Seiko Ayase

Seiko Ayase (綾あや 瀬せ 星せい 子こ , Ayase Seiko?) is a major supporting character of the manga series Dandadan. She is a well-known spirit medium who also goes by the name Santa Dodoria (ドドリア三太, Dodoria Santa?) and the grandmother of Momo Ayase. While performing her duties, Seiko provides support to Momo and her friends as they become involved with spirits, aliens, and other paranormal activities.

Appearance: Despite being a grandmother, Seiko has the appearance of a slender woman in her prime. She possesses long white hair that she generally ties up in a large top knot, wears glasses, and can occasionally be seen smoking at times. On top of her youthful appearance, Seiko has been noted for her beauty that she claims others might go so far as to describe her as being bewitching. Due to this, many have mistaken her to be Momo's mother and leave them in shock once they learn her true relation to the girl. In terms of height, she is shown to stand no taller than her granddaughter.

When out in public, Seiko wears an open large button sweater that reveals her cross-strap top, a jacket with a symbol on the back, hoop earrings, and sandals. When at home, Seiko prefers to wear a tank top, shorts, a haramaki, long socks, and arm warmers.

As Santa Dodoria, Seiko wears a mask, sharp finger tipped gloves, and a cloak covering up her entire body while leaving only her large top knot hair visible. In the past when Momo was a little girl, Seiko wore the respectful attire of a shrine maiden and had her hair tied in a regular ponytail.

Personality: Seiko has a phlegmatic personality and a highly uncouth manner of speech. At the same time, she is selfless and empathetic to help others in need if it's within her power, with the greatest example being her taking people into her house if they need a place to stay. As such, she follows the concept of "being in it together". Instead of accepting Okarun's generous compensation for looking after him while he was cursed by the Turbo Granny, Seiko told him that the only way he could repay her was to help other people who were in trouble. When involving herself with children, Seiko believes that, as an adult, she should be able to shoulder their burdens to allow them to be free to do what they want in life. Because of this, she felt saddened that she was unable to honor Jiji's wishes to help him keep the Evil Eye under control in order to spare the yokai from being exorcised. While willing to help others, Seiko is too proud to admit when she needs help herself or burden others with her problems, having at first refused Okarun and Mr. Mantis Shrimp's offer to help rebuild her house when it was in ruins after the Evil Eye's stay.

Seiko can also come off as being a bit immature, such times being when she joked about Momo having a crush on Okarun, due to him having the same name as Ken Takakura, and having her granddaughter make a Hiroshi Abe impression in exchange for having to buy her a new school uniform. Despite this and her unladylike way of speaking, Seiko can act polite if she feels that she has made a mistake that involves the well-being of others. This side of Seiko is seen as being rare and out of character to those who know her well. Though she claims that she has never been moved by emotion, Seiko subconsciously favors those who compliment her, such as her youthful appearance which she takes great pride in.

As a spirit medium, Seiko follows the rules of coexistence between the living and the dead, which is to not disrespect the dead and send them to the afterlife, by using force if necessary, if they choose to attack the living. Seiko has a passion for food, believing that it should not be taken lightly since "living begins with eating". As a cook who occasionally serves food for Momo and her acquittances, she finds it delightful to see a person who knows how to eat by filling up on the food she makes and even becomes motivated to make more to further satisfy their appetite. She was even willing to feed a restaurant full of Renjaku High School student at the cost of her entire paycheck. On the other hand, she dislikes picky eaters.

While a believer in spirits, Seiko is a disbeliever in UFOs or aliens. Even after Momo brought home Mr. Mantis Shrimp as proof, Seiko only saw him as being a kappa and did not think much of the alien's spacecraft after abducting a cow. She enjoys watching television shows, which is the only thing that brings her a sense of joy and laughter in life.

Background: Seiko took in her granddaughter Momo when she was little and wanted to pass on a little of her ways as a spirit medium, instructing her to perform a daily spell routine that would potentially help her to release her ki. Following her grandmother's instructions, Momo faced bullying from children whenever she performed the daily spell in public. This then resulted in Momo blaming Seiko for the mistreatment and accusing her of being a fraudulent spirit medium, a claim that deeply affected her. Eventually, their relationship began to heal after Momo apologized to Seiko.