Seiko Ayase in Dandadan

Seiko Ayase: key character of the manga Dandadan, this renowned medium – also known by the identity Santa Dodoria – is the grandmother of Momo Ayase.

As an experienced medium, Seiko accompanies and protects Momo and her friends during multiple paranormal events, including confrontations with spirits and aliens.

Before getting started, check out all our anime figures by clicking here : 

Appearance

Though a grandmother, Seiko maintains an elegant and slender look. Her white hair is usually styled in a thick bun, accompanied by rectangular red glasses. A heavy smoker, she is often seen with a cigarette in hand. Her youthful appearance and unique beauty sometimes lead to her being mistaken for Momo's mother. Her height is close to that of her granddaughter.

Outside her home, Seiko favors a yellow cardigan with large buttons, revealing a cross-strap top, and a blue baseball jacket with white sleeves decorated on the back. She accessorizes with hoop earrings and sandals. At home, she opts for a white tank top, shorts, and a beige haramaki, complemented with matching bracelets and stirrups.

Under the alias Santa Dodoria, Seiko dons a mask, pointed gloves, and drapes herself in a covering cape: only a large upper bow remains visible. In the past, when Momo was a child, Seiko wore the traditional attire of shrine maidens and sported a ponytail.

Personality

Possessing a calm temperament and direct speech, Seiko is nevertheless empathetic and inclined towards helpfulness. She willingly offers hospitality to those in need. Rather than accepting rewards, she encourages altruism by asking others to help people in return. Seiko bears a strong sense of adult responsibility: she wishes to lighten the burdens of the younger generation to allow them to live fully.

Although independent, she is reluctant to ask for support for her own needs. This mix of pride and generosity is especially noticeable when she refuses friends’ help to repair her house. A playful and slightly immature side emerges when she teases Momo or exchanges jokes. However, she also knows how to apologize in serious circumstances, revealing a rarely seen facet of her personality.

Seiko respects the laws of coexistence between the living and the dead, sometimes sending spirits to the afterlife by force if necessary.

Passionate about cooking, she believes that “life begins with eating” and enjoys feeding others, even during school challenges or celebrations. But she hates the behavior of those difficult at the table. Despite her belief in spirits, Seiko is skeptical about UFOs and aliens, preferring to call such phenomena myths.

Background

Since Momo’s childhood, Seiko has tried to pass on her medium abilities through daily rituals. Unfortunately, these practices led to teasing that damaged the relationship between grandmother and granddaughter. It was only much later, after sincere apologies, that their bond eased.

Abilities and Powers

General Skills

Faced with all paranormal threats, Seiko becomes the main ally of Momo, Okarun, and their circle, thanks to her numerous spiritual and martial skills.

Physical Abilities

• Enhanced physical strength: Thanks to demanding training, she is able to inflict massive damage and surpass the speed of an average human.
• Speed and reflexes: Seiko easily dodges dangerous attacks, showing her talent in duels against yokai.

Mental and Tactical Mastery

• Mystical barriers: She uses her magical barriers to fight off malicious spirits, notably against Turbo Granny.
• Strategy: Seiko knows how to complicate her plans to lure and trap opponents, using new techniques to maximize her attacks’ effects.

Spiritual and Martial Skills

• Mediumship: Specialist in spirits, she is called upon when other mediums fail.
• Hand-to-hand combat and armed combat: Mastery of martial arts and the “Nessie” bat, capable of causing considerable damage to the ground.
• Improvisation: Can use any object from her environment as a weapon.
• Cooking: Excellent cook, attentive to her surroundings’ wellbeing.

Supernatural Abilities

• Spiritual perception: Able to see and interact with spirits and yokai.
• Divination: Uses a crystal ball to obtain precise information about others.
• Borrowing divine energy: Can channel power from local gods to deploy mystical barriers.
• Protective barrier: Her techniques allow exorcising and imprisoning spirits; power varies depending on the presence of the summoned god.
• Power of words: By speaking convincingly, Seiko enhances her strength and reinforces her strikes, notably via her signature technique “Nessie.”

Equipment

Seiko’s favorite weapon is her “Power of Nessie” bat, combined with her linguistic mastery to strengthen her attacks. She also has:

• Talismans that detect and seal spirits, strategically placed in her house.
• Charmed nails: mystical claws reinforcing her barriers.
• Crystal ball for divination.
• Protective robes similar to bulletproof vests against malicious entities.
• Special harisen to expel spirits affecting people.

Etymology

The first name Seiko means “star” (星, sei) and “child” (子, ko). Her family name, Ayase, combines “design” (綾, aya) and “rapid current” (瀬, se).

Anecdotes

• Seiko often cooks and shares meals with Momo and their friends, marking the start or end of each adventure.
• Her sleep mask resembles that of Sougo Okita from Gintama.
• Enemies target her, wrongly convinced her powers derive from yokai, casting doubt on the true source of her abilities.

ANIME FIGURE STORE