Every now and then you come across a line in a TV show or movie that makes you do a quick double take. Youll think Thats pretty slick Ill have to remember that but 5 minutes later its 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 Im 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 Ill call Ontan. 440https://i.ur.com/ozogw3v.png Iconic I typically begin a review by taking a paragraph or two to briefly discuss the narrative. With Dededede I think its 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 nonchronological order and will want to put off this episode until its proper place. Heres my take: while it is possible to watch the anime in a way that lines up with the manga it wasnt 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 Im 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 reawakens years later in a shelter that provides some amount of safety amidst a postapocalyptic wasteland. Its 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 Nobuos body to defending all three leave with Nobuo determined to make his way back to Tokyo to see if his family is still alive. 440https://i.ur.com/VAKQJq7.png Thats 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 its 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 shes very easy for viewers to latch onto and love. Kadode kind of serves as a foil to Ontans eccentricities really well as she isnt all that over the top shes 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 its difficult for her to navigate her circumstances. Its 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 cant do it on her own. 440https://i.ur.com/dB48P5N.png Tom Cruise wishes he looked this good in aviators Ontan isnt just a narrative tool to be used by Kadode however. As the series progresses layers and layers of depth get peeled back that completely recontextualize her initial chuuni behavior. We learn that its not all fun and games and we see her really try and bury her head in the sand as a result of choices shes 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 codependent 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 dont 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. 440https://ur.com/w7IuWiS.png 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 whats depicted is humanity at our worst our most xenophobic our most selfrighteous 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 its easy for people to fall into the radicalization pipeline going further and further until the possibility of reintegrating into society is nonexistent. Theyre bleak. But instead of using the third story to really drive this nail home and solidify how terrible people are Dededede doesnt. Instead the audience is shown a character who is able to arrest their own descent who is shown to have selfawareness have agency and lean on friends in order to extricate themselves from their situation. This message isnt that humanity is inherently doomed to extremist behavior its that broken people are the ones who fall into this pattern and others can and even should help them get out of it. 440https://ur.com/cRjUCym.png 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. Its 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. 440https://ur.com/kZumwt1.png 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 everpresent 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 onehalf of the Yoasobi duo and Anochan one of the more interesting personalities in JPop 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 Anochan 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 offputting and in general is kind of weird. This isnt going to make or break someones 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 arent 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. Its 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 Im looking for in a show and is something that Ill be recommending to people for years to come. 440https://ur.com/0Pv5hYw.png Oho what do we have here? A good show evidently.