Dandadan: What is a soul bound to a place?

Key Takeaways

• A place-bound soul is bound to a specific place, has magical powers and can merge with other souls.
• Dandadan's Spirit Crab terrorizes Shono City, linked to a tunnel where the spirits of murdered girls reside.
• Lures bound spirits out of its territory to weaken and banish them, though each has its own weakness.

Warning: The following contains spoilers for Dandadan, Episode 4, “Kicking Turbo Granny's Ass,” streaming now on Crunchyroll.

Location-Bound Spirits, also known as Earthbound Spirits, are among the many types of complex anomalies that Momo and Okarun will encounter in Dandadan. In the series, Spirits are dead people who remained in the land of the living but did not move on to the afterlife for one reason or another. Most of them are invisible to normal humans and only to those with spiritual awareness.

Dandadan has many mysterious anomalies, with strange rules. Besides the Spirits, Momo and Okarun will also face extraterrestrials and Cryptids, and they deserve their own classification. So what sets Location-Bound Spirits apart from the rest?

What is the difference between a soul bound to a place and other souls?

These spirits hold memories of an important place from their time with the living

In the world of Dandadanthere are currently three recognized categories that Spirits fall into: Location Bound/Earthbound Spirits, Yokai, and Guardian Spirits. As the name suggests, a Place-Bound Spirit is bound to a specific place that the Spirit was associated with when he was alive.

While in its territory, Spirit Bound Location has incredible power and is basically invincible. Even an experienced Holy Spirit like Seiko Ayase, Momo's grandmother, cannot banish a spirit bound by place within its territory. Unlike Yokai, however, Bound Spirits are not necessarily evil. This may vary from spirit to spirit, but as long as a person does not trespass on their territory, a Place Bound Spirit generally will not go out of their way to harm them.

Violate their territory by being disrespectful, and you only have yourself to blame for your own death. These are the rules for the living and the dead to live together.

Spirit Fusions

Different types of Spirits can also combine by forming pacts, becoming a new creature stronger than one of the two parts and able to use both of their powers. For example, in episode 4, “Kicking Turbo Granny's Ass”, Turbo Granny fuses with Earthbound Spirit Crab, creating a creature with Spirit Crab's strength and Turbo Granny's speed.

There may be a downside to these fusions, as Turbo Granny, a Yokai, is bound to Shono City, just like the Spirit Crab. Before they met, Turbo Granny was said to be terrorizing people all over Japan, meaning that she appeared in other areas outside of Shono City.

The spiritual crab on earth

An attitude of attachment to a famous place in the city of Shono

Earthbound Spirit Crab was the first, and so far only Location-Bound Spirit Momo and Okarun had the misfortune to collide. This particular Spirit is connected to a tunnel in Shono City and takes the form of a giant crab with a face on its back and four rows of mouths in its belly. The tunnel where the Spirit lived was a place where many girls were trampled and killed, and where their troubled souls lived to create the spirit crab. The faces of these girls can also be seen behind the shells of land crabs.

Even though the Earth Spirit Crab resided in the tunnel, its territory seemed to surround the entire Shono City, making it invincible. To make matters worse, the Earth Spirit also merged with Turbo Granny, making her powerful enough to stop a powerful Medium Spirit like Seiko Ayase from entering the tunnel. However, Seiko was probably weak at the time because Shono City was outside the jurisdiction of the gods from whom he borrowed his power.

To defeat the Spirit, Momo and Okarun had to lure him near the border of Shono City and Kamigoe City. The two brothers then hopped on the train to Kamigoe City with the Earthbound Spirit Crab in hot pursuit, and eventually boarded the train as well. Momo then uses her psychokinesis to hold the Spirit in place until they cross the town of Kamigoe, where Seiko sets a trap to drive him away.

The appearance of the land crab is very similar to the common type of crab known as the Heikegani. This type of crab has a shell with a pattern that resembles a human face, especially that of an angry samurai.

The weakness of the soul bound by place

Drag them out of their house and they will be like a fish out of water

NA DandadanBound Spirits are almost unstoppable once they are within their territory, once they leave they become as vulnerable to exorcism as any other Spirit. Even if you can't banish it immediately, the Bound Spirit will still lose its power outside of its territory, making it easier to fight, hold, or escape.

In addition to their general weakness when leaving their territory, Location-Bound Spirits also seem to have individual weaknesses. For example, Land Crabs are weak against hot water, a weakness that Momo picked up on because of her knowledge of how crab meat hardens when cooked. He doused the Spirit with hot water from the bath house, which calmed him down for a moment, even though they were still in Shono town.

Dandadan is now available on Crunchyroll, Netflix, Muse Asia, and many other streaming platforms. The release date of the next episode of Dandadan, episode 5, is November 7, 2024, at 9:00 AM PT.