#Dandadan thoughts

[everythingseasoning]

Turbo Granny is actually so complex, I’m sorry for hating you Turbo Granny. TW: brief mentions of SA. And a few spoilers from episodes 1-7.

Why did Turbo Granny attack Okarun, hurt an innocent boy by stealing his privates? Turbo Granny is a yokai that resided in a tunnel where boys would discard the defiled, mangled bodies of girls they sa’d. She would comfort the spirits of those girls who couldn’t move on and find peace. The reason she attacked Okarun, and stole his privates was because she 1. Assumed he was scouting out the area to discard yet another poor girl, 2. She’s a yokai, which means she has lost some of her senses due to becoming a ghost with haunted memories. Her regrets became a driving force in all her motivations— death warping her when she was “reborn” as a yokai. So, she attacks all the boys who step foot in the tunnel, regardless of if it’s a misunderstanding or not. 3. Turbo Granny is a prideful old woman. She equates the living as trespassers when they enter her tunnel, and she gets PISSED. That’s also why she kept trying to kill Momo and Okarun (Ken), even after coming to know that they weren’t bad people.

Turbo Granny’s gift of speed and running makes sense with her trauma: she ran faster than all those who couldn’t get away.

Now, Turbo Granny, like all yokai, is morally gray. Death and trauma creates lenses that people/ghosts see the world through, and consequently, act through. She shows no empathy for Acrobatic Silky, saying that her life was worthless when Acrobatic Silky was dying. (And we allllllll know just how tragic and deserving of peace Acrobatic Silky is). She had earlier stolen Okarun’s (Ken’s) private part, despite him being an innocent kid who didn’t realize the rules of the living and dead meant he wasn’t supposed to trespass into their territory. But she is undoubtedly with nuance, and yet another example of “hurt people hurt people.” She acted unfairly, did something horrible to Okarun, and kept trying to kill the kids, and if we only look at that, we can easily hate her. It’s important to see that her trauma and her death made her into somebody deadly, angry, with a deep hatred for guys. Despite her evil actions, she still looked after the lost souls of sa’d and murdered girls. She was trying to do what she believed was good (aren’t we all? or, such is the case for many hurt people), though she was also a prideful cunt.

[clownmitts]

your momokra is THE momokarun. like when i picture momo and okra i think of your art IMMEDIATELY . thank you for feeding us 🙏🏻🙏🏻

I have read and reread and rereread this message ever since it hit my inbox, it makes me tear up every time, seriously thank you so so much!!🥹🫶💖💖💖💖💖

[nathen-s]

I was thinking about something…

Spoilers under the cut!

It’s curious how every other girl who fell for Okarun did after seeing him like Turbokarun or after his “glow up” of confidence.

Like Aira and Vamola fell for him after meeting his yokai form, when he was strong, fast and depressed haha. Although their encounters were in different contexts (Aira thought he was a demon and Vamola was looking for a strong man to marry).

And what to say about Rin, who literally made a self insert fanfic with him as a vampire in her mind. Again as well, after noticing his yokai form.

But with Momo was different. She fell for him when he was still the invisible weird boy, no strength nor social skills at all. Not even balls 😭 He was really self conscious about his true self poor baby and worried about making Momo tired of him. Even when he got curse he didn’t want to disturb her with his problem.

It was in that exact scene, when he handed her his uniform to wear and said his famous line when Momo fell. This kind little and shy gentleman won the baddie’s heart and he didn’t even notice.

And she thought “what a loser, I wanna smooch him so bad” or something like that hahaha

Momo fell first but Ken fell harder.

I love this pannel <3

I’m yapping now. Anyway sleep well and drink water

[crypt1dcorv1dae]

THE QUICKSTER

[weabooii]

Ganzan Daishi | Ward Against Evil

[californiannostalgia]

On Dandadan's Dual Protagonists

I've watched the anime and read some chapters of the manga, and I think I understand why Momokarun works so well.

The antagonistic forces in Dandadan's world are violently nonconsensual and deal with deprivation of agency from women, children, etc. Momo and Okarun are to each other the first person to respect their boundaries. Possibly the first person that they hear apologies from, after an inconsiderate comment was pointed out.

These dual protagonists will take down the other's walls to have an unflinching talking-to, especially when there are things that need to be said. But they always respect boundaries when they're lined out. This is what lets them be comfortable around each other, to the point where they allow the other to come much further into their personal bubble than anyone else.

Momokarun make allowances for each other that they would never think to make for anyone else. They trust each other with their lives. They shared one intense fight for safety and agency, and then they just kept on going like that. They make each other feel powerless in affection and powerful in companionship. But most importantly, they make each other feel safe.

The two themes of Dandadan are consent and compassion, by the way.

Aira hugs the scary ghost that killed her and tells her, 'I love you.' Jiji cries for a demon and willingly gives up bodily agency for him. Ayase "shounen-protagonist" Momo is strongest when she's fighting for someone else's sake. Takakura "my-friends-call-me-Okarun" Ken will throw himself in between the worst monster and its victim, because isn't that just what you do when you see someone in trouble?

Not only is Momokarun a practice in consent, but they're also about that compassion. Within the narrative, the first person Momo found new empathy for is Okarun, and vice versa.

Ah, to be known and loved by the first person who really, truly saw you.

[whitesheepwrites]

"A show about some kids trying to get a boy's balls back shouldn't be making me cry!"

I think Dandadan is a very good example of how having comedy helps enhance the drama and vice-versa. Too much comedy gets annoying, too much drama gets tiring. If you know how to balance both, however, you can get your audience to lower their guard towards each aspect enough to slip in and hit when it counts, without the comedy cheapening the drama or giving people whiplash with sudden heavy topics.

[kepparoni]

[averagemrfox]

My silly anime about ghosts aliens and that kid’s missing balls has hurt me

[everythingseasoning]

i love your brain. i meaaaan the way you think about the jjk characters is soooo different from what i usually see, but it’s good, thoughtful and cannon complacent! can’t wait to see more of your analyzations <3

THANK YOU!! Hahah I try, but I’m also still learning how to assess characters in a nuanced way. It takes at least a basic understanding of people/psych, phil, etc studies, before a person can really do a good job.

My Anime Analysis Masterlist for anyone who wants it!

This was such a sweet message <333 Take care anon!!

[theboagirl]

I really just wanted to draw a good full-body of Yokarun from "Gazing into the Abyss" by chaotic_quibit I have no excuse. 💅

[qqchurch]

Shiratori Aira's Concussions: +1

[feytiaxofxphantasia]

It’s so them 💖

[mysticdragon3md3]

So when Dandadan's editor told the mangaka to go read 100 Shojo manga, was one of them Natsume Yuujinchou? Or is sealing malevolent spirits into statues of maneki neko, just a really common practice?

[bloodraven55]

oh.

[nocandnc]

Something interesting I noticed from the Aira + Evil Eye omakes, now that I’ve seen the Japanese text…

In the previous EE omake, he refers to Aira as ‘onushi’ - this is an archaic way of saying ‘you’, as EE speaks in a very old-fashioned way. It’s not rude, but not endearing either - just kind of neutral.

By the next EE + Aira omake, something’s changed. He’s following her around and switched to calling her ‘kisama’ instead of ‘onushi’.

To modern ears, the word ‘kisama’ is very rude. Aira tells him to not say ‘kisama’ - probably because to her, it sounds like he’s using fowl language to address her…

But here’s the interesting thing: ‘kisama’ was originally a very polite form of address!

The ‘ki’ comes from ‘kimi’, a fond way of referring to someone, and ‘sama’ from… well, the highly respectful honorific most are probably familiar with.

As noted above, Evil Eye speaks in a very archaic manner - two centuries have passed since he was alive after all. So given this context, it’s entirely possible that while Aira took it as him being rude, it was actually the opposite—

The Evil Eye could have been trying to act politely instead!

Following her request to not say ‘kisama’, Evil Eye switches his form of address once again, now calling her directly by name. Bluntly calling her ‘Aira’ isn’t exactly polite, but I do think it’s noteworthy that he respected her wishes at all. Rather, I’m a bit surprised he even knows her name lol

He calls Okarun by name as well - his surname Takakura to be exact. That’s another interesting point - the fact that he’ll call Aira by her first name and not Shiratori.

Maybe it’s because Jiji calls her Aira as well…?

Well, just some interesting food for thought in any case ^^;;;