Dan Da Dan season 1 ending explained: How does it set up season 2?

The first 11 episodes alone have encompassed everything from missing testicles and a mannequin romance to the Loch Ness monster and a heartbreaking ghost story.

So, what does the 12th, final episode of season 1 have in store for us? Let's Go to the Cursed House is less unhinged than you might expect, focusing more on key character developments rather than demonic or alien threats.

But those are there too, of course, only coming to the fore at the end in a surprise cliffhanger that's set to continue in the already-confirmed second season. Let's see how it plays out.

Dan Da Dan season 1 ending explained

The episode starts with Okarun and Momo Ayase begging Seiko Ayase, the latter's grandma, to let Hana stay in the Ayase family home.

Hana just so happens to be an anatomical model that's fallen in love with another possessed model named Taro. The plan is Taro will work in the chemistry lab like he's always done, sneaking out at night to visit Hana in what Seiko dubs the "Hotel for horny anatomical models".

While that's being hashed out, Turbo Granny attacks Momo's friend Jiji in the background because she's a possessed maneki-neko (Japanese cat doll), so she's always irritable.

Just another day in the life of Momo and Okarun. Except… with Jiji around so much, Okarun is growing more and more jealous of the bond Momo shares with her male childhood friend. The pair goof around to win Momo over as Okarun, especially, embarrasses himself in the process.

That's when Momo reveals she's planning to sleep over at Jiji's house to help exorcise whatever evil entity has recently made his parents sick. The job might take a while, and his family home is in a mountain springs town some way away.

Okarun practically explodes with jealousy at this point, but it turns out Momo was always going to invite him to go with them because "I don't know if I can do it without you".

Get the hint, Okarun. She's keen!

We then cut to the school where four students have snuck in after hours to mess around with a Ouija board. But instead of repeating all the school-based havoc we saw a few episodes back, the kids are instead surprised by Taro running at them full pelt, desperate to leave and be reunited with Hana in the Ayase home.

Rather dramatically, Taro smashes through a window and races through the streets until a truck suddenly smashes into him, breaking the doll up into much smaller, but still sentient, pieces.

Momo stays up with Hana outside to keep her company while she waits for Taro, but she falls asleep before he reassembles and makes it to the house. Cut to the next morning where the models are hugging and romantic music swells as Momo wipes sleepy drool off her face.

After this random but fun, typically offbeat opening, the title sequence kicks in and then we catch up with Momo, Okarun and Jiji on the train, playing a game of Old Maid as they wait to arrive at Jiji's home.

Jiji and Momo bond some more over sweets they used to buy off an old lady together when they were kids, provoking Okarun even further.

Concentrating on his missing testicle doesn't help for long — "Nut, nut, nut, nut!" — so he instead tries to one-up Jiji with his knowledge of aliens and cryptids. The plan backfires when Jiji actually gets super into all that weird stuff and calls Okarun his "friend". It's hard to hate on a guy after that, especially when "he's so nice, damnit".

The hot spring town looks quaint and beautiful if it weren't for all the creepy residents smiling at our faves from the dark recesses of their homes. The kids don't really notice, though, because they're too busy trying to navigate not one but two flights of seemingly endless stairs. Jiji charges up them, hollering, while Momo and Okarun drag themselves up best they can.

Upon reaching the top, Momo fails to see any weird auras or anything out of the usual at Jiji's house. Other mediums previously claimed his home is "the most evil thing ever", which means the ghosts might just be hiding today. That's likely given that another creepy figure is already watching them all from the trees nearby.

Momo is bored of waiting, though, so she goes off to check out one of the local hot springs, giving the guys a chance to bond without her there. The spirits will be a lot more active at nightfall anyhow.

Jiji encourages Okarun to play football, and to no one's surprise, he's bad at it. But Jiji is patient anyway, reassuring this awkward kid that it's OK to stumble. What's less reassuring is how Jiji suddenly blurts out a thorny question out of nowhere: "So you’re in love with Momo?"

Yep, Okarun wasn't as paranoid as he seemed, because it turns out Jiji is into her too. The pair start competing with each other, claiming that they love Momo the most, because that's what immature boys are prone to do, even though Momo hasn't professed love for either of them by this point.

Momo herself has no idea this is going on, though. She's too busy chilling out at the springs, completely unaware of the local residents watching her from close by. Some time passes and then Momo decides to get out before the heat of the water makes her too dizzy and light-headed.

That's when she notices that the walls are higher than you'd expect for an open-air hot spring, obstructing the nice view. Or is it deliberately hiding what goes on here from the outside world?

A door abruptly opens and then four weird-looking men approach the water, muttering that Momo is "the cutest thing ever".

At first, she doesn't want to leave because she doesn't want to expose herself to them, despite it turning out to be a communal, mixed-sex sauna. But then Momo realises that the men are disgusting predators who want to hurt her. The glowing eyes are a dead giveaway that something's up too.

The problem, though, is that Momo's feeling light-headed from the hot water, and in her current state, she worries that her psychic powers might not be strong enough to fight the men off. Before she can defend herself, the group's leader grabs Momo then and pushes her under the water, trying to drown everyone's favourite psychic.

Meanwhile, the boys are completely unaware of what's going on with Momo. They're too busy fighting over her until Okarun suddenly notices something strange about Jiji's house. It turns out that it's bigger on the outside than it is on the outside. Like Doctor Who's TARDIS, but the opposite.

Jiji investigates with a hammer, knocking through a hollow wall which hides a secret room. The house is a rental, but he's too worried about his parents being sick to care. Inside, layer upon layer of weird paper charms can be seen lining the entire room as a strange wind rustles them from within.

What does that ghostly cliffhanger mean for season 2?

It's at this point that the season 1 finale of Dan Da Dan ends, cutting to the usual end credits with Turbo Granny using a hairdryer.

As far as finales go, this one isn't particularly climactic. It just feels like the usual cliffhanger fans are used to seeing at the end of most episodes. The escalation here is more of an emotional development between Okarun and Jiji rather than an epic action one.

That's not to say fans can't expect big things from Dan Da Dan season 2, though.

As readers of Yukinobu Tatsu's manga already know, this is just the beginning of the Cursed House arc, which promises to be the most intense chapter of the story yet.

Without spoiling too much, just know that the snake-like deity Jiji mentioned earlier, the Tsuchinoko, goes on to play a big role in the village's future as well as its past, one where human sacrifices send our heroes down a terrifying path.

You'll have to wait until July 2025 to find out more, though, because that's when the show is set to return for season 2. Or you could just read the manga now ahead of time if you don't mind spoiling the story. Even knowing the source material won't prepare you for the lunacy of this arc when it comes to life on screen.

Dan Da Dan is available to stream on Netflix and Crunchyroll.

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Dan Da Dan season 1 premiered in October 2024. Check out more of our Fantasy coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.