Seiko Ayase

Seiko Ayase is a prominent supporting character in the manga series Dandadan. Known as a skilled spirit medium, she also goes by the name Santa Dodoria and is the grandmother of Momo Ayase. Seiko plays a vital role in assisting Momo and her friends as they navigate encounters with spirits, aliens, and various paranormal phenomena.

Despite her status as a grandmother, Seiko has a youthful appearance, resembling a slender woman in her prime. She has long white hair typically styled in a large top knot, wears glasses, and is occasionally seen smoking. Her beauty is often remarked upon, with some even describing her as bewitching, leading to confusion among others who mistake her for Momo’s mother until they learn of their true relationship. In terms of height, she is about the same as her granddaughter.

In public, Seiko dresses in a loose, open button-up sweater that reveals a cross-strap top, a jacket adorned with a symbol on the back, hoop earrings, and sandals. At home, she opts for a tank top, shorts, a haramaki, long socks, and arm warmers. As Santa Dodoria, she dons a mask, sharp-fingered gloves, and a cloak that covers her entirely. In her younger days, when Momo was a child, Seiko wore traditional shrine maiden attire and styled her hair in a simple ponytail.

Abilities and Powers

Natural Abilities:

• Immense Strength: Seiko possesses remarkable strength, capable of using her bat to knock down the Evil Eye and create craters in the ground with a single swing.

• Immense Speed and Reflexes: She demonstrates impressive reflexes, successfully dodging attacks from the Evil Eye during close combat.

• Intelligence: As a spirit medium, Seiko has extensive knowledge of spirits and effective methods for protecting herself against malevolent entities.

Supernatural Abilities:

• Spiritual Awareness: Seiko can perceive spirits, including earthbound spirits and yokai.

• Clairvoyance: Utilizing a crystal ball, she has shown the ability to foresee events, such as accurately uncovering secrets about celebrities.

• Power Borrowing: Seiko can draw power from local deities, particularly from Kamikoshi City, where she resides.

• Mystic Barrier: She can create barriers to contain and exorcise evil spirits, employing her charm nails and talismans. The exorcism manifests as flames that incinerate the evil spirit until nothing remains. The potency of the barrier increases with the number of nails used, but it only works within the vicinity of the deity from whom she has borrowed power.

Usage of Mystic Barriers:

Seiko can create barriers by using the slidable pencil tip at the top of her bat, Nessie, to draw a large circle on the ground. Placing a charm nail within this circle allows her to protect herself from evil spirits, while positioning it outside can trap the spirits. She can also use barriers offensively, as demonstrated when she thwarted Turbo-Granny from attacking Momo by throwing a barrier at her.

• Power of Words (Kotodama): Seiko wields the ability to alter reality through words spoken with conviction. During a training session with Momo, she showcased this power by sending a sandbag flying with a swing of her bat after shouting “Nessie,” which she had named based on Momo’s thoughts about the strongest creature.

Weapons

• Nessie: Seiko’s signature weapon is a bat inscribed with “Power of Nessie.” Named after the Loch Ness Monster, it allows her to utilize the Power of Words effectively. With her strength, she can inflict significant damage and send adversaries flying with a single swing. The bat also features a slidable pencil tip for her barrier magic.

• Talisman: Used for casting mystic barriers and detecting nearby evil spirits, these talismans lose their power once activated.

• Charm Nails: Special nails that facilitate the creation of Seiko’s mystic barriers.

• Crystal Ball: Utilized for her clairvoyance ability.

• Spirit Medium Robes: These robes serve as protective gear against evil spirits.

• Harisen: A fan that can expel evil spirits sealed within individuals.