Dandadan: The Wildest Manga of the Decade – Complete Guide 2026

If you had to describe Dandadan in one sentence, it might go something like this: a high school girl and a boy she barely knows run from a perverted ghost while debating whether aliens or spirits are real, and then things get complicated. That description is both completely accurate and completely inadequate, because Dandadan — created by Yukinobu Tatsu and serialized in Shonen Jump+ since 2021 — is a manga that defies easy categorization and delivers pure creative energy on every page.

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The Setup: Aliens vs Spirits

Momo Ayase is a high school girl who believes in spirits but thinks aliens are ridiculous. Ken Takakura — nicknamed Okarun — believes in aliens but thinks spirits are nonsense. After a heated argument, they each agree to visit locations associated with the other's belief to prove the other wrong.

Both of them immediately encounter terrifying supernatural entities. This is the setup for Dandadan — a series that has no interest in picking a lane between horror, comedy, action, romance, or supernatural adventure, and instead runs all of them at full volume simultaneously.

Momo Ayase: The Fiery Protagonist

Momo is one of the most refreshing female protagonists in recent manga. She is confident, loud, physically capable, and emotionally direct in a way that feels genuinely rare. She also happens to come from a family of spirit mediums, giving her latent spiritual powers that awaken under pressure. Her relationship with Okarun — which begins as reluctant cooperation and develops into something much warmer — is one of the manga's greatest pleasures.

Okarun: The Unlikely Hero

Okarun starts the series as a timid, bullied boy who becomes possessed by an alien entity called Turbo Granny — who, in exchange for inhabiting his body, gives him supernatural powers. This situation is played both for horror and comedy, often simultaneously. Okarun's growth from scared victim to capable fighter, driven by his desire to protect Momo, is genuinely satisfying.

The Art: A Visual Feast

Tatsu's art is extraordinary — kinetic, detailed, and wildly expressive. The action sequences have a physicality and energy that rivals the best in the medium. The creature design is inventive and frequently disturbing. And the quiet character moments — a look exchanged between Momo and Okarun, a sunset scene — are drawn with surprising delicacy.

The Anime Adaptation

The anime adaptation by Science SARU premiered in 2024 and was one of the most visually exciting anime of the year. Science SARU's fluid, expressive animation style was a perfect match for Tatsu's art, and the adaptation captured both the chaos and the heart of the manga with remarkable fidelity.

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