Dandadan season 2 made its triumphant return to Netflix at the beginning of July, and has since released three episodes under its belt. So far we’ve seen Jiji become possessed, a giant death worm threatening to trap people and Momo outright escaping death. Episode 3 ended with a volcanic eruption impending on the resort town and we’ll be able to see what happens next in episode 4, which is set to air later this week (July 25).
Instead of the hit Netflix anime tapering off after its explosive season 1, it’s a case of so far, so much better when it comes to Dandadan season 2. The action sequences are more dynamic, the tension has been raised even higher through fatal stakes, and there’s enough lore and backstory to never fully know whether you’re coming or going. We could put this down to the incredible storytelling and craft we knew we should expect from season 1, but is that all?
As it turns out, no. The more I watch Dandadan season 2, the more it feels like there’s been a change that I can’t put my finger on. To my surprise, I’m actually onto something, with the show’s creators confirming as much – about the change that’s been right in front of us the entire time – at Anime Expo 2025.
Dandadan season 2’s creators have purposefully changed colours to make scenes more exciting
According to series director Fuga Yamashiro, the change in Dandadan season 2 is down to a change in the show’s color palette to highlight key moments when the team were originally running out of colors to use. “At first, I thought I could continue with Dandadan’s signature use of shifting color palettes,” he explained (via ScreenRant). “However, I quickly ran into a problem as audiences tend to interpret colours very literally. For example, what I see as a subtle difference between pink and red might look identical to someone watching the anime at home. I began running out of colors to differentiate characters and scenes thematically.”
He continued: “So rather than just playing with color, I introduced different visual textures to Dandadan. This season, you’ll notice some cuts have rougher finishes resembling oil paintings for instance rather than watercolor. This shift gives scenes a totally different impression because of its texture rather than its hue. This was my big experiment this season.”
As far as I’m concerned, it’s a big experiment that’s paid off. It’s hard to tear your eyes away from the screen as it is, but the extra lift in the show’s most dynamic moments make it nigh on impossible. If anything, it’s strange there was a sense of uncertainty from the creative team when on screen, Dandadan feels more certain of its own greatness than ever.
We’ve still got eight episodes of season 2 left to go, and absolutely anything can play out over that space of time. There are some things we can take a logical guess will happen in all their newly found bright glory (such as the Evil Eye continuing to haunt Jiji), but the original manga arcs can only tell us so much. Our best guess is that season 2 will close out with the Space Globalists Arc, while a Kaiju continues to threaten the search for the second golden sphere in the meantime. Whatever happens, more screen time for Turbo Granny, please.
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