Directed by Daisuke Mataga and adapted from Hideaki Sorachi’s eponymous one-shot manga, Netflix’s ‘Dandelion’ follows the daily shenanigans of the Dandelion Squad, made up of angels who patrol the world of humans in search of lost spirits. Often, these spirits carry guilt from past lives and must be forcibly sent back to the netherworld. For squad leader Misaki Kurogane, however, it’s much healthier to at least hear the spirits out, figure out what they need for closure, and then achieve exactly that. This experimental method lands the squad at the bottom rank of the Angel Federation’s send-off department.
Before long, a higher-up executive named Masaki is tasked with getting Misaki and her teammate, Tetsuo, to follow orders. By the end of season 1 of this supernatural comedy anime series, the squad realizes that Masaki’s father, Daigoro, who is also the leader of the federation, is secretly being controlled by vengeful spirits. In the climactic battle that follows, Tetsuo and company emerge victorious, ensuring that the send-off department is allowed to continue as is. While Netflix has not greenlit a second season as of writing, in the best-case scenario, a sequel is expected to be released sometime around 2027.
Dandelion Season 2 Will Likely Dig Deeper Into the Idea of Vengeful Spirits
While ‘Dandelion’ ends its first season open to a potential continuation, whether we get a sequel depends largely on how fans react to the adaptation. Notably, the original manga by Hideaki Sorachi is only a one-shot of roughly 30 pages, all of which are adapted in the first episode itself. The rest of the story is penned by Yosuke Suzuki in close collaboration with Sorachi and his editors. This means that the creators shouldn’t have a hard time coming up with new plot beats if the sequel is greenlit, since we are already familiar with what style of comedy to expect. The season ends with Tetsuo and Misaki’s usual way of dealing with earthbound spirits becoming the norm for the netherworld, which means that fans can expect many eccentric episodic tales in the same vein.
Though Daigoro’s possession is overturned by the end of the season, the Angel Federation is unable to come up with a definitive way to purge vengeful spirits. We already know that these forces are capable of amplifying anyone’s worst feelings to the point of taking over, and it’s only a matter of time before another tragedy unfolds. There is also the question of the scientist who created a body-and-soul separator machine. While Tetsuo and Misaki catch him in the act of selling the machine to a gangster, they aren’t exactly able to punish a living human. This means that the scientist is still walking free, and might just be on the cusp of another invention that can overturn the world order yet again. With the Dandelion Squad bigger and better than ever, such out-of-the-box cases are bound to fall into their laps.
Dandelion Season 2 Might Welcome More Voice Actors From the Gintama Catalog
Given the episodic style of ‘Dandelion,’ a number of memorable characters move in and out of the story throughout season 1. The exception to that rule is our core trio of Tetsuo Tanba, Misaki Kurogane, and Masaki Kyoga, all of whom can be expected to return if season 2 is greenlit. This means that voice actors Chikahiro Kobayashi (Legoshi in ‘Beastars’,) Megumi Han (Gon Freecss in ‘Hunter x Hunter’,) and Mamoru Miyano (Light Yagami in ‘Death Note’) will most likely return to voice their respective characters. Additionally, the show might shine more light on Masaki’s siblings, Yuichi and Shinji, with voice actors Kensho Ono and Yuki Ono likely reprising their roles.
Alongside Masaki, the character who undergoes the most radical transformation this season is his father, Daigoro, and there is a chance that voice actor Kazuhiko Inoue might return for a more prominent role in the potential sequel. Fans can also expect Tomokazu Sugita, Shin-ichiro Miki, Fumihiko Tachiki, and Susumu Chiba stepping back into the shoes of Masked Man, Free Isobe, Steam Porked Man, and Tamesuke Naito, respectively. Given how complicated Asako Kurogane’s role is in this world as a fallen angel, whether or not we will see Rie Kugimiya reprise the role remains a mystery. Notably, there is significant overlap between the casts of ‘Gintama’ and ‘Dandelion,’ and this is likely not a coincidence. As such, fans of both shows might be in for a treat if a potential second season is greenlit.
Dandelion Season 2 Can Focus on Misaki’s Relationship With Her Mother
Around halfway through season 1, we learn that Misaki is actually part human and part angel, and her existence is only allowed so long as her mother, a fallen angel who found love on Earth, forgets all her memories. However, Misaki ultimately does reveal the truth to her mother, promising to keep their renewed relationship a secret. Given that the Angel Federation is now a lot warmer to the Dandelion Squad’s modus operandi, Misaki might just get a chance to officially reunite with Asako, and potentially even chart a new path for fellow hybrid entities like herself. Masaki’s inventions also play a part in this, as he seems to be on the cusp of perfecting the device that separates souls from bodies to make the process of closure much easier.
The question at the heart of ‘Dandelion,’ that is, whether ghosts and spirits deserve closure, is already wrapped up by the season finale, which means that the next chapter of the show might shift its focus to the darker corners of the netherworld. We have already seen the potential of vengeful spirits as a villainous force in the narrative, and how they can take even humans and angels as hosts if need be. If a hypothetical sequel introduces a new main antagonist, it will once again be one involved with such entities. As such, Tetsuo, Misaki, and Masaki’s method of letting spirits have a natural, satisfied passage might just be the only counter left against a system designed to create animosity between different entities.
Read More: Dandelion Ending Explained: Who Was Controlling Daigoro? Is He Back to Normal?
