Dandadan Reveals Okarun’s Traumatic Backstory After Five Years

It is hard to explain briefly why Dandadan is among the best manga and anime of the past five years. Its eclectic mix of genres defies easy categorization. Saying “The author is a genius” and “the anime adaptation is fantastic” can feel reductive. Chapter 252 of the manga, published on Nov. 9, 2026, makes a more compelling case for the series as a masterpiece.

Until now, author Yukinobu Tatsu had revealed little about the past of one of his two protagonists: Ken Takakura, nicknamed Okarun, the sweet, spectacled boy obsessed with aliens. The absence of a backstory did not hurt his characterization. Tatsu developed Okarun through his relationships with the rest of the cast, especially co-protagonist Momo Ayase. The new chapter reveals a brutal history that puts those relationships in a different light.

This article contains mentions of suicide and bullying.

Dandadan chapter 252 could be the best in the series

Spoilers for Dandadan beyond the anime follow.

In the current arc, Okarun has lost his supernatural powers after fulfilling his pact with Turbo Granny. The foul-mouthed yokai disappeared, leaving him unable to defend himself when new enemies attacked him, Momo, Aira, and Jiji during a trip to a theme park.

Okarun relied on the Ogre Club, a mystical weapon given to him by Momo’s grandmother Seiko. But the weapon has unpleasant side effects. Okarun lost himself to rage and attacked friends and enemies alike until Turbo Granny returned. In chapter 252, “Ken Takakura,” she enters his mind to bring him back to reason and witnesses his traumatic past.

Ken’s parents split up after his mother found a new partner. She asked him if he wanted to go with her, but he chose to stay with his father. Okarun recalls realizing that his mother was relieved, since he could have spoiled her fancy new life.

Life grew harder for Ken. Other children beat, bullied, and sexually humiliated him. His father was crushed by debt and had angry outbursts, leaving Ken lonely and traumatized.

One day, while running from bullies, Ken found an occult magazine that became his lifeline. Every day, he hoped and prayed that aliens would come to “save his heart.” They never arrived. The bullying continued as he grew up, until he could no longer bear it.

In a chilling sequence, Ken stands on top of a building, ready to jump. Memories of happier times with his family stop him, and he breaks down crying.

Afterward, Ken continued to face abuse at school. In the present, the Ogre Club’s influence mixes his memories with thoughts of murder. A voice, likely Turbo Granny’s, tells him that he has forgotten something: His prayers were answered, and someone did show up. The chapter ends with Momo sitting in front of Okarun’s desk and shielding him from bullies, a callback to the manga’s first chapter.

Dandadan’s long-term storytelling changes the context

At the beginning of Dandadan, in the much-discussed scene in which Serpoian aliens hold Momo and Okarun captive, Okarun says he had no friends and looked at the sky every day, hoping aliens would appear. They never did, but Momo stood up for him. Her defense motivated him to fully transform into Turbo Granny and break the Serpoians’ bonds.

The scene was a fairly traditional setup for a story mixing romance and action. Few could have predicted that Tatsu would wait five more years to reveal the full depth of Okarun’s trauma.

Keeping a protagonist’s backstory hidden for so long is a bold choice, and it shows Tatsu’s confidence in his storytelling and character work. The revelation also changes how the current arc reads. Momo has lost her recent memories, including those of Okarun, leaving him struggling to remind her of their bond. She is more than his first crush or the girl who stood up for him at school. She is the person who saved his life.

Bullying, abuse, and suicide appear often in manga and anime, but they are not always handled with the sensitivity they require. Tatsu’s action and comedy sit alongside his willingness to tackle difficult themes. Vamola’s backstory was already one of the manga’s strongest and most traumatic passages. Okarun’s history strikes similarly powerful emotional notes, making a strong case for Dandadan as a masterpiece and Tatsu as one of the best mangaka working today.

Source: Polygon