Dandadan throws everything at its readers at once: ghosts, aliens, cursed objects, kaiju-sized yokai and jokes that should not work in the same chapter as genuine heartbreak. Yet the reason so many people stay is surprisingly simple. At the centre of all the chaos are two teenagers, Momo Ayase and Ken “Okarun” Takakura, whose relationship feels more real than most romances in shonen manga. So what makes this chaotic duo work so well? Let’s break it down.
A Bet That Started Everything
The first chapter sets up the dynamic perfectly. Momo has just dumped a boyfriend whose only appeal was that he looked like her idol, the actor Ken Takakura. Walking down the hall, she sees a quiet boy being bullied and casually scares the bullies off. The boy follows her and immediately starts rambling about UFOs.
Their argument is the hook of the whole series. Momo, granddaughter of a spirit medium, believes in ghosts but not aliens. The occult-obsessed boy believes in aliens but not ghosts. They agree to visit each other’s “fake” haunt: Momo goes to a hospital known for UFO sightings, he goes to a tunnel known for a ghost. Both turn out to be right. Momo is abducted by the Serpoians and awakens psychic powers, while the boy is possessed by Turbo Granny, who steals something very personal from him. And then the twist: his real name is also Ken Takakura, the same as Momo’s favourite actor. She refuses to call him that, so he becomes Okarun.
Opposites That Actually Complement Each Other
Personalities
On paper they are a classic odd couple. Momo is loud, confident and quick to throw a punch; Okarun is a shy otaku who had never had a single friend. What makes it interesting is that the story does not treat either of them as a stereotype. Momo is tough but deeply kind, the kind of person who helps a stranger out of a passing impulse and then feels bad for snapping at him. Okarun is timid, but he already has a stubborn core: in their very first conversation, he argues back the moment she dismisses the occult he loves.
Powers
Their abilities fit together just as neatly:
- Momo’s psychokinesis: She can grab and move spirits, aliens and objects with invisible hands, which makes her the strategist and the support of the team.
- Okarun’s Turbo Granny form: Borrowing the yokai’s power gives him blinding speed and serious strength, so he becomes the one who closes the distance and lands the blows.
- A reversed shonen script: Early on, Momo is the one who makes most of the plans and does much of the fighting. Many viewers note that this quietly breaks the expectation that the boy must rescue the girl, and the story is better for it.
Growth Driven by Each Other
The relationship is not just cute; it changes both characters.
Okarun’s biggest moments almost always come when Momo is in danger. In his very first fight, he charges at the Serpoians simply because she had stood up for him earlier that day. From there, every step he takes toward becoming stronger is tied to wanting to protect her. For a boy who used to endure bullying in silence with his nose in a book, that is a huge change.
Momo, meanwhile, changes in a softer way. She has always been good at friendship but has almost no experience with real romance; her previous boyfriend was chosen for his face. With Okarun, she gradually discovers what it means to like someone for who they are, and the confident girl who bosses everyone around turns shy and flustered the moment she realises it.
Two People Who Are Terrible at Romance
What fans love most is that both of them are hopelessly clumsy at love. They are obviously into each other, yet neither can say it:
- Momo’s defensiveness: When friends tease her about Okarun, she overreacts, and when another girl gets close to him, she becomes visibly jealous and cold.
- Okarun’s politeness: Even after countless adventures, he still calls her by her family name, which makes the rare moments he speaks more boldly feel huge.
- Small, quiet moments: Readers especially love scenes like the two of them secretly fiddling with each other’s hands in the back of a van while their friends sit in front (Chapter 50), or Okarun waiting late at night after her maid café shift just so she will not walk home alone, until she takes his hand, claiming it is only because of the cold (Chapter 55).
The rivals make it even more fun. In the anime’s eighth episode, Aira Shiratori falls for Okarun after he saves her and Momo walks in at the worst possible moment. A love triangle is usually a tired trope, but here it mostly serves as comedy, and Okarun turns Aira down without hesitation. Momo’s childhood friend Jiji, who is open about his feelings for her, adds a more serious kind of tension later on.
Romance That Never Stops the Story
The final reason the duo works is pacing. In many shonen series, romance either stalls for hundreds of chapters or pulls focus from the action. Dandadan weaves the two together: the feelings grow during fights, not between them. In the manga, Okarun even blurts out his love for Momo in the middle of a crisis inside a cursed trunk (Chapter 159), and she makes him promise to confess again properly once they are safe. It is funny, sincere and completely in character.
Because both of them receive equal attention, with their own powers, family backgrounds and personal arcs, neither one exists only as the other’s love interest. They are partners first, and the romance grows naturally out of that partnership.
Conclusion
Momo and Okarun work because they are more than a gimmick of opposites. They complement each other in battle, push each other to grow, and share the same adorable clumsiness when it comes to feelings. Against a backdrop of aliens, yokai and pure absurdity, their slow, awkward and honest bond is what gives Dandadan its heart.
With the anime’s second season currently airing and the manga still building toward that long-promised second confession, the big question remains: when Okarun finally confesses properly, will Momo be brave enough to answer him straight away?
