Dandadan: What Are Location-Bound Spirits?

Key Takeaways

• Location-Bound Spirits are tied to specific places, possess incredible power, and can fuse with other spirits.
• The Earthbound Spirit Crab in Dandadan terrorizes Shono City, bound to a tunnel where murdered girls’ souls lingered.
• Lure Location-Bound Spirits out of their territory to weaken and exorcise them, though each also have unique weaknesses.

Warning: The following contains spoilers for Dandadan, Episode 4, “Kicking Turbo Granny’s Ass”, now streaming on Crunchyroll.

Location-Bound Spirits, also known as Earthbound Spirits, are among the many types of cryptic anomalies Momo and Okarun will face in Dandadan. In the series, Spirits are deceased humans who have remained in the land of the living rather than moving on to the afterlife for one reason or another. They are mostly invisible to normal humans and can only be seen by those with spiritual awareness.

Dandadan has a ton of mysterious anomalies, all of them with their weird rules. Apart from Spirits, Momo and Okarun will also face off against various extraterrestrial lifeforms and Cryptids, and they deserve their own classifications. So what sets Location-Bound Spirits apart from the rest of them?

How Are Location-Bound Spirits Different from Other Spirits?

These Spirits Hold On to Memories of an Important Location from Their Time with the Living

In the world of Dandadan, there are currently three known categories that Spirits fall into: Location-Bound/Earthbound Spirits, Yokai, and Guardian Spirits. As the name implies, Location-Bound Spirits are linked to a specific location that has significant relevance to the Spirit when it was still alive.

While in their territory, Location-Bound Spirits possess incredible power and are essentially unbeatable. Even an experienced Spirit Medium like Seiko Ayase, Momo’s grandmother, cannot exorcise a Location-Bound Spirit inside its territory. Unlike Yokai though, Location-Bound Spirits are not necessarily inherently evil. It might differ from spirit to spirit, but as long as a person doesn’t trespass in their area, a Location-Bound Spirit generally won’t go out of its way to harm them.

Trample into their territory disrespectfully, and you can only blame yourself for your death. Those are the rules for the living and the dead to coexist.

Spirit Fusions

Different types of Spirits can also fuse by forming a pact, becoming a new creature that’s stronger than either of the two parts and can use both their powers. For example, in episode 4, “Kicking Turbo Granny’s Ass”, Turbo Granny fuses with the Earthbound Spirit Crab, creating a creature with the Spirit Crab’s strength and Turbo Granny’s speed.

There can be downsides to these fusions though, as Turbo Granny, a Yokai, was then bound to Shono City, like the Spirit Crab. Before they met, Turbo Granny was said to terrorize people all over Japan, implying she had manifested in other areas outside of Shono City.

The Earthbound Spirit Crab

Shono City’s Infamous Location-Bound Spirit

The Earthbound Spirit Crab is the first, and so far only, Location-Bound Spirit Momo and Okarun have had the misfortune of confronting. This specific Spirit is bound to a tunnel in Shono City and takes the form of a giant crab with faces on its back and four rows of mouths in its underbelly. The tunnel the Spirit resided in is a place where multiple girls were violated and murdered, and where their restless souls lingered to create the Earthbound Spirit Crab. Those girls’ faces are also the ones seen on the back of the Earthbound Spirit Crab’s shell.

Although the Earthbound Spirit Crab mainly resided in the tunnel, its territory seemed to encompass the entirety of Shono City, making it unbeatable there. To make things worse, the Earthbound Spirit had also fused with Turbo Granny, making it so powerful, that it could even prevent a powerful Spirit Medium like Seiko Ayase from entering the tunnel. Although, Seiko was likely weakened during that time because Shono City is outside the jurisdiction of the gods whose powers she borrows from.

To beat the Spirit, Momo and Okarun had to lure it close to the border between Shono City and Kamigoe City. From there, the duo hopped onto a train headed for Kamigoe City with the Earthbound Spirit Crab in hot pursuit, eventually also getting on the train. Momo then used her psychokinesis to hold the Spirit in place until they crossed over to Kamigoe City, where Seiko had set up a trap to exorcise it.

The Earthbound Spirit Crab’s appearance resembles a real crab species known as Heikegani. This species of crab has a shell with a pattern that resembles a human face, specifically that of an angry samurai.

Weaknesses of Location-Bound Spirits

Lure or Drag Them Out of Their Home and They’re like a Fish out of Water

Although Dandadan‘s Location-Bound Spirits are nigh unstoppable while inside their territory, as soon as they leave, they become vulnerable to exorcism just like any other Spirit. Even if you can’t immediately exorcise it, a Location-Bound Spirit will still lose power outside its territory, making it easier to fight, contain, or run away from.

Apart from their general vulnerability when leaving their territory, Location-Bound Spirits also seem to have weaknesses specific to each one. For example, the Earthbound Spirit Crab is weak to hot water, a weakness Momo correctly deduced due to her knowledge of crab meat stiffening when boiled. She drenched the Spirit in hot water from a bathhouse, which temporarily slowed it down, even when they were still inside Shono City.

Dandadan is now available to stream on Crunchyroll, Netflix, Muse Asia, and several other streaming platforms. The release date for the next episode of Dandadan, episode 5, is set to be November 7, 2024, at 9:00 AM PT.