Dan Da Dan’s dub actors feel the love

As 2024 draws to a close, Dan Da Dan became the talk of the town. The chemistry between the two leads to him banger opening and unusual styleScience Saru’s adaptation of Yukinobu Tatsu’s supernatural romantic comedy captured the hearts and minds of Momo Ayasen and animation fans who tune in weekly to see just how crazy Momo Ayasen is. Okarun will be caught next time.

In early December, io9 spoke with Abby Trott and AJ Beckles, Momo and Okaru’s respective voice actors, who came to the material in different ways. Beckles had already read the manga before the audition, while Trott only found out during the audition. They were both impressed and quite shocked that they had booked the parts – and how beautifully the dubbing turned out in itself.

“It’s been great to see some of the comments about how some people have enjoyed the dub and moved on,” Beckles said. Sub dub warfare has been around since ancient times, but he said Dan Da Dan avoided the annual due to the heavy marketing of its dubbing and the necessary time for the actors to record. That’s not always the case with anime, and he thinks the show is better for it: without preconceived notions of either Japanese or English voices, viewers are free to like whichever version they want.

Although viewers have been singing the praises of the show for months, some viewers were thrown by the second half of the first episode, where Momo and Okarun were threatened by beings from another world. While Okarun is being chased by the demon Turbo Grandma, Momo finds herself in a more dire situation and is kidnapped by an alien named Serpo who strips her down to her underwear and prepares to steal her reproductive organs. It’s a pretty abrupt tonal shift, not helped by the fact that there are still traces of comedy as Serpo says “bananas” to the organs.

When asked, both actors readily admitted how “unpleasant” the scene can be to watch and didn’t blame anyone for being kicked off the show. For Trott, the scene is a pivotal moment for her character, as it’s when Momo’s psychokinetic powers come into play. Once she realizes what she can do, she immediately goes on the attack, and several big moves of the season have drawn Momo into better control. his abilities— so it was satisfying for him to come into this power and immediately use it to “slap Serpos in the back.”

“In this scene, we are not saying that Serpoyans are good, on the contrary. This anime has a lot of dynamics and some tough parts to get through,” said Trott. “But the goodness outweighs the hard moments to watch.”

Beckles shared similar sentiments, showing how Momo uses her grandmother’s advice and receives surprise help from Grandma Turbo, showing how the women support each other throughout the story. As a manga reader, he noted that things improve going forward, saying that viewers will “see the show take those moments more seriously as it goes on.” The two actors also emphasized Okaru’s presence and “healthy perspective” on women, allowing the show to contrast her with the more invasive Serpoians.

After the fourth episode, Momo and Okaru’s slow romance really starts to take shape. Their growing relationship is more notable because other shonen often have romance as an addition to their stories rather than the main one. Tatsu proved to be popular during pitching Dan Da Dan her editor, Shihei Lin, recommended that she read shoujo (or “young girl”) manga that focused on personal and romantic relationships. If Lin hadn’t followed the advice, the series might not be what it is today, and probably wouldn’t have the same impact and excitement around it. Audiences love a good one a love storyand they know when they don’t hit. But because they’re so well-written and clearly defined and can never be normal around each other—especially in public—it’s hard not to root for Momo and Okarun.

Even when the couple caught some wild they communicate their feelings for each other in almost everything they do. Learning that it’s a love story didn’t change either actor’s take on the material, but Trott said the scene where Okarun and Momo argue for the first time made it clear where things were going. For Beckles, some of his favorite scenes for his character are when Okaru is “trying to figure out how to talk to a girl for the first time” or telling Momo how much he talks. cares what he thinks.

The dynamic between leaders is just as important in the cockpit. When it came time to celebrate, both actors said they preferred the other to come first as it allowed them to feed off each other. Trott said he gets “a lot” from his colleague, with Okarun in particular often “getting a certain reaction” from Momo, which forces him to adjust his responses accordingly. The same is very true of Beckles, who admits that more intimate, romantic scenes would throw him off because Okarun tends to speak from the heart.

While Momo’s encounter with Serpo helped trigger her psychic powers, Okaru’s experience with Granny Turbo gives her the partial essence of her soul powers, allowing her to transform faster, smoother, and more. relaxed emo version from himself. As Beckles explains, finding a default voice for Okarun — which he would later use when the character is more expressive or in Turbo mode — took several recording sessions. In these early episodes, Okarun was “always yelling or whispering, and there were so many things happening back-to-back to create a premise”. Beckles credited sound director Alex von David for channeling her voice “in moments to make it softer or more endearing. Alex has an overall vision and knows where Okaru is going. I really leaned on him at the tough spots, but to try and do something right it’s good when it’s hard.”

The particular problem he noted was the fourth episode “goodbye” scene Between Okarun and Momo, he called it one of his most “infuriating moments” to record. As he was the first in the booth that day, it was difficult to imagine Okaru’s thought process, how Trott would perform during the recording. and the meaning behind each ‘goodbye’. “Once (Abby) mentioned it for the first time the next day,” he said, “the pieces of the puzzle started to come together. I could play her emotions and she could build it up that way. I don’t think we ever had that cute, childish sing-along of ‘See you later!’

During our conversation, Beckles and Trott shouted out several others Dan Da Dan adaptation a success. Along with fans and von David, they gave glowing praise to fellow dub actors Lisa Reimold (Aira) and Barbara Goodson (Grandma Turbo) and their characters’ respective Japanese performers, Natuski Hanae and Shion Wakayama. (Trott called Wakayama’s Momo one of his favorite anime shows and the “perfect embodiment” of Japan’s gyaru subculture.) It’s been a pleasure for both of them to take this journey, so we’ll be binge-watching them on Netflix and Netflix again. with Crunchyroll second season in July 2025.

While they couldn’t say anything about what’s to come, Beckles teased that where things end up “is smooth compared to where the show goes later.”

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