{"id":680273,"date":"2025-07-17T03:35:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T00:35:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-aj-beckles-calls-dan-da-dan-a-once-in-a-decade-anime\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T03:35:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T00:35:15","slug":"why-aj-beckles-calls-dan-da-dan-a-once-in-a-decade-anime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-aj-beckles-calls-dan-da-dan-a-once-in-a-decade-anime\/","title":{"rendered":"Why AJ Beckles Calls DAN DA DAN \u2018A Once-in-a-Decade Anime\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Stepping into the world of DAN DA DAN<\/em> means embracing the bizarre, the heartfelt, and the supernatural all at once. It\u2019s a challenge that AJ Beckles<\/strong> meets head-on as the English voice of Okarun. With the series<\/a>\u2019 growing popularity, Anime<\/a> Trending caught up with Beckles to discuss his journey to landing the role, his passion for the story and its characters, and what excites him most about the upcoming second season. From his initial reaction and audition to his deep app<\/a>reciation for the series, Beckles shares what it\u2019s like to voice Okarun in DAN DA DAN<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

This interview has been edited for clarity.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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Anime Trending: What was your initial reaction when you were cast for <\/strong>DAN DA DAN<\/em><\/strong>? Were you familiar with the manga at all before you started the project?<\/strong><\/p>\n

AJ Beckles: <\/strong>Yes, I was. I had read the manga \u2014 I think I started like a year and a half prior to the release \u2014 and I remember being so excited when it was announced as an anime. I thought, \u201cI just need to audition for it. I need to, because it\u2019s such an amazing story.\u201d About two weeks before the auditions went out, I emailed the studio. I was wondering who could possibly work on this, so I emailed the casting director at Bang Zoom!<\/strong>, who does the dub. I said, \u201cI don\u2019t know if you have this, or if you will, but I know Netflix is doing it and it\u2019s going to come out in October. If you happen to get it, I would love to read.\u201d<\/p>\n

And I got it! I screamed, I was so excited. I read the audition and had to perform for both Okarun\u2019s normal form and his other form. I did five different takes. I was like, \u201cHere\u2019s my first version, here\u2019s my second version, etc.\u201d because I didn\u2019t want to leave anything on the table. I sent it out and thought, \u201cOh my gosh, this would be incredible. This would be amazing \u2014 not only for my career, but because it\u2019s so rare to be part of something so beautiful.\u201d There are certain properties that come up maybe once every ten years, you know?<\/p>\n

I knew DAN DA DAN <\/em>\u00a0was one of those properties, especially because when we get the audition, we get little clips to watch. I thought, \u201cThis is special.\u201d So, when I got the phone call from my agent, I almost cried. I was so happy \u2014 genuinely, so, so happy. I didn\u2019t even tell my fianc\u00e9 for a couple of days because I didn\u2019t want to jinx it. It wasn\u2019t set in stone yet because my agent just told me, \u201cYou\u2019re the top choice right now,\u201d and there were still some things [being solidified]. That was June 19th of last year. A couple of days later, I got a call saying they had cast me, and I was just so excited. It was one of the happiest days of my career, for sure.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 Yukinobu Tatsu\/\u200bSHUEISHA, DANDADAN Production Committee<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You mentioned switching from regular to the depressed Okarun \u2014 what was it like voicing those two different sides to him?<\/strong><\/p>\n

AJ Beckles: <\/strong>It\u2019s so much fun. Usually, when I\u2019m playing characters, they\u2019re the anxious or excitable best friend who\u2019s high-energy and high-strung, or the protagonist. Protagonists general<\/a>ly tend to be a little more\u2026 generic, just because they\u2019re blank slates for the audience to connect to. But Okarun is kind of not those things. He\u2019s anxious and high-strung, but he also has a lot of complicated stuff going on. He\u2019s a kid, you know? And there\u2019s so much emotion that comes with that. On the flip side, he gets to be really cool and awesome \u2014 which is what every guy wants to play, like Ichigo or the edgy Sasuke type. I got to do both, which is awesome.<\/p>\n

I feel very lucky that I\u2019m doing both and not just playing one or the other. There are so many different facets, and I see his Turbo form as what he\u2019s feeling underneath all his front-facing awkwardness, shyness, and excitability. And depressed, it\u2019s like, \u201cUgh, I don\u2019t want to be here.\u201d So it\u2019s really cool.<\/p>\n

DAN DA DAN<\/em><\/strong> blends supernatural action with comedy and romance. What aspects of the story do you think resonate most with the viewers of the show?<\/strong><\/p>\n

AJ Beckles: <\/strong>It\u2019s interesting, because I don\u2019t know how he does it, but Tatsu Yukinobu<\/strong>-sensei takes so many different facets of culture and fiction, puts them together in this weird soup, and makes it work. With the aliens, ghosts, and the missing balls, all this is so funny, but underneath it all, it\u2019s a story about growing up and being a teenager.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are so many cool, serious things that are talked about in the content \u2014 how to navigate relationships, communication, the very real thread of how interactions with adults and kids can be dangerous, and showing that on screen. He does it so beautifully, and I think that\u2019s what people relate to. So many people love DAN DA DAN<\/em>. I\u2019m hearing from people that it\u2019s the first time they\u2019ve gotten their mom, girlfriend, boyfriend, or whatever to watch anime, because underneath it all, it\u2019s very silly and fun, but it\u2019s so real. You can\u2019t help but root for these characters because I feel like we all see ourselves in one of them from when we were kids.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 Yukinobu Tatsu\/\u200bSHUEISHA, DANDADAN Production Committee<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What are your thoughts about the unique yokai and supernatural events in the show, or the ghosts and spirits?<\/strong><\/p>\n

AJ Beckles: <\/strong>I was really into aliens when I was a kid. I loved watching the History Channel or Science<\/a> Channel, learning about the universe, sharks, and fictional stuff like that. I wasn\u2019t very big into ghosts, but this show introduced me to the idea that other cultures \u2014 especially Japan \u2014 are so spiritual. Getting to see that, and these interesting characters like Turbo Granny \u2014 that\u2019s so funny, but that\u2019s real folklore \u2014 and the Flatwoods monster, and how Yukinobu-sensei melds all the stuff together, made me really interested to learn more.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I actually ended up buying a book on yokai that I haven\u2019t started yet because I just bought it, but I want to learn more. So, when people ask me what I\u2019m excited to see, I have something to tell them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the technical aspects of recording sessions, are they done in chronological order, or do you jump around?<\/strong><\/p>\n

AJ Beckles: <\/strong>We normally do it in chronological order, in batches \u2014 whatever is available to us. We\u2019ll start with episode one, then move on to episode two, usually in batches of three. In terms of Turbo and his normal form, they\u2019ll ask me if I want to start with Turbo or the other one. Normally, I start with Turbo because it\u2019s fun.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Looking forward to season two, what do you hope fans take away from your portrayal of Okarun when they watch the English dub?<\/strong><\/p>\n

AJ Beckles: <\/strong>I think Okarun is in a different place now. In season one, it was about him finding companionship, being okay with it, and understanding that he is deserving of having friends and relationships. Now that he has those, [it\u2019s about] how to hold on to them and protect those relationships. He has something to lose now, whereas before he didn\u2019t. His relationship with Jiji \u2014 he\u2019s never had a guy friend before, especially [someone like] Jiji. He\u2019s so cool because he does all these sports and everything. He is everything Okarun thinks girls like and what he wants to be.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Jiji is just a good person and a good guy. So now Okarun is wrestling with feelings of, \u201cOh man, I\u2019m jealous of him. But he\u2019s still my friend, he\u2019s still really cool, and I still want to be there for him,\u201d in the middle of having feelings for Momo and knowing they\u2019re childhood friends.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are even more layers to Okarun that are going to be apparent in the second season, and I\u2019m interested to see what people think about it as they watch both my performance and Natsuki Hanae<\/strong>\u2018s in Japanese. I\u2019m really excited.<\/p>\n

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DAN DA DAN<\/em> Season 2 is streaming on Crunchyroll<\/a> and Netflix<\/a>.\u00a0Special thanks to GKIDS for the interview opportunity.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n