Dandadan Just Lost Fans With Its Biggest Cliche Yet — But There’s Still Hope

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I’ve been hearing so much good stuff about Dandadan! What really grabs me is how the story just *flies* – it’s so fast-paced and energetic, and it perfectly matches the wild adventures and the characters that everyone is falling in love with. But, honestly, it’s also stirred up some debate, especially since the anime came out, because a few scenes have some pretty unusual and, well, sexual content.

Despite some controversies, it’s clear that Dandadan is a fresh and remarkable shonen manga of a new generation. While it offers a lot of new and exciting things, one chapter of Dandadan has unfortunately disappointed many longtime fans. Chapter 210 of Dandadan was highly awaited, but it introduces a plot element that many readers found frustrating and unbelievable.

Momo’s Curse Has Been Lifted, But It Comes With a Cost

Chapter 163 of Dandadan effectively wraps up the Danmara Arc, as everyone is successfully rescued from the cursed trunk. While this arc isn’t considered one of Dandadan‘s strongest, it features important moments that will have lasting effects on the story. Specifically, Okarun’s confession to Momo, and the curse Momo receives after being pulled from the trunk, stand out. This curse shrinks Momo down to a tiny size, which initially seems cute and harmless – we even see her playing dress-up in a dollhouse with Aira and Vamola in the following chapter. However, what appears to be a harmless curse quickly proves to be quite dangerous.

Momo’s curse isn’t just about making her tiny and adorable-it essentially makes her invisible to everyone. We see this when Momo assists Aira and Okarun, as she’s able to perceive small creatures they can’t. But when Seiko brings Jiji, Vamola, and Momo on a quest for a cure, it quickly becomes a desperate race against the clock. Momo isn’t simply shrinking; she’s fading from existence, and risks becoming like the pygmies. More importantly, her invisibility means people will completely forget she ever existed. If the curse fully takes hold, Seiko and the others will permanently lose all memory of Momo.

Momo’s curse continues for more than fifty chapters in the manga, which is a significant amount of time. Although the search for a cure presents several dangerous situations, like injuries to both Momo and Seiko, fans generally believe that Momo won’t suffer any permanent harm. This is because she is a key protagonist in Dandadan, and the series hasn’t established a reputation for carelessly eliminating characters. As Momo’s curse nears its peak, she chooses to sacrifice her own existence rather than risk losing Seiko. Therefore, she allies herself with Vamola to confront the bothersome, yet powerful, frog ninja who was collaborating with Enenra, fully aware that she will probably be forgotten after the battle concludes.

The two girls are victorious in the fight, even though Momo is upset afterward. As the curse begins to overwhelm Momo, she finds herself alone in an empty space, crying and thinking about her friends and family whom she may never speak to again. Thankfully, this despair doesn’t last, as Chapter 209 introduces a group of masked priests who discover Momo and restore her to normal. It seems like a moment to celebrate-after fifty chapters of tension, Momo is finally healed and can return to fighting, and more importantly, be with Okarun again. However, the happiness is short-lived, as Yukinobu Tatsu introduces a plot twist that fans were hoping to avoid in Dandadan: amnesia. Momo is cured, but she has no recollection of anything that happened since she first met the Serpo aliens.

Amnesia Is One of the Worst Tropes, Typically Making For Boring Arcs

Honestly, beyond worrying about Momo vanishing for good, a lot of the stress around her curse comes from the thought of what will happen between her and Okarun once she’s back to normal. Okarun actually tells her in chapter 159 – while he’s being pulled away from her inside that creepy trunk – that he wants to confess his feelings, and she sweetly tells him to do it again once they’re out! Then, of course, she reappears as a miniature version of herself, which just keeps delaying that long-awaited confession. They had this whole plan to finally share their feelings once she was normal again, but then the amnesia threw everything into chaos, and it’s so frustrating! It’s a real emotional rollercoaster, I tell you.

It’s common for anime and manga to hint at romantic relationships between popular characters without ever actually developing them. While Okarun and Momo are progressing faster than couples like Natsu and Lucy from Fairy Tail, fans are starting to wonder how long it will take for them to finally become a couple. They’ve already expressed their feelings for each other, so a last-minute confession like the one between Winry and Edward in FMAB seems unlikely, but it’s still a bit worrying. This significant development for Momo and Okarun now feels like a deliberate tease by the story’s author. The excitement fans initially felt for this couple is now turning into frustration. Because Momo has forgotten her memories of Okarun, he’s now just a strange classmate she doesn’t interact with, rather than her partner and true love.

The concept of dragging out a confession is harsh enough, but fans are even more frustrated with the overuse of the amnesia storyline. This trope frequently appears when writers seem to lack fresh or inventive ideas. It’s often used simply to lengthen a story without actually adding anything meaningful or engaging. While it extends the narrative, it does so at the expense of quality. Many manga and anime enthusiasts find it incredibly dull, which is completely out of character for Dandadan. Dandadan is anything but boring, so why is it resorting to something fans think will actually *hurt* the story? It feels like a predictable, desperate measure that many authors rely on when they’re stuck.

It feels like a lot to add another obstacle now that fans have been waiting so long for Momo to return to normal. Dandadan often features one complication after another, but these usually make the story more enjoyable and fit its overall themes. Manga readers of Dandadan are tired of waiting for Momo and Okarun to finally get together – the story really needs to deliver on this long-awaited development. While it’s clear Momo and Okarun will end Dandadan as a couple, the big question now is when that will happen.

Fans Are Rightfully Upset, But Yukinobu Tatsu Can Still Save It

Some Dandadan fans are choosing to stop reading the manga temporarily until the amnesia storyline is finished. While that’s reasonable, it might be worth having a little more trust in Tatsu’s writing. It’s true that the trope being used is familiar and can be dull, but so far, Dandadan has been different from other recent shonen manga by surprising readers and creating something truly unique. As Dandadan continues and becomes a longer series, it will inevitably become harder to be completely original in every way. Basically, it’s normal to see familiar tropes appear in long-running manga. In fact, you can anticipate it happening in almost every anime or manga, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be the central focus.

Interestingly, the quick negative reaction to Dandadan introducing this particular storyline says a lot. Dandadan frequently receives criticism, but other shonen series that use the very same plot – featuring initially weak characters who become incredibly powerful – are often praised as fresh and inventive, even though these stories are simply retellings of existing themes. While it’s reasonable to critique Dandadan, just like any other work, the author, Tatsu, has consistently demonstrated a fondness for unconventional ideas.

It’s still too soon to know where Dandadan’s story will go next, and that’s understandable. There are many unanswered questions, including those surrounding Saint-Germain and the true nature of Dandadan itself. With so much story remaining, it seems improbable that the romantic tension will be prolonged indefinitely. Momo’s memory loss and its effects won’t likely be a plot point until the very end. The current story arc *will* conclude, and the central problem *will* be solved.

I’m really excited to see how things unfold, but I’m hoping Tatsu delivers with this arc just like he has with all the others in Dandadan! It’s a little frustrating to see someone I love, like Momo, caught in the old trope of memory loss, but honestly, there are so many ways he could take that. For now, us Dandadan readers just need to hang in there and trust that Yukinobu Tatsu will give us – and his characters – a story that truly satisfies. I have faith in him! It’s going to be a wild ride.

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2025-09-30 00:16