Dandadan's first popularity poll reveals Okarun and Momo as most beloved characters

Monday, December 16, 2024, saw the results of the first official character poll for the Dandadan manga series be revealed alongside the release of the manga’s latest chapter. Results are covered for all 243 characters to appear in the series, but only the first 99 are given any pictures or special notes.

Likewise, the results for 100th place and worse are only available in Japanese text as of this article’s writing, making them difficult to decipher.

From what can be deciphered from the first Dandadan character poll, there are some extremely shocking results and others that are not quite as surprising or unexpected. The top three placements specifically highlight this, featuring the characters fans would expect to be there, but in an order that may surprise them.

Okarun, not Momo, takes home the top prize in Dandadan’s first-ever character popularity poll

In first place for the premiere Dandadan character popularity poll is Ken “Okarun” Takakura with 38,699 votes. Coming up behind Okarun in second place is fellow dual-protagonist Momo Ayase, with a shocking 25,763 votes, or nearly 13 thousand fewer votes than Okarun.

While her placement in the top two isn’t unexpected, what is shocking is the gap between her and Okarun, which is certainly much larger than many would have expected.

Behind the pair in third place is one of their closest allies Turbo Granny, with 22,920 votes. The series’ fellow core cast members of Jin “Jiji” Enjoji, Aira Shiratori, and Seiko Ayase round out the top six with counts of 18,499 votes, 14,271 votes, and 12,821 votes respectively.

Next up is Unji Zuma in seventh with 11,935 votes, Vamola in eighth with 11,464 votes, Rokuro Serpo in ninth with 10,549 votes, and Kinta Sakata in tenth with 9,760 votes.

As mentioned above, however, more characters are ranked in subsequent spots, some of which have some surprising results. For example, Reiko Kashima is relatively high in 12th place with 4,015 votes, while Okarun’s kintama is 18th with 1,892 votes, and the cattle mutilation cow is in 21st with 1,674.

Some notable characters also present in this section include Count–Saint Germain in 16th with 2,408 votes, and the new character Kouki Yukishiro in 46th with 169 votes.

Mangaka Yukinobu Tatsu’s original manga series began serialization in April 2021 on Shueisha’s Shonen Jump+ digital publication platform. The manga is still ongoing today, with a television anime adaptation from Science SARU having aired during the Fall 2024 season.

It has proven to be one of the most popular anime of the season. The anime has seemingly inspired many to pick up Tatsu’s original manga series for themselves based on social media chatter.