Dandadan Season 3: Right after Episode 24 dropped on September 19, 2025 (JST), I had the dumb, delighted reaction people get when something they love keeps getting bigger. I was on my couch, half-asleep from dinner, and my feed lit up: the official accounts posted an illustration of Momo, Okarun, and Turbo Granny, and the short message everyone wanted to see: Dandadan season 3 is happening. That announcement followed the finale broadcast, so an important distinction was that the team announced a new season rather than publishing a full schedule.
Below, I’ll separate what’s actually on record, what follows from how the show’s been paced so far, and where I’m hedging. I’ll also drop a couple of tiny personal moments: the line I rewatched twice, the OST cue I kept skipping back to, and the one worry that keeps me checking Twitter.
The Announcement Dandadan Season 3
I was scrolling through X (formerly Twitter) about 20–30 minutes after the episode ended for me, and the illustration popped up playful, a little smug, clearly celebratory. The staff didn’t give a release date: they shared an announcement image and the message that production is underway. That’s the correct, literal reading: announced, not scheduled. Crunchyroll’s news post picked up that the Dandadan Season 3 notice came right after Episode 24’s broadcast.
Small, honest uncertainty: different outlets timestamp things in slightly different ways (some list the Japanese broadcast date as Sept 19, others show Sept 18 for international listings). For clarity, I’ll anchor everything to JST dates when I talk about broadcasts below.
What’s confirmed (the short list)
- Dandadan Season 3 was announced after the Season 2 finale. That’s the core fact. The announcement was a production post/illustration shared publicly after Episode 24 aired.
- Science SARU remains the animation studio on record for the anime and the key creative names (directors Fuga Yamashiro and Abel Góngora listed for Season 2; Hiroshi Seko on composition; Naoyuki Onda on character designs; Kensuke Ushio on music). Those credits are the team people are expecting to carry on. I’m treating them as “expected to return” rather than ironclad until staff confirmations roll in for Dandadan Season 3.
That’s it for ironclad facts; everything else is inference, pattern-reading, or wishful hope.
How far Season 2 left us (manga adaptation scope)
The final episode of Season 2 adapted up to chapter 71, which is effectively the climax of the Kaiju arc; there are still a few Kaiju-adjacent chapters remaining, and then the manga moves into the Space Globalists Arc (the next big chunk of the story). So the anime’s trajectory is obvious on paper: there’s plenty of source material waiting.
A concrete detail I liked: Episode 24’s animation pulled off a small moment I’ve seen in screenshots but rarely well-animated — the smear-frame action on Okarun’s close-up during the stinger. I rewatched that cut twice because the motion framing made the emotional beat land harder. (That’s my nerdy, personal take, not something the press summarized.)
The Space Globalists arc, why it matters (and what it contains)
The Space Globalists arc is the longest arc so far in the manga (roughly chapters in the mid-70s through the 100s region in serialized order). It’s the storyline people point to when they say Dandadan is expanding from local weirdness into a broader, genuinely cosmic setup. If Dandadan Season 3 does primarily tackle Space Globalists, it’s the kind of arc that can’t be rushed without feeling chopped.
My read: that arc has a lot of setup and payoff for new alien factions, morally ambiguous players (Bamora/Vamola’s involvement is a key narrative pivot), and stretches that reward longer runs. Fans in forums are already debating whether 12 episodes would do it justice; you’ll see people say it needs 24 episodes, or two cours. I don’t know the production plan, but the argument that the arc is big and might require an expanded episode count is solid.
Release window math (my projection and the logic behind it)
Here’s how I’m thinking about timing, and please treat this as “me guessing with reasons,” not an announcement:
- Season 1 aired Oct–Dec 2024; Season 2 aired July–Sept 2025. The staff moved fast between those two seasons. That suggests Science SARU can be nimble, but they’re also juggling other projects (their slate includes other releases in the coming year).
- If SARU keeps a similar turnaround, mid–late 2026 is a plausible earliest window for Dandadan Season 3. But, and this is a real caveat, packing the Space Globalists arc into a single 12-episode cour would hurt pacing. If they opt for more episodes, that timeline slides. So: likely mid–late 2026 if the season is standard length; later if they expand the episode count or take a longer production schedule. That’s my projection, not a promise.
Cast, streaming, and the small practical notes
- Cast: The main Japanese and English leads are all expected to return (Shion Wakayama, Natsuki Hanae, Nana Mizuki, etc. — and the English dub’s cast for earlier seasons has been simulcast-friendly). I’d mark that as “likely,” not confirmed.
- Streaming: In my region (and broadly), both Crunchyroll and Netflix have carried the series across seasons; if current distribution deals hold, expect Dandadan Season 3 to follow the same pattern, but streaming windows and region availability vary, so keep an eye on your local listings.
A small production note I noticed in Season 2 press: Crunchyroll’s roundup of the announcement specifically pointed out the timing (the post followed Episode 24’s broadcast), and Science SARU’s staff credits for Season 2 show the same core creative team that made the first two seasons visually distinctive. That continuity matters to me. Kensuke Ushio’s score, for example, has specific cues I kept replaying while writing this.
The one worry I keep thinking about
If the show tries to hustle the Space Globalists arc into a single 12-episode season, pacing will feel compressed, and setup beats won’t land. On the flip side, a longer season or split-cour risks longer waits between installments. My nervousness is practical: this arc is big, and big arcs either need time or they look chopped. That’s not a production-facing complaint; it’s a storytelling one.
Three real questions people are actually asking (and my blunt answers)
1) Is Space Globalists too big for 12 episodes?
Short answer: Probably. The arc is long and setup-heavy; many fans are already arguing it needs 24 episodes or a two-cour approach for the pacing to feel right. My take: if they want emotional moments to breathe, they should give it more space.
2) Will the original cast and staff return?
Short answer: Likely, yes, the credited team for Seasons 1–2 (Science SARU, Yamashiro/Góngora, Hiroshi Seko, Naoyuki Onda, Kensuke Ushio) is listed consistently across press so far, and where studios want continuity, they usually keep core staff. But until the studio posts a Dandadan Season 3 staff list, treat this as “expected” rather than “confirmed.”
3) When/where will I be able to watch it?
Short answer: Crunchyroll and Netflix have streamed the anime previously in many territories; they’re likely places Dandadan Season 3 will appear, but regional deals can differ. If you want my practical advice: track both services and the official Dandadan accounts on X for the first notices.
Also Read: Gen V Season 2 Review: Darker, Bloodier, and Tied to The Boys in Shocking Ways
Why I’m actually excited (a two-sentence brag)
Dandadan’s tone, furious, weird, tender, and rare, and the Space Globalists arc promises to expand the stakes without losing the show’s weird heart. Also: Kensuke Ushio’s OST keeps delivering those small undercutting cues that make a fight scene feel genuinely tragic and stupidly funny at once; I’ve been skipping back to one particular cue more than I should admit while typing this.
Wrap up what I’m watching for next
- Official Dandadan Season 3 staff/cast list. (That’ll tell us whether the creative DNA we liked is staying.)
- Whether the team announces episode count or a cour split is the pacing signal.
- Any footage or a teaser, even a 30-second clip, will show whether they’re leaning hard into CG mecha beats again or doubling down on smaller, skein-like horror moments.
If you want to discuss one tiny scene frame-by-frame (I have opinions), drop it here. I’ll say which cut I replayed and why it works. Meanwhile: celebrate the announcement, but temper the hype with the facts announced = good news; scheduling and format = TBD.