Dandadan’s Main Character Has Officially Been Replaced By a New Fall 2025 Anime

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The new anime series, Sanda, is generating a lot of excitement as a standout show of Fall 2025. With its unpredictable story and engaging characters, Sanda immediately drew comparisons to Dandadan. Both series share a distinctive visual style thanks to the animation studio Science Saru, creating an instant connection between the two. Science Saru has clearly delivered another high-quality show with Sanda, proving it’s much more than simply a follow-up to Dandadan.

I’ve been watching both Sanda and Dandadan, and I think Shiori Fuyumura from Sanda is already a more impactful main character than Momo Ayase. Both are strong female leads, but Shiori really takes charge and feels like the one pushing the story forward. After just three episodes of Sanda, she’s established herself as the clear driving force in a way Momo hasn’t in Dandadan.

Fuyumura is the Secret Ingredient to Sanda’s Dandadan Feel

The Dandadan anime feels refreshing because it breaks many of the typical molds of shonen anime. Unlike most shonen series, which center on a single male hero and target teenage boys, Dandadan focuses equally on two protagonists, and importantly, introduces Momo as a powerful character even before Okarun. While Sanda isn’t exactly the same, it shares a similar approach.

Sanda Kazushige is a middle schooler with a secret: he’s Santa Claus’s descendant and possesses incredible powers. Whenever he wears red, he transforms into a muscular, white-haired old man. This transformation makes him fireproof, and he’s recently discovered he can create ice skis that can also be used as weapons. Despite his powers, Fuyumura, a seemingly ordinary human, is actually stronger because of her unwavering determination.

Fuyumura is the key to why Sanda, despite having a different overall theme than Dandadan, feels so familiar. Like Momo in Dandadan, Fuyumura is a strong, independent woman who doesn’t need to be rescued. Her relationship with Sanda mirrors the dynamic between Momo and Okarun – they argue, but also cooperate effectively. And, like Okarun with Momo, Sanda clearly has a crush on Fuyumura, which adds a romantic element to the story.

Fuyumura is the driving force behind Kuzushige’s transformation into Santa Claus, and she’s the one who unlocked his powers. She consistently motivates him – even going to extreme lengths – to achieve her own aims. Because of this, Fuyumura has a greater impact on the story’s direction than even Momo does.

Sanda’s Female Lead is an Even Bigger Badass Than Momo Ayase

I’ve noticed a trend with strong female characters in shonen anime – they often have this incredible ‘ride or die’ quality that really makes them stand out. The main female character in Dandadan is a perfect example. She doesn’t hesitate to put herself in danger to protect the people she cares about, and she’s willing to do whatever it takes. It reminds me of another character, Momo, but she takes that loyalty to an even more extreme level.

The story of Sanda begins with Fuyumura immediately attacking him, trying to confirm if he truly has powers. She did this because her friend, Ono, had disappeared, and she was desperate to find him. Fuyumura believed that if Sanda was the magical Santa Claus she’d heard about, capable of granting wishes, he would be able to help her.

When Fuyumura nearly kills Sanda, she’s more worried about her plan falling apart than about Sanda himself, which might seem unempathetic. However, that’s not entirely true. In Episode 3 of Sanda, she genuinely smiles when she discovers her friend is alive, revealing she does experience human emotion. It’s just that Fuyumura is willing to go to extreme lengths for those she deeply cares about.

Honestly, Fuyumura is blowing me away! The fact that she makes her own bombs and isn’t afraid to use them, even at school, shows she’s way tougher and more unhinged than Momo. It’s scary, but that focused determination makes her feel genuinely dangerous, even though she’s human. And after just three episodes! She’s already hurt Sanda and attempted a bombing twice. Seriously, the world of Sanda and all the characters in it are incredibly lucky that Fuyumura ultimately has a good heart.

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2025-10-24 00:45