Who Is Ken Takakura? The Namesake For Dandadan's Hero Explained

Warning: Contains spoilers for Dandadan episodes #1-#2.While one of Dandadan’s two main characters is typically called Okarun, his real name is the much more innocuous Ken Takakura. That happens to be the same name as Momo’s favorite actor, however, and with her wanting to do everything to ignore her blossoming attraction to Okarun, she coined the nickname to help disassociate him from any romantic feelings.

What makes the joke about Momo forcing a nickname onto Okarun even better is that Ken Takakura isn’t someone made up for the story; rather, Okarun’s namesake, Ken Takakura, was one of the most celebrated actors in the history of Japanese cinema, which sells the joke far more than it would if Okarun’s namesake was a fictional character. As popular as Ken Takakura is in Japan, though, he’s likely less recognizable to English fans, but Dandadan makes for the perfect chance to be familiarized with his work, especially with how important it is to the story.

Dandadan's Hero Is Named After One Of Japan's Most Famous Actors

Poster for Too Late the Hero — Too-Late-The-Hero-Poster

Okarun is named after the real-life actor Ken Takakura, affectionately referred to as Ken-san by fans. Takakura started acting in 1956 and had appeared in over 180 films by 1976, his breakout role being 1965’s Abashiri Prison. For English audiences, Ken Takakura is best known for 1970’s Too Late the Hero and Ridley Scott’s Black Rain, and following his death in 2014, a documentary on his life was released that included interviews with filmmakers and actors such as Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader, Michael Douglas, John Woo, and Yoji Yamada.

Something especially notable about Ken Takakura is that he was very popular with Chinese audiences. Japanese actors tend not to be popular in China, but Ken Takakura became a celebrity in China thanks to the 1976 crime drama Manhunt being the first foreign film shown after the Cultural Revolution, the sociopolitical movement that put Mao Zedong back in power. A huge number of Chinese fans and celebrities reportedly expressed their condolences to Ken Takakura after his death, and that’s a major testament to how big a star he was with Asian audiences.

Why Momo Hate That Okarun's Real Name is Ken Takakura

Momo Is Conflicted by Her Feelings for Okarun

Ken Takakura is Momo’s celebrity crush, and she loves him to the point that she dated her ex just due to his resemblance to the actor, despite his awful personality. Yet, Momo is caught off guard after Okarun says one of Ken Takakura’s famous lines, “I'm an awkward fellow,” and she subconsciously starts comparing them both. Momo realizes that Okarun has displayed many personality traits of Ken Takakura, like being brave, defending her, being the same quiet type, and acting like a gentleman by offering her his clothes, and becomes extremely flustered once she learns Okarun’s real name.

Furthermore, in her mind, Okarun can’t resemble Ken Takakura, so she refuses to address him by her real name and instead chooses a nickname. Moreover, as Momo doesn’t want to acknowledge her feelings, she gets triggered every time Okarun says Ken Takakura’s tagline or someone calls him by his real name. However, she might not call Okarun by his name, but he is steadily taking Ken Takakura’s top spot in Momo’s life.

Not only does Momo begin to show more interest in UFOs thanks to Okarun’s influence, decorating her room with the theme and wearing alien earrings, but as the story progresses, Ken Takakura isn’t named as much. Because of this, as Momo and Okarun’s relationship develops, they may reach a point where she feels comfortable enough to call him by his name. Momo calling Okarun Ken will be an emotional milestone for their relationship, as this will mean he has surpassed Ken Takakura for her, a moment that fans of Dandadan’s romance should look forward to.

Okarun's Namesake Perfectly Ties Into His Character Arc In Dandadan

How Okarun's Character Will Grow In The Anime

Ken Takakura’s characters were defined by their stoicism and tough personalities, something brought up in Dandadan episode #1, so with Okarun being named after him, Okarun sharing a name with Ken Takakura shows that his arc will be about growing into a stronger and more confident person, something that can already be seen in the few fights he’s had in the anime. Okarun embodying Ken Takakura in name and personality would be the perfect way of building his romantic arc with Momo, as well, so with any luck, Dandadan will more than succeed on that front.