Dandadan became one of the best anime to watch in 2024, entertaining its audience with its masterful mix of Japanese folklore, refreshing art style, compelling action, and likeable characters. Its protagonists, Ayase Momo and Takakura Ken (Okarun), are confronted by the supernatural, and one of the first yokai they encounter is the powerful and seemingly malevolent Turbo Granny.
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Although Turbo Granny nearly won her bout against Momo and Okarun, she was ultimately defeated, and her powers transferred to Okarun. Now an adorable, yet grumpy pint-sized cat, Turbo Granny still remains an intriguing character. We’ll delve into the enigmatic Turbo Granny, her powers, and the urban legend behind her.
Who Is Turbo Granny?
In the show, Turbo Granny is a yokai (or spirit) who resides in a tunnel in Shono City, having gained enough notoriety among Momo and Okarun’s classmates, since those who enter rarely ever come out.
However, it was later discovered that the tunnel was originally the territory of a local spirit, and Turbo Granny merged with the local spirit and gained a significant power boost as a result.
As part of a dare, Okarun ventures into the haunted tunnel, clearly sceptical of the existence of spirits. But he soon comes face to face with Turbo Granny, who appears as an elderly woman with white, shaggy, and unkempt hair, sunken cheeks, and a bent back. Turbo Granny is revealed to be quite vulgar, asking if Okarun would ‘suckle on’ her ‘teats’ and if she could devour his manhood.
According to Ayase Momo, those who meet Turbo Granny should not run off, as it would instantly cause the yokai to chase after you. Okarun did exactly that, and inevitably lost to a bout of speed against the 100km/hr Granny and was possessed. This triggers the first yokai transformation in the show and Okarun is thereafter cursed by Turbo Granny.
However, Turbo Granny was defeated by Momo and Okarun and now exists by possessing a lucky cat doll. Prior to being defeated, Turbo Granny had stolen Okarun’s kintama (or testicles) but lost her hold on them. The yokai is also at her most vulnerable, as Okarun is now in possession of her powers.
In exchange for getting her powers back, she vows to help the duo hunt down Okarun’s kintama, and her role shifts from antagonist to an advisory-type character for Momo, Okarun, and their friends.
An Evil Entity Or Just Misunderstood?
At first glance, Turbo Granny strikes you not only as a pervert but as a mischievous trickster who seems to only wish evil on the humans she encounters. However, it turns out that Turbo Granny has a softer side to her despite her rough-around-the-edges personality, as she actively searches for the suffering souls of young, murdered girls in order to give them solace. The latter was the reason Turbo Granny decided to merge with the spirit of the tunnel in the first place.
What’s more, after being defeated and confined to a cat doll, Turbo Granny does show her irritation but ultimately keeps her word when it comes to the deal she struck with Momo and Okarun. She assists the duo with finding the kintama, alerting them whenever she knows it is near, and also helps train Okarun to use her powers.
Even when she gets her powers back, Turbo Granny has enough self-control to not let her bloodlust overwhelm her, and simply moves on and leaves Okarun and his friends unharmed.
However, that doesn’t change the fact that Turbo Granny is selfish and, at times, underhanded. Despite being defeated, she tried to possess Okarun to snatch back her powers and outplayed Momo when she challenged the spirit to a race.
But does that make her evil? Based on the evidence presented, Turbo Granny is not an evil entity at all and is eerily similar to humans with her mix of both positive and negative traits.
Turbo Granny’s Powers
Turbo Granny is one of the most powerful yokai in the Dandadan universe, her powers making Okarun possibly the most formidable fighter among his peers. Aside from the unimaginable speed that makes this spirit so dangerous, Turbo Granny — and later Okarun — has shown that there is more scope to this spirit’s abilities.
Here is a quick rundown of Turbo Granny’s powers, even as the lucky cat doll:
|
Curse Bestowal |
After winning a race, she steals her victim’s genitals and curses them, allowing her to possess them and spread the curse to others. |
|---|---|
|
Telephone Teleportation |
Turbo Granny is capable of travelling via someone’s mobile phone and through phone cable lines. |
|
Spirit Merging |
As seen with the local spirit, Turbo Granny can fuse with another spirit and use their powers. |
|
Spirit Form |
Turbo Granny can shift to her monstrous spirit form to enter a human’s body and control it. |
|
Luck Creation |
While a lucky cat doll, she can grant good luck to someone, but she can’t control it like her original powers. |
However, Turbo Granny herself has stated in the manga that Okarun has barely scraped the surface of her powers, implying there’s more to what she could do that Okarun had not explored before returning Turbo Granny’s powers.
The Urban Legend Behind Turbo Granny
Turbo Granny is an actual popular urban legend in Japan that came from Mount Hyokko in Hyogo Prefecture, even appearing on an episode of Mob Psycho 100. There are quite a few versions of the Turbo Granny legend, but the popular version does not see Turbo Granny dashing at incomprehensible speeds on foot; instead, she drives a car. According to legend, Turbo Granny would suddenly appear on a highway in her car, following after another car and honking repeatedly.
Once caught, it’ll result in an accident. The legend of Turbo Granny acts as a deterrent against speeding and general reckless driving, with apparent alleged sightings of the spirit all across Japan.
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