Dan Da Dan is a high-energy supernatural action romance anime adaptation of the eponymous Shonen Jump+ manga. It features two main lead characters: the nerdy Ken (aka Okarun due to his occult obsession) and Momo, a gyaru character who recently broke up with her deadbeat boyfriend. The two unlikely friends bond over their overlapping beliefs in aliens and ghosts, respectively, In the English dub of Dan Da Dan Okarun is voiced by A.J. Beckles while Momo is voiced by Abby Trot

The series brings the two together as a dejected yet headstrong Momo defends Okarun as he's being picked on by bullies, only for the two to wind up challenging each other's respective beliefs; Okarun's stalwart belief in aliens, and Momo's family connection to the occult. A.J. Beckles and Abby Trott discuss the influences and experiences of playing these characters and their previous roles influencing their performance as a duo of misfits inextricably linked to the occult.

After hosting their at Anime NYC, Abby and A.J. graciously sat down with Screen Rant for an interview to discuss Dan Da Dan.

You've both worked on excellent properties recently including Bleach, Bungo Stray Dogs, Odd Taxi, Zom 100, Uzumaki, Demon Slayer, The Elusive Samurai, and so much more respectively. With your characters in mind, do you take any temperaments or other characteristics from other roles, or do you start fresh? Maybe some Gremmy, Shizuka?

Abby: For me, Momo is very unique. As an actor there's no way to not draw on all aspects of your life. Obviously, we're drawing from any and every experience we have, but not consciously influenced by characters. I'm most influenced by Shion Wakayama's performance as Momo; she is amazing and I think this Gyaru (Japanese trope) and she nails it. It's interesting to translate that to English because we don't have the same tropes, we have tough girls or tomboys, but to draw the very specific Gyaru essence is a fun challenge for me. I adore Momo and I love Shion's performance.

AJ: For me it's similar. I feel like I have to what I've done in the past, as it's how I can improve. When people saw I was cast as Okarun, they talked about my work on Tokyo Revengers and Bungo Stray Dogs, but what Abby said, I take the most information from the original voice actors and it helps us get to a place of singularity. It's tough, as there are times where I've sat down with our director to make sure I've got the right read, but all of our past work definitely informs our performance.

Gyaru (essentially translating to Gal) is a popular Japanese style for women and girls that emphasizes going against popular Japanese beauty standards.

Something like stage notes?

AJ: More like making sure the right aspects of the character are being portrayed at the right time. There are moments where I've been told, "He sounds too cool." But in this moment you have to bring the awkwardness out. When you get older, you forget what that's like. Figuring out how to talk to a girl like that is natural now, but channeling that energy, our director Alex is there to watch for that.

Abby: Our director Alex is awesome in that he will take the time with us to do that, which is huge as an actor. You're not going to nail it every time. We need to take , do it again to suit the character, and we find the best way to say the line to fit the character.

AJ: I'm actually more frustrated when I *don't* get notes.

Abby: Like, "is this good, is this bad? I don't know! Am I a lost cause?

Tying into Momo's alienation and Okarun's resignation to being picked on, audience can resonate with each character. As an actor, what are the challenges conveying that type of character?

AJ: I think I've lived that, you hear one thing enough and you eventually play that part. What you see in the story is Momo's effect on Okarun, like, "Hey, you are you, and you're enough, but you're also hard on yourself, and you're cooler than you think." Those moments are important to ensure I can deliver a line to show that Okarun's making progress, but those little glimpses for the audiences are important.

It's not too hard for me, because I can relate to that. But I don't think characters this nuanced show up very often. It's not that there aren't talented people out there writing, but that this (Dan Da Dan) is so well-done.

Regarding Momo, second-hand and first-hand embarrassment, it must be tricky to inhabit a character who juggles those knee-jerk reactions to that sort of behavior while bridging the gap with Okarun, belief-wise.

Abby: That's the interesting thing about Momo to me. She feels things, feels them hard, and immediately responds, with those emotions coming through loud and clear. She is very harsh as we see in episode #1 with her grandmother, because she is embarrassed. But what's really the source of her embarrassment is that they were making fun of her grandmother, her family.

So what we see there is when Momo cares for someone, it's strong and deep, and we see those relationships start to form with Okarun, where she takes a liking to him. She gets protective of him too, and she might be harsh or quick to yell in a way that could be jarring, but when it really matters, she has that sensitivity and openness, being there for the ones she cares about.

She's protective of Okarun but also protective of him from himself.

For the both of you, you're skeptics cut from a different cloth, paranormal and aliens. Are there any influences on that performance, bringing it to the high school setting, supernatural genre, aliens, spirits, etc?

Abby: I recorded another anime, Gamera: Rebirth, and my character Junichi is similar to Okarun, similarly obsessed with the paranormal, carrying a similar magazine that they read religiously. This character, Momo, is interesting in that, there are sci-fi magazines in Japan, so when I saw that in Dan Da Dan, I was able to draw upon that experience to get the vibes of Okarun's character.

AJ: There were a couple of things I thought about for sure. It reminded me of Stranger Things, Ghostbusters, but growing up, I loved space. I watched shows about aliens on the History channel. I was a little nerd for that too, like Ancient Aliens, "What's going on in Ancient Egypt?"

What are your thoughts for viewers to expect in of development, spectacular moments, highlights?

AJ: Episode #2 and #3 are shown in theaters for a reason, and episode #4 is crazy too. But the second and third have cool moments for Okarun that I can't wait for audiences to see.

Abby: I can't spoil anything specific, but the action is awesome, and the first episodes you see some really rad villains for lack of a better term. They're so interesting and unique, and I hope viewers really like them.

AJ: And the music!

Abby: It's so rad, I love the way Ushio-san draws from Enka, traditional, retro vibes, combining them with modern, lo-fi music.

After seeing the , do you think the audience is sufficiently hyped, and do you think they'll be more hyped as the series carries on?

AJ: I think that there's this hunger for the shonen genre in general.

Abby: The timing of this release is perfect, Halloween with the spooky vibes.

AJ: As the show releases more and more, a lot of people will really like it!

Thank you to A.J. Beckles & Abby Trott and GKIDS for talking with us at Anime NYC!