Dan Da Dan

What’s it about?

When Momo and Okarun’s beliefs clash, they are thrown into a world of ghosts, aliens, and awakening powers.

The facts

• Directed by Fūga Yamashiro
• Starring Shion Wakayama and Abby Trott as “Momo Ayase,” as well as Natsuki Hanae and A.J. Beckles as “Okarun”
• Japanese language, with English dubbed
• 23 minutes per episode
• Adapted from the web manga series of the same name written by Yukinobu Tatsu

Why did it get this rating? 

This series was self-rated by Crunchyroll. You can find out more about self-rating by streaming providers here.

Sexual themes 

This show has some sexual themes, including:

• Ghosts and aliens frequently mention “weenies” and “bananas” in reference to characters sexual and bodily organs.
• One ghost-like character’s main goal throughout the show is to remove and steal other characters’ penises, but these scenes are more comedic than violent or sexual.
• Machine-like aliens have crudely formed mechanical penises.
• A creepy old female character, “Turbo Granny”, offers a male character to “suck on her teats if he lets her gobble his dong”. Her breast is also bitten during a struggle.
• There is reference to a character who previously worked as a sex worker.

Sexual violence 

During episode 1, there is a disturbing attempted sexual assault by aliens. Four male aliens who strapped a female character to her chair and stripped her to her underwear say they will have intercourse with her and then extract her uterus for research purposes. She says she will never let them “take her virginity.” They then hypnotise her into wanting to have sex with them. One of them spreads her legs and pulls out a large mechanical penis, before another character enters and stops them before anything happens.

Violence

Brutal fighting between alien and monster characters occurs. They shoot lasers at each other and throw each other into walls. Characters are beaten bloody with bats, one character goes up in flames, and there are various explosions and attacks. Episode 7 depicts quite realistic violence which may disturb some viewers.

It is revealed that a family offers a child from their village as a sacrifice to a large evil worm, as part of a 200-year tradition in their village. More than 11 other characters are also sacrificed by the family for the same reason during the show.

A character rips their jaw open to express that she will not eat another character. Blood pours out offscreen and we see her dislocated jaw hanging down.

Multiple men abuse a female character and slash her with glass.

Suicide

There are multiple scenes involving suicide:

• One unnamed female character commits suicide by jumping off a building during a flashback scene. She is later revived as a spirit.
• Three unnamed exorcists commit suicide off-screen in an unspecified manner after failing an exorcism.
• While under the influence of an evil villain, two parents drown themselves, another two parents commit suicide offscreen, and another two hang themselves offscreen, with their bodies shown in a flashback.

Frightening scenes

There are various frightening characters with deformed and dislocated limbs, some of which are disturbing to look at due to their nightmarish and psychedelic nature.

Offensive language

While the offensive language in this series is infrequent and typically mild, with words like “crap” and “ass,” there are occasional uses of stronger words, such as “sh*t,” “b*tch,” and “bastard.”

Helplines:

Themes such as suicide and sexual violence could be upsetting for some viewers, especially for those who have gone through similar experiences. If you are struggling with what you have seen on-screen please reach out for help. If you or someone you know needs to talk:

• 1737
• Safe to talk
• Lifeline
• Youthline

Further information

• Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau?
• Brain development – how it works, why it matters