Essential Insights
- During an alien abduction, Momo Ayase unlocked her psychic abilities, granting her psychokinesis and enhanced durability.
- Momo effortlessly subdues Turbo Granny using her psychokinetic hands.
- The first episode hinted at Momo’s hidden capabilities, demonstrating her ability to levitate and immense strength.
Warning: The following content contains minor spoilers for Dandadan, Episode 4, “Kicking Turbo Granny’s Ass,”currently available on Crunchyroll.
Momo Ayase, a character from Dandadan, has recently joined the ranks of anime’s psychics. In a landscape filled with characters who can foresee the future, manipulate minds, and bend reality, how does Momo’s power compare?
Though she is still learning and lacks experience in combat, Momo possesses enough capability to challenge the various supernatural beings in Dandadan, even if she’s not quite ready for a showdown with formidable psychics like Mob from Mob Psycho.
Momo’s Psychic Abilities
Powers Unleashed During an Alien Encounter
Momo Ayase’s psychic abilities emerged when she was abducted by the Serpoians, an alien race. Her grandmother, Seiko Ayase, had been training her in secret to harness these abilities, but Momo felt embarrassed by the unconventional practices and halted her lessons. Fortunately, during her abduction, the lessons resurfaced, allowing her to escape, save Okarun, and flee from the crashing alien spacecraft.
The Serpoians, believing they had overly excited her brain waves, inadvertently triggered the activation of her chakra. Regardless of how it happened, Momo’s powers are now in play, and she’ll need them to tackle aliens, malevolent spirits, and other threats.
In episode 3, titled “It’s a Granny vs. Granny Clash!”, Momo describes her powers, explaining that she can see or detect auras emanating from living and non-living entities. Subsequently, she can use her hands to “grasp”these auras even from a distance, allowing her to manipulate them as if she were physically handling them.
Effortlessly Controlling Turbo Granny
Momo has the ability to indefinitely restrain Turbo Granny from controlling Okarun’s mind and body. This suppression seems to require merely an open hand directed at Okarun and maintaining a line of sight with him. The only limitation she faces is that she cannot utilize her hand for any other purpose during this time. In episode 2, “That’s a Space Alien, Ain’t It?!”, even while engaged in combat with the giant Flatwoods Monster using only one hand, Momo demonstrated that keeping Turbo Granny subdued does not significantly drain her energy.
Visual Representation of Her Powers
Momo’s psychokinesis is illustrated by her gigantic, luminescent green hands, reminiscent of Gwen Tennyson’s abilities in Ben 10 or Ms. Marvel’s powers from the MCU. With this ability, she can maneuver hefty objects, such as fire trucks and even Turbo Granny fused with the Earthbound Spirit Crab.
However, there are limitations. Since Momo’s psychic hands operate through her own, she can only execute actions that her physical hands can perform. Additionally, her control over these psychokinetic hands diminishes when her actual hands are restricted, as evidenced in a later manga arc when she is bound.
Amplified Resilience
Though not the most glamorous of her abilities, Momo’s durability is likely what allows her to survive intense confrontations. Whether her body strengthened as a result of her newfound powers or if her psychic abilities offer a protective shield, she can withstand colossal blows that would knock an ordinary individual out cold.
This resilience is particularly highlighted in episode 2, within the battle against the Flatwoods Monster, where she was punched into a wall multiple times. The impact was powerful enough to create a crater large enough to accommodate both Momo and Okarun; nevertheless, she remained conscious and capable of using her powers throughout the ordeal.
Exploring Memories
As of episode 4, “Kicking Turbo Granny’s Ass,”this ability hasn’t been showcased in the anime, but in the manga, Momo has occasionally accessed the memories of others, albeit unintentionally, leaving the extent of her control over this power unknown.
Unleashing Momo’s True Potential
Teased in Episode 1
The ability to indefinitely restrain an evil spirit and summon massive glowing hands is impressive; however, Momo’s ultimate power is yet to fully manifest. In the first episode, “That’s How Love Starts, Ya Know!”, during her confrontation with the Serpoians and the removal of Turbo Granny from Okarun, she briefly achieved this heightened state.
In this awakened form, her hair appeared longer, and she exuded a green aura, bodily effects reminiscent of various anime fight scenes, similar to the chaos during Broly’s confrontation with Gogeta in the Dragon Ball Super: Broly movie.
Experiencing this surge of power felt incredible. It was as if my imagination turned into reality, rendering me invincible!
During this state, Momo displayed the ability to levitate and possessed the strength to kick a Serpoian, sending it crashing into the UFO’s interior with debilitating force. While not much else is known about this form due to limited appearances, it undoubtedly elevates her status as a formidable fighter. Seiko has hinted that through training, Momo will eventually learn to access this awakened state at will; fans can look forward to witnessing this evolution in upcoming episodes and seasons of Dandadan.
Currently, Dandadan is available for streaming on Crunchyroll, Netflix, Muse Asia, among other platforms. Mark your calendars for the next episode, episode 5, releasing on October 31, 2024, at 9:00 AM PT.
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