Summary

Collider’s Laura Adams talks with DAN DA DAN voice actors Abby Trott, AJ Beckles, and Aleks Le for Dan Da Dan: Evil Eye’s theatrical release.

The Evil Eye arc of Dandadan Season 2 is receiving a theatrical release, covering Episodes 1–3.

Trott, Beckles, and Le discuss how Season 2’s Evil Eye arc will delve into Momo, Okarun, and Jiji’s story, exploring how their relationships evolve and featuring darker tones and emotional fights.

DAN DA DAN may have premiered in the latter part of 2024, but that didn’t stop the anime from becoming an online phenomenon and being hailed as one of the year’s best, thanks to its stunning visuals, dynamic action sequences, and compelling story. The final episode of Season 1 sees Momo and Okarun visiting Jiji’s house to exorcise the malevolent force that hurt his parents. This sets the stage for DAN DA DAN: Evil Eye, a new arc covering the first three episodes of Season 2, coming to theaters this Friday. Ahead of the release, Collider’s Laura Adams sat down with voice actors Abby Trott, AJ Beckles, and Aleks Le, who voice Momo, Okarun, and Jiji respectively, to talk about what fans can look forward to in the Evil Eye arc, how their characters’ relationships continue to evolve, and the emotional depth behind the series’ fight scenes.
‘DAN DA DAN: Evil Eye’ Will Change The Tone of The Series

“There’s definitely, and especially in the first three episodes, a lot of unsettling feelings and a kind of despair with the whole Evil Eye situation.”

COLLIDER: So, before we begin, I think congratulations are in order! Aleks, you recently won Best English Voice Artist Performance at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards. How does it feel to have that role honored, and are there any elements from your performance as Jinwoo in Solo Leveling that you brought into your portrayal of Jiji in DAN DA DAN? ALEKS LE: It’s hard for me to say because it just feels like another day. You know, it really is amazing to have been nominated with so many talented actors. Award shows have never really been for me, and it’s kind of surreal to have that support behind me. Also, it’s tough for me because I felt like everybody on that nomination list deserved it. I voted for AJ, personally. But yeah, it’s really cool, but I guess it just doesn’t feel real to me yet because I don’t have the trophy in my hand. So, Crunchyroll… please send me the trophy. Yeah, I saw that Instagram post where you drew the award! LE: Yeah. [Laughs] But it is an honor. And I guess it just flies over my head because I’m like, “Wow. There’s an award for anime now?” And as for bringing part of any of myself from Solo Leveling to DanDaDan, I guess the only thing that came with me is sort of the ability to talk in more of my normal register, because for most of Jiji, he sits way higher in my range, but I was able to drop it down comfortably for Evil Eye. And I feel like they both have this menacing factor to them, but it’s very different. One is driven by self-preservation goals, and the other one is more so like a bloodthirsty revenge, and there’s a fine line that you need to figure out. But yeah, it was definitely the most challenging thing about this new batch of three episodes for me.

Image via Science Saru

How would you all describe the overall vibe of this season compared to the first one? AJ BECKLES: The first one I feel it was very establishing. It was a very “here’s the characters, here’s everyone’s little backstories,” and, you know, introducing us to the world and where will the story go. The story is about relationships and adolescence. This season, so far to me, feels more like it’s focused on driving that plot forward, right? How far can we push those adolescent emotions? How much more of the action can we show? How many obstacles can be put in the middle of these relationships? And watch them grow from there. I think that’s the vibe, and you can see that it’s a lot more tense. The first season obviously had some serious moments in those first couple of episodes, but a lot of it was just like, you know: funny, funny joke, serious, funny, funny, funny. [The second season is serious] straight out the gate. There are some funny moments, but mostly it’s serious, which is cool. LE: Yeah. I mean, it’s a lot more purple. BECKLES: It’s very purple. ABBY TROTT: It’s a lot more purple. There’s definitely, and especially in the first three episodes, a lot of unsettling feelings and a kind of despair with the whole Evil Eye situation. So it’s kicking it off pretty dark. What was the process like in finding the voice for your character? How did you know when it finally felt “just right”? BECKLES: Okarun is kind of closer to my normal voice, but he’s very anxious, and he’s nerdy. I wanted to make sure that in times where he was really excited, that nerdiness showed more. I wanted to make sure that when he was insecure, you could hear how kind of soft and gentle he is. So all of those different aspects go into his normal voice. Our director, Alex von David, helped me make sure that it’s consistent throughout and that I hit the right pitch or voice for the specific moment. For his transformed voice, I was just like, “I want it to sound cool.” So I took inspiration from some other actors and performances that I grew up on, but I definitely added my own flair, and also Natsuki Hanae himself. I got to hear how he did it, and I wanted to do mine not quite like his, but I wanted to put my own spin on it and get the same general vibe. I think we settled on something that both myself and our director are proud of and happy with. TROTT: Yeah, for Momo, I think my first audition for the character set the bar. And then within the first few episodes, you really see the range that Momo has of emotions. Her voice isn’t too far from my natural voice, it’s just like a little in my higher range. But she’s a lot more dynamic, and her emotions come through clearly. Also, the other thing about Momo that’s different from me in real life is that she has kind of a slangy Gyaru way of speaking. She’s cooler than me in real life. And so getting that kind of casual way about her was what we probably spent most of our energy on in the first few episodes, just really getting that down. LE: When I was in high school, I was a very scrawny and awkward kid and a super introvert. I never talked to anybody. So when I thought about Jiji, I was like, “I’m just gonna do what high school me would have wanted to be.” That’s basically somebody that I wanted to be but didn’t have the confidence to be. Somebody who was always confident in themselves. Somebody who wasn’t afraid to share all of his jokes, even if they were terrible jokes, and nobody laughed at him. Somebody who wasn’t ashamed to hide that side of himself and somebody who was just not afraid to let loose. So that’s kind of how I settled on that voice. And yeah, it’s been a lot of fun to kind of see him unravel a little bit more in this second season and to see more layers of him.
‘Evil Eye’ Will Reveal Different Sides of Our Characters

“They were both kind of unknowingly putting each other in these positions.”

Image via Science SARU

How would you describe the evolving relationship between Okarun and Jiji as both rivals and friends in Season 2? And how does that affect their relationship with Momo? BECKLES: It’s interesting, because I feel like Okarun is very new to having friends. Period. Not even just with Jiji. He only recently met Momo and Ira, and his whole life he’s been made fun of and bullied by the other, more masculine people in his vicinity. So he’s not used to someone that looks attractive and athletic like Jiji actually caring about what he has to say about monsters and cryptids and aliens. He’s not used to that, and I think he’s starting to lighten up to the fact that, “Oh, this guy’s alright.” But he only just met him, so I don’t think Okarun really fully knows quite how he feels about him yet. And there definitely is that rivalry. He has this thing where, you know, Okarun’s very polite and very kind, and I think he hides some of his more depressed emotions because he wants to make sure that he comes off as gentle. He wants to be kind to everybody, and I’m sure he thinks about what he says before he says it. Versus Jiji, who just says whatever’s on his mind and he’s so free. And I think there’s a part of Okarun that probably envies that — that he can just do that. He looks at him, and he’s like, “Look at how funny he is, and man, no, Momo’s never gonna like me. I’m nothing like him.” So I think there’s that bit of it too, where he’s also a teenager who is starting to grow feelings for this girl, and he’s never had feelings like these before, and now that he knows these feelings, he doesn’t want to lose it. So he sees Jiji as this incredibly, incredibly cool, and kind guy that Okarun thinks everybody wants to be, right? Because Okarun wants to be that. And so there’s a bit of that fear too. So watching that relationship kind of evolve as he is conflicted between these feelings of liking this person and also being jealous or envious of this person is going to be interesting to watch unfold. LE: I think for Jiji, as we’ll come to learn about him, he’s been going through a lot, and he hadn’t really had much time either to make any friends even though he’s very much capable. You know, if you think about it from Okarun’s perspective, it’s like he has trouble making friends because he has a very niche hobby and there’s not many people to talk to, and a lot of people look down on him and bully him. But if you look at it from Jiji’s perspective, if you were not him, to see somebody so free, and athletic, he’s good-looking, he’s on top of everything. Actually, we saw the reactions when he transferred to Momo and Okarun’s school, which is that a lot of the guys didn’t like him either. They hated him because they were jealous of him. So you can assume from that that he also didn’t have a lot of guy friends who wanted to hang out with him because everybody always made assumptions about him, and they never really gave him a chance to get to know him. So in a sense, he was kind of on the same boat as Okarun, and they were both kind of unknowingly putting each other in these positions. But when they finally got to meet and to see that friendship develop between them, I think that was kind of both of them realizing, “Oh, this is like the only guy friend that I’ve made.” It was really sweet and heartwarming to see. And I think the rivalry is more so of a fun one for now as it’s developing. A lot of people like to put a lot of stakes in these ships and these pairings, potential… To me it just seems like a bunch of teenage boys trying to figure themselves out. And that’s what’s so charming about it, that nobody really knows what they want for sure. And if they do, they don’t have the guts to fully embrace that and directly say it to the other person. So it’s this really funny cat-and-mouse chase of like, “Oh, will they? Won’t they? Do they? Do they not?” So I think it’s super interesting to see these two always at odds, but at the same time having each other’s backs on the stuff that really matters, which is their friendship and their bond together as a whole team.

Related

‘Dandadan’s 10 Most Shocking Moments, Ranked

Please don’t take my banana!

Without giving too much away, do you have any favorite episodes in this upcoming season? And what makes it stand out to you? BECKLES: I think the third episode is really fun for me to see, just because I’m a sucker for action in general, but getting to play Okarun in that sort of way where he’s actually fighting and there’s a back and forth was cool. Because Okarun, normally, his whole job is like, because Momo’s so smart, is to make sure Momo’s on his back so he can run around and she can figure something out. But in this case, he didn’t have Momo to rely on. He’s always saying, “Momo, help!” or “Miss Ayase, help!” But in this particular case, Miss Ayase was nowhere to be found, and he promised her that he would help fix the problem and get their friend out of there. So he had to figure it out. And watching the animation, and the color, and the fight choreography, and actually being a part of it, hearing my voice and everything… and Alex’s performance… it was a treat. TROTT: Yeah, I think, without picking a particular episode, Momo’s resourcefulness really comes through in this next part. So look forward to seeing that. LE: I really enjoyed the Evil Eye episode with the backstory. I thought that was beautifully done and very creepy but also heartwarming. Wait, it’s not heartwarming. It’s very sad. Not heartwarming, very sad. But that was a really good episode.
‘Evil Eye’ Features An Epic Showdown Between Okarun and Jiji

“Yukinobu Tatsu does a great job of setting the reader up to make these preconceived notions.”

Image via Science SARU

AJ, you mentioned the battles. I feel like the battles in DanDaDan often come from a place of empathy rather than straightforward violence. Does that emotional core influence how you guys approach those scenes? BECKLES: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. And as a manga reader, when I’m reading these moments, I think Yukinobu Tatsu does a great job of setting the reader up to make these preconceived notions, right? I remember reading the bit where Okarun is about to face off with Evil Eye and thinking, like, “Okarun is going through this whole thing, so he’s angry at Jiji.” And then it’s kind of revealed that it’s not Jiji that he’s angry at. He’s able to kind of separate Jiji from Evil Eye. And he also himself has this incredible ability to empathize with things. His only goal isn’t to hurt Jiji or to hurt Evil Eye, it’s just to stop him and restrain him. I think there’s a moment where he’s just like, “Your mistake was making my friend do something that he would never do.” It was never about, like, “I’m so jealous of Jiji, and he’s hurting Momo.” It was like, yes, Momo’s being hurt, but it was more so like, “You are influencing my friend and the people around him, and you’re hurting the person you have control over” And that effect it’s had on Jiji has been really tough on him, too. So yeah, I think it definitely does shape the way we read our lines. And as long as you have that under, it’s not hatred, it’s this underlying empathy to save a friend. It’s very different. Dan Da Dan: Evil Eye is in theaters now.

Dan Da Dan: Evil Eye

Release Date

June 6, 2025

Runtime

93 Minutes

Director

Fuga Yamashiro, Abel Góngora

Writers

Yukinobu Tatsu, Hiroshi Seko

Natsuki Hanae

Ken Okarun Takakura

Shion Wakayama

Momo Ayase

Get Tickets