Seiko’s Power Takes Center Stage in Dandadan Chapter 177

Yukinobu Tatsu's Dandadan is one of the 'hottest' manga series right now, and its popularity just skyrocketed with the release of the anime adaptation. In the newest manga chapter 177, titled 'Let's Do Some Kung Fu,' we finally see Seiko in solo action against some formidable enemies, but also new ones that give her good fighting. Chapter 177 sees Seiko fighting jiangshi and getting another enemy in the fight that gives her trouble but also gets new allies.

Seiko's Fighting Hand-to-hand Combat is Elite

In the previous chapter, specifically, the one titled 'Scattering The Bait,' we saw Momo and the rest of the gang trying to find out who's behind the attacks, while Seiko has a very productive meeting with two new characters in the Dandadan universe—a cursed objects collector, Payase, and his partner, Kashimoto. Both men revealed that there is a hope of 'curing' Momo's condition, which will include many ancient tools and gods from the Japanese folklore. However, their meeting was interrupted by jiangshi, the ancient hopping vampires that are very well known in Chinese folklore, and this chapter just started like it's a Jason Statham movie—full of action and a showcase of great martial arts.

Seiko is doing really well in the fight, even beating these strange beings, but her winning battle is interrupted by another monstrosity, this time an iron bull in underpants called 'Iron.' It was really nice seeing how Seiko can handle her enemies solo, where she displayed the variety of her incredible prowess in combat.

New Enemy Enters the Ring

As previously mentioned, out of nowhere, an iron bull in underpants enters the fight and immediately wreaks havoc in the middle of a restaurant. Seiko is shocked, rightfully, because this bull is incredibly hard to harm. Unfortunately for Seiko, she soon realizes that her hits don't do anything but make the monster stronger. The aloof woman gets thrown around the restaurant like a ragdoll and convincingly loses the fight. While she is lying on the floor beaten to a pulp, Iron asks Seiko to surrender and accept defeat while taking out a letter opener, preparing to stab her with it.

Thankfully, the aforementioned 'cursed bros' arrive at the restaurant and save the day. Interestingly enough, it seems that Iron Bull is associated with the person that ordered Kuoki to attack Momo, which means that the monster wanted to take away Seiko's powers. And of course, it once again points to Count Saint-Germain and his shady connections to the incidents.

'The Cursed' Buddies Save the Day

The duo Payase and Kashimoto appear from a Yin and Yang-looking portal and strike the Iron Bull away from Seiko, who is lying unconscious on the floor. Kashimoto questions how those beings struck them out of nowhere while Payase still rants about his 'cursed objects,' well, because he really cares for them, since he's a collector. Nevertheless, in the final manga panel of the chapter, we see Kashimoto and Payase preparing for the fight, with the latter being in his spirit form, similar to one Okarun has from Turbo Granny. Definitely a moment that will lead to the epic fight in the next chapter.

If you want to discuss this chapter further, check out this Reddit community.

Conclusion: Expansion of Lore and World-Building Within the Dandadan Universe

Although this chapter of Dandadan didn't include that much dialogue, the action was worth the wait, especially since we saw Seiko in action against really dangerous enemies. The Jiangshi made their comeback this chapter, representing Chinese folklore in a very cool way, and then the Iron Bull made an epic entrance and revealed himself as one of the mercenaries of Count Saint-Germain. Of course, that is due to the letter opener and its same design to one that Kuoki held while trying to attack Momo, confirming that the Count is definitely involved in this whole conundrum—every clue points to him.

The 'cursed buddies' seem very interesting with their knowledge of spirits, mysticism, and other related practices, and one of them, Payase, has the power similar to Okarun and his spiritual power due to Turbo Granny's powers. Overall, this chapter opened up so many possibilities for Yukinobu Tatsu, who seemingly wants to expand the universe of Dandadan by presenting us with other cultures like Chinese folklore, with Jiangshi and some Yin and Yang symbolism in his artwork. It looks like Dandadan can potentially have many more stories that will involve other cultures and prolong the length of this hit manga series—which we would certainly want.

Check out a new chapter of Dandadan at Manga Plus.