Sulking after breaking up with her boyfriend, Momo Ayase stumbles upon a bullied boy and sticks up for him. After her random act of kindness, the alien-obsessed boy tries to talk to her about the extraterrestrial interest that he thinks they share. However, while Momo says she doesn’t believe in aliens, she does believe in ghosts thanks to her grandmother who works as a psychic.
In a bet to determine which is actually real, they agree to visit different locations – one known for extraterrestrial sightings and one known to be haunted. As it turns out, neither was wrong as their life gets thrown into chaos by alien abductions and ghost possession.
Thank goodness Earth is so haunted otherwise we’d have aliens stealing bananas everywhere. If you are looking for more anime recommendations like Dandadan, head on down below.
Anime Like Dandadan
For Fans of Action. Horror. Romance.
Undead Unluck
All Fuko wanted was a passionate romance like in her shoujo manga. However, she has the unpleasant ability of Unluck that causes anyone she touches to suffer an accident – its severity based on her affection for them. After accidentally causing her parents to die in a plane crash, Fuko has been paralyzed by fear that she might accidentally touch someone all through her school years spent as a shut-in.
With her favorite manga now ended, Fuko was about to end her own life when a man claim to be unable to die swoops in and saves her. Delighted that her ability might finally be able to kill him for good, this man that she nicknamed Andy declares that he will make her fall in love with him so she will give him the most fatal stroke of unluck possible.
Teaming up and entering the organization that hunts people like them with dangerous abilities, the pair tackle a number of unique enemies.
Similarities Between Dandadan and Undead Unluck
- Lovable male/female duo that are both strong with their powers, though in different unique ways.
- The main duo has a gradually strengthened romantic connection
- Big, energetic, often delightfully weird action.
- Occasional sad backstory that leaves wounds on your heart.
- Not afraid to throw around some gore and/or horror elements
Differences Between Dandadan and Undead Unluck
- Dandadan is often like a shoujo romance where weird shit happens in between the romantic progression, fostering the growth. Undead Unluck is more like a traditional shounen action anime in that the romance is there in their relationship, but not often a focus.
- Undead Unluck is far more action focused, and building its own sort of world/power system not inspired by ghosts or aliens.
- Dandadan embraces more horror, Undead Unluck uses a lot of blood and body parts for the main character’s abilities, but they aren’t especially “gruesome” about it. Dadandan can get gruesome.
Gleipnir
One morning, Shuichi Kagaya woke up as a monster.
Complete with brute strength, a strong sense of smell, and big fluffy paws, he struggles to hold onto his humanity.
Soon he meets a sadistic girl named Claire Aoki by saving her life. She holds his secret over her head and forces him to help her look for her sister that has also turned into a monster.
Similarities Between Dandadan and Gleipnir
- Meek-seeming male main character ends up in a supernatural situation that transforms his body into something strange.
- Teams up with a girl that he often fights to protect
- The plot is trying to fix the main character’s curse.
Differences Between Dandadan and Gleipnir
- Gleipnir is definitely less wholesome in its relationship between its manipulative female main character and its actually quite meek male main character.
- Gleipnir is focused more on figuring out why the male main character turned into a mascot costume and that ties into a mystery the female main character is trying to solve too. They’re just testicle hunting in Dandadan, so there’s not much mystery to unravel.
- Gleipnir features more ecchi, less actual romance focus.
- Gleipnir features some body horror, but isn’t as creatively grotesque with its horror elements
Heavenly Delusion
After a disaster fifteen years ago caused society to collapse, the survivors struggle to eek out an existence. Alongside trying to scrounge together food, clean water, and electricity, these survivors are also plagued by the appearance of man-eating monsters.
Two young survivors, Maru and Kiruko, wander the wasteland and make money off Maru’s ability to kill these man-eaters with a touch. Together, they are searching for a place called Heaven that they both hope will hold the answers to the tragic burdens that they hold in their heart.
Similarities Between Dandadan and Heavenly Delusion
- Male/female duo team up to find something
- Romantic elements between them
- Horrific monsters that may be people, and may have tragic back stories
- Boy loses balls (though in different ways)
Differences Between Dandadan and Heavenly Delusion
- Heavenly Delusion about a journey through a post-apocalyptic wasteland where humans are sometimes killed by horrific monsters
- Heavenly Delusion has less romance between the main couple
- Intrigue and horror are more of a focus than romance and action in Heavenly Delusion.
Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun
Hanako is said to be a ghost that occupies the third stall of the third floor girls’ bathroom in the old building. When summoned, she is said to grant any wish.
Nene, an occult lover with dreams of romance, summons Hanako, only to find out that this traditionally girl ghost is a boy!
Similarities Between Dandadan and Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun
- Boy/girl duo get pulled into the weird supernatural things that happen around them.
- Frequent shoujo-style romance moments
Differences Between Dandadan and Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun
- Toilet Bound Hanako-kun is often episodic in that the duo is solving a supernatural problems happening at the school, but it does have a linear progressing plot focused on helping for the male main character solve a problem like Dandadan.
- Toilet Bound Hanako-kun is not gory or even especially horrific, but is can be far more sinister and menacing than it looks at times.
- The action is less frequent and less flashy in Toilet Bound Hanako-kun
- The heroine in Toilet Bound Hanako-kun is very much the “damsel to frequently save from danger” type while the male lead is cool, dashing, if a bit childish sometimes.
For Fans of Occult Action Horror
Dorohedoro
Hole is a disorderly district where death and mutilation are common. The residents of Hole are the dregs of society and the test subjects of the magic users that live separate from it. As such, these residents are constantly tested on or just murdered by these mages.
In Hole is Kaiman, a man with a head cursed to be that of a lizard, but with an immunity to magic. He spends his time set on hunting down these magic users in one small bit of justice for the people that live in Hole.
Similarities Between Dandadan and Dorohedoro
- Dark, horror-adjacent stories and worlds
- Horror and action, but also surprisingly cute comedy
- Cursed main character and his strong female companion with powers
Differences Between Dandadan and Dorohedoro
- Dorohedoro has more frequent, gorier action
- While Dohehdoro has a couple ship-baiting relationships, it is not a romance.
- Dorohedoro takes place in a fully fictional fantasy world that is far more bleak
Dark Gathering
Keitarou Gentouga is a college student who hates ghosts. Unfortunately, spirits have always been unnaturally attracted to him, so much so that he was previously a shut-in after causing his childhood friend, Eiko Houzuki, and himself to get cursed by a spirit.
However, Eiko helped him get back out into the world, and as part of his rehabilitation, he started tutoring Eiko’s young cousin, Yayoi.
It isn’t long before Keitarou finds that Yayoi actively seeks out dangerous spirits, using him and various other tools to capture them for a mysterious purpose that all stems back to the spirit that took Yayoi’s mother after her death.
Similarities Between Dandadan and Dark Gathering
- Supernatural horror that the main characters keep getting tangled up in
- The supernatural stories are dark, and often sad.
- Male/female duo unravels supernatural events
- Cursed main characters
Differences Between Dandadan and Dark Gathering
- Dark Gathering is more solving supernatural mysteries and not getting killed by ghosts/curses than Dandadan, which is very much fighting back against ghosts/aliens.
- Dark Gathering follows a trio – a coward, the girl that likes him, and a young child who keeps hunting and capturing spirits.
- Dark Gathering has moments of romance, but it is a much smaller part, and sometimes a bit sinister.
- Dark Gathering is far more horror-focused and can be very creepy
Zom 100 – Bucket List of the Dead
While initially excited to begin his adult life, Akira Tendou ends up employed at an exploitative company that breaks his spirit and saps his energy. Unable to quit and contemplating suicide, he dreads each new day of going to work.
That is, until one day when he leaves for the office only to discover that a zombie apocalypse is in full swing.
Realizing that the world as we know it is now over, Akira is overjoyed! He creates a bucket list of all the things he wanted to do but never had the time or energy for as a working adult. Now, he enjoys the apocalypse to the fullest before he becomes a zombie like everyone else.
Similarities Between Dandadan and Zom 100
- Both Dadadan and Zom 100 combine horror, action, comedy, and a healthy dash of romance.
- Main characters fight against supernatural events with friends
- Action often spawned from trying to survive being attacked rather than specifically picking fights.
Differences Between Dandadan and Zom 100
- Zom 100 is about a zombie apocalypse in progress and an adult man thrilled about it because he no longer has to go to his soul-sucking job.
- Zom 100 features adult characters who eventually find themselves on a road trip through the apocalypse. So, no kids occasionally in school like Dandadan.
- Action and romance have less of a focus in Zom 100, often choosing sillier comedy and personal growth-fostering dramatic moments.
For Fans of Paranormal Action
Mob Psycho 100
Kageyama Shigeo, otherwise known as Mob, is a young psychic with a wide range of blossoming abilities. Despite having this incredible power, he just wants to become friends with Tsubomi, a girl in his class.
Due to negative reactions to his psychic abilities in the past, he now tries to keep them in check. In an effort to learn to better control his abilities, Mob becomes the apprentice to Reigen Arataka, who claims to be a psychic, but is actually a con artist that exploits Mob’s very real powers for money.
Similarities Between Dandadan and Mob Psycho 100
- Boy keeps getting tangled up in supernatural and paranormal events (both ghosts and aliens) despite not wanting to be.
- Cute comedy and visually stunning action
Differences Between Dandadan and Mob Psycho 100
- Mob Psycho 100 is about a powerful psychic boy that avoids using his powers and would rather not have them being manipulated into helping a fraud posing as a psychic to help with his work.
- While Mob Psycho 100 starts very much as a gag comedy, it develops a more serious plot with far more action. Dandadan has a better balance from the beginning.
- Romance is a very tiny element in Mob Pyscho 100 in that he has a crush on a girl that doesn’t notice him.
Parasyte
One night, sixteen-year-old Shinichi Izumi was peacefully sleeping when a race of parasitic aliens descended on Earth.
One parasite infects Shinichi, trying to get to his brain to take over his body, but ends up getting stuck in his right hand. Unable to relocate to the brain, the alien, named Migi, now has no choice but to learn to coexist with Shinichi in his body in order to stay alive.
Unfortunately, the other parasitic aliens are not so friendly with humans or to parasites that failed to complete their mission.
Similarities Between Dandadan and Parasyte
- Aliens invade Earth and prey on humans
- Both Parasyte and Dandadan blend action, horror, and just a touch of romance
- Main character has someone else’s power inhabiting his body and helping him fight
- Tragic character stories for the things he is fighting on occasion
- Nerd main character gets a glow up into handsome man of action
Differences Between Dandadan and Parasyte
- Parasyte is a serious action story with only a dash of levity.
- Romance is a smaller part of Parasyte, but progresses faster.
- The aliens in Parasyte are vicious and brutal, fueling the horror and action. They aren’t just banana stealers like in Dandadan.
- Parasyte features an alien sharing the body of the boy after failing to take over his brain, but is far nicer/indifferent to his human host. It is a bit of Turbo Granny Cat situation, but the non-human is more polite and helpful in Parasyte.
For Fans of Possessed By a Demon
Chainsaw Man
After his father’s death left him with a pile of debt, Denji and his pet devil Pochita struggle to pay it off. However, after the yakuza kills him, Pochita fuses himself with Denji’s corpse and he awakens as a Chainsaw Devil.
Found by government devil hunters, Denji is brought in to hunt other devils on an experimental squad where he is finally able to pursue his simple teenage dreams of eating good food and spending time with a cute girl.
Similarities Between Dandadan and Chainsaw Man
- Both Chainsaw Man and Dandadan balance action, horror, and comedy
- Main character is possessed by a demon that gave him transformation powers
- Occasionally sexual/degenerate comedy with no actual ecchi (Dick and ball jokes, ya’ll.)
- Creatively designed demons that feel malicious and/or can sometimes have sadder stories attached to them.
- Cinematic, visually interesting moments of action
- Lovably dim-witted main characters
Differences Between Dandadan and Chainsaw Man
- Chainsaw Man features far more of a focus on action, and does so with a lot more gore.
- While Chainsaw Man has a romance element, in a way, it is extremely toxic and not the same sort of wholesome “shoujo romance” thing that Dandadan is doing.
- Chainsaw Man is far more cruel to its characters.
Devilman Crybaby
Akira has always been a little weak and blends into the background, so when his childhood friend asks for help uncovering devils, he agrees. The pair head to Sabbath where many gather for debauchery and to be possessed by devils.
When the devils begin to wreck havoc in their new living hosts, Akira agrees to merge bodies with a devil in order to save his friend. Though he now has a voracious devil inside him, he still has the heart of a crybaby.
Similarities Between Dandadan and Devilman Crybaby
- Boy gets possessed by a demon and uses it to save others
- Both Dandadan and Devilman Crybaby have horror, action, and romance elements
- Dark, sinister moments of action
Differences Between Dandadan and Devilman Crybaby
- Devilman Crybaby is gorier, darker, and leans tragic
- Expect very little comedy in Devilman Crybaby
- The romance in Devilman Crybaby is a smaller part, and used to hurt you.
- Devilman Crybaby tells a more compact story, coming to a conclusive ending in one season.
Jujutsu Kaisen
In order to gain more power, demons search for fragments of the legendary demon Sukuna to consume them.
One day, Yuuji Itadori, who just lost his grandfather, learns of this as he saves his school friends from being consumed by demons after they break the seal on one of the body parts of Sukuna that was at their school.
In order to stand a chance, he eats it, revealing himself as a rare vessel that can utilize and control the curse of Sukuna, meaning when he dies, Sukuna’s curse dies with him.
Similarities Between Dandadan and Jujutsu Kaisen
- Main character becomes possessed by a demon to save others, giving them transformative powers.
- Main characters start hunting other demons to try to collect something.
- Both Dandadan and Jujutsu Kaisen have a similar balance of action, comedy, and horror.
- Unique powers and used in visually stunning fights
Differences Between Dandadan and Jujutsu Kaisen
- Jujutsu Kaisen doesn’t have any significant romance.
- Jujutsu Kaisen is more of the standard shounen action anime where it moves from one action arc to the next fairly quickly with minimal downtime in between. As Dandadan has romance and school life elements, it lingers longer in between the next weird thing happening and, even then, the fights wrap up quickly.
- Jujutsu Kaisen, as a shounen action anime, has a large cast with a larger array of different powers to utilize.
Do you have more anime recommendations like Dandadan? Let fans know in the comments section below.