. These aspects lend themselves to the manga's supernatural thriller, almost horror-like feel; however, it is also bundled with its own strange and sometimes hilarious form of irreverence. Like many other Shōnen Jump titles, the series also features themes of friendship and romance, with the latter beginning to blossom between the main character duo. As more characters are introduced in the series, romance becomes a more prevalent aspect in Dandadan; however, the primacy of romance in the series is always apparent. One thing that is very uncomfortable about Dandadan in its earliest moments is how Ayase's abduction plays out – with panels of her desperately running away before numerous hands tear away at her clothing. As a pathway to her awakening her powers, the threat of sexual violence is particularly disconcerting considering the target audience, and unfortunately, like many other Shōnen titles, Dandadan doesn't do very well with how it presents sensitive aspects like the aforementioned.

With VIZ's recent ramping up of marketing surrounding the series, there were several rumours floating around the internet regarding a Dandadan anime in the works; however, those remain unconfirmed. VIZ's increased attention with regard to Dandadan over the course of October can largely be attributed to the series' recent compilation of its 7th volume, which covers chapters 50 to 54. VIZ announced the English print of the series in February this year, with the first English volume of Dandadan being released on October 11, 2022, adding more fuel to the rumour mill. However, looking at the trend of Shōnen Jump+ titles and their serialization to anime adaptation timelines, it might only be a matter of time since CHAINSAW MAN is now here, Jigokuraku and Mashle are set for 2023, and even Kaiju No.8 has been announced. At the moment; however, Dandadan is solely a manga series.

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