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Momo Ayase (
After forming a friendship with an occult fanatic at school named Ken Takakura, whom she nicknames "Okarun", leads to her awakening her psychic powers and the latter losing his kintama from being cursed by the Turbo Granny, Momo complies to help him find what he has lost and overcome any paranormal obstacles along the way.
Appearance[]
Momo is a teenage girl of average height with medium-length auburn hair that mostly frames the right side of her face and brownish crimson eyes. She is noted by Okarun and a few other male characters to be quite attractive.[1]
While she can be seen wearing a variety of outfits throughout the series, her most common attire is her school uniform: a white undershirt underneath a long sleeved pink sweater with a loose red bow, a navy blue skirt, baggy white socks, and brown loafers. Her overall attire matches with the kogal style worn by gyarus. She also includes circular earrings and a black choker around her neck that has a circular item at the back, which is an accessory that she sticks to wearing at all times when choosing to wear different outfits.
Gallery[]
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Personality[]
Momo's aggressive side.
Momo comes off as a bold, confident, and fierce young girl, as there have hardly been instances where she is intimidated by others. She carries a no-nonsense attitude and often loses her temper when angered, mainly when being slighted or having to deal with the shenanigans of her friends and allies. She is prone to lashing out violently in a comedic fashion at the person responsible for invoking her wrath, however, if realizing her outbursts have gone too far, she will show remorse. In addition, she is also susceptible to making insults, as shown by her occasional bickering with Aira.
Momo expressing to Okarun her willingness to look after him when in danger.
At the same time, Momo is kind, friendly, and cheerful around others. Her genuine compassion and empathy make her the type of person who cannot ignore misdeeds being committed or turn her back on others who are in an unfortunate predicament, with Okarun being a great example. Although she did not know him at the time, Momo chose to step in and shield Okarun from a few bullies harassing him and was willing to help him be free of the Turbo Granny's curse in light of him not wanting to draw her into his mess. She also saw no reason not to form a friendship with him after the sudden events of their bet. When it comes to family and friends, Momo's fury can be directed towards anyone who offends them, especially if they cause them harm. Upon overhearing how Aira intentionally messed with Okarun's feelings when they first met, Momo retaliated by using her powers to drop a basin on her head, as well as make a snarky remark.[2] Unlike her grandmother, Momo isn't opposed to asking her friends and allies for help. She can also lose her trust in people if they are greatly dishonest with her. Momo can also feel empathy for her enemies if she learns that they have redeeming qualities that is masked behind their wicked actions or if a tragic past led them to what they are.
Momo boldly standing her ground.
Hailing from the way she generally carries herself with a bold attitude, Momo is fearless and strong-willed no matter what the odds are in front of her. In the few instances where her enemies had her outnumbered, Momo always showed no hesitation to stand her ground against them, having single-handedly defended herself against the Kito Family as they tried ganging up on her and steeled her resolve to fight the Kur that had passed through the warped gate by herself. Even after being low on power and was too heavily injured to move from her battle against the Imotako Kur, Momo remained unfazed by the Serpos crowding her as she lied on the ground helpless and dared them to try capturing her, as she believed that she had enough fight left in her to unleash a Moe Moe Tri-Beam on them. While this is the case, certain events and people can still frighten and shock her, although these instances have so far been minor.
Momo acknowledges herself as a smart person and has more often proven this to be true when trying to get herself and her friends out of sticky situations by using her deduction skills. Her allies have also vouched for her intelligence, with Okarun and Unji calling Momo out to be a genius. She can be quite proud of any accomplishments she makes. Momo is not above making attempts at manipulation to get what she wants, such as employing cutesy eyes to appear innocent to Okarun in order have him enter the Turbo Granny's tunnel before her as a precaution for any signs of danger ahead and tried to execute the "exploit the financial means of adults" tactic on Seiko through begging in order to have her grandmother buy her, Okarun, and Aira new uniforms. However, these tactics proved to be ineffective due to them being rather simple-minded and used on people who know her well. She is also prone to making hasty decisions if the well-being of her friends is in jeopardy, having intended on jumping into a pit of magma to save Okarun who was trapped down there.
Momo expressing her idolization for Ken Takakura.
Momo has a deep admiration for the actor Ken Takakura. She is a beloved fan but also obsessed to the point where she only went out with an ex-boyfriend because his appearance resembled the actor's.[3] Merely hearing Ken Takakura's name and famous lines being spoken by someone is enough to have her feel flustered. Upon learning that an alien fanatic student from her school has the same name as her beloved actor, Momo refused to call Ken by his real name and decided on giving him the nickname "Okarun".
Although she takes matters seriously, Momo possesses a sense of humor and has moments of being childish and playful, a trait that is not unlike her grandmother. She plays along with the gaming process of putting Okarun's kintama back in his crotch, with the second game causing her to become too enthusiastic about winning against the Turbo Granny. Occasionally, she is prone to making dramatic expressions on top of her actions.
Much like her grandmother, Momo is susceptible to flattery, as she reacts with a happy expression whenever someone compliments her. Alternatively, she can also feel embarrassed whenever someone points out her good qualities as a person.
As a gyaru, Momo only chooses to wear clothes that she feels comfortable wearing, stating that the type of girl she is views style as combat gear. Before reaching the Turbo Granny's tunnel, Momo chose to change out of Seiko's spirit medium clothes and into her own despite them serving as bulletproof vest against evil spirits.
Background[]
Momo came to live with her grandmother Seiko Ayase when she was young. At some point, she became childhood friends with Jiji and had also developed a crush on him. While out in public, Momo was forced by her grandmother to perform a daily ritual to give her good luck. This unfortunately caused her to be bullied by the boys around her, including from Jiji, much to Momo's displeasure. Having subjected her to this humiliation, Momo blamed her grandmother and doubted her being a Spirit Medium. However, she soon came to realize that what she really disliked about the bullying was that it was mainly directed towards her grandmother than towards her and dismisses the hate she previously had towards her. After coming to truly love her grandmother, as well as her job as a Spirit Medium, Momo came to believe in spirits despite not being sure of herself that they are real or if her grandmother is truly a psychic.
Abilities and Powers[]
Natural Abilities[]
Physical Prowess[]
Immense Durability: For a human, Momo has demonstrated an impressive amount of resilience. After the Flatwoods Monster furiously threw a barrage of punches that were devastating enough to create a crater on the wall behind her, Momo only came out with a few minor bruises and was well enough to move about after getting a few minutes rest later on. Momo was also able to come out unscathed from being kicked by Acrobatic Silky that sent her crashing and could remain on her feet after the yokai thrashed her around.[4]
Stamina and Endurance: Aside from having great durability, Momo also possesses an impressive amount of stamina and endurance, being able to remain conscious long enough to defeat the Flatwoods Monster after taking on multiple devastating blows from the alien. She was also able to endure a thrashing from Acrobatic Silky and from being set on fire.
Mental Prowess[]
Great Tactical Intellect: Momo possesses high intelligence that has led to a few acknowledging her as a genius. Her intellect is notably demonstrated through her exceptional deductive skills and problem-solving abilities, qualities that make her a capable tactician. In the face of critical paranormal situations, Momo plays a key role in successfully helping her allies overcome these obstacles by using whatever information she can gain at the moment, along with her pre-existing knowledge, to devise ingenious strategies on the spot, which have led to successful outcomes. This was greatly demonstrated during the Daija Town Incident. By setting the Enjoji house on fire to alert the firefighters and have them use their hoses, Momo cleverly drove the Tsuchinoko from its subterranean hideout as the deluge of water expelled the cryptid from suffocation and succeeded in killing it from sunlight exposure. This strategy derived from her understanding of "worm suicide", a concept she learned from Jiji during their childhood. Following this, Momo deciphered the true meaning of the Great Serpent legend, a narrative that had been misunderstood for centuries, and swiftly took action in stopping the eruption of Daija Town's volcano by utilizing the Tsuchinoko's carcass as a conduit, connecting it to a geyser of hot spring water, causing the creature's phlegm to be expelled from its mouth and onto the lava to cool it.
Although Momo's tactics for defeating her opponents are clever, they are also reckless, often endangering her life to a great extent. Needing to avoid having Okarun suffer the effects of the talisman before putting it back on the torii gate to defeat the Flatwoods Monster, Momo chose to endure being battered into the wall embedded in the gate by the alien until a crater large enough for her and Okarun was formed to be on the outside, all while trying to suppress his curse. Another instance was her battle against the Hastur Kur, where she deliberately leaped into the alien's spatial carving to enter its pocket dimension and use her dimensional transcending psychokinesis to destroy the exosuit from the inside with her Moe Moe Tri-Beam.
Skill Set[]
Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Momo has demonstrated to be a capable fighter in melee combat, as she was able to hold her own against the Kito Family. During that fight, she also showed use of applying her psychic powers by drawing her opponent to her punches and kicks, as well as draw objects to her opponent's blind spot.[5]
Supernatural Abilities[]
| Spiritual Awareness | ||
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Momo is capable of seeing spirits, such as earthbound spirits and yokai. This also makes her one of the rare few who are able to enter Empty Space. | ||
| Ki | ||
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Momo has the ability to tap into her ki, allowing her access to her spiritual power. |
| Aura Detection | ||
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| Psychokinesis | ||
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| Strengths | ||
|---|---|---|
 Momo moving a living being.  Momo controlling inanimate objects. The major strength of this ability is that Momo can move and levitate living and non-living things regardless of how heavy or big they are, such as a fire truck or the Tsuchinoko. Since her psychokinesis applies to both hands, Momo is able to grab ahold of two targets. Momo's psychokinesis is strong enough to divide a large body of water and block off other psychic users, as she was able to push back the Serpo's psychic field that was preventing Okarun and Aira from using their yokai powers.   Momo looking into Acrobatic Silky's memories. Momo's psychic powers also possesses the unique ability to peer into the memories of her target. However, the times she has used this ability were purely by accident and has not been shown having conscious use of this power. The first time was during the transference of Acrobatic Silky's aura into Aira where she saw into Acrobatic Silky's tragic past during her lifetime. The second was when she caught a glimpse of the Evil Eye's past while restraining Jiji during the yokai's exorcism. While it is shown that this power can affect spirits, it is unknown whether it can apply to other living or non-living things. | ||
| Full Power | ||
  Momo's psychokinesis at full power. Upon awakening her ki following her abduction by the Serpos, Momo was able to use her psychokinetic powers to its fullest potential. In this empowered state, she radiates a glow matching that of her psychic hands, and her hair grows longer. She also describes herself as feeling invincible and capable of transforming her very thoughts into reality.[6] As demonstrated, Momo's full power allowed her to levitate and gain an increase in strength, with one kick powerful enough to propel a Serpo back into their ship, resulting in significant damage. This full power has since been sealed away, thus limiting Momo's psychokinetic capabilities. However, Seiko believes that with adequate training, she can progressively unlock it. | ||
| Weaknesses | ||
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Initially, Momo could only grab on to auras if she could see them in plain sight but has since improved ever since her confrontation with the Turbo Granny, now being capable of taking a hold of auras by using her sense of touch even if they are concealed from her field of vision.   Momo being pulled by Taro. Since Momo's power is an extension of her hands, they reflect her grip strength. While she requires no effort to control large targets if they are immobile or willing, Momo cannot stop them from resisting and may have trouble holding them down. If her target manages to regain mobility through sheer force but has not broken the hold, Momo will end up being pulled by their movement as long as she keeps her power active. This also applies to targets that are already moving at a great velocity, such as a bullet train. Momo, however, used this to her advantage against the Turbo Granny to escape from her. Additionally, Momo's psychokinesis is also linked to her sense of touch, meaning that her hands are susceptible to the sensation of strain and pain. Resilient though they may be, Momo's psychic arms can be destroyed if an opponent is strong enough to break free from them through sheer brute strength, or if the psychic arms are struck with a strong attack. As a result, Momo will feel an immense pain in her hands that will render her unable to manifest her powers for an unspecified period of time. While she is still able to use her powers even if her hands are bound, Momo finds it difficult to use them effectively.[7] | ||
| Usage | ||
  Momo throwing a fire truck at the Tsuchinoko. Momo uses her powers for combat. Using her psychokinesis, Momo can choose to hurl her targets to be sent crashing, restrain her opponents to leave them vulnerable for her comrades to attack, or carry her targets while on the move by having them levitate over her head. Momo is also capable of applying her powers in close-quarters combat. As shown in her fight against the Kito Family, she can pull her enemies towards her punches and kicks and send objects flying their way around their blind spots. During her first confrontation with Reiko Kashima, Momo covered the entirety of her psychic arms with levitated rubble as if they were physical arms that she could use to inflict damage to the yokai with tangible punches (though this strategy of fighting quickly proved to be a failure as Reiko Kashima easily swiped the rubble away in a fit of rage before Momo could land a single attack).[8]   Momo blocking a projectile attack. Defensively, if anticipated on time, Momo can use her psychic powers to shield herself from incoming attacks by placing her psychic hands between herself and the attack, though this will not prevent her from being sent crashing backwards depending on the force of the attack. Her power can also push her enemies away if they are too dangerously close to harm her. During her battle with a mind-control alien, Momo learned how to use her psychokinesis offensively. Remembering Seiko's past lesson on how to use the Power of Words, Momo managed to develop the ability to unleash a repulsion blast of devastating force with her hands, similar to the way the Serpo attack with psychokinesis, with one shot being capable of knocking back multiple mind-control Serpos and obliterating the mind-control alien she was fighting. Throughout the series, Momo has been able to use her powers in a variety of ways:   Momo suppressing Okarun's curse.
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| Techniques | ||
| Moe Moe Tri-Beam (モエモエ気功砲 Moe Moe Kikōhō?) | ||
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| Collaboration Techniques | ||
| Moe Moe Tri-Beam (モエモエ気功砲 Moe Moe Kikōhō?) | ||
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| Power of Words (言霊 Kotodama?) | ||
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An ability that allows Momo to make things that are normally impossible become reality through speech. During her childhood, Momo received a training lesson from Seiko to use this ability but never managed to succeed. It wasn't until her encounter with a mind-control alien that she managed to awaken this ability and apply it to her psychokinesis to increase its attack power. |
Equipment[]
| Bats | ||
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 To combat against the Turbo-Granny at the tunnel in Shono City, Momo brought along four bats that she used in conjunction with her psychic powers to attack one of the Turbo-Granny's large replica heads that she created on both sides of the tunnel to trap her and Okarun. However, the attack proved to be futile as the head destroyed the bats with its mouth and eyes. | ||
| Great Kinta Bodhisattiva, Zeta Version (グレートキンタ菩薩ゼータバージョン Gurēto Kinta Bosatsu Zēta Bājon?) | ||
 Momo previously took control of the Great Kinta Bodhisattiva, Zeta Version created by Kinta to combat against Bamora's kaiju suit. Irritated by Kinta's piloting that caused her and Aira to experience motion sickness, Momo and Aira took control of the mecha by applying their powers. While the mecha was wrecked by the kaiju, Aira applied her long Acrobatic Silky hair powers to the head while Momo used her psychokinesis to take control of the separated forearms from the shoulders. The combined powers of Momo and Aira became large in scale when applied to the mecha. With Momo's psychokinesis controlling the hands, the mecha gains a greater reach to attack its enemies. With Aira's Acrobatic Silky hair, the mecha could restrain its enemies by wrapping the hair around them, which was used to give a clear form of the kaiju after it used invisibility. | ||
| Techniques | ||
| Powerbomb (パワーボム Pawābomu?) | ||
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Chapter Appearances[]
Kintama Hunt Saga[]
| 1. That's How Love Starts, Ya Know? | Debut |
| 2. That's A Space Alien, Ain't It?! | Appears |
| 3. It's a Granny Vs. Granny Clash! | Appears |
| 4. Let's Go to the John | Appears |
| 5. Kicking Turbo Granny's Ass | Appears |
| 6. Craving for Crab | Appears |
| 7. You're the Hundred kmph Granny | Appears |
| 8. Let's Eat Crab | Appears |
| 9. I Can't Find Him | Appears |
| 10. Like, Where Are Your Balls? | Appears |
| 11. You're a Rotten Tangerine, Ain't Ya? | Appears |
| 12. Seems He Finally Realized She's Cute | Appears |
| 13. A Dangerous Woman Arrives | Appears |
| 14. "Acrobatic Silky" Is Kinda Long | Appears |
| 15. Let's Just Call Her "Acro-Silky" | Appears |
| 16. Acro-Silky | Appears |
| 17. To A Kinder World | Appears |
| 18. Eat Some Somen Noodles or Something | Appears |
| 19. I've Got This Funny Feeling | Appears |
| 20. They're, Like, Back Again | Appears |
| 21. Gotta Put On Some Clothes! | Appears |
| 22. Momo Still Has Some Pent-Up Feelings | Appears |
| 23. You're Bothered, Aren't You? | Appears |
| 24. Merge! Serpo Dover Demon Nessie! | Appears |
| 25. It Makes Your Heart Race, Don't It?! | Appears |
| 26. We Picked Up A Kappa Monster | Appears |
| 27. Have You Ever Seen A Cattle Mutiliation? | Appears |
| 28. That's A Premonition About The Turmoils of Love! | Appears |
| 29. First Love! | Appears |
| 30. Don't Give Up! | Appears |
| 31. The Life of an Anatomical Doll | Appears |
| 32. Let's Go to the Cursed House | Appears |
| 33. Better Decide Which One's Into Her | Appears |
| 34. The Kito Family Is Coming | Appears |
| 35. Where's The Tsuchinoko Monster? | Appears |
| 36. The Kito Family's Old Lady | Appears |
| 37. Like, This Is the Legend of the Giant Snake | Appears |
| 38. Mongolian Death Worms Are Deadly | Appears |
| 39. The Evil Eye | Appears |
| 40. Contract | Appears |
| 41. Jiji the Prodigy | Appears |
| 42. Escape! Multistage! | Appears |
| 43. You Won't Get Away With This! | Mentioned |
| 44. That House Is a Damn Eyesore | Appears |
| 45. It's a Pump | Appears |
| 46. Put That Fire Out | Appears |
| 47. That's, Like, Way Deadly | Appears |
| 48. That UFO Is Awesome | Appears |
| 49. He's, Like, Sealed | Appears |
| 50. Let's All Carry Around Hot Water | Appears |
| 51. We Can All Stay There Together! | Appears |
| 52. The Hayashi Performers Are Here | Appears |
| 53. We Became a Family | Appears |
| 54. Get a Part-Time Job | Appears |
| 55. Moe Moe Tri-Beam | Appears |
| 56. Feeling Kinda Gloomy | Appears |
| 57. Scary Dudes at School | Absent |
| 58. Symphony No. 6 | Flashback |
| 59. Symphony No. 9 | Flashback |
| 60. You Can Do It, Okarun! | Appears |
| 61. The Evil Eye's Briefs | Appears |
| 62. I Want to Rebuild the House | Appears |
| 63. School Life | Appears |
| 64. The Secret Art of Being Attractive | Appears |
| 65. I Can't See Them! | Appears |
| 66. Hey, It's a Kaiju | Appears |
| 67. The Kaiju's Wicked Strong | Appears |
| 68. Kinta's Imagination | Appears |
| 69. Clash! Space Kaiju vs. Giant Robot! | Appears |
| 70. This Is How You Beat A Kaiju, Okay? | Appears |
| 71. I'm Sick of Robots and Kaiju! | Appears |
| 72. Somebody, Please Translate | Appears |
| 73. Let's Eat Some Takoyaki | Appears |
| 121. Who's This Person? | Appears |
| 122. Let's Form a Club | Appears |
| 123. The Class Rep's Secret | Appears |
| 124. Ombusman | Appears |
| 125. Let's Do an Exorcism | Appears |
| 126. It's a Parade Float. It's a Festival. It's Ninomiya | Appears |
| 127. Float Performance Face-Off | Appears |
| 128. Let's Be Idols | Appears |
Current Saga[]
| 166. Is This a Little Fairy? | Appears |
| 167. Hey, There's Something There | Appears |
| 168. There's Someone Here | Appears |
| 169. Find The Culprit! | Appears |
| 170. A Suspicious Woman | Appears |
| 171. Corner the Perp! | Appears |
| 172. Those Pygmies Are Scary | Appears |
| 173. Corner the Criminal! | Appears |
| 174. Queen Sensei's Infirmary | Appears |
| 175. So Who's the True Perp? | Appears |
Anime Appearances[]
| 1. That's How Love Starts, Ya Know! | Debut |
| 2. That's a Space Alien, Ain't It?! | Appears |
| 3. It's a Granny vs. Granny Clash! | Appears |
| 4. Kicking Turbo Granny's Ass | Appears |
| 5. Like, Where Are Your Balls?! | Appears |
| 6. A Dangerous Woman Arrives | Appears |
| 7. To a Kinder World | Appears |
Etymology[]
- The name Momo means "peach" (桃).
- Momo's surname Ayase means "design" (綾) (aya) and "swift current, rapids" (瀬) (se).
Trivia[]
- Momo is listed as #1 among Yukinobu Tatsu's top 4 favorite characters in the series.[10]
- People who are on a first name basis with Momo address her as "Momo" (モモ).
- Presumably, Momo never takes off her choker, as she wears it even when sleeping at night.
- According to Miko, Momo doesn't last long working at part-time jobs due to her often getting into conflict with her superiors, with the conflict being unfair treatment from Momo's perspective.[11]
- The sole reference to Momo's parents in the series occurs during her phone conversation with Okarun, where she discloses that she has none. It is ambiguous whether Momo's statement means they have passed away, are estranged from her, or that she has never met them.
References[]
- ↑ Dandadan Manga: Chapter 12, Pages 5 - 6
- ↑ Dandadan Manga: Chapter 10, Pages 10 - 14
- ↑ Dandadan Manga: Chapter 1, Page 4
- ↑ Dandadan Manga: Chapter 14, Pages 7 - 9
- ↑ Dandadan Manga: Chapter 36, Pages 4 - 5
- ↑ Dandadan Manga: Chapter 4, Page 5
- ↑ Dandadan Manga: Chapter 14, Page 6
- ↑ Dandadan Manga: Chapter 75, Pages 14 - 15
- ↑ Dandadan Manga: Chapter 23, Page 18
- ↑ Dandadan Manga: Chapter 54, Page 11
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