Aira Shiratori’s Path From Foe to Friend in Dandadan

Dandadan graced us with loving and silly characters that elevated the occult and science-fiction vibe of the series. With the main duo of Momo Ayase and Ken Takakura, characters like Jiji and Aira quickly became part of the group that we now know as 'Family.' The character development is vast among the characters, but one stood out from the rest—Aira Shiratori.

Typical Popular Girl With a Mean Streak

Looking at the Dandadan series characters, one can immediately point out that Momo and Ayase created themselves a very tight group of friends. Of course, they're all quite weird and crazy, but they work immensely well, especially against the dark spirits and dangerous aliens. The 'Family,' as Seiko named the group of friends, became a proper group of vastly different people, mostly Momo's and Ken's classmates, but the first one that joined the duo in fighting evil spirits is Aira Shiratori. Dandadan anime fans still don't know one of the most popular girls of Kami High that much, due to only getting twelve episodes of the first season, but manga fans know Aira pretty well, and there is a lot to discuss.

As previously mentioned, Aira Shiratori was one of the most popular girls in Kami High and has always presented herself as the good and innocent girl. However, she had a proper mean streak underneath that fluff, which involved arrogance, vainness, and being absolutely insensitive towards other people. Momo was a huge victim of popular girls behavior—Aira kickstarted fake rumors of Momo being 'a slut' across the school hallways. The mean girl streak continued and affected even Okarun, unbeknownst to the boy, for whom Aira developed a crush. Nevertheless, Yukinobu Tatsu made sure that readers absolutely detest Aira in the beginning of Dandadan—and he managed to accomplish that goal.

Accountable for Her Unacceptable Actions

After Momo and Okarun helped her with Acrobatic Silky yokai, Aira had to fix the situation with her new friend, whom she ruthlessly bullied with fake rumors. Despite being incredibly popular, Aira's mean behavior proved to be her downfall, which resulted in her falling to the 'bottom of the school pyramid.' Nevertheless, the whole ordeal opened up Aira's character, who finally showcased an emotional side to her persona and even apologized to Momo for her behavior. This was a huge step towards Aira's start of her character development, but fans still didn't like Aira for her sometimes 'bipolar' approach to her newfound friends. For example, she is always ready to criticize Momo, Jiji, and others due to their differences in personas. On the other hand, she has an obvious crush on Okarun, to whom she always expresses gratitude and genuine kind feelings.

Aira remained 'bossy' and mean in most situations but not like before, where she would genuinely offend someone for her ego gain; she does it in the way she doesn't offend others. Despite having a similar but more 'mellow' demeanor, Aira started showcasing positive aspects of her personality and slowly but surely started leading the group in the hardest battles and situations.

Evolution From a Mean Girl to a Proper Leader

The manga series of Dandadan is currently on its tenth story arc, and we saw so many angles of the characters and their personalities. From friendship to the love story between Momo and Okarun, many aspects of the group changed since the beginning of the series, and not just in numbers. Huge battles and obstacles shaped up our characters, and Aira quietly put herself in a situation where she became a 'secret leader' of the Family. Many fans speculate if it was the 'Space Globalist arc' or another part of Dandadan that first started representing Aira's subtle leadership in very hard situations.

Of course, Aira putting herself in the role of a leader isn't surprising due to her history of being quite arrogant and selfish, but this type of leadership evolved into something bigger and more positive—Aira became a proper leader who supports her friends. Aira arguably has the weakest yokai of all Family members, but that doesn't stop her from going first into a fight and supporting her friends in any way she can. She never gives up and refuses to fold under the pressure. Aira became the most reliable and most consistent part of the group, which is a huge boost to her character in comparison to her beginnings.

Conclusion: Aira as an Example of Good Character Development

Yukinobu Tatsu is praised for his ability to make every character of Dandadan authentic and unique, without trying to make them pathetically perfect or unnecessarily morally superior to others. The creator made sure that we, as the readers, look at those characters and immediately see their 'whole being,' not just a cheap copy of overused shōnen tropes. Aira is definitely one of those characters; she is fundamentally flawed, arrogant, and sometimes too mean to everyone, but she is always accountable for her actions. Tatsu made sure people hate her at the beginning of Dandadan, which is why her character development seems so much more rewarding. We still have to see what will happen to Aira's crush on Okarun and how that will affect Momo and Okarun, who are very much in love, but there are many chapters in the future that we're eagerly awaiting.

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