Every now and then you come across a line in a TV show or movie that makes you do a quick double take. You’ll think, “That’s pretty slick, I’ll have to remember that”, but 5 minutes later it’s totally forgotten. For every fifty good lines like that, you might find one iconic line, one line that is infinitely memorable and quotable, and that just fits the work perfectly. After watching Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction (or Dededede for short), there is at least one more line I’m willing to say is iconic – “For you, I am absolute”. This line by itself is able to cut through the craziness of the plot, the narrative structure, the voice and character acting, and so much more, grounding the series by using the relationship between the two lead characters, Kadode and Ouran (who from here on out I’ll call Ontan).
I typically begin a review by taking a paragraph or two to briefly discuss the narrative. With Dededede, I think it’s prudent to quickly address something else before doing that. There are fairly significant changes between the anime and manga, including “Episode 0”, which chronologically would come right before the final episode of the series. I know some people hate watching in a non-chronological order and will want to put off this episode until its “proper” place. Here’s my take: while it is possible to watch the anime in a way that lines up with the manga, it wasn’t the intent of the production team for the show to be watched like that. They had a vision that I think works, and for that reason I’m not only going to start by talking about Episode 0, but also strongly recommend that it be watched before Episode 1. Even though this will create a little bit of confusion, I think it makes for a compelling structure and helps to keep the audience (a.k.a. you!) engaged for the duration of the show.
Now onto a quick overview of the narrative. Dededede opens on Nobuo, a manga editor with a seemingly strained relationship with his daughter, Kadode. One day during a nap an alien UFO appears over Tokyo Bay, and smaller ships detach and land. Suddenly we cut to Nobuo in a car, and it seems like he gets crushed under one of these smaller ships. He re-awakens years later in a shelter that provides some amount of safety amidst a post-apocalyptic wasteland. It’s here he also learns that, since the day he was crushed, his body has been inhabited by an “invader”, a synonym for “alien”. After assessing the situation and speaking to two of the girls the invader had dedicated his life (and Nobuo’s body) to defending, all three leave, with Nobuo determined to make his way back to Tokyo to see if his family is still alive.
That’s Episode 0, which is intended to serve as a hook for the rest of the series. There are several different plot threads that will show how the world got to the point where it’s currently at, and the audience will follow invaders as they attempt to survive on Earth, government officials and business executives making power plays, radicals causing mayhem and chaos, and even a news journalist. But at the epicenter of everything lies Ontan and Kadode, and their story.
When this duo is initially introduced, Ontan comes across as a strange chuuni/FPS otaku who has delusions of grandeur revolving around her being some kind of world ending threat. Her jokes are crass, the character animation gets absolutely crazy with her facial expressions, and everything about her is over the top. At the start of Dededede, Ontan is wild and hilarious, and I think she’s very easy for viewers to latch onto and love. Kadode kind of serves as a foil to Ontan’s eccentricities really well as she isn’t all that over the top, she’s just kind of a bundle of anxious energy. Her future is uncertain due to the UFO, she has a massive crush on her teacher, and her home life is strained; all of these things weigh on her, and it’s difficult for her to navigate her circumstances. It's through her relationship with Ontan that Kadode is able to get through these issues at a time when everything in the world seems to be breaking, leaning on her friend when she can't do it on her own.
Ontan isn't just a narrative tool to be used by Kadode, however. As the series progresses, layers and layers of depth get peeled back that completely re-contextualize her initial chuuni behavior. We learn that it’s not all fun and games, and we see her really try and bury her head in the sand as a result of choices she's made. Her own world is changing, and the world in general is on the verge of collapse, but being that rock for Kadode is what helps Ontan get through it all; its a very co-dependent relationship.
Lying at the core of Dededede is this idea of trying to get along with life in the face of a hopeless situation, this notion that individuals don’t actually have the power to influence the world around them and save the day on a macro scale, they only have agency over and the ability to influence what they choose to value on a micro one. The work as a whole reads as an endorsement of existentialism as well as escapism, and really emphasizes finding solace in the little things that give you as an individual meaning. The reason these two work so well as an individuals, and why their relationship is so vital, is because they echo and reinforce this core thematic thrust of the work. The world may be destined to end, but as long as Ontan and Kadode have each other, nothing else really matters.
When viewed alongside other themes Dededede chooses to examine, the easy conclusion to draw is that it does not have a particularly charitable opinion of the human condition. A lot of what’s depicted is humanity at our worst, our most xenophobic, our most self-righteous, our most shallow and manipulative. But there is balance. When I look at how the narrative examines three separate stories depicting the descent into extremism, two of them show humanity will abuse power in pursuit of doing the “right” thing, and how, without a support network, it’s easy for people to fall into the radicalization pipeline, going further and further until the possibility of reintegrating into society is non-existent. They’re bleak. But instead of using the third story to really drive this nail home and solidify how terrible people are, Dededede doesn’t. Instead, the audience is shown a character who is able to arrest their own descent, who is shown to have self-awareness, have agency, and lean on friends in order to extricate themselves from their situation. This message isn’t that humanity is inherently doomed to extremist behavior, it’s that broken people are the ones who fall into this pattern, and others can – and even should – help them get out of it.
With that being said, the visuals of Dededede are so visceral that, at times, what we see humans doing on screen can be really hard to watch. That is a credit to the animation of the show, which does an incredible job of portraying emotions based on the character acting. It’s not just facial expressions either seeing as how the body language contributes so much, which is vital to the success of the show due to the character designs of the invaders hiding their faces behind diving suit helmets. The cinematography as a whole is quite strong, with good storyboarding and direction featuring a wide variety of camera angles and shot compositions.
The OST and general sound design go beyond strong, however, and veer into excellent territory. In universe sound effects are well executed, background tracks contribute to the tone of scenes they are featured in without being overwhelming, and are not ever-present so when they are used, the impact is felt even more. The OP and both EDs really shine, in large part due to the names attached to this project. Lilas Ikuta (one-half of the Yoasobi duo), and Ano-chan (one of the more… interesting personalities in J-Pop), collaborated on all three tracks, and I loved all of them and what they bring to the table. More interesting, perhaps, is the fact that this is the debut work for Ikuta and Ano-chan as voice actors, as they play Kadode and Ontan respectively. When I saw two pop singers as the leading characters I was skeptical, but both of them performed these roles pretty phenomenally.
Unfortunately, not everything about Dededede has that some level of quality. If I were to nitpick a few things, the relationship between Kadode and teacher feels off-putting and in general is kind of weird. This isn’t going to make or break someone’s enjoyment, in my opinion, but will kind of make a lot of people (myself included) go “huh?”. There are also some supporting characters who I feel were underutilized, and that I would have liked to see more from. Diving a little deeper the narrative occasionally feels unfocused, jumping between too many very separate threads. This is mainly due to how the story is structured, and is something that honestly could have been lessened by not deviating so heavily from the manga. However, this is also an issue that the manga faces, so while it was more pronounced in the anime due to the desire to generate more intrigue and mystery, it was never going to be an avoidable issue.
Ultimately, these flaws aren’t significant enough to damper my enjoyment and appreciation for Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction. At the start I talked about how, for every fifty good lines you come across, you might find one really quotable line. This show is the anime equivalent; amidst a sea of seasonals that just aim to be generally enjoyable, this genuinely has something to say. In the same way that some of my favorite shows like Girls’ Last Tour did, this has been rattling around my head ever since I finished watching it. It’s fun and energetic, with charming characters and strong production values, and will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. Dededede is the absolute package, full of everything I’m looking for in a show, and is something that I’ll be recommending to people for years to come.
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