Did Dan Da Dan season 2 just tease a major villain's arrival?
The season 2 premiere features a fascinating Easter egg.
**Warning: Contains spoilers for the Dan Da Dan manga series.**
In the season 2 premiere of Dan Da Dan, the show introduces an Easter egg teasing the arrival of a major villain – but if you’re not familiar with the manga, you may not have noticed this moment at all.
The scene in question arrives in the first half of the episode, when Okarun and Jiji are being intimidated by the Kito family, Jiji’s creepy and interfering landlords.
Okarun is visiting Jiji’s house to help out with an exorcism, but the Kito family disapprove of mediums, interrupting them at the worst possible moment.
When the Kitos arrive at the front door, Okarun and Jiji have just smashed a very obvious hole in one of the walls, uncovering a secret chamber. To hide the hole from their nosy visitors, they quickly hang up a poster for the football team Zaint-Germain FC.
This little detail becomes very relevant later on, when a member of the Kito family gets suspicious about why Okarun is visiting the house.
Questioning whether Okarun is really Jiji’s friend, the guy asks Okarun to name Jiji’s favourite football team. Fortunately Okarun just saw the poster, so he’s able to give the right answer: Zaint-Germain.
Fans of the Dan Da Dan manga will immediately recognise the reference here, calling back to a key villain in future storylines.
Count Saint-Germain becomes an important antagonist in later chapters, characterised as a collector of paranormal material. One of the things he wants to collect is the titular Dandadan – a word that remains unexplained for many chapters, but is eventually revealed to be some kind of mystical object or power.
So, what does this Zaint-Germain football reference mean in context? Possibly nothing. It may just be a subtle nod to the manga readers in the audience, reminding them that Count Saint-Germain is out there.
Or it could have a more direct in-universe connection to the man himself, to be revealed in later episodes. We’ll just have to wait and see...
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Authors
Gavia Baker-Whitelaw is a freelance critic and entertainment journalist specialising in geek culture, TV and film. She has written for numerous outlets including Empire, TV Guide, Wired and Vulture, and hosts the film podcast Overinvested.
