Dandadan

Dandadan established Yukinobu Tatsu as one of the most original voices in contemporary shonen, serialized since 2021 on Shueisha's digital app Shonen Jump+. The story begins from an almost offhand premise: high schooler Momo Ayase, convinced ghosts are real but skeptical about aliens, dares her classmate Ken Takakura, nicknamed Okarun, an ufology enthusiast who doubts the paranormal, to prove which of them is wrong. When each is confronted with proof of the other's belief, a vengeful spirit for Momo and an alien abduction for Okarun, Tatsu overturns their certainties and forces them into a reluctant alliance against increasingly outlandish threats, as both discover unexpected supernatural powers of their own.

The manga's defining trait is its seamless blend of genuine horror, with unsettling creature designs rooted in Japanese folklore, teenage romantic comedy, and unrestrained science fiction complete with spaceships, superpowers and tokusatsu-style battles. Tatsu's artwork, dynamic and able to swing between comedic deformation and panels of authentic horror tension, has grown sharper with every volume, reaching an almost cinematic quality in its most elaborate action sequences. Alongside the two leads, medium grandmother Seiko Ayase and former rival Aira Shiratori, who becomes an ally after awakening her own powers, broaden an ensemble cast handled with unusual care for emotional growth.

The series has earned wide critical praise for balancing such disparate genres, winning over readers who would normally steer clear of both horror and straightforward shonen action. The anime adaptation by Science Saru, its first season airing in autumn 2024 and a second in summer 2025, dramatically raised the title's international profile. Season two's debut triggered an immediate spike in print manga sales that turned into a genuine publishing boom over the course of the year.

According to Oricon's rankings, Dandadan ended up as the third best-selling manga in Japan in 2025, with three separate volumes, eighteen, nineteen and twenty, landing in the year's top fifty best-selling tankobon, confirming the direct link between the anime's success and that of the original comic.