Stepping into the world of DAN DA DAN means embracing the bizarre, the heartfelt, and the supernatural all at once. It’s a challenge that A.J. Beckles meets head-on as the English voice of Okarun. With the series’ growing popularity, Anime 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 appreciation for the series, Beckles shares what it’s like to voice Okarun in DAN DA DAN.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Anime Trending: What was your initial reaction when you were cast for DAN DA DAN? Were you familiar with the manga at all before you started the project?
A.J. Beckles: Yes, I was. I had read the manga — I think I started like a year and a half prior to the release — and I remember being so excited when it was announced as an anime. I thought, “I just need to audition for it. I need to, because it’s such an amazing story.” 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!, who does the dub. I said, “I don’t know if you have this, or if you will, but I know Netflix is doing it and it’s going to come out in October. If you happen to get it, I would love to read.”
And I got it! I screamed, I was so excited. I read the audition and had to perform for both Okarun’s normal form and his other form. I did five different takes. I was like, “Here’s my first version, here’s my second version, etc.” because I didn’t want to leave anything on the table. I sent it out and thought, “Oh my gosh, this would be incredible. This would be amazing — not only for my career, but because it’s so rare to be part of something so beautiful.” There are certain properties that come up maybe once every ten years, you know?
I knew DAN DA DAN was one of those properties, especially because when we get the audition, we get little clips to watch. I thought, “This is special.” So, when I got the phone call from my agent, I almost cried. I was so happy — genuinely, so, so happy. I didn’t even tell my fiancé for a couple of days because I didn’t want to jinx it. It wasn’t set in stone yet because my agent just told me, “You’re the top choice right now,” 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.
You mentioned switching from regular to the depressed Okarun — what was it like voicing those two different sides to him?
A.J. Beckles: It’s so much fun. Usually, when I’m playing characters, they’re the anxious or excitable best friend who’s high-energy and high-strung, or the protagonist. Protagonists generally tend to be a little more… generic, just because they’re blank slates for the audience to connect to. But Okarun is kind of not those things. He’s anxious and high-strung, but he also has a lot of complicated stuff going on. He’s a kid, you know? And there’s so much emotion that comes with that. On the flip side, he gets to be really cool and awesome — which is what every guy wants to play, like Ichigo or the edgy Sasuke type. I got to do both, which is awesome.
I feel very lucky that I’m 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’s feeling underneath all his front-facing awkwardness, shyness, and excitability. And depressed, it’s like, “Ugh, I don’t want to be here.” So it’s really cool.
DAN DA DAN blends supernatural action with comedy and romance. What aspects of the story do you think resonate most with the viewers of the show?
A.J. Beckles: It’s interesting, because I don’t know how he does it, but Tatsu Yukinobu-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’s a story about growing up and being a teenager.
There are so many cool, serious things that are talked about in the content — 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’s what people relate to. So many people love DAN DA DAN. I’m hearing from people that it’s the first time they’ve gotten their mom, girlfriend, boyfriend, or whatever to watch anime, because underneath it all, it’s very silly and fun, but it’s so real. You can’t help but root for these characters because I feel like we all see ourselves in one of them from when we were kids.
What are your thoughts about the unique yokai and supernatural events in the show, or the ghosts and spirits?
A.J. Beckles: I was really into aliens when I was a kid. I loved watching the History Channel or Science Channel, learning about the universe, sharks, and fictional stuff like that. I wasn’t very big into ghosts, but this show introduced me to the idea that other cultures — especially Japan — are so spiritual. Getting to see that, and these interesting characters like Turbo Granny — that’s so funny, but that’s real folklore — and the Flatwoods monster, and how Yukinobu-sensei melds all the stuff together, made me really interested to learn more.
I actually ended up buying a book on yokai that I haven’t started yet because I just bought it, but I want to learn more. So, when people ask me what I’m excited to see, I have something to tell them.
For the technical aspects of recording sessions, are they done in chronological order, or do you jump around?
A.J. Beckles: We normally do it in chronological order, in batches — whatever is available to us. We’ll start with episode one, then move on to episode two, usually in batches of three. In terms of Turbo and his normal form, they’ll ask me if I want to start with Turbo or the other one. Normally, I start with Turbo because it’s fun.
Looking forward to season two, what do you hope fans take away from your portrayal of Okarun when they watch the English dub?
A.J. Beckles: 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’s about] how to hold on to them and protect those relationships. He has something to lose now, whereas before he didn’t. His relationship with Jiji — he’s never had a guy friend before, especially [someone like] Jiji. He’s so cool because he does all these sports and everything. He is everything Okarun thinks girls like and what he wants to be.
But Jiji is just a good person and a good guy. So now Okarun is wrestling with feelings of, “Oh man, I’m jealous of him. But he’s still my friend, he’s still really cool, and I still want to be there for him,” in the middle of having feelings for Momo and knowing they’re childhood friends.
There are even more layers to Okarun that are going to be apparent in the second season, and I’m interested to see what people think about it as they watch both my performance and Natsuki Hanae‘s in Japanese. I’m really excited.
DAN DA DAN Season 2 is streaming on Crunchyroll and Netflix. Special thanks to GKIDS for the interview opportunity.
