I’d heard about Dandadan as a much-awaited title to be adapted into the anime screen, and I was glad that V was just as excited to watch it. Since it explored Japanese occultism, yokai, and cryptids, I was already interested as a fan of all of that. It’s a shounen romance battle anime, set in modern times where aliens have infiltrated humanity to… extract bananas. It makes sense in context.
Now that we’re well into the second season, it’s only been an exciting yet agonizing wait for each episode (since we wanted to avoid manga spoilers) as we’re more than invested in its amazing characters and entertaining story.
While I lapped up the bits of lore I was unfamiliar with and enjoyed poring over details with V, he took the two protagonists, Okarun and Momo, and created D&D homebrew subclasses inspired by them!
He showcases how the powers and abilities of each subclass let you zip around the battlefield or control it, respectively, using his signature Action Cam, and explains how they work along the way.
Okarun in D&D: Barbarian Subclass Build (Spectral Glint)
If you’re not familiar, Okarun (real name Takakura Ken) is one of the two main teen protagonists of this shonen romance battle anime. For the most part, he’s a sweet, mild-mannered teen, but when emotions run high and all the chips are down, he becomes… an even milder-mannered young man. But with superpowers!
His main ability is his incredible speed. A power that he got from that one time he was possessed by the infamous Turbo Granny yokai and lost his—well—
Balls-to-the-wall action sequences, incredible animation, and heartfelt moments are what make Dandadan great—and you can bring that same energy to your D&D campaign with the Spectral Glint Barbarian subclass.
Okarun’s high-speed powers come from his short stint as the host of Turbo Granny, a somewhat malevolent urban spirit who loves to give chase. If you’re a fan of the show, you might be wondering why V designed Okarun as a Barbarian.
After all, a Monk could match his speed, while a Warlock could match his story. However, neither of those classes felt right for V. The speed of a monk is constant, while Okarun needs to transform first. To V, that sounds like the Barbarian’s Rage feature.
Okarun never made a pact with Turbo Granny, either, and trust us, we don’t think it ever crossed his mind.
His powers are the remnants of the yokai’s powers, like water left in an emptied glass. A character who channels these lingering powers is the narrative hook that anchored V’s design for the Spectral Glint.
Before we get to the homebrew, a quick primer on the series: Dandadan is the type of anime that isn’t afraid to get weird, and neither is it afraid to buck genre conventions. So if you see a giant enemy crab possessed by an old granny later in his demonstration, that’s just him matching the vibe of the source material.
If that all sounds cool to you, well, are you comfy at the table? Let’s fire up V’s Action Cam and see how the Spectral Glint plays!
Note that he chose flavor optimization when building Okarun for this video. Sage background ‘cos he’s kind of a big UFO-slash-cryptid nerd, and tiefling ‘cos he physically changed after his curse.
If you want to optimize it, Tavern Brawler or Tough feats are good feats to deal with Opportunity Attacks at early levels. You can get Tavern Brawler with the Sailor background or Tough with Farmer, then pair it with the human species to get both feats.
Stat-wise, you ideally should strive for a 17 to Strength if you could help it, ‘cos you can boost it to 18 at level 4 with a bunch of cool feats. Charger is certainly the optimal choice for damage, but Grappler gives you more control. Speedy is an honorable mention, especially since you’ll be worrying about Opportunity Attacks until you get the Barbarian’s Level 9 Brutal Strike feature.
Roleplay-wise, the Spectral Glint is intended for a darker character. Someone who was once cursed or possessed, but couldn’t completely shake off the horrors even after the exorcism. Think of the Black Racer from that one Flash movie.
Narratively, a Spectral Glint character meshes well with party members who could comfort or sympathize with their tormented past. Mechanically, you could flavor the features to be tech-based or organic-based, much like Ingenium from My Hero Academia.
In short, the Spectral Glint subclass offers Turbo Granny-level speed, devastating melee attacks, and a rich narrative hook for roleplay.
Momo in D&D: Monk Subclass Build (Phantom Grasper)
Now let’s look at Ayase Momo, who inspires a D&D Monk subclass called the Phantom Grasper.
In a group of teens that uses their occult powers to unearth urban legends, tangle with aliens, and navigate their feelings, Momo is the leader of this group and one of the two main protagonists of the series. She’s a headstrong high-schooler with a love for the classics, while still engaging in Japanese Gyaru culture.
BUT! You don’t need to know the series to enjoy this subclass!
After releasing Okarun, V shared a new Monk subclass he designed that uses Phantom Hands to control the battlefield and suppress curses. The Phantom Grasper is inspired by Ayase Momo’s cool psychic and occult powers.
Monks can be more than a damage dealer. Imagine an enemy just out of reach, but you summon phantom hands to pull them in—or archers hiding behind cover, only for you to throw that cover back! On top of all that, you still get to do your awesome martial arts!
This is just to give you a feel for the character, since we’ll be looking at the Phantom Grasper through the lens of a level 6 Monk.
Personally, I think the Phantom Grasper offers a cool utility-based playstyle, ‘cos it integrates the environment in your toolkit. I feel like it can push players like me to really think out of the box. Spirit Sight in particular leans into the monk’s ability to punch beyond the veil, so now they can see ghosts AND hit them.
I can also see some teamwork potential, which doesn’t always play out easily at a table in my experience. A lot of people I played with focused on skills that gave them individual hero moments rather than aiding the group. V and I talk a lot about how limitations inspire a lot of creativity, so features like the Phantasmal Hands open up a lot of space for creative play.
Personally, I’d use the Phantom Grasper for heavy exploration. I love exploring settings, and the subclass lets me get into places buried under heavy stuff, especially since I usually dump Strength. Spirit Sight also lets me look into potential lore that would’ve otherwise been exclusive to clerics or paladins who can see into ethereal stuff.
I just love how all-around the Phantom Grasper is. It has defense, mobility, utility, and hey, putting it on top of base monk features gives it enough power for me to hold my own. At higher levels, you can do cool slingshot maneuvers that let you fly in the air. Eventually, you’d be capable of lifting even heavier stuff like a gigantic Mongolian death worm.
Five important things we’d like to share
If you’ve made it this far, we really appreciate it, and we hope you enjoyed the videos! Real quick though, we have 5 cool things we wanna show you, so stick around a bit longer!
One, you can find the Spectral Glint and the Phantom Grasper document linked in the Ko-fi and Patreon shops!
Two, the links have a lite version that gives you all the features until level 6 TOTALLY FREE!
Three, we have a cool Trello board where you can keep tabs on what V’s working on and what might be coming up next! You can even vote on it!
Four! You can get HUGE shop discounts if you sign up for our Ko-Fi or Patreon membership! The $5 tiers even get you early access and FREE access to all items in our shop! Becoming a member also grants you access to our exclusive Discord server!
And five! You get to be among the magnificent mallards who keep our D&D channel afloat.
And hey, if this is your first time seeing DM V’s work, send him a duck emoji in the comments to let him know I sent you! He also does homebrew for Kamen Rider, with documents to play Kamen Rider Geats and Kamen Rider W!
FAQs
Can you play anime characters in D&D?
Yes! With homebrew subclasses, you can adapt any anime character’s powers into D&D mechanics. DM V designs D&D homebrew mechanics ranging from subclasses to entire setting guides at his YouTube channel, all of which allow players to bring their pop culture fantasies to their D&D tabletop games.
Why is Okarun a Barbarian subclass in D&D?
Because his powers activate through transformation, similar to Barbarian Rage, and aren’t constant like a Monk’s speed.
What subclass fits Momo in D&D?
The Phantom Grasper Monk homebrew captures her psychic hands and battlefield control, giving her more utility than base monk features.
How do yokai-inspired powers translate into D&D?
Outside of narrative flavor, they work well as curses, possession remnants, or supernatural martial arts abilities.
