So a common headcanon/theory Iāve seen floating around is that when Okarun shifts into his yokai form, the personality shift he undergoes is representative of a ātruerā inner self. I can see the line of logic that led to this, but the more thought Iāve put into it, the less Iāve agreed with the premise. And Iāve put so much thought into it at this point that itās had to become its own whole post separated from the analysis it was originally a part of, so strap in.
Disclaimer: if this is your personal headcanon, Iām not here to try to prove you wrong or make you change your mind, Iām more so discussing this from the theory side of things and what I think will happen as the manga continues. Also slight manga spoilers for up to chapter 172 !!
So as the theory goes, the personality that comes out when Okarunās transformed is a more genuine version of himself, where his yokai form removes his anxieties and allows him to act more confidently and openly show the depression and pessimism thatās lived in him the whole time. On a surface level this tracks, as being in this form does make him more confident, blunt, and he completely drops the formal way he speaks to people, going so far as to adopt a cute nickname for Momo.
I donāt think this fully makes sense for a number of reasons, though. Firstly is that throughout all 175 chapters that are currently out, I canāt recall any moments where Okarun ever acts in a way that would hint at his real inner workings reflecting the personality and behavior that come out when he is transformed. I could have missed something, of course, but when so much of Momo and Okarunās relationship is built on them being their genuine selves around the other (more on that in this great video I saw), Iām inclined to believe that there isnāt going to be another shoe to drop nearly 200 chapters in.
To explain my other reasoning, Iām going to have to go into a little bit of a side tangent about Aira, and first I want to establish why I think comparing Okarun to her in this instance makes sense. So up until the cursed diorama arc, the only character that really has comparable yokai related powers to Okarun is Aira. They acquire these powers in different ways, and Seiko says Okarun has Turbo Grannyās āspiritual powerā, whereas Acro-Silky says she gave Aira her āaura.ā Given the contexts of the scenes these are said in I would assume they are meant to be two different concepts, however itās not ever explicitly stated or shown how the difference there affects them or their yokai abilities, so I am treating them as functionally the same thing for this analysis. Regardless, the similarity between them seems to be that in one way or another, they have been left with the spiritual energy of their respective yokai, which allows them to transform in very similar ways. Their transformations affect them both physically in making them taller and stronger, as well as their personalities, with Okraun becoming less formal overall, and Aira becoming more formal in the way she addresses people.
Even though they are affected by their transformations in very similar ways, I havenāt seen any kind of headcanon or theory that the way Aira behaves while transformed is how she truly is or feels, which makes perfect sense considering her first character arc. From when sheās introduced, sheās shown to have a dynamic with Momo, Okarun, and her other peers at school, where even before sheās able to use Acro-Silkyās abilities, sheās pretty two faced. In chapter 51, Momo even says, āThereās our Aira!ā when she and Okarun pull Aira away from her class and she immediately shifts to her more snarky attitude towards Momo. The manga makes it quite clear that the way she acts at school, and on occasion towards Okarun, is an act, and that her genuine personality is a little nasty and rude (which she is loved for! By other characters and audience members of taste). And with that established, of course no one put that much emphasis on how her behavior changes when sheās using Acro-Silkyās powers. Sheās still the same person, her mannerisms and the way she speaks are just altered slightly, which is also pretty much how I feel about Okarunās yokai form.
That being said, I donāt want to fully dismiss that the shifted personality could mean something, and in fact I wouldnāt be surprised if Okarun did still have some repressed feelings and pessimism from his time growing up without any friends, but at the current point in the story Iām not sure if I could see that being shown explicitly tied to his yokai form. As of chapter 165, Okarun gets his final ball back, and as per his end of the deal, he returned Turbo Grannyās spiritual power to her, and she left with them and hasnāt made an appearance since. Okarun no longer has access to his yokai form, but at this point heās surrounded by friends, heās confessed his feelings to Momo, and heās even grown physically strong enough to hold his own in a fight without any powers. As far as what weāve been shown, Okarun has developed and his life has changed so much that he doesnāt really have any of those reasons to be a pessimistic downer that he had before the events of the series. Not to say he has no reasons to be sad, of course, we still havenāt been given even a hint of what his family and home life is like, and I expect something will happen with that eventually. But with where the story has gone so far, I donāt see this theory being true or narratively compelling.
TLDR: Thereās not much evidence going for this theory, and several things against it, so I personally donāt see it going anywhere in the canon series. The way Okarun acts and the feelings he expresses in his yokai form could still potentially mean something, so I won't completely dismiss it, but with where the story is currently I donāt think this theory being true would add much or be a compelling element of the plot.
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