Blu-ray Review: Dan Da Dan Season 2 Collector’s Edition

Carrying on the mayhem mashup that mixes aliens, ghosts and a budding teenage romance is Season 2 of Dan Da Dan which adapts the Curse House Arc, Evil Eye Arc and Kaiju Arc over the course of 12 episodes which allow more time for Jiji to shine as he gets possessed by a malevolent spirit which puts him in the same league as Momo Ayase, Okarun and Aira Shiratori when it comes to having supernatural powers.  As with Acrobat Silky in Season 1, the tragic backstory for the Evil Eye gets told and generates enough sympathy in Jiji to have him abort an exorcist being performed by a contracted death metal band.

There are a wide range of moments ranging from Okarun getting flustered when Momo decides to hold his hand while they walk together to musical notes being turned into explosive weapons which serve as a major training exercise for Okarun to improve his fighting rhythm.  And let’s not forget the massive death worm that gets converted into a firehouse to put out an erupting volcano or a Godzilla-like creature that threatens the city is literally a cute alien girl in a high-tech suit.  Taking over the annoyance crown from Jiji in Season 1 is the overweight robot-obsessed Kinta Sakata who amusingly cannot understand how Okarun has become a chick-magnet and sets out to discover the secret behind his success.  The final shot of Episode 212 is nice callback to Episode 101 when an unexpected discovery about Okarun has Momo experiencing intense feelings about him.

Whereas Fūga Yamashiro retains centerstage when it comes to the behind-the-scenes featurettes, also given a moment to shine is Abel Góngora who shared directorial duties with him on Season 2.  Yamashiro displays a great enthusiasm when explaining the creative and technical decisions made during battle that takes place with the spectral manifestations of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Schubert.  Given equal exposure on the commentary tracks is Okarun voice actor Natsuki Han who goes into overdrive with his witty remarks such as declaring that he wears glasses to get into character.  The best commentary track is the playful interaction that takes place between Han, Shion Wakayama (Momo Ayase) and Kaito Ishikawa (Jiji) when discussing Episode 205.  Alongside the usual special features of teasers, trailers and opening and end credits, is a stunning 76-page booklet is included which includes interviews with the cast and crew as well as character profiles and selected storyboards. For the inner geek there are three sheets of stickers of the various characters in their Chibi form.   The DTS audio in both English and Japanese on the two discs contributes in making the genre mishmash that is Dan Da Dan into a joyous roller coaster of humour, drama, romance and absurdity.

For more information visit about the Collector’s Edition Set visit the offical website for GKIDS.   

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada; he can be found at LinkedIn.