Nobody wants to admit that Okarun. . .

. . .actually has a pretty good chance of having his memories wiped this arc.

I’ve seen a couple of people post about this here & there, and while it’s never outright rejected, it seems like a lot of people see it as being either A) impossible due to the powers CSG’s displayed so far, or B) unlikely due to the narrative. As it stands, though, that’s entirely untrue. In fact, I’d argue that not only would it make complete sense in this chapter of the story, but the pieces have already been laid out.

First & foremost; Count Saint Germain’s powers. While it is true that we don’t know the extent of his abilities, the reality is that what HAS been shown proves he’s already more than capable of doing this. Aside from being able to manipulate the memories of the teachers & students at the school to insert ‘Sanjome’ into the faculty, he’s removed himself from other peoples memories multiple times in the Danmanra arc (both with Zuma being unable to remember him, and with the main cast seemingly forgetting him after they defeated the Fairy Tale Card). While this may have been focused on him, that does not necessarily mean it’s limited to him, it’s simply what’s most convenient at the time. This also assumes that Tatsu just outright showed us the extent of Saint Germain’s powers right out of the gate, which -frankly- is downright laughable. Tatsu does an amazing job of either teasing & expanding the villains powers, or by strengthening them through complementary abilities (or just pulling shit out of his ass like in the Serpo arc, which I’m kind of hoping happens here even if it would defeat the point). Saying we know the extent of Saint Germain’s memory powers is like saying we know how many Yokai abilities he has, so far all we know is what we’ve been shown, and -again- it seems like it’s already more than enough. Even if this proves to be untrue it ignores another huge piece of the puzzle; that being that CSG is now in possession of the Fairy Tale Card’s abilities, who -aside from blind hatred & sensory depravation- is ALSO able to manipulate memories, and preexisting one’s at that. This means that CSG could either totally warp Okarun’s memories of Momo, or simply use it as a way to augment his preexisting power of erasure. Either way it’s clear just from the lingering effects of the Danmanra arc that Fairy Tale Card isn’t out of commission just yet.

Secondly; narrative impact. The core theme of Dandadan is the connection between the characters; antagonists are redeemed, characters who were introduced as rivals or foils form strong bonds with the group, physical power ups are paired with deepening emotional bonds between characters, and -hell- the main cast is literally referred to as “the family.” For all the balls-off-the-wall insanity that comes with aliens & Yokai, the story is grounded by that human connection, so it would make sense for the overacting antagonist -whether it’s CSG or otherwise- to be the antithesis of this. Since it’s introduction the organization has already been shown manipulating people’s weaknesses & twisting their desires when they’re at their lowest, both physically & emotionally, in order to get something from them, usually their cooperation. It would make sense that, if they were trying to weaken the main group rather than build up their own, they would follow this same line of logic. Driving wedges in between them, exploiting unspoken emotional hang-ups, straining tense connections, etc. Even if there are other connections to be exploited within the group Okarun & Momo so far are the ones they’ve been shown to have their sights set on, and I’d argue Okarun has the bigger target on his back since ‘Sanjome’ attempted to make him yield directly. Now, this could just as easily mean that they’d pit Okarun & Jiji against one another or further twist the knife of having Momo dance around his confession, but there’s some more direct foreshadowing for memory manipulation than anything else. As many others here have also pointed out; Momo is at risk of being forgotten. The lore of the Pygmies as stated in chapter 175 states that they were “people who were rejected by society and forgotten” which -now that Momo is one- does not bode well. It’s so far been assumed that this would be a byproduct of the curse or just. . . not affect Okarun for some reason, but it could have also just been a subtle way to plant the idea in our head & set up Okarun’s eventual memory wipe, since Tatsu usually injects a bit of subterfuge in his foreshadowing.

Finally; Okarun is in no way safe just because he’s been depowered. The main villain’s thing so far has been taking aspects of characters/creatures, people just assume this is limited to the characters who borrow the powers of a Yokai or the actual Yokai themselves, but -as has been made clear this arc- it isn’t. Kouki was introduced trying to steal Momo’s natural psychic abilities, and the cast iron bull was trying to do the same thing to Seiko, meaning anyone can be a target regardless of their powers. So, let’s think outside the box for a second and really look at the connection between our dynamic duo. Momo & Okarun -time and time again- have been shown to be each other’s strengths; they rely on each other, drive each other to grow emotionally, get stronger both to protect themselves & one another, Okarun even unlocked his 3rd all out for her. Their relationship is the driving force behind the series, which in my mind makes it a great target both for the antagonists and for Yukinobu Tatsu. Tatsu’s done a great job lulling us into a false sense of security here; assuming that because Okarun doesn’t have TG’s powers and somehow got away from CSG’s confrontation in the hallway means that he’s safe. In reality, he’s still a target and has already yielded and is not heading to a direct confrontation with CSG. Him not having supernatural powers just means they’d have to get more creative with what they can take from him, and what would be more devastating for the group (and for us as readers) than for him to have his mind wiped?

Now, for as much as I’ve tried to make my case here let me close out with this; I REALLY do not want this to happen. Hell, I don’t think anybody does. I want nothing more than to see Okarun & Momo affirm their love and become an official couple this arc, it’s what they’ve deserved -and what we’ve deserved- for actual years now. But this is still a very real possibility and I think it deserves to be discussed further than it has been so far. For as awful as this would be on multiple fronts it would also open a lot of interesting possibilities; how would this change the group dynamics? What arc would it lead into? How would Okarun & Momo’s relationship survive? Because, let’s be real, we all know it would. To close out on an optimistic note, for as much as Tatsu is a master of foreshadowing he also manages to keep the story unpredictable, which is where a lot of Dandadan’s charm comes from. That sense of unpredictability that had Momo stuck at 1 inch tall & took Okarun’s powers is the same sense that redeemed Kouki & kept Vamola’s adoptive family alive. Even if we may know where the story’s going, that doesn’t necessarily mean we know exactly how it’s going to play out, and if Okarun does end up forgetting his friends then I’ll be excited to see what new memories they can build with him.