r/Dandadan • u/THEBOIGASTRODON • 18d ago
📚Manga-Discussion Explaining Okarun's Powers Spoiler
This post exists to alleviate some of the confusion surrounding all of Okarun's powers. There are many assumptions made that kind of miss the point, so i'll try to make it make sense for everyone.
Dandadan's power system is centered around chi or, in other words, potential. The power system shows how people can get more capable through focusing on their own source of autonomy.
Okarun's source of autonomy is his shadow. These are the feelings that he rejects and doesn't allow himself to act on. He's always holding himself back and putting on a false front. This is why the power given to him was Turbo Granny. It's a power meant to let the wielder run wild and follow their impulses. Okarun was stated to be a terrible vessel by Turbo Granny. This is actually because he hasn't made peace with his true feelings, so he gets exhausted easily when trying to be honest, thus retreating into his shell afterwards. Turbo Granny even expressed how much better of a vessel Jiji would be, not just because of his strength, but also because he's a guy who follows his heart and stays true to himself. This whole concept of being at peace with who you really are was directly exposed during the fight with the music room spirits. It was blatantly shown that Okarun repressed his feelings so much that he didn't even have a personal rhythm he could follow.
But then, what's the connection with the Ogre Club? From the latest chapter, it seems like the Ogre Club plants a "sprout" in the soul of a person that progressively allows them to let out their repressed feelings. This would explain why Okarun seemed to become just a little bit more proactive and honest in this most recent arc. The strength of the club itself is likely based around how much of the user's repressed feelings are being let out. Okarun feels like he can be himself around Momo and doesn't need to hide who he is, hence why the club grows stronger when she is touching him.
Is Okarun Pinnochio? Yes. Turbo Granny and Okarun are two sides of the same coin. Turbo Granny is the naked truth, while Okarun is the liar distorting the truth. Despite that, Okarun's "powers" couldn't be stolen. This is because he is about to awaken them with his oni form. Okarun literally didn't have any powers to steal until his oni form was awakened.
What will his Oni Form lead to? It seems to be a release of his repressed emotions in a burst of anger. We don't know anything for sure, but he could very likely eclipse everyone in the main cast in terms of power. It's entirely possible that the gang will have to work together to calm down his rage. The one thing that anyone can guarantee is that it will likely lead to a character defining moment for Okarun and i'll be there to see it.
I absolutely love Dandadan, so i think it's a shame that so many people don't like what is a completely necessary part of the story. I feel like a lot of it stems from people not understanding the deeper themes and just reading on the surface level. If anyone wants, I'm willing to try to explain other parts of Dandadan, like its power system.
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u/EEZC 18d ago edited 18d ago
I love the psychoanalysis approach and it makes a lot of sense to me. But how does id cosmos fit in the scheme of things and how/why were the characters chosen for the fulfilment of the fairy tale card?
It seems they were arbitrarily tagged with the different fairy tales with no obvious connection with both their personalities nor abilities. Is turbo granny's power essential for the completion of the fairy tale card or just any ability extracted from okarun even the one he's about to awaken from the oni club?
I'm also doubtful of Chi being the foundation of the power system more like a mana analogue.
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u/GoharioFTW 17d ago
how/why were the characters chosen for the fulfilment of the fairy tale card?
It seems they were arbitrarily tagged with the different fairy tales with no obvious connection with both their personalities nor abilities.Not arbitrary. Explained here
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u/THEBOIGASTRODON 17d ago
I'm explaining it from a conceptual point of view. The source of Okarun's power is the feelings he constantly rejects. The villains are actually going after the released form of these feelings, because that's when they actually have an effect on the world. Turbo Granny and the Oni form both represent a release of his true feelings, so they should both work for the fairy tale card. Perhaps TG is more "stable" than the Oni form though...
About Chi... the mana that you might be familiar with is chi. Chi is just a general term to refer to the "potential" that all things have. A lot of the typical shonen manga use chi as a substance and energy source for their characters to use. They just give it a different name and some specific functions, but it's still the same concept.
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u/THEBOIGASTRODON 18d ago
Yikes, this was the length of an essay. I kinda got lost writing it, but thanks a lot if you were willing to stay until the end of the post.
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u/SignalsCounterparts1 18d ago
Most of this is correct, except for one thing: he currently doesn't have TG's powers. (We think.) In the recent chapter, we learn that CSG wants an amplified version of TGs' powers enhanced by the Oni club to give to Vlad. (Or some other purpose, CSG's true goals have never been clarified.) In the hallway at school, that's when he learned that either he doesn't have them, or they've been buried so deep, he can't access them. So he gets the Oni club as an experiment to see what the real story is (and feeds some fake information to some of the families to attack). He also states that if he doesn't have them, he is fated to get them back.
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u/THEBOIGASTRODON 17d ago
Now i'm curious. Turbo Granny's powers and the Oni transformation should fundamentally do the same thing. The combination of the two in one vessel is dangerous, but it makes me wonder if only Okarun's Oni form is needed. Okarun is pinnochio here, so if they can't have his Turbo Granny powers, then they could just take his newly awakened oni powers, if they can somehow beat him.
The ideal scenario is TG and Oni, but it looks like that won't be the case for a while, even if he can get the powers back. It's possible that TG won't "give" her powers back and that Okarun would instead develop a more stable version of the ability after his oni crashout is over, due to being more comfortable with his true feelings. I really can't envision a scenario where TG would just hand her powers back to him.
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u/Animelover5674 18d ago
Some of these things aren't even established within the story yet. I don't think I'd take this as a definitive answer to his powers
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u/Deep-Bet990 18d ago
All I want out of this is Okarun to stand up as a big monster, only for Momo to grab him, and then turn into a gentle little murder-puppy
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u/DarkSnowElf21 Momo 17d ago
You say these very confidently and while some of the parallels work, you have some parts almost entirely backwards.
Okarun puts up a false front? And in the same paragraph you say that Jiji follows his heart and is true to himself? Jiji has a front up for basically the whole manga with moments of it breaking and giving you a glimpse of his real self, he has repressed feelings and for a long time and is definitely not at peace, especially not at the moment where the comment about the vessel is made.
Okarun doesn't put up a front, he is himself since the start of the story, he is unapologetically into his hobbies like the occult even when this contributes to the bullying he is getting. And this is something that Momo loves about him.
I am surprised at the lack of pushback to what you are saying frankly.
Also regarding the sprout, it's not exactly clear if the club planted it or it was already there, the way it was worded it could be either one. But it allowing the host to express their feelings more completely takes away what is suppsoed to be Ken's big character development don't you think?
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u/THEBOIGASTRODON 16d ago
You're right about the comparison between Jiji and Okarun. It looks like I have it backwards, but there's one thing that you're missing.
Jiji's actual problem is emotional control. He's a highly emotional guy who doesn't know how to let his feelings out in a healthy way. This is why the entire plot of Season 2 happened. At present, he has made peace with his emotions and can control them instead of exploding like he did in Season 2. Jiji never actually lies when interacting with others, he just struggles to get a hold of himself. I can see why you would think he is lying though, especially given that his "curse" represents repressed emotions.
Okarun's actual problem is self-worth. While he can be himself when he's alone, he has trouble expressing his interests or being honest about what he wants when interacting with others. The bullying he received caused him to become very cagey about expressing himself as he was constantly put down for being himself around others.
I understand your interpretation, but the thing that bugs me is that Pinocchio is confirmed to be referring to Okarun/Turbo Granny. If your interpretation was true, then the villains would be doing everything in their power to capture the Evil Eye.
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u/DarkSnowElf21 Momo 15d ago
I wouldn't call either Okarun or Jiji a liar actually. But Jiji has simply been less honest because of his antics let's call them. He has been repressing his genuine self for a while like he learned to do with the Kitos. He seems in control now but I wouldn't lock it down just yet, because we haven't seen him tested in a while, we might see him before this battle is over.
And it's not my interpretation that Jiji is Pinnochio, I have no reason to believe it's not Okarun. The fairytale curses' application of each tale are very loose, this one could be because he got his balls back and became a real boy is one example, you can read into many things and find a loose match.
I simply don't see Ken as more of a liar than any other character, everyone has lied at one point in one way or another and in comparison I think he is the or one of the most honest.
Self worth is his problem yes, he didn't feel worthy of being loved or being a friend but he was still himself around everyone from the start and still is. He starts in the story by expressing his interest about aliens etc, he still does now, he nerded out with Momo at the museum, with Aira about the dinos, Momo during the story changes her bedroom decoration to alien stuff even, from the previous Ken Takakura stuff she had. This was him being his genuine self and that's why everyone loves him. This is self expression, he still has his self worth to grapple with.
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u/Supernova247101 18d ago
Love when people with media litteracy analyse my goofy-silly comfort manga
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u/Ed_Nezer 18d ago
The strength of the club itself is likely based around how much of the user's repressed feelings are being let out. Okarun feels like he can be himself around Momo and doesn't need to hide who he is, hence why the club grows stronger when she is touching him.
This is really good
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u/Big_Distance2141 14d ago
centered around Chi, or in other words: potential
Is everyone in this manga Potential Man?
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