Mainichi Broadcasting System Inc. Announces the Newest Additions to the English Dub Cast for the Upcoming Animated TV Series 'DAN DA DAN'

Los Angeles, California (August 24, 2024) – Today, Mainichi Broadcasting System Inc. announced the newest additions to the English language voice cast for the upcoming animated adaptation of Yukinobu Tatsu's iconic manga, DAN DA DAN. Following the global premiere of DAN DA DAN's English language version, hosted on the main stage of Anime NYC, the voice cast for Seiko, Aira, Jiji, Turbo Granny, the Serpoian, Muko, and Miko were revealed to attending fans. They join the previously announced Abby Trott and A.J. Beckles as the leads, Momo and Okarun respectively.

The full English voice cast for the series now includes:

Abby Trott as “Momo”
AJ Beckles as “Okarun”
Kari Wahlgren as “Seiko”
Lisa Reimold as “Aira”
Aleks Le as “Jiji”
Barbara Goodson as “Turbo Granny”
Ben Diskin as “Serpoian”
Anairis Quinõnes as “Muko”
Sarah Ann Williams as “Miko”

Ahead of the upcoming nationwide theatrical release, the new cast members of DAN DA DAN shared their excitement about being involved in the series.

SEIKO
“I'm having an absolute blast playing Seiko! The show is exciting, hilarious, and non-stop fun. And the cast is wonderful. I can't wait for the premiere!”

Kari Wahlgren was first introduced to anime audiences as the voice of Haruko in “FLCL.” Since then, she has voiced hundreds of characters in anime, animation and video games. Her anime roles include Saber in Fate Zero and Fate Stay Night, Celty in Durarara, Fuu in Samurai Champloo, Dee Eye Ell in Sword Art Online, Anemone in Eureka 7, Tayuya in Naruto, and Kagami in Lucky Star. She played the voice of Jessica, Rick's Spaceship and Diane in Rick and Morty, Zatanna in DC Superhero Girls, Starfire in the DC Teen Titans movies, Tigress in Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, Charmcaster in Ben 10, Shellsea in Fish Hooks, Anka in Archer, Emma Frost in Wolverine and the X-Men, and Saturn Girl and Phantom Girl in Young Justice. Her video game roles include Kitana and Mileena in Mortal Kombat 11 and 1, Harley Quinn in Gotham Knights, Aranea in Final Fantasy XV, Ashe in Final Fantasy XII, Starfire in Injustice 2, the Female Jedi Knight in Star Wars: the Old Republic, and Raine in Tales of Symphonia. For a full list of credits, go to IMDB.com.

AIRA
"I still can't believe I get to be part of such a cool project and work off of the dynamic performance of Ayane Sakura! All of us are really putting in our all to make this show incredible, so I know you're definitely in good hands with Abby and AJ as Momo and Okarun in the dub.

Lisa Reimold is a voice actor known best for her work in anime, which includes voicing Falin in Delicious in Dungeon, Uran in PLUTO, Shikabane in Aggretsuko, and more!

JIJI
“I'm incredibly honored to be the English voice of Jiji in the flashy & chaotic world of DAN DA DAN! The way Jiji expresses his emotions, good or bad, through his humor is something that I connected with a lot. I've been a huge fan of Science SARU since I was 12, so I'm stoked to be a part of this project. I'm very excited to see how explosive Jiji will be in action!”

Aleks's voice can be heard in a variety of video games, cartoons, and anime. These include prominent roles such as Zenitsu Agatsuma of the internationally successful Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba franchise, Luke of Street Fighter 6, Protagonist of Persona 3 Reload, Sung Jinwoo of Solo Leveling, Mikey of Tokyo Revengers, Mash of Mashle, and Sonon Kusakabe of Final Fantasy VII Remake. When he's not voice acting, Aleks still participates in creative efforts. He produces content and films for his own YouTube channel, which boasts more than 389 thousand subscribers and over 40 million views.

Turbo Granny
“I love the writing! Some of my lines were a bit shocking to me at first, but now, it really makes me laugh. It's humorous, silly, action-packed and so much fun to play both Turbo Granny and the cat persona! Also, it's such a pleasure to be directed by Alex Von David. I think it's going to become quite a favorite!”

Barbara Goodson's career covers many years and many genres. Among her hundreds of characters, the throat ripping voice of "Empress Rita Repulsa” on Mighty Morphin Power Ranger's TV series, past films and live shows and the Netflix 30th Anniversary Special MMPR: Once & Always as "Robo Rita" continues to be her claim to fame. She has also voice matched "Jacki Weaver" in The Five-Year Engagement and Life of the Party, is in the Oscar nominated I Lost My Body voicing "Mrs. Lussac", in the Dreamworks animated feature The Bad Guys as the pivotal "little old lady", a Weaver in the video game Asgard's Wrath 2, "Mrs. Withers” in Nickelodeon's Wylde Park and “Aiko” (the old lady with the mole) in Miyazaki's Academy Award winning animated feature, The Boy and the Heron.

Serpoians
"DAN DA DAN is a non-stop thrill ride from start to finish. The animation and music are out of this world and I feel so fortunate to be a part of this cool project. I can't wait for everyone to get to see this awesome show!"

Ben Diskin is one of the most in-demand voice actors today, appearing in high profile games, animation, and anime.
His anime credits include "Naruto: Shippuden" as Sai, "The Seven Deadly Sins" as Ban, "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency" as Joseph Joestar, "Bleach" as Szayelaporro Grantz, "K" as Yata, "Kill la Kill" as Takarada, "Stitch!" and "Stitch & Ai" as Stitch, "Digimon Fusion" as Shoutmon & Cutemon, "Blood+" as Kai, "Digimon Adventure: 2020" as Agumon, "Sword art Online" as Death Gun, "Aggretsuko" as Haida, "Hunter x Hunter" as Knuckle Bine, "Erased" as Satoru Fujinuma, "Blood Lad" as Wolf, "BNA: Brand New Animal" as Shirou Ogami, "Beastars" as Jack, "Avatar: The Last Airbender" as Hahn, "Demon Slayer" as Temple Demon, "Kuroko's Basketball" as Aomine, and "MASHLE: Magic and Muscles" as Dot, just to name a few.

The North American theatrical premiere of DAN DA DAN, released by GKIDS as DAN DA DAN: First Encounter, comes to theaters nationwide in the US and Canada for a limited time from Friday, September 13 through Sunday, September 15. The screening will feature the first three episodes of the series, along with an exclusive interview with Yukinobu Tatsu and Shihei Lin, the author and editor of the original manga; Fuga Yamashiro, director of the anime series; and Shion Wakayama and Natsuki Hanae, voice actors for the leads Momo and Okarun, respectively. The series will later make its official broadcast debut in Japan on October 4, and available via streaming platforms worldwide from October 3 at 9 am (Los Angeles time.)

For more information about DAN DA DAN please visit the official English website at https://anime-dandadan.com/en/ and the official English social media accounts at @animeDANDADANen and @anime_dandadan_en on Instagram.

ABOUT DAN DA DAN:
DAN DA DAN is a popular manga by Yukinobu Tatsu, serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine application “Shonen Jump Plus” (updated every Tuesday), with a total circulation of 3.2 million copies and over 440 million views.

DAN DA DAN follows Momo, a high school girl from a family of spirit mediums, and her classmate Okarun, an occult freak. The two of them start talking after Momo rescues Okarun from getting bullied. However, an argument ensues between them – Momo believes in ghosts but denies aliens, and Okarun believes in aliens but denies ghosts.

To make the mutual deniers believe in each other, Momo goes to an abandoned hospital known for its UFO sightings, and Okarun goes to a tunnel that is said to be haunted. In each place, they encounter overwhelming paranormal activity that transcends comprehension. Amid these predicaments, Momo awakens her hidden power and Okarun gains the power of a curse to challenge the paranormal forces! Their fateful love begins as well!?

The story of the occult battle and adolescence starts!

STAFF:
Original Work: Yukinobu Tatsu
(Serialized in “Shonen Jump Plus” BY SHUEISHA)

Director: Fuga Yamashiro
Script: Hiroshi Seko
Music: kensuke ushio
Character Design: Naoyuki Onda
Creature Design: Yoshimichi Kameda
Color Design: Satoshi Hashimoto, Makiho Kondo
Art Director: Junichi Higashi
Compositing Director: Kazuto Izumita
Editor: Kiyoshi Hirose
Sound Director: Eriko Kimura
Animation Production: Science SARU

MUSIC:
Opening Theme Song: “Otonoke” by Creepy Nuts
Ending Theme Song: “TAIDADA" by ZUTOMAYO

CAST: Shion Wakayama (JP) / Abby Trott (EN) as “Momo”
Natsuki Hanae (JP) / AJ Beckles (EN) as “Okarun”
Nana Mizuki (JP) / Kari Wahlgren (EN) as “Seiko”
Ayane Sakura (JP) / Lisa Reimold (EN) as “Aira”
Kaito Ishikawa (JP) / Aleks Le (EN) as “Jiji”
Kazuya Nakai (JP) / Ben Diskin (EN) as “Serpoian”
Mayumi Tanaka (JP) / Barbara Goodson (EN) as “Turbo Granny”
Anairis Quinõnes (EN) as “Muko”
Sarah Ann Williams (EN) as “Miko”

SOCIAL MEDIA:
Official website: https://anime-dandadan.com/
Official website (EN): https://anime-dandadan.com/en/
Official X: @anime_dandadan
Official X (EN): @animeDANDADANen
Official Instagram (EN): @anime_dandadan_en

Rights Notation
©Yukinobu Tatsu/SHUEISHA, DANDADAN Production Committee

About MBS
Mainichi Broadcasting System, Inc., (MBS) is known as a pioneer in the Japanese broadcasting industry. Tracing back through history, MBS was one of the first commercial radio stations in Japan, starting its first radio broadcasts in 1951 and later beginning terrestrial television broadcasting in 1959. MBS has its head office in Osaka, which is the business center of Kansai, the western part of Japan, with new emerging businesses and innovative ideas. For anime, MBS has been co-producing and broadcasting for more than half a century. The broadcaster is the TV home to numerous global hit anime franchises like “Attack on Titan,” “Full Metal Alchemist” and “Jujutsu Kaisen.” In addition to co-producing those and many other series, MBS was a co-producer of “Akira,” seen as one of the most influential anime films of all time. https://www.mbs.jp/english/

About Science SARU
Science SARU is an animation production company committed to nurturing new talent and implementing cutting-edge creative technology; the company has produced projects across different mediums, including for television, film, and streaming. Some of Science SARU's best-known works include Lu Over the Wall, DEVILMAN crybaby, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, and Inu-Oh, among others. SARU's future releases include Naoko Yamada's new feature film, The Colors Within, which won the Best Animation Award at the 26th Shanghai International Film Festival and will be theatrically released in Japan on August 30th, 2024, Garden of Remembrance (2024), as well as the TV anime series DAN DA DAN, premiering on 28 MBS/TBS networks in October, The Ghost In The Shell, planned for broadcast in 2026, and SANDA. https://www.sciencesaru.com/english

GKIDS
GKIDS is the Academy Award-winning producer and distributor of artist-driven and award-winning animation from around the world. After an astounding 13 Best Animated Feature nominations, the company took home the Oscar in 2024 for Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli's acclaimed feature, The Boy and the Heron. The company's previous nominations include The Secret of Kells in 2010, A Cat in Paris and Chico & Rita in 2012, Ernest & Celestine in 2014, The Tale of The Princess Kaguya and Song of the Sea in 2015, Boy and the World and When Marnie Was There in 2016, My Life as a Zucchini in 2017, The Breadwinner in 2018, Mirai in 2019, Wolfwalkers in 2021, and The Boy and the Heron in 2024. For more than a decade, GKIDS' influence on cinema has redefined the perception of animation as an artistic medium on par with live-action film through its stewardship of the Studio Ghibli catalog and by introducing American audiences to the critically-acclaimed films of other master filmmakers from around the world such as Mamoru Hosoda (Mirai, Belle), Tomm Moore (The Secret of Kells, Wolfwalkers), Benjamin Renner (Ernest & Celestine), Makoto Shinkai (Weathering With You), Nora Twomey (The Breadwinner), Alberto Vázquez (Unicorn Wars) and Masaaki Yuasa (Inu-Oh, The Night is Short, Walk on Girl), among countless others. Also, GKIDS is the founder and host of ANIMATION IS FILM, the annual LA-based film festival which embraces the highest aspirations of animation as a cinematic art form, and is a vocal advocate for filmmakers who push the boundaries of the medium to its fullest range of artistic expressions. X | Instagram | TikTok | www.gkids.com