Dandadan: What are location-bound spirits?

Important takeaways

• Place-bound spirits are bound to specific locations, have incredible power, and can merge with other spirits.
• The Earthbound Spirit Crab of Dandadan terrorizes Shono City, heading to a tunnel where the souls of murdered girls lingered.
• Lure location-bound spirits out of their territory to weaken and drive them out, though each has unique weaknesses.

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

Location-Bound Spirits, also known as Earthbound Spirits, are among the many types of cryptic anomalies that Momo and Okarun will encounter in Dandadan. In the series, Spirits are deceased people who have remained in the land of the living rather than moving on to the afterlife for one reason or another. They are mostly invisible to normal humans and can only be seen by those with spiritual awareness.

Dandadan has lots of mysterious anomalies, each with its own strange rules. In addition to Spirits, Momo and Okarun will also encounter various alien lifeforms and cryptids, and they deserve their own classifications. So what sets Location-Bound Spirits apart from the rest of them?

How are location-bound spirits different from other spirits?

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

In the world of DandadanThere are currently three known categories that Spirits fall into: Placebound/Earthbound Spirits, Yokai, and Guardian Spirits. As the name suggests, Location-Bound Spirits are linked to a specific location that has significant relevance to the Spirit when it was still alive.

While in their territory, Location-Bound Spirits have incredible power and are basically unbeatable. Even an experienced Spirit Medium like Seiko Ayase, Momo's grandmother, cannot challenge a Location-Bound Spirit within its territory. Unlike Yokai, however, Location-Bound Spirits are not necessarily evil per se. It can differ from spirit to spirit, but as long as a person doesn't trespass on their territory, a location-bound spirit generally won't go out of its way to harm them.

Tread into their territory disrespectfully, and you only have yourself to blame for your death. Those are the rules for the living and the dead to coexist.

Spirit Fusions

Different types of Spirits can also fuse together to form a pact and become a new being that is stronger than either of the two parts and can 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.

However, there could be downsides to these fusions, as Turbo Granny, a Yokai, was then bound to Shono City, like the Spirit Crab. Before they met, Turbo Granny was said to be terrorizing people all over Japan, implying that she had manifested in other areas outside of Shono City.

The Earthbound Duck Crab

Shono City's infamous place-bound spirit

The Earthbound Spirit Crab is the first, and so far only, Location-Bound Spirit Momo and Okarun have had the misfortune to confront. This particular Spirit is bound to a tunnel in Shono City and takes the form of a giant crab with faces on its back and four rows of mouths in its abdomen. The tunnel the Spirit lived in is a place where several girls were violated and murdered, and where their restless souls lingered to create the Earthbound Spirit Crab. Those girls' faces are also the ones seen on the back of the Earthbound Spirit Crab's shell.

Although the Earthbound Spirit Crab mainly lived in the tunnel, its territory seemed to encompass all of Shono City, making it unbeatable there. To make matters worse, the Earthbound Spirit had also fused with Turbo Granny, making it so powerful that it could even prevent a powerful Spirit Medium like Seiko Ayase from entering the tunnel. Although Seiko was likely weakened during that time as Shono City is outside the jurisdiction of the gods whose powers she borrows from.

To beat the Spirit, Momo and Okarun had to lure it near the border between Shono City and Kamigoe City. From there, the duo hopped on a train bound for Kamigoe City with the Earthbound Spirit Crab in pursuit, eventually boarding the train as well. Momo then used her psychokinesis to hold the Spirit in place until they crossed over to Kamigoe City, where Seiko had set up a trap to drive it out.

The Earthbound Spirit Crab's appearance resembles a real crab species known as the Heikegani. This species of crab has a shell with a pattern that resembles a human face, specifically that of an angry samurai.

Weaknesses of location-bound spirits

Lure or drag them out of their home and they are like a fish out of water

Even if Dandadan's Location-Bound Spirits are nearly unstoppable once inside their territory, as soon as they leave they become vulnerable to exorcism just like any other Spirit. Even if you can't immediately challenge it, a Location-Bound Spirit will still lose power outside of its territory, making it easier to fight, contain, or run away from.

In addition to their general vulnerability when leaving their territory, Location-Bound Spirits also seem to have weaknesses specific to each. For example, the Earthbound Spirit Crab is weak to hot water, a weakness that Momo correctly deduced due to her knowledge of crab meat that solidifies when boiled. She drenched the Spirit in hot water from a bathhouse, which temporarily slowed the speed, even while they were still inside Shono City.

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