DANDADAN - A Gal & Otaku vs. Aliens & Ghosts
DANDADAN is a Japanese manga by Yukinobu Tatsu, which is currently serialized in Shonen Jump+, since April 4 of this year. The manga is currently putting up crazy numbers, with each new chapter being read over 1 million times.
The manga follows Momo Ayase, high school "Gal", and Ken Takakura, a high school "Otaku". Momo strongly believes in ghosts but doesn't believe in aliens, and Ken believes in aliens but doesn't believe in ghosts. Momo is a huge fan of legendary Japanese actor Ken Takakura [not Ken in the manga], and is drawn to boys who have any similarities to the late actor. Momo was dumped by her first boyfriend ever, who inevitably looks like Ken Takakura. She happens to run into Ken, who is being bullied and jumps in to save him.
However shortly after, they find out that their beliefs regarding ghosts and aliens are complete polar opposites, resulting in some arguments. In order to settle their heat, they make a deal that whoever can prove that what they believe in is real can use the other's gofer. They send each other to their best UFO & ghost encounter spots, in which they both run into what they didn't believe in. This leads them to a wild journey of battles and adventures that neither of them could have imagined. After the first battle, Momo finds out that Ken is named Ken Takakura, and is naturally attracted to him.
The manga may not sound like the craziest manga ever, but there are many elements that make the manga popular. The illustrations are extremely detailed, making it hard to imagine that a new chapter is out every week. The battles are surprisingly intense, the plot is very well oriented, and the story has a little bit of everything. In fact, it is one of Shonen Jump+'s top mangas at the moment. Not so surprising when the author is Tatsuki Fujimoto [Chainsaw Man, Fire Punch]'s former assistant. He has even strongly praised the manga himself.
Fun Fact: In Ken's first ghost encounter, which was with "Turbo-Granny", he gets cursed and his genitals stolen. Ken & Momo's greatest mission is to basically retrieve Ken's balls.
Go read for yourself to see if Ken gets his balls back.
