Warning! Spoilers ahead for Dandadan chapter 63!
For readers who have only been skimming through Shonen Jump’s Dandadan or just decided to jump in randomly to see what all of the fuss has been about, the latest chapter’s closing panel would look like nothing more than some random floating spherical object. But fans who hang on mangaka Yukinobu Tatsu’s every word know what it’s referencing – consequently reminding them why the manga is rated 18+.
Even for those who have been following Dandadan since day one, recent events over the last couple of months have most likely lulled everyone into believing that Dandadan is not an explicit manga but a romance comedy with epic fights sprinkled generously throughout. The allusion that Dandadan’s main attribute is cuteness is especially applicable now since the series’ heroes have been rebuilding their house in the wake of a slew of battles, giving them time to interact more intimately. Even the recent training “arc” was spurred on by the hero Okarun not being able to protect his close friend and love interest Momo Ayase.
But chapter 63 of Dandadan by mangaka Yukinobu Tatsu brings back one of Dandadan’s wildest and most strangest plotlines that not only began way back in chapter 9 but is not appropriate for young readers. What the chapter’s finale shows is one of two things that were originally stolen from Okarun. Turbogranny initially stole and used these items as blackmail to prevent Okarun and his friends from killing her since she began as a hostile yokai. Although she eventually becomes a begrudging ally, Turbogranny, of course, loses what she stole from Okarun by mistake, and, before chapter 63, most readers automatically assumed that both of them had been recovered, but that’s not the case. Okarun only has one of the two items in his possession, and somehow, the second will be coming into play in the upcoming 64th chapter.
Like the plotline of Okarun’s stolen belongings, the foundation of Dandadan is built upon questionable subject matters, with the first chapter being especially explicit to the point where mangaka Tatsu quite possibly created the immediate impression intentionally that the series would be much darker than it currently is. One of the early villains – who is now essentially a mascot like Bleach‘s Kon – was initially so crass that no one would have ever believed that she would become one of the most beloved characters in Dandadan. Additionally, the introduction of a rather unsettling-looking alien species – which was almost as disturbing as the aliens’ overall goal of obtaining a certain human appendage – was presented in an especially grisly manner by creating the allusion of physical assault, though, luckily no such attack was ever realized.
Although usually hilarious to mature audiences, Dandadan has proven that it doesn’t have to rely on crude humor or explicit imagery to captivate readers. The introduction of such controversial themes definitely caught everyone’s attention to help propel the MANGA Plus and Shonen Jump+ publication to getting featured on the Shonen Jump website. But subsequent chapters have been so strong that the absence of such subject matters hasn’t been detrimental to its success, especially since the series’ momentum hasn’t wavered in the slightest over the past year. When these controversial moments eventually do pop up, like in chapter 63, fans will enjoy them and chuckle to themselves at the absurdity of it all. But by no means will their enjoyment of Dandadan ever be predicated on them.
