The Spring 2026 Anime Preview Guide

Dandelion

Tetsuo Tanba and Misaki Kurogane are two members of the "Japan Angel Federation Sendoff Department" who search for souls who cannot pass on to the afterlife due to lingering regrets, and send them to the afterlife.

Dandelion is based on the manga by Hideaki Sorachi. The anime series is streaming on Netflix on Thursdays.

Sometimes you need to make your own fun while working on the Preview Guide, especially towards the end. For me, that means that I cycled through four different languages for Netflix's release of Dandelion. There's an impressive amount of vocal synchronization between them, with characters sounding basically the same (or at least matching the original Japanese voice) across them. I preferred the French dub, although whoever plays Misaki in Italian does a terrific job. But the French voice actors for the old couple during their final scene together really sold the bittersweetness the best, and if I were to continue watching, that's the language I'd go with.

I don't think I will, though, because while Dandelion does some interesting things with the bureaucratic afterlife subgenre (yes, it is a tiny subgenre of fantasy), it jumps around tonally far too much to make for easy viewing. Tetsuo and Misaki are angels charged with corralling lost or wandering souls and escorting them to the afterlife, where they belong. They're part of a larger department, and their efficiency rate is fairly low because they do things like help the souls in question resolve lingering issues from their lives. Or at least, they try to, often for personal reasons. In the case of the old man in this episode, it all comes down to pudding. But because living humans can't see the ghosts or angels, it gets sticky; this time, that means “involving many other angels in a wild goose chase that works out entirely by accident.”

It's meant to be funny, and it has its moments, but it mostly didn't work for me on that front. It does, however, do a very nice job with the moment when the elderly couple is briefly reunited. In a scene that's almost jarring in its sincerity, the two reaffirm their relationship and how glad they are to have had each other. It's almost beautiful, and it shows that Dandelion understands the inherent sadness of any story involving a ghost, even if most of the time it chooses not to show it.

Speaking of showing, I don't love the base art style of this series, but the animation is fine, and downright excellent in the ending theme. I'm not sure how they animated the dancing, but it looks great, even if Yuichi and Tetsuo's blank faces while they're grooving all over the place are disturbingly blank. (In character? Yes. But also uncanny.) All in all, this isn't a terrible episode and is not lacking in potential. It simply doesn't work for me, no matter which language I watch it in.

I'm a certified Gintama Freak, so I was curious to check out Dandelion if for no other reason than it gave me the opportunity to check out what Hideaki Sorachi was getting up to before embarking on his insane magnum opus of samurai, aliens, and innumerable fourth-wall-breaking pop culture references. As it turns out, he was pretty much just writing Gintama, even back then, just with a different cast of weirdos getting into genre-bending shenanigans instead of Gintoki and the crew. If you love Gintama, then this means that Dandelion will likely play as an amusing remix of the familiar and beloved tropes that have defined Sorachi's comedic stylings. If you don't love Gintama, well, I can't imagine this is going to change your mind.

The key difference between Dandelion and Gintama is how simple and straightforward the former is compared to the latter. This makes sense when you realize that the original manga was just a one-shot, and a whole lot of original material was required to get this series up to its limited run of seven episodes. Our main duo of Japan Angel Foundation operatives consists of Tetsuo and Misaki, with Tetsuo serving as the beleaguered, nonchalant straight man to Misaki's deceptively low-key brand of insane nonsense. As angels, our heroes must guide the restless souls of the dead to the afterlife, such as the crazy old man they meet who died after arguing with his wife over a stolen cup of pudding. Despite how increasingly absurd their mission becomes, Tetsuo and Misaki's story is an incredibly simple one. There's none of the remarkable world-building or completely impossible blending of sci-fi and fantasy that makes Gintama so rich, which is maybe the biggest mark I have against the show. It's just not a very original or compelling premise.

Thankfully, execution is where it really counts, and Dandelion's first episode is good enough that I'm honestly curious to see how the show expands on the original source material in its remaining episodes. Tetsuo and Misaki make for a solid team, and their adventure with the old man and his baffled widow manages to strike that familiar balance of stupid hijinks and genuine pathos that has become Gintama's trademark. The English dub on Netflix does a good job of channeling this charm, with a naturalistic script that sells the manzai style of comedy without becoming annoying. The animation is also pretty good, especially when it needs to up the ante for some of the comedic bits or action-packed moments.

Since it's only seven episodes, and that's already six more episodes of material than the Dandelion manga ever produced, I cannot imagine that this anime is serving as a foundation for a new, long-running comedy institution. I also can't speak to exactly how good all of the new material in the preceding episodes will be (though it's not like you stand to lose much if they end up falling flat). All of this is to say that I won't blame anyone for overlooking Dandelion as a mere trifle, but I encourage folks to give it a chance, anyway. It just might put a smile on your face.

At this point, I think I just have to accept it: Hideaki Sorachi's humor doesn't really mesh with me. Oh sure, there are some individual jokes that occasionally get a chuckle out of me but so much of the time with his shows I sit basically stonefaced. Like, I get the jokes but fast talking in an increasingly high-pitched tone isn't exactly my definition for the “height of humor.” Nor are gags that amount to little more than “Look, an angel is drunk driving” or “Oh no, she doesn't know which pedal is the brake!”

Taking the humor out of the equation (or at least the gag humor), we have an afterlife setup like our world—filled with angels working blue collar jobs. Our heroes are angels tasked with going to Earth and reaping the souls of those who refuse to pass on after their deaths.

This first episode does a good job fleshing out this idea—why it's bad for these wandering spirits to stay around. Basically, they are walking curses. Even if their intentions are pure, their wants and needs will affect the living in negative ways. The example we get here is a great one. An old man wants to meet his wife one last time to apologize for their last conversation being a fight. This ends up pulling her soul out of her body before its time leading to her body not only being taken over by another wandering spirit but being hunted by a group of angels as well.

The moral of the episode is solid as well. It's a sad fact that many lives end suddenly. There's often no time to say goodbye or to reflect on a life well-lived. However, the ending should mean far less than the entirety of life leading up to it. That is what should be focused on: the joy and the years of good times.

All in all, this is a show that I have no problems with on an objective level. The setting and themes work and the animation looks fine. However, humor is among the most subjective things out there. If you find shows like Gintama funny, I have no doubt this anime will leave you in stitches. As for me, one episode was enough.