I’m a few chapters into DanDaDan. Based on what I read so far, this series feels like the “Kaguya-sama: Love is War” of shonen anime. What I mean is that it feels like the author is taking familiar tropes of the genre and trolling the audience with them.
Momo, the tough-looking tomboy, is actually a silly weirdo who keeps being made a fool of.
Okarun, the weird nerd who keeps to himself, has that familiar trope where women start falling for him. The funny thing is that the story turns the trope on its head since it reveals more about the girls than Okarun himself. What I mean is that in stories like this, the harem trope usually tries to make the protagonist seem cooler than how they are in the story. In DanDaDan, it’s reversed.
Aira falling for Okarun was to show that Aira is completely delusional and a complete weirdo herself. Momo falling for Okarun also makes sense since she’s also a weirdo nerd. Just to emphasize how weird Momo is, Momo literally can’t even hear Okarun’s real name since he has the name of a famous heartthrob actor who she has a crush on.
Aira, the girl who has the characteristics of a typical protagonist, turns out to be someone with main character syndrome.
Jiji, the handsome, cool boy who you think will be the love rival for Momo’s affections, turns out to be a complete drama queen weirdo who ends up annoying the other characters.
(Side note: since I brought up kaguya-sama, Momo and Okarun are really making me miss Miko and Ishigami)
