Turbo Granny Arc Explained

Key conclusions

• Turbo Granny's backstory involves protecting young girls who are victims of evil acts in a tunnel.
• Okorun gains Turbo Granny powers after being possessed, needing help to control his powers.
• Taunting Turbo Granny and luring her out of Shono City is an effective strategy to defeat her.

Dandadan is a Japanese manga created in 2021 that was adapted into an anime in October 2024 with the same intense supernatural encounters with enemies like Turbo Granny. Turbo Granny becomes an integral part over time Dandadanregularly appearing as both an antagonist and a character who sometimes helps Momo and Okorun.

Turbo Granny was a big influence on the main characters of the series in the first season. There is much to explore about her character, and where she comes from, and even her motivations. She is much more than just a villain that Momo and Okorun must defeat.

What is Turbo Granny's background and motivations?

Character is much more than just being an antagonist

Although Turbo Granny is initially a Yokai villain that Momo and Okarun must defeat, there is much more to the character than meets the eye. In the end, it is revealed why Turbo Granny chose to live in the tunnel. Momo's grandmother reveals that the tunnel is where a group of young girls were taken against their will and killed by evil men. Shortly after these passes, Turbo Granny moved into the tunnel to bring peace to the spirits before they moved on.

Many fans noticed how Turbo Granny saved Momo in the first episode by taking her away from the Serpayan UFO, who was close to doing horrible things like what happened to the girls in the tunnel. This further reinforces the need for Turbo Granny to protect young girls who may be vulnerable in a situation where they cannot fight back. However, despite Turbo Granny's good intentions, she also ends up attacking innocent people entering the tunnel.

Meeting with turbo grandma in the tunnel

Momo and Okorun try to explore the spirit world

When Momo and Okorun first met in the Dandadan anime, they both want to prove to each other that their interest exists. Momo believes in spirits and Okorun believes in aliens. As they begin their journey together, they explore a tunnel where Granny Turbo apparently lives. Eventually, Okorun is confronted by a Yokai spirit and tries to escape, but is unsuccessful due to Grandmother's Turbo's immense speed. He is then possessed by a spirit and arrives to save Momo from the Serpo aliens who want to kill her.

​​​​​​While this first encounter results in Okarun being possessed by Turbo Granny, it also happens when Momo is able to awaken her psychic abilities against the Serpa aliens and allows her and Okarun to work together with their abilities to stop your enemies. However, Turbo Granny was able to possess Okarun by stealing his “banana organs”, which eventually leads to Turbo Granny's overarching arc to get Okarun's stuff back. Although Turbo Grandma seems to resent Okorun, she appears to be unfriendly to Momo as she protects her and is there for her when she awakens her powers.

Okorun's possessions and new powers

Okorun gains turbo granny powers

Although Okarun's “banana organs” are now missing, he has a lot of Turbo Granny powers and abilities, allowing him to fight alongside Momo. However, she must contain his curse to prevent it from spiraling out of control. Whenever she isn't around him, such as after defeating the Flatwoods monster, Okarun begins to lose control of his Turbo Grandma abilities and even tries to eat Momo at one point before being stopped by Momo's Grandma.

While cursed, Okaruna's abilities include fast speed and reflexes, and he is able to go in all directions to increase his strength and attack enemies. It is also able to withstand intense attacks and survive its own launch abilities. Paired with Momo, who can contain Okarun's curse and allow him to exert his powers at will, they become unstoppable against almost any enemy, including Turbo Granny when the final battle comes.

Defeat Turbo Granny In Game of Tag

Making fun of turbo grandma is the best way to go

Turbo Granny is not without its weaknesses, and one of the easiest things to do to control a powerful Yokai is to taunt her. Momo learns of this from her grandmother, who offers to stop her by luring Shono out of town, where she is most powerful. This is due to the fact that she has merged with a location-bound spirit. These are spirits that are attached to a specific location, and the minute they leave that space, they weaken significantly. Thus, by luring these spirits outside of Shona City, Momo and Okaruna find it much easier to defeat them.

As Grandma Momo suggested, Momo and Okorun can easily lure Turbo Grandma out of her neighborhood by taunting her and challenging her to a game of tag. This is due to the fact that Turbo Granny is incredibly fast and always follows the rules. Despite​​​​some initial setbacks, Momo and Okorun are able to get her out of Shona City, and they watch as she falls before their eyes.

After her defeat, the two friends notice that the spirits of the young girls found in the tunnel are also released. This most likely means that they can now move on and no longer have to live as evil spirits, despite the fact that Turbo Granny initially kept them comfortable in the tunnel. However, shortly after Turbo Granny is defeated, she returns as a possessed maneki-neko, eventually becoming a supporting character to the main characters. This is due to the fact that Turbo Granny has always had good intentions to protect young girls and can now help Momo and Okorun against other evil forces.

Dandadan now streaming on Crunchyroll, Hulu and Netflix.