DAN DA DAN has consistently been one of the best showings of both anime seasons it’s been a part of, delivering consistent genre-bending, strong, and compelling episodes. As Season 2 continues and gets started on one of (in my opinion) the best arcs in the entirety of DAN DA DAN thus far, we had the chance to sit down with some members of the English voice cast at this year’s Anime NYC. Taking part in that conversation were Abby Trott, voice of Momo, AJ Beckles, voice of Okarun, and Lisa Reimold, voice of Aira. The conversation was a brief one, but they gave some great insight into what it’s like working on the series (including mentioning the consistently praiseworthy direction of Alex von David), some favorite scenes and characters, and some thoughts on what’s to come in DAN DA DAN.
Portions of this interview have been lightly edited for clarity.
Q: My first question to all of you, has voicing for a series as bizarre and genre-bending as DAN DA DAN changed how you approach voice acting in general?
Abby Trott: I don’t know if it’s the genre that has shaped me or more so the direction from our director Alex von David, where I love how he embraces the ugly takes. He encourages us to be weird and unconventional, and it makes you really rethink how you’re approaching a line, whereas you might have had an instinct. Maybe you go in for another take, you’re like, “I want to try this; it might not work,” but sometimes it’s the best take when you do something weird.
AJ Beckles: Yeah, that’s a good point. I think Alex really does challenge you to think outside the box, because in DAN DA DAN all the characters are complex in their own ways.
Lisa Reimold: And weird.
AJ Beckles: And weird. And very weird. But not every show is like that. There are tropes, there are things, and you can go in and you can say the line, and it’s usually going to be on track. But with DAN DA DAN, you can’t really do that. And like Abby was saying, it challenges you to think of, man, really, why am I saying this? And what is my character’s state of being right now? And generally, that’s how you should see things. But I think sometimes you get into routine, and you can stop thinking about those things. So whenever I’m doing DAN DA DAN or afterwards, I’m thinking, how can I make this better?
Abby Trott: I guess also the animation too, really. Some of those weird facial expressions, we want to make that fit. So it really makes you think, what would this sound like? What should this sound like? And think outside the box, like you said.
AJ Beckles: A big shout out to our Japanese counterparts. They’re doing a great job over there.
Lisa Reimold: Yeah, every time you hear them in Japanese, it’s like, I want to do something that makes sense in English, but also listens to them. Because people listen to that, and we want to make sure that we’re doing them justice in a way, while also being funny in a way that makes sense to everyone who’s listening in English.
Q: What would you say to on-the-fence or potential viewers to get them to dive headfirst into the show?
AJ Beckles: Oh…I would say, turn it on (everyone laughs). Just turn it on and watch. It’s silly, but I feel like it has a lot of cool themes about agency and how to maintain that agency and the journey through adolescence and everything. There’s a lot of deeper themes in DAN DA DAN outside of the golden balls. So I would just say, turn it on, give it a try. Why not?
Abby Trott: I always tell people, this is a show that has everything. It’s got action, it’s got comedy, it’s got romance, it’s got sci-fi, horror, all of these things. I do like to issue a little trigger warning. Some of the content is not for everyone. But if you can handle that — and on top of everything else, the animation and the music, it’s a 10 out of 10 for me. So when I’m pitching the show, I just list all of those things.
And I’m like, imagine a show like that, can you? They did it for you.
Lisa Reimold: My family is watching the show because I’m in it. And they aren’t very big anime watchers, but even they can watch something, and they’re like, “This is so funny.” I was holding up the golden ball; they laugh about it constantly. And there’s just something that people can enjoy, because like Abby said, everything happens. You could list off a bunch of stuff, and it’s like, oh, there’s aliens? Now, oh, there’s ghosts and aliens in a lava pit, spewing up a worm in the house? Yeah, there’s that. Yeah, we have everything.
Q: You all mentioned Alex von David before. I’m curious, have any aspects of his direction changed over time, or has it been pretty consistent across both seasons?
AJ Beckles: I think he’s just generally really good at what he does.
Lisa Reimold: He knows the characters very well.
Abby Trott: And he’s been directing for a long time, so he has his approach. The thing that I love so much that he’s consistent with is we’ll take as much time as it takes to get something right. And as an actor, that’s such a gift, especially when you’re doing something like dubbing, where you kind of have to get it done. There are deadlines, but he will spend the time to make sure that we feel good about it. And if there’s something that — even in our recent recordings, we’ll lay something down just so we have it, and then at the end of the session, I’ll be like, “Mark that for later. I want to revisit that.” And then if we have time, we do, and we get something that we’re 100% happy with.
Lisa Reimold: Yeah, and he really trusts us to figure out the characters too, because he knows the characters so well, but we also know the characters and we’re connected to them. So that sort of trust in the director, feeling like, I know that you guys got this, is really confidence-boosting when we’re trying to record, because we can just kind of do whatever, and it is fun, and it turns out, I think.
AJ Beckles: And super collaborative. Yeah, he’s just amazing at what he does. I think he’s one of the best.
And even in those moments too, when I’ll be like, “Hey, Alex, can I try something?” He’ll always say yes. And then you do it, and then if he doesn’t like it, he won’t just be like, “No.” He’ll be like, “Well, I see why you did that. Here’s why I want to keep this other one.” And I’m like, “Oh, I respect that,” because he’s not completely dismissing my own opinion. He’s just like, “For this moment, maybe it’s not right.” Or “It could be funny, but maybe just not for this.”
Abby Trott: Yes, but also shout out to our engineer, Keeley [Keeley Pierson].
AJ Beckles and Lisa Reimold: Keeley!
Abby Trott: Keeley is an engineer with a director’s mindset. So Keeley also will pitch things sometimes, and it’s great.
Lisa Reimold: She is magical.
Abby Trott: We have a lot of people with good ideas in the room. Shout out to Keeley.
Q: Looking back at the first half of Season 2, do you have any favorite scenes or favorite moments that stuck out to you?
Abby Trott: The exorcism, I love it. It’s like the most epic AMV I’ve ever seen.
Lisa Reimold: Everyone’s headbanging. First they’re not sure, and then they’re just like, yeah!
Abby Trott: I also like the maid cafe. It’s so funny to me, because the way that Momo is animated, I feel a visceral — like I could feel her dying inside doing that whole sequence. And yeah, I love those things.
AJ Beckles: It’s all the little cute moments. This season a little bit more action focused. So having that levity where you see all the family eating together, arguing, Aira and Momo, or the moments where they’re going through the tunnel and holding each other’s hands, those moments are all so, so sweet to watch. And I found that online, actually, on social media, those are the moments that really tend to blow up. People just love those cute little scenes. Because for shonen, it’s so rare to have a well-written romance. And it’s really cool to see those be the things, this healthy relationship be what really blows up in culture.
Lisa Reimold: I like Chiquitita. He’s so cute!
Q: What’s your favorite supernatural or sci-fi element or entity in the series thus far?
Abby Trott: (singing) Turbo Granny. She’s my favorite character.
Lisa Reimold: I love Turbo Granny. Barbara Goodson is so good.
Abby Trott: Were you at our panel today, by any chance? We did an impression of Turbo Granny. Lisa had the best impression, but it was my favorite Turbo Granny line: “Who are them b*tches?” Barbara’s delivery is…she’s hilarious. She’s by far my favorite.
AJ Beckles: Yeah, I think so too. I do really like Peenie Weenie. I think Peenie Weenie is a cool ally.
Lisa Reimold: Can I say Chiquitita again?
Q: Without spoiling anything, what are you most looking forward to for the next portion of the season?
Abby Trott: So we have a new friend. Yes. He’s an interesting guy. He’s going to change the dynamic even more. There’s a cool fight that’s been teased, as we know. There’s a kaiju approaching. And to see that chaotic battle — I can’t wait for people to see it. It’s so much chaos.
AJ Beckles: The animation, all of it. It’s what you’d expect. I don’t know how Science SARU does it, but they just make it look better and better. And the character that shows up is voiced by Bryce Papenbrook, which was just announced, which is really cool.
Abby Trott: I’m so happy to be on another show with Bryce.
Lisa Reimold: I agree.
AJ Beckles: Fans have that to look forward to. He’s amazing at what he does.
We’d like to thank Abby Trott, AJ Beckles, and Lisa Reimold for taking the time to speak with us during Anime NYC. You can watch both seasons of DAN DA DAN on Crunchyroll. If you’re interested in reading our other interviews with the cast and staff, check out our last interview with the English voice cast or our interview with one of the directors of Season 2.
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