Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction “Episode 2” Recap/Review (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Directed by Tomoyuki Kurokawa
Written by Reiko Yoshida
English Voice Cast: Elyse Maloway, Britt McKillip, Caitlyn Bairstow, Kazumi Evans, Meaghan Hommy
Studio: Production h+

Spoiler Warning!

Anyone want to go alien hunting? From Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction — Courtesy of Inio Asano/Production h+/Crunchyroll

something Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction proves with both the last episode and “Episode 2” is how history functions. History happens around people’s lives. People don’t stop living just because wars or economic uprising occur. Lives are impacted but they go on.

However, how people react to events is what shapes history. The audience knows that the world in the first two episodes becomes much darker. The road though will take six years to get there. “Episode 2” starts both viewers and the characters down the eventual path to a post August 32^n.d. world.

I’m afraid of Americans

First though, people have to deal with the crash of the alien probe at the end of the last episode. Apparently the mothership sends these out periodically. This though is the first time one has been incapacitated and humans can take stock of what’s on board.

The JSDF bitching about Americans — Courtesy of Inio Asano/Production h+/Crunchyroll

To the chagrin of the Japanese Self Defense Forces, Americans swept in to excavate anything that wasn’t the ship including the pilots. Just like on August 31^st where the US tested a bomb on the alien mothership, the action was taken without consulting the Japanese government. Any technology found is now in American custody and it’s implied they won’t share it.

Even more frustrating are their own investigations. Any probes sent into the giant sphere hovering outside Tokyo disappear. The aliens don’t communicate back and one soldier even wonders if this an invasion at all. Even if the Americans at this point have the advantage, no one seems to know anything about these alien vessels or who is in them.

[omnious sphere sounds] From Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction. — Courtesy of Inio Asano/Production h+/Crunchyroll

How the show treats the US not as an ally but as vultures offers an interesting political commentary. This isn’t a mutual relationship. The Americans don’t see Japan as an ally but as a resource to exploit or as a place to test their military weapons. Better to do so abroad than at home. Japan needs America as military allies but clearly resents them. The situation with alien first contact has only exacerbated this.

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

Of course as this goes on, Kadode and her friends live their lives. Kiho dates her new boyfriend and wo n’t shut up about him. After confronting her mother, Kadode can now reconsider her options for the future. Ouran can’t spot obsessing over the crashed alien ship and wants someone to come with her to see it.

DeadDeadDemon2 5 Kadode acts on the crush she has on her teacher rather than join Ouran in her alien hunt. She lets him know that she’s considering going to her alma mater and she wants to study sociology like he did. So she follows him home. After living with a hypochondriac for years, she finds his home rather plain, covered in books, and a little depressing. It’s her first view of the adult world and it seems less exciting than she expected. She could have gone to see an alien ship with Ouran.

The friendship between Kadode and Ouran is fascinating for how prickly and lived in it is. While Kadode gives a definite idea how long they’ve been friends, it’s almost unnecessary. They tease each other based on past history. Occasionally the two get mad at one another but quickly forgive the other. They’re both weirdos but they’re weirdos who understand each other.

Kadode realizes her teacher isn't that different than her. — Courtesy of Inio Asano/Production h+/Crunchyroll

That said, Ouran’s visiting the crash site yields one development. She picks up a weird piece of alien junk that the Americans missed. Who knows what this discovery will have later on but it’s worth mentioning.

There’s also glimpses into other folks home lives. Ouran lives above a store with her father and shut in brother. Her brother yells at people on the internet. When Kadode visits, he feels compelled to leave the house. Kadode’s friend Ai takes care of her numerous siblings. Her family lives in special housing after one of the alien ships destroyed their home. The aliens affect every day life but life carries on.

The Nakagawa family — Courtesy of Inio Asano/Production h+/Crunchyroll

War huh, yeah, What is it good for?

But as this all happens, we still get two glimpses on how the future will proceed. First, the Japanese military talks to a company that makes robots and we see the early models of the Fujins. Remember the Fujins, the killer robots from “Episode 0”? Well here they’re introduced as a way to destroy the various probes that exit the mothership. Crowds watch and cheer as these visitors get annihilated in the sky.

The first version of the Fujins from Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction — Courtesy of Inio Asano/Production h+/Crunchyroll

The second glimpse is when a stranger speaks to Kiho and her boyfriend. It’s similar to how the invade infected Nabuo spoke to Kadode last episode on August 31^st. Only this person is a boyband member that was seen on a poster in Kadode’s room earlier. Is Kadode drawing these invaders to her or is it pure coincidence? Time will tell but only on a path that goes one day at a time for these characters.

Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction Episode 2: Final Verdict

In the end, “Episode 2” continues leading these characters down a path to future strangeness. People live their lives but history happens around them. We know that the choices made today will lead to the hellish world seen in “Episode 0”. For now, life goes on for people living in the and history is a series of choices made by people in power.