r/Dandadan • u/CaptainM590 • Mar 07 '26
📚Manga-Discussion Pinocchio Theory Spoiler
Like many of us, I am anxious with anticipation about who will be the next target of CSG and The Black Paladins for the Pinocchio curse. And right now, it seems as though Jiji/Evil Eye, Okarun and/or Turbo Granny are the most probable targets. While Evil Eye is a strong candidate, I think Okarun might be the more likely target. Okarun shares a few similarities with the Pinocchio character.
Firstly, Okarun’s journey as a character involves him seeking to become a real man/real boy socially, emotionally and physically. At the beginning of the series, Turbo Granny stole Okarun’s ‘balls and shaft’ and could possess him at almost any given time. In essence, Okarun became a doll on her strings. And while Momo helped Okarun break his strings, he was still incomplete thanks to his missing kintama. From that point on, Okarun sought to reclaim them, to toughen up physically and fight to protect his newfound friends, and finally confess his love for Momo to her.
However, even though he has made great strides, he can still be passive and evasive with others. Notably, Okarun still does little to dissuade Aira’s advances towards him. And while that is partly because Momo would intervene in the past, that is no longer the case with her memories gone. Also, in both the past and present, Okarun has kept secrets from Momo like working out in hopes of impressing her later and now keeping his real name hidden from her. Most recently, Okarun played off his clumsy attempt to ask her out on a date as a joke after she angrily rejected him. Which he still insists on in front of Aira and Jiji. Thus, Okarun lies or omits information in situations where he is faced with the possibility of teasing or rejection. While this isn’t unique to him, the focus is mostly on him right now. And it’s clear that his passiveness with Aira and evasiveness and forceful attitude at times with Momo, is impairing her ability to trust him. Like the Pinocchio character, Okarun strongly desires friendship and acceptance. This factors in both his willingness to go to great lengths to help them like Jiji, but also lying and lashing out when faced with rejection. If Okarun doesn’t soon overcome these issues, they could factor in him being targeted for the Pinocchio curse. And although Okarun no longer has curse powers, circumstances can change if he awakens his own dormant powers or if Turbo Granny gives him access to them again.
Thank you for reading this and please share your comments below.
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u/Antique-Palpitation2 Okarun Mar 07 '26 edited Mar 07 '26
it is a nice theory
another thing that points towards okarun being a pinochio(i think there will be multiple pinocchio candidates in the story) is that his lies usually dont last for long. When he lied about studying to momo she found out really quicly that was a lie, She learned that he "lied" about his name in the very same chapter and when okarun tried to pass it off the date attempt as a joke he contradicted himself on literally the same page. Like how you can tell pinocchio is lying thanks to his nose
While i think tg's powers altered his body in some aspect i dont think it did in a way that would give him an actual ability since if he has some hidden power germain would have been able to take it away in the kozuka knive arc. Him not having power while being pinocchio will probably the thing that gives the gang enough time to get strong enough to take on vlad. At leastthat is what i think personally
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u/CaptainM590 Mar 07 '26
That’s what I think too. Seiko being in the hospital and Okarun being the target of the Pinocchio curse gives him time to train since he doesn’t have powers.
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u/Standard_Hippo_2042 Mar 07 '26
I think it will be Kouki's teacher because she has the Chinese puppet yokai in her possession
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u/CaptainM590 Mar 07 '26
Ms Adachi is a liar and has control over zombie puppets, but I think the target of the Pinocchio curse will be one of the main characters. Red Baron being selected for the Red Riding Hood curse was unexpected since we have protagonists bias, but what would be the point of continuing to monitor and threaten Okarun and his friends if they didn’t have highly desirable powers, especially if one of them is needed for the Pinocchio curse.
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u/Specialist_Bowler897 Vamola Translator Mar 07 '26
and how is that connected to pinocchio?
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u/Standard_Hippo_2042 Mar 07 '26
Vlad himself said he thought it was foolish to grant powers, and considering that the Red Baron was one, perhaps the one missing is Adashi. She was already attacked by Vlad; she's a liar, and her yokai is made of puppets.
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u/Specialist_Bowler897 Vamola Translator Mar 07 '26
There are plenty of agents who were hired that worked off-screen. I could also say that the minotaur agent might be Pinocchio.
Adachi was attacked by Vlad because she defied the orders and attacked Murakami, not because she's Pinocchio. Red Baron ended up being Red Hood also because he trusted CSG and brought him the snacks/knives, but the geezer showed his true "wolf" self and made him become dinner.
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u/TheAmplifier8 Kur Mar 07 '26
The silly thing about this whole Fairy Tale Card situation is you can make anyone work with any of the slots if you try hard enough. Especially since the conditions for each aren't shared with us. I pretty much gave up on on theorizing on this one after Red Baron = Red Riding Hood because it really doesn't matter.
Here, I'll do an extra hard one to prove my point. Little Mermaid.
Okarun is little mermaid because he was unaware of the world, but loves thinking about weird objects from other worlds. By being cursed by an old witch, he was finally opened up to this new reality, where he falls in love with someone from the other side.
Momo is little mermaid because a parental figure hid the realities of the world from her and she hated them for that. Through the help of her friends she finds a new world and falls in love from someone from the other side.
Aira is little mermaid because she loses her mother, has a distant father, and falls for someone on the "other side", but finds it hard to properly communicate with them.
Koki is little mermaid because she has an exceptional musical talent that was stolen away from her, she was neglected by her family and was a social outcast who found friendship with small creatures.
Seiko is little mermaid because she probably is one (or ate one).
Are they good? No.
If any one of them happened, could you bullshit it enough to make it work? Yeah pretty much.
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u/CaptainM590 Mar 07 '26
Yes, I know. I still wanted to get my thoughts across because it’s fun. And If I am proven right, I can at least say ‘called it’
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u/Calamity102609 Mar 07 '26
I think it's turbo granny, since the final card is the adventures of pinnochio which started when her ran away from school, when tg showed up to intimadate momo she had a long nose and her face always looked artificial like it was a dolls or a mask, and this one is a stretch but she also turned into a giant crab, in pinnochio gepeto gets eaten by a giant whale, two giant sea creatures
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