Dandadan Director Explains His Personal Take on Momo, Okarun

Dandadan is one of the most highly anticipated anime arrivals this October and considering how packed the fall season is in 2024, that’s saying something. The original manga series by creator Yukinobu Tatsu focused on two protagonists who could not be more different in Momo and Okarun as the former loves the supernatural and the latter is far more into the extraterrestrial. Recently, at this year’s Anime Expo, we here at ComicBook had the chance to talk with Dandadan’s director, Fugu Yamashiro, about the relationship between the idiosyncratic pair and how Science SARU brought them to life. 

Momo and Okarun are set to take the anime world by storm this October and Fugu Yamashiro was more than willing to explain the compelling relationship between the anime protagonists, “It’s kind of fun to watch, isn’t it? In one instant, the two can have a normal, silly conversation between friends, and then in the next instant, it goes back to being serious again.The range of ups and downs in the emotions is huge. I don’t know how to explain it, but… I think the key is the momentum between the characters. There is a funness and cheerfulness in the manga, and that’s how it comes out in the anime. Plus, Dandadan is a romantic comedy. It has that kind of party feeling. I think my strategy when creating characters is to capture their core essence.”

Dandadan’s Anime Arrival

While Dandadan is set to arrive this October, a specific release date has yet to be revealed. Luckily, anime fans will have the option of watching the series on Netflix, Hulu, and Crunchyroll, so Okarun and Momo will have several platforms to reach audiences.

If you want to get a head start on Dandadan, here’s how Shonen Jump describes the manga that introduced the world to the manga featuring aliens and ghosts, “Momo Ayase strikes up an unusual friendship with her school’s UFO fanatic, whom she nicknames “Okarun” because he has a name that is not to be said aloud. While Momo believes in spirits, she thinks aliens are nothing but nonsense. Her new friend, meanwhile, thinks the exact opposite. To settle matters, the two set out to prove each other wrong – Momo to a UFO hotspot and Okarun to a haunted tunnel! What unfolds next is a beautiful story of young love…and oddly horny aliens and spirits?”

Want to see what the future holds for the mind-bending anime? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook for the latest updates on Dandadan.