Zuma must have some serious game-changing info to drop since he seems like he's in a rush to find Momo and Okarun (which by the way is kinda a neat inversion of Okarun running in with gamechanging info about Danmara with Zuma and Momo).

Miko knows that they are all on a group date which means they likely know where they are at right now and they will lead Zuma to that location or just tell him where to go.

Zuma is getting followed by Miss Adachi, who has the Jiangshi Kungfu zombie powers (I dont know what she did with the Severed Head Dribble, but since there's no basketball gyms around I dont know how effective it would be anyways so its probably not going to show up) so she will end up going to the area too

Red Bum wants to help his girlie, so he will probably end up going to the location with the hardening bull powers

The whistle was blown, so Kurdere probably heading to the location too

Rokuro's in the vicinity, Peeny is in the vicinity, Yatagarasu and Gilles de Rais still out there, and the entire Delacroix Family already pulled up with all the dinosaurs too

SOOOOOO much stuff is going on.

im so locked in rn

and NO BREAK!!! LETS GOOO

Jiji and Aira are two different takes at the love triangle trope.

Aira's romance for Okarun is very conventional. She is straight up the love rival that has persisted in stepping in between Momo and Okarun ever since she declared she would free him from Momo's demonic clutches.

Initially, it was written off as a gag. But ever since the musicians battle, Aira herself realized she felt genuine feelings for Okarun. And ever since then, they have never been together alone for an extended period of time until this amnesia arc. In this arc, she had an instance where the stars aligned for her and it seemed like the right moment to finally take things to to next level. But this ended in her advance getting rejected by Okarun in a very conventional manner.

Meanwhile, Jiji's romance for Momo was conventional when he was first introduced, but at some point after Cursed House he kind of just... hangs back when it comes to advancing his romance...

Sure, he has intimate moments like when he helps Momo sleep, when he calls her precious, and this current handholding moment, but these moments haven't really done specifically with the intention to progress his romance with Momo compared to what Aira's with Okarun nor what Okarun's done with Momo.

These moments show him as being very protective and supportive, and it's normally framed platonically--as if he'd offer the same sort of protection to any of his friends he cares deeply for (and even his potential enemies like Evil Eye and Vamola when she was outed as a traitor).

We can tell he does have feelings for her, but he just doesn't conventionally express those feelings and desires the same way Aira does.

So when people say Momo needs to eventually reject Jiji or set boundaries, I agree-- but what would that rejection look like when he's not acting in a conventional manner like Aira?

After comparing the way Tatsu framed Aira and Okarun's interactions VS Momo and Jiji's interactions leading up to the 4 way handholding confrontation and immediately after it, my theory is that Jiji will be the one to ask Momo "Are you in love with Okarun?"

After a bit of Momo being surprised by the question, hesitating, and being flustered and not giving a direct answer, I believe Jiji would follow this up with saying that he (himself) is in love with her. It's at this point that Momo either locks in and admits that she is in love with Okarun or that Jiji calls out that he already knows his feelings aren't mutual, which she then apologizes and confirms it herself.

I'd personally prefer the route where Momo locks in and rejects Jiji since it'd give her more agency and would be more respectful closure to lay it all out to him, but either way works as an unconventional juxtaposition to how Aira got rejected.

In both scenarios he still already knows her feelings aren't mutual, but just wants to support both her and Okarun cuz he's always been that selfless, empathetic homie. I feel like after the confession, Jiji would attempt to play it off like the goofball he normally tries to be, but his actions and emotions would be dissonant.

Something similar to how he was like "ooo you sting, you sting! momo-chaann" after the date idea got shot down but fused with how he tried to play it cool when they were visiting his parents at the hospital and he said he wasn't worried but in reality he ended up sobbing hard when he was alone with them.

So in other word Jiji would try to play it off as his usual goofball self like while tears are uncontrollably streaming. Both sad but still possessing that light Dandadan energy.

During the group date arc, Tatsu juxtaposed Aira's and Jiji's approaches intentionally

The way Aira was framed this arc (getting physically in between Momo and Okarun, holding Okarun's hand for the sake of wanting to be romantically closer to him, and telling Okarun that Jiji and Momo are a thing so her and Okarun should be a thing and even trying to kiss him) made me feel like this was all building up towards a conventional rejection...which it did.

The way Jiji was framed this arc (asking Okarun if something happened between him and Momo, holding Momo's hand for the sake of wanting to support her with chi in a confusing time, and asking Momo how she felt when Okarun saw her and how she felt when she saw Okarun) made me feel like this was all building up towards an unconventional rejection... which is what this theory here explains.

And indeed, this is just a theory so I could be totally off the mark on lots of things.

But, even if all my points regarding how the rejection would specifically play out are totally off the mark, I still believe the sort of rejection Jiji would receive from Momo wouldn't be a classic straight forward rejection like how it was with Okarun and Aira which is the main point of my theory.

A lot of things have happened since we've had a full crew dinner scene.

Assuming by the time Seiko comes back that everything in this current area is wrapped up and assuming everyone (including Zuma, Kouki, and Rin) heads back to Momo's house to recover and recoop then there will be a loooot of interesting info to dump and exchange between everyone:

• Seiko has been informed that Vlad of the Delacroix family from the Black Paladins is invading their land and will likely bring this up.
• Okarun and Aira will confirm that Vlad is after them since they know that Vlad's personal guard attacked them directly and wanted their powers.
  • There's also the fact that they knew about Okarun allegedly having Turbo Granny powers and Aira's Accro Silky but for some reason didn't know about Okarun's powers being gone [which I bet Turbo Granny will have something to say about]
• Kouki and Rin will add that they got their powers stolen and there was someone named the Red Baron there, which will catch Seiko and Jiji's attention
  • Perhaps it will trigger Seiko to believe that these events are connected and therefore the young person who snuck into the ritual with the old people may have also been connected to the Red Baron
• Zuma is the wildcard who will likely bring something totally new that we weren't expecting since we haven't learned how he lost his powers yet. Also, he seemed like he needed to go to "a woman's house" very urgently which makes it seem like there's something important that needs to be said or done.
• Turbo Granny's another wildcard who will likely bring something totally new or just finally be the one to put the concept of Germaine into everyone's heads, though I dont know the context in which he would ever be brought up in unless she's somehow already certain that Germaine is directly involved with these shenanigans
• Perhaps Seiko finally may give Okarun some sort of advice or further explanation for the Ogre Club's application.

Lots of puzzle pieces scattered across the various characters... Will be exciting to see for sure.

Momo with amnesia is gonna be hella confused tho lmao. I guess if it ever somehow gets brought up that she was given a whistle by their mysterious teacher, Mr. Sanjome, and it for some reason immediately summoned an alien then it could be it's own talking point to contribute lol

237 comes out, I see this comment:

https://preview.redd.it/dqywioo6an7h1.png?width=746&format=png&auto=webp&s=742e2e205382a6c8490c49bae96414f6daff5cdf

and seeing this being said about 237 led me to make this post.

237's ending reconfirms a central theory/theme I was thinking about for what's been happening in this amnesia arc.

So what is the point? Simply put: Divide and conquer.

First let me backup and mention how Germaine stumbled upon our main crew after their bout with the Kurr.

https://preview.redd.it/r9onj639an7h1.png?width=784&format=png&auto=webp&s=09f62f1b09e29513d6b628300300aab20056664e

That got Germaine's attention and he recognized Momo's powers are strong... and her specifically wielding it is dangerous... Moreover, Momo paired up with her crew is extremely dangerous. I mean, they were able to fight back the Kurr!

Germaine and Vlad want the powers that our main crew has leveled up and evolved for their own nefarious Ultimate Yokai plan, but because they recognize them as a decent threat together, they essentially need to divide and conquer them. That has been the strategy from the get-go.

https://preview.redd.it/y6uw0j5ean7h1.png?width=784&format=png&auto=webp&s=aea0c7c84ca8b07e5ee9e1a9f4f0f816bf0c0ba5

They were divided here and both parties ended up getting attacked by someone affiliated directly with Germaine: Okarun with the Kurr lady and Momo with the Red Bum.

They actually barely pulled through on both ends, but what we didn't know is that the Red Bum wasn't the only one sent by Germaine at the time.

--side note but i view what momo said here as some cheeky foreshadowing when you're reading in this in hindsight since it wasn't just one person directly affiliated with Germaine they were dealing with. Also, shinobi being some sorta mysterious ninja who stole Momo's powers and possibly memories would make her a ninja thief.

Upon Red Bum's defeat and Kurr lady + Hase's defeat, Germaine confirmed that they are indeed powerful threats when they are working together, and also that they have the potential to evolve their yokai abilities. So, he decides to take a different approach: Don't just only just target Momo by taking her powers, but target the ones around her by taking her memories too. Doing this will cause a change in their group dynamics. It will cause them to have new tensions and troubles communicating and keeping their bonds strong and potentially end up splitting because of it.

https://preview.redd.it/1v5smswuan7h1.png?width=784&format=png&auto=webp&s=173085e136878ee982497bcf64a8ed7d98697508

This made Momo feel isolated in her own friend group, which in turn put a lot of things in their whole group dynamic completely out of whack.

https://preview.redd.it/e02fzmtzan7h1.png?width=784&format=png&auto=webp&s=10356490b5038e67648026a25850321bb2548c0b

Even if this didn't fully split them up perfectly, at the very least, Germaine would be able to step in and capitalize on the situation however he sees fit. This way he could properly set up whatever grander plans he had in motion.

https://preview.redd.it/m674ra12bn7h1.png?width=784&format=png&auto=webp&s=a0234efb6e95d01e42e1218f19ecf3537afe75cb

But what his put plans further out of whack was Red Bum's violent involvement with Kouki and Rin which Germaine did not seem to appreciate.

https://preview.redd.it/y4yalg54bn7h1.png?width=1468&format=png&auto=webp&s=d41f6cf40f820dc2ea05ffe1c9e56922adabd91f

But he likely already had a contingency plan for this in case Red Bum would have acted out. That, or he was just quick to improvise moving forward.

https://preview.redd.it/nsix3tb6bn7h1.png?width=992&format=png&auto=webp&s=8c26bf0e91f007847da89655d017630973620ed1

And now the Dragon Knights involvement is something else that likely put Germaine's plans out of whack. But once again, if he's the sort of character I expect him to be, he probably has some sort of contingency plan for this or will be able to improvise it quickly as well.

And with that said, this attack by the Dragon Knights was definitely calculated.

https://preview.redd.it/0mb4azm3gn7h1.png?width=2076&format=png&auto=webp&s=ca7edbd70c1e29902773ae7219be5444f74a2a68

Not only is Okarun in one of the most mentally vulnerable positions he's ever been in, but they even brought a guy to completely counter his ability if he still had Turbo Granny's powers and someone to completely counter Aira's ability too. This group date already had them divided, and so this was the perfect opportunity to conquer.

In summary, for a while now what we've been seeing is secret factions with their own individuals that have their own interests in mind manipulating things behind the scenes and front and center while constantly getting in the way of each other and having to improvise new plans and ideas all while the Dandadan crew are unfortunately at the center of it-- getting manipulated and divided without even realizing it until now when the conquering part has arrived at their doorstep.

So how does this tie back to chapter 237?

Okarun's choice to try to stick with Momo even in such a time that's been manufactured by outside forces for him to feel isolated, vulnerable, and filled with tension but then finding immediate success with it truly shows that the crew can get through anything as long as they stay together--specifically Momo and Okarun.

During the mummy fight, Okarun told Momo to leave him and go find Jiji, Okarun would have likely died if that was the case. And now during this fight, Yatagarasu told Okarun to go to the barbershop, and Momo would have likely died if that was the case.

Okarun knew Momo was with Jiji, who could more than likely protect her better than he could currently, but he STILL went after her.

Even in the odd, isolating, and uncomfortable times they are facing now, it's more important than ever to stay at each other's side and keep their bonds strong. The enemy has tried to divide and conquer them because they recognize they are a decent threat together.

What I find interesting is that Kinta already spoke ALLLL of this perfectly in chapter 200:

https://preview.redd.it/vwft9b1bbn7h1.png?width=2080&format=png&auto=webp&s=97f2f6289879ff4b7551f8e9ac65f8b3fa1e1f3c

https://preview.redd.it/ru444subbn7h1.png?width=2090&format=png&auto=webp&s=4d3aff6a65a4a066b168314332a6402d5c0d18f6

Kinta nailed everything to a T:

-Outsourcing (Germaine hired as a consultant by Vlad)

-Organizations scattered with different individuals that have their own interests at mind (Red Bum acting violently on his own, Dragon Knights acting on their own, Germaine having his own plans)

-Organizations that don't think of their own individuals as people (Red Bum getting exploited and sacrificed for Vlad's own self-interests, Germaine treating Vlad as if he's just an experiment)

-Keeping the bonds of the history club strong making them unstoppable: Okarun's words in 237 confirm exactly what Kinta was saying. The point is that they need to work together no matter what is thrown their way. Because if not, they are doomed to crumble from within.

And isn't it interesting how the final boss of this arc is shaping up to be an amalgamation of most of their powers and ANOTHER thing Kinta said was

-Organizations will inevitably start to break down

With this statement here, one could theorize that that this refers to some sort of crucial falling out complication between Germaine and Vlad or possibly even factions under Vlad that may give our heroes a viable approach to secure a win or maybe even this is literally what ends up happening to Vlad cuz his body can't handle all of those Yokai abilities at once or something.

How neat is it that the unifying theme for the protags for this arc is losing their abilities and crumbling from within so they should try their best to keep their bonds strong even in the face of such tension and feelings of isolation that have been intentionally manufactured for them by their enemies from the shadows meanwhile the antagonist is doing the exact inverse by taking all of their abilities selfishly for himself and not directly breaking bonds with the individuals in his faction to him while being totally aware of everything?

Its very neat writing. But it got drowned out by all the "wahhhh momokarun now pls wahhhhh give memories back now wahhhhhh he only did amnesia to stall relationship and nothing else wahhhh" lol

Engaging this manga is a lot more fun when you don't assign every single plot development to be related to only the romance and not think anything further, especially when there's a whole battle shonen side with very exciting things taking place.

But I digress. To each their own at the end of the day ig haha.

Tldr: Momo's amnesia isn't just for the romance side of the story, it's specifically a strategy utilized by the antagonists to create pressure, tension, and isolation amongst the Dandadan crew because they have been recognized as a decent threat when they all work together. And the dividing part was working initially, and the group date arc was the conquering part in action, but Okarun's decision to go after Momo even while knowing she's very mad at him and already with Jiji shows that they are unstoppable when they are together and need to be at to be at each others side now more than ever--completely foiling the plans for what was manufactured for him to struggle with. And this was a theme that was already set up explicitly ever since chapter 200.

I saw this comment:

https://preview.redd.it/noraj9vfih7h1.png?width=746&format=png&auto=webp&s=50e4f15a2ee3eb47a3fe999f32924dbe5aa0c953

and seeing this being said about 237 led me to make this post.

The way the latest chapter 237 ends reconfirms a central theme I was thinking about for what's been happening in this amnesia arc.

So what is the point? Simply put: Divide and conquer.

First let me backup and mention how Germaine stumbled upon our main crew after their bout with the Kurr.

https://preview.redd.it/ksmuc5bmih7h1.png?width=784&format=png&auto=webp&s=a859e097d32176451be8681745fd1be79633247a

That got his and the Nobles attention and they have recognized Momo's powers are strong... and her specifically wielding it is dangerous... Moreover, Momo paired up with her crew is extremely dangerous. I mean, they were able to fight back the Kurr!

They want the powers that our main crew has leveled up and evolved for their own nefarious Ultimate Yokai plan, but because they recognize them as a decent threat together, they essentially need to divide and conquer them. That has been the strategy from the get-go.

https://preview.redd.it/s82ht6kzjh7h1.png?width=784&format=png&auto=webp&s=28818d054b9f2d7fc6629da633ba4efc2872c1be

They were divided here and both parties ended up getting attacked by someone affiliated directly with Germaine: Okarun with the Kurr lady and Momo with the Red Bum.

They actually barely pulled through on both ends, but what we didn't know is that the Red Bum wasn't the only one sent by Germaine at the time.

--side note but i view what momo said here as some cheeky foreshadowing when you're reading in this in hindsight since it wasn't just one person directly affiliated with Germaine they were dealing with. Also, shinobi being some sorta mysterious ninja who stole Momo's powers and possibly memories would make her a ninja thief.

Upon Red Bum's defeat and Kurr lady + Hase's defeat, Germaine confirmed that they are indeed powerful threats when they are working together, and also that they have the potential to evolve their yokai abilities. So, he decides to take a different approach: Don't just only take Momo's powers, but take her memories too. Doing this will cause a change in their group dynamics. It will cause them to have new tensions and troubles communicating and keeping their bonds strong and potentially end up splitting because of it.

https://preview.redd.it/83wjpwmmmh7h1.png?width=784&format=png&auto=webp&s=e7fc173205151927cf0861217e1433342c5a8a3c

This made Momo feel isolated in her own friend group, which in turn put a lot of things in their whole group dynamic completely out of whack.

https://preview.redd.it/8fensjojvh7h1.png?width=784&format=png&auto=webp&s=80ebc29afd47dd101b737010e97718487e295471

Even if this didn't fully split them up perfectly, at the very least, Germaine would be able to step in and capitalize on the situation however he sees fit. This way he could properly set up whatever grander plans he had in motion.

https://preview.redd.it/p171onctmh7h1.png?width=784&format=png&auto=webp&s=ef91e13165bcfa50685318bb057c31c1a596ef91

But what his put plans further out of whack was Red Bum's violent involvement with Kouki and Rin which Germaine did not seem to appreciate.

https://preview.redd.it/hl7f995anh7h1.png?width=1468&format=png&auto=webp&s=efbdd924e959200843c4f2f3b16c860ed4a44d97

But he likely already had a contingency plan for this in case Red Bum would have acted out. That, or he was just quick to improvise moving forward.

https://preview.redd.it/452ztke6sh7h1.png?width=992&format=png&auto=webp&s=b8b90d62511c4c9bfdabfc23946a0705ddfb2479

And now the Dragon Knights involvement is something else that likely put Germaine's plans out of whack. But once again, if he's the sort of character I expect him to be, he probably has some sort of contingency plan for this or will be able to improvise it quickly as well.

In summary, for a while now what we've been seeing is secret factions with their own individuals that have their own interests in mind manipulating things behind the scenes and front and center while constantly getting in the way of each other and having to improvise new plans and ideas all while the Dandadan crew are unfortunately at the center of it-- getting manipulated without even realizing it until now.

So how does this tie back to chapter 237?

Okarun's choice to try to stick with Momo even in such a time that's been manufactured by outside forces for him to feel isolated, vulnerable, and filled with tension but then finding immediate success with it truly shows that the crew can get through anything as long as they stay together--specifically Momo and Okarun.

Even in the odd, isolating, and uncomfortable times they are facing now, it's more important than ever to stay at each other's side and keep their bonds strong. The enemy has tried to divide and conquer them because they recognize they are a decent threat together.

What I find interesting is that Kinta already spoke ALLLL of this perfectly in chapter 200:

https://preview.redd.it/97atkw5jph7h1.png?width=2080&format=png&auto=webp&s=0181219c8f8ad6da426b4c6687c3684073a7f950

https://preview.redd.it/5vok5eujph7h1.png?width=2090&format=png&auto=webp&s=21ce9f0a0f035fbbbbb2c4ada1315cde22d975fd

Kinta nailed everything to a T:

-Outsourcing (Germaine hired as a consultant)

-Organizations scattered with different individuals that have their own interests at mind (Red Bum acting violently on his own, Dragon Knights acting on their own, Germaine having his own plans)

-Organizations that don't think of their own individuals as people (Red Bum getting exploited and sacrificed)

-Keeping the bonds of the history club strong making them unstoppable: Okarun's words in 237 confirm exactly what Kinta was saying. The point is that they need to work together no matter what is thrown their way. Because if not, they are doomed to crumble from within.

And isn't it interesting how the final boss of this arc is shaping up to be an amalgamation of most of their powers and ANOTHER thing Kinta said was

-Organizations will inevitably start to break down

You could make the assumption that this refers to some sort of crucial falling out complication between Germaine and Vlad or possibly even factions under Vlad that may give our heroes a viable approach to secure a win or maybe even this is literally what ends up happening to Vlad cuz his body can't handle all of those Yokai abilities at once or something.

How neat is it that the unifying theme for the protags for this arc should be to keep your bonds strong even in the face of such tension and feelings of isolation that have been intentionally manufactured for them by their enemies from the shadows meanwhile the antagonist is doing the exact inverse and taking all of their abilities selfishly for himself and not caring about individuals reporting to him while being totally aware of everything?

Its very neat writing. But it got drowned out by all the "wahhhh momokarun now pls wahhhhh give memories back now wahhhhhh" lol

Engaging this manga is a lot more fun when you don't assign every single plot development to be related to only the romance and not think anything further.