In DAN DA DAN Season 2, Evil Eye adds complexity to Jiji’s situation, creating an almost 180-degree difference in personality that presents a welcome challenge for Aleks Le, the English voice of Jiji. Unlike Okarun’s transformation where “it’s essentially one person who is getting amped up,” as Le explains, Evil Eye is “an entirely different person,” making Le approach his recording sessions a little more strategically. As one of his most energetic roles yet, Jiji allows Le to showcase a completely different side compared to his other roles like Sung Jinwoo from Solo Leveling. In this email interview, Le shares his excitement about voicing his favorite character from the DAN DA DAN manga and why it’s so much fun for him.
Anime Trending: What was your initial reaction when you were cast for DAN DA DAN? Were you familiar with the manga before joining the project?
Aleks Le: I was already a huge fan of the manga, so when I found out I was cast, especially as my favorite character, I was stoked! I think by then, I already knew in my head exactly how I wanted to portray and adapt his attitude on screen.
DAN DA DAN blends supernatural action with comedy and romance. What aspects of the story do you think resonate most with viewers?
Aleks Le: I feel that the story of navigating your first love and crush (from Okarun’s perspective) is a very relatable experience for most people. That with a dash of sci-fi, fantasy, and action makes for the perfect teen anime experience! Especially for a lot of first-time anime watchers.
What are your impressions of the unique yokai, spirits, aliens, and ghosts featured in the show?
Aleks Le: I love that the show doesn’t shy away from using mythos from multiple cultures. It was really cool to see some unique yokai and concepts that I wasn’t familiar with, alongside some of the more traditional cryptids that are famous in America.
What is it like to voice Jiji, as his personality is a little different from your other well-known roles such as Sung Jinwoo from Solo Leveling?
Aleks Le: It’s a blast! I feel that this is one of the roles where I can put the most extreme sides of my personality into. Roles in the past like Jinwoo have been based on smaller parts of my experience and attitude throughout my journey, but Jiji really lets me capture all of the fun I have in my personal life that I usually don’t get to portray and put it into a role.
Are your recording sessions done in chronological order, or do you jump around? Does this affect your process when getting into character?
Aleks Le: For the show, I like to record Jiji all at once, and then Evil Eye separate. He’s not like Okarun, where it’s essentially one person who is getting amped up and changed, but an entirely different person. For that reason, I like to record multiple episodes as just one of them so that I can stay in that mindset and keep it authentic/consistent with whatever that character is going through in the moment.
What do you hope fans take away from your portrayal of Jiji when they watch the English dub?
Aleks Le: I hope that they have a good time anytime he’s on screen. He is just so much fun and energetic that his energy is contagious to me, so I hope other people feel the same through my performance. I also hope they see that at the end of the day, he’s just a teenager who’s really excited to be around others. Jiji composes himself in a very unique way, and he uses his love and passion for everyone as a way to cope with himself through hard times. He’s a really good kid and I hope people remember to go easy on him because all teenagers are kind of a mess. I feel like we were all like that at some point.
Special thanks to GKIDS for the interview opportunity. DAN DA DAN Season 2 is streaming on Crunchyroll and Netflix.
