The mangaka of Dandadan has incorporated two Easter eggs from Dragon Ball, which you can see in the anime. One of them will appear in Season 2 soon.
What are these Easter eggs? In Dandadan, protagonist Momo and her childhood friend Jiji each use an attack that we actually know from Dragon Ball. In the trailer for Season 2, we already see that there is a scene in the maid café, where Momo and protagonist Okarun charge the food with love beforehand. This is customary in maid cafés.
However: Instead of a “Moe-moe kyun” (which adds even more love to the food), there is a “Moe-moe Tri-beam”. The Tri-Beam (in German: Kiku-Kanone) is probably the most famous attack of Tenshinhan. However, he does not form a heart but rather a triangle or circle to then fire an energy beam.
Furthermore, there is another reference later in the manga. Jiji strikes the typical pose of a Kamehameha and even shouts Kameee (seen on X). The name actually comes from Akira Toriyama’s wife.
However, Jiji stops and thinks that he should come up with his own word. Although he fires an energy beam that looks like a Kamehameha, he calls it “The Evil Gun”.
Mangaka of Dandadan is a big fan
Why do they appear? The author of Dandadan, Yukinobu Tatsu, has never officially explained why he included these two references to Dragon Ball. However, he wrote a touching message upon the death of Akira Toriyama, the original mangaka of Dragon Ball (via Reddit).
I loved Akira Toriyama’s work. The first manga I bought with my pocket money was Dragon Ball. Dragon Ball also inspired me to draw. Thank you very much for your wonderful work. We pray from the bottom of our hearts for the souls.
No wonder he wanted to pay tribute to the mangaka and therefore incorporated two attacks from Dragon Ball. Without the adventures of Son Goku, Dandadan might not even exist.
The two Easter eggs are not the only ones that the mangaka has incorporated into Dandadan. The anime is particularly known for its humor. However, there are also emotional moments that fans love. This nearly led to a top rating in the community for one episode: New episode of a current anime gets nearly perfect rating on IMDb, brings many fans to tears
