Danica Davidson
June 2, 2025 
Abel Góngora is the co-director of season two of DAN DA DAN, working alongside Fuga Yamashiro. He was also very much involved with the first season, including handling the opening credits to go with the opening theme song, “Otonoke.” And he said he used paper cutouts and pencils as a way to push against AI animation.
“We are talking a lot about AI, and I thought that was really cool to push the opposite way, something AI is not able to do,” he said in a recent interview.
The reason the opening sequence looks as if it has paper cutouts is because it does. It was not animated to look that way, and AI was definitely not involved.
“I also wanted to try a traditional approach, like having more cuts [that] were done on paper and pencil, [because] it’s not so usual lately in Japan,” he explained. “The cuts you see [that] look like pencil; this is really pencil. It’s not digital at all, and I was very happy that they could do it.”
You can see the action here:
DAN DA DAN Opening
Góngora also said that “there’s no way” AI will be used in making DAN DA DAN.
DAN DA DAN: EVIL EYE, which is a compilation of the last episode of season one and the first three episodes of season two, will hit the big screen in America on June 6. It’s offered both subbed and dubbed, and fans will also be able to watch an exclusive interview with Góngora and Yamashiro. Season two is scheduled to debut on July 3.
VIZ Media publishes the manga as Dandadan and gave this description for the first volume:
DAN DA DAN Plot
Momo Ayase strikes up an unusual friendship with her school’s UFO fanatic, whom she nicknames “Okarun” because he has a name that is not to be said aloud. While Momo believes in spirits, she thinks aliens are nothing but nonsense. Her new friend, meanwhile, thinks the exact opposite. To settle matters, the two set out to prove each other wrong—Momo to a UFO hotspot and Okarun to a haunted tunnel! What unfolds next is a beautiful story of young love…and oddly horny aliens and spirits?
Source: ComicBook
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
