Dan Da Dan’s director, Fuga Yamashiro, and leading members of the series’ English voice cast appeared at Anime Expo on Saturday, where they discussed changes to the show’s creative approach between seasons, the prospect of more Dan Da Dan, and a gaming announcement.
Held in the Peacock Theater at the Los Angeles Convention Center, the panel event saw director Yamashiro and Science SARU producer Kohei Sakita were joined on stage by English voice cast members Abby Trott (Momo), A.J. Beckles (Okarun), and Aleks Le (Jiji). Attendees were privy to special messages from Japanese voice actors Mayumi Tanaka (Turbo Granny) and Shion Wakayama (Momo), a live dubbing experience, exclusive looks at the upcoming season (including a still from episode 21), and the announcement of a Dan Da Dan crossover event with anime RPG Grand Summoners featuring an original story — with the promise of more details via the game’s social media and in-game notices.
Much of Saturday’s panel focused on a breakdown of the creative choices tied to season two, including its opening sequence, with Yamashiro spending a significant amount of time unpacking the color theory and visual inspiration behind certain sequences using storyboards and animatics. That included noting several ways he threw in nods to Ultraman. “The theme of this opening is Okarun’s life and how he sees Momo,” Yamashiro explained. “You’ll notice that the animation images are in sepia or black and white until Momo takes his hand, then it turns into color. So the world that Okarun sees changes, and that’s Okarun’s POV changing.”
After noting that in a specific sequence he used the shadows and silhouettes of characters to draw direct references to Ultraman, the director went on to explain how his color theory, which extends to individual characters (“The Evil Eye is like blue-ish purple, the Mongolian Death Worm is yellow”) was applied differently in season two, where he had more time to focus on it than season one when “scheduling was very tough for me.”
Yamashiro added that he allowed the dominant color of a sequence or even who is winning in a fight to be shaped by “who’s taking charge of that scene,” and that he increased the strength of color and use of blending within sequences. “Season one, you just had yellow or red. In season two, we wanted to do something different,” he said. “So if you look at the panels for number two and three, it’s half blue-half yellow.”
Later in the panel, when asked by Yamashiro about whether the English dub approaches their characters’ signature cross-talk and if that’s hard to do, Trott and Beckles shared how it enhances the realism of their characters’ interactions.
“It does happen in English, but I think that that is one of the things that makes this show feel so cool and natural,” Trott said. Beckles added, “It is a little bit harder, but it’s a lot of fun. When we’re recording it, we do it individually, so we rely a lot on the director to make sure that we all sound good together. And, of course, we take cues from the Japanese [voice actors] doing an incredible job. I think it makes the scene so much more lively.”
When asked what their favorite moments from other cast members were, Le noted that for him, the “character who steals the show is Turbo Granny. So anytime when I’m watching the show and I hear [English voice actor] Barbara [Goodson] just go off, it’s amazing. Obviously, I’ve known her from her work on Power Rangers and stuff like that when I was younger, but hearing her now and being part of something with her is truly a blessing. She brings such flavor and comedic power to the show.”
Trott and Yamashiro also teased some music elements that are coming in season two, specifically episodes 18 and 20. “That concert hall and the band scenes were really, really hard to work on,” the director said. “I think it came out good, and hopefully you guys will like it, too.”
Towards the end of the panel, Yamashiro also took a moment to encourage fans to keep watching the series to help continue its run beyond season two. “When I came last year to Anime Expo, and we premiered episode one, the fans really accepted my work, and they were so excited about it. It gave me so much energy to continue working on season two. So hopefully during season two, I can get the same amount of energy from you guys so I can continue next year,” he said to crowd cheers, before later adding, “As for continuing seasons, I think it’s really going to depend on your guys’ support for season two. So please keep watching.”