The anime adaptation of Yukinobu Tatsu’s Dan Da Dan is off to a killer start. With stellar animation by Science SARU and top-notch voice acting by Shion Wakayama (Momo Ayase) and Natsuki Hanae (Ken Takakura), it’s easy to see why. But I’m not here to review the show; rather, I want to talk about the paranormal lore in Dan Da Dan.
My love for ufology started when I was a little kid and watched Fire in the Sky. While initially, the film traumatized me, that fear morphed into curiosity. And that curiosity morphed into a love for all things strange. But that’s a love I know most don’t share. Most people think ufology, paranormal studies, and cryptozoology are pseudo-sciences at best.
Because of that, most people aren’t fully aware of what qualifies as ‘canon’ in terms of abductions. While the image of a stripped girl strapped to a chair may disturb people, labeling it as unnecessary sexualization isn’t accurate. Alleged abductees often claim that individuals extract genetic material from them. Some even claim that aliens abducted them so that they could create alien-human hybrids!
The Paranormal Lore in Dan Da Dan Is Pretty on Point
For this article, let’s set aside the question of whether alien abductions are real. And instead, let’s focus on abduction claims. While it’s tempting to dismiss the situation as a mental health issue or accuse the individuals of lying, victims of alleged abductions often exhibit signs of PTSD and trauma similar to those experienced by survivors of abuse and sexual assault. Numbers don’t necessarily mean there’s truth to anything, but up to 6% of the US population believes in alien abductions.
So rest assured, there’s no added ‘sexiness’ or ‘unnecessary fan service’ in the first two episodes of Dan Da Dan. The portrayal of alien abductions in the show is typical of what we hear from abductees. A ‘normal’ abduction follows a fairly common pattern: the person realizes they’re unable to move, only to then notice entities (usually three) present in their bedroom. Once incapacitated on the ship, experimentation begins. Numerous individuals have even reported that aliens communicate telepathically, conveying their need for genetic material directly into their minds. Sound familiar?
Just Another Day in September
Say you’re a kid and you’re playing with mates when suddenly a fireball rushes across the sky, and crash lands not too far from your location. What do you do? Investigate, of course! Only nerds wouldn’t heed that adventure. Yet, curiosity often leads to unexpected trouble, and your decision to investigate could change your life in ways you never imagined.
When you get there, a pungent mist hangs in the air; it’s so foul it makes you nauseous. In front of you, pulsing red lights emit from a craft. When you look towards it, a monstrously tall humanoid with glowing eyes, a long cloak, a hood-like head, and clawed hands hisses and floats toward you. Your curiosity led you to one of Ufology’s defining entities, the Flatwoods Monster. And as someone who loves Fortean events, I also love people’s different interpretations of them. Did I ever think the Flatswoods Monster would one day be a sumo wrestling alien in an anime? No! Am I happy it happened? Yes!
More High-Strangeness and Fortean Events
While enthusiasts of the paranormal quickly mentioned that the Flatwoods Monster is rooted in a ‘real’ entity, two real-life oddities in the first episode of Dan Da Dan went largely unnoticed. It’s unfortunate, as they offer one hell of a story for those exploring the bizarre. The first was that the US Congress did have meetings about UFOs (UAPs), and whistleblowers raised the alarm that whatever is out there is far above what even covert US Air Force tech can do. In these former US intelligence official David Grusch stated on record that the US Government is in possession of crashed UAPs as well as ‘Nonhuman biologics’.
But honestly, that’s not surprising, the US government and the US Airforce have undertaken studies into UFOs. Project Sign (1948), Project Grudge (1949), and the famous Project Blue Book (1952 – 1969) were all separate studies by the US Airforce that investigated this phenomenon. While no study conclusively showed any posed threat by UFOs, the interest in them is telling.
Secondly, do you remember Otherside Picnic? If you do, hell yeah! If you’ve never seen it or don’t remember, the story focuses on two girls who use portals to explore another dimension. I bring that up because in the anime world, the tale that best matches the alleged happenings at Skinwalker Ranch is this light novel. The story of Skinwalker Ranch is a wild one. With apparitions, portals to other dimensions, ultraterrestrial beings, and alleged animal deaths and mutilations, it’s one of the craziest paranormal stories out there. I’d end up with a 30-minute-long article if I went into it, so I won’t. But it’s certainly worth a thorough read (or listen).
A huge thank you to Shawn Langley for letting us use his killer Flatwood’s Monster illustration on this article, be sure to check out all this other cyrptid and paranormal illustrations.
Screenshots: Crunchyroll
©Yukinobu Tatsu/SHUEISHA, DANDADAN Production Committee
Flatswood Monster Illustration ©Shawn Langley
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