An advance screening of the TV anime "Dandadan," based on the popular manga by Tatsuyukinobu that is currently being serialized on Shueisha's manga app "Shonen Jump+," was held in Osaka, and featured appearances by Wakayama Shion, who plays Momo, Hanae Natsuki, who plays Okarun, Tanaka Mayumi, who plays Turbo Granny, and Nakai Kazuya, who plays the Serpo Alien. As the greetings began, the four gradually heated up, and when Tanaka took over from Nakai to talk about the acting of the Serpo Alien, Nakai then took over from Tanaka to talk about Turbo Granny, creating a chaotic situation. The light-hearted exchanges between the two veteran actors Tanaka and Nakai made for a lively greeting that drew laughter from Wakayama, Hanae, and the audience.
The greetings began with Wakayama saying, "I'm excited that everyone will finally be able to see it." Hanae said, "I came to Osaka because I thought my 'penis' might be here (laughs)," and said he had come to look for Okarun's "lost property." Tanaka then performed Turbo Granny's famous line, "Let me suck your penis." Nakai said, "I've come to take care of my senior Tanaka," and the opening greetings were already a friendly and harmonious conversation.
Wakayama spoke about the appeal of "Dandadan," saying, "It has a fast-paced story development and incorporates various genres, but it's very easy to watch. That's what I love." Hanae said, "When I first heard about 'Dandadan,' I wondered what kind of work it was, so I read the manga... What kind of work is it? (laughs). It has a variety of elements, and the power of the drawings and the action are amazing, but I like the romantic comedy aspect. Then the occult and horror elements were added, and I enjoyed reading it."
When Hanae asked, "What about Mayumi?" Tanaka replied, "Exactly, exactly, just like you (Hanae)," to which Nakai replied, "Exactly, exactly, just like you (Tanaka)," and the greeting gradually became chaotic. Tanaka was supposed to have been asked about the difficulties she faced in playing Turbo Granny, but for some reason she started talking, "I'll take on Nakai's guise here..." and continued, "The difficulty in playing the Serpo alien was that all the aliens had the same face, and I had to do them all myself. Their personalities are slightly different, and I had to do them all without recording them separately," to which Nakai replied, "That was me," and "I was the one who struggled, and I was the one who worked hard." Hanae joined in on the exchange between Tanaka and Nakai, asking Tanaka, "Which of the three Serpo aliens did you pay the most attention to?" Finally, Tanaka asked the fans in the audience, "What did you think of the Selpo aliens, everyone?", which elicited thunderous applause. Nakai, who was busy making comments like, "The whole thing is ridiculous," countered by talking about the Turbo Granny played by Tanaka, saying, "The thing I struggled with was that it was a new role that I'd never played before, and since I'm a man, I didn't know how to play the role of an old lady... and she wasn't just any old lady either," which made the audience erupt in laughter.
When asked for a final message to put an end to the lawless zone, Wakayama said, "When adapting the original Dandadan into an anime, I think you'll understand that Director Yamashiro (Fuga) was conscious of staying faithful to that point so that people could have the same experience as the original. I'd be happy if you could tune in every week starting in October. I hope to spread the circle of Dandadan." The stage greeting came to a close amid much excitement.
"Dandadan" is a manga by Ryu, who served as an assistant on the popular manga "Chainsaw Man" and "Hell's Paradise," and began serialization in "Shonen Jump+" in April 2021. It depicts Momo, a high school girl from a family of spiritual mediums, and her classmate Okarun, an occult fanatic, as they confront the mysteries that appear one after another. The comic has sold over 3.2 million copies in total. The total number of views on "Shonen Jump+" has exceeded 440 million. The TV anime will begin airing on October 3rd on the late-night anime slot "Super Animeism TURBO" on MBS/TBS.
