Dandadan Issues Apology Over X JAPAN Homage Insert Song Controversy, Hints at Future Collaborations

The anime Dandadan, which aired its 18th episode in early August, faced a significant stir after its insert song "Hunting Soul" paid homage to the Japanese rock band X JAPAN. This controversy was further fueled by comments made by band member YOSHIKI on social media.

Although no copyright issues arose, the official X (formerly Twitter) account for the Dandadan anime released a statement today (August 22nd), publicly apologizing for the controversy surrounding the song in Episode 18, which was questioned for its strong resemblance to X JAPAN's work.

According to the official announcement:

"This song was created with the intention of showcasing the energetic music of Mr. YOSHIKI and X JAPAN, whom we deeply respect, within the anime. Our production motive was to enhance the overall quality of the work by making it more fitting for Dandadan's storyline and scenes."

Regarding the controversy, the statement further noted: "However, we sincerely apologize for causing unnecessary trouble by not clearly communicating with Mr. YOSHIKI and X JAPAN in advance. This was not our intention. Regarding rights issues, we have initiated active discussions with relevant parties and have already spoken with YOSHIKI himself. We hope to use this opportunity to explore more creative collaboration directions for the future."

The statement concluded: "We deeply apologize to Mr. YOSHIKI, all members of X JAPAN, their fans, as well as Dandadan supporters and related parties for the inconvenience caused. We hope for your continued warm support and attention to this work."

YOSHIKI had previously mentioned that the lack of prior contact was indeed the reason for the awkward situation, where he was unaware and even his lawyers were reaching out. He expressed that he is generally open to such collaborations and has appeared in several anime in similar ways in the past without any issues.

(Notably, another anime this season, "Karaoke Go!", also uses X JAPAN's song "Kurenai.")

With the official team now having contacted relevant parties and formally spoken with YOSHIKI, it appears the incident has concluded. The mention of "more creative collaboration directions" in the future also hints at potentially interesting joint projects between both parties.