Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction “Episode 3” Recap/Review (⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 /⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
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!
Disinformation is the name of the game in “Episode 3” of Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction. As the country of Japan becomes a darker place with each episode, an understandable anxiety now shrouds Japanese society while living in the shadow of an alien mothership.
The last episode opened with the accidental crash of an alien craft and ended with Japan intentionally shooting another one down. The undercurrent running throughout was that even after three years, how little anyone understands about these alien visitors. The lack of verifiable information and the guessing games from all levels of citizenry breeds the palpable anxiety seen in this episode.
Datapanik in the Year Zero
Our military Greek chorus of officers in Tokushima and Takahata reveal that once again, the Americans swooped in and claimed the alien ship shot down at the end of last episode. The two are kind of convinced that the mothership aren’t actually aliens but an American experiment. To them, the latest ship and the massive orb over Tokyo Bay must be Area 51 experiments.
The audience knows there actually are aliens, though. Kadode’s father is possessed by one and now in Osaka, another one inhabits the body of former boyband member Keith Oba who seems overly fascinated with Tokyo. He then wanders Tokyo and enters random houses using a device that looks suspiciously familiar for Doctor Who fans. The possessed act more like tourists, since everything about Earth and Japan are as weird to them as the aliens are to the viewer.
However, the humans in the show are hopelessly in the dark about aliens. When a reporter visits the factory making the Fujins, he’s irrationally convinced the alien bodies and technology are there. All the while, no one knows how dangerous the A-rays coming off the mothership are while Kadode and Ouran continue to obsess over the ship.
Life During Wartime
Which is why the focus on Kiho Hurihara for this episode, the person in the series who is least interested in the aliens, is so fascinating. So far the only thing that interests Kiho is her mopey, mop topped boyfriend Kenichi and she spends most of the episode trying to connect with him whether it’s hanging out, talking about his favorite band The Moth Men, or inviting him to a Moth Men concert. Although, his recent attitude change concerns her greatly.
Kenichi saw the crash and the aliens crawl out of the ship and he unfortunately made the mistake of going on the internet to see what people thought. Since no one knows anything about the aliens that isn’t steeped in fiction or rumor, everything skews towards this being an invasion or more outlandish conspiracy theories. The government can’t be trusted, while Kenichi can only doom scroll and repeat back the most absurd comments and conspiracy theories.
Kiho can only take so much of this, though. She struggles connecting with Kadode, Ouran, and their circle of friends because she’s so new to their group, even though they’ve known each other for years. Kenichi should especially be someone that she can connect to on her own without her circle of friends. On top of this, they’re kind of weird and the relationship between Kiho and Kenichi should fill the gap she feels around the other girls, but Kenichi’s growing obsession with the aliens and their clear evil infuriates her.
The episode culminates in Kiho calling her boyfriend out on his nonsense and in a heartbreaking monologue delivered beautifully by voice actress Meaghan Hommy, she unloads her frustrations on her idiot boyfriend. She doesn’t care about the aliens, they know nothing about them and it’s been three years since they appeared. If they were going to invade they would have already. Why should anyone really care what they want at this point? What she wants is a boyfriend who pays attention to her and her needs and if he’s not going to meet her needs, he should get out of the picture.
Kiho returns to the other girls, even if she feels like an outsider in the group, they’re still her friends. They want her around and these girls might be weirdos but they’re her weirdos.
Ominously in this episode, the Japanese government shoots down another alien probe, with the last one shot over open water. This one ends up crashing into an empty apartment building. Luckily, no one was hurt, but that may not be the case in the future.
Final Verdict
“Episode 3” explores the anxiety of the unknown and having a massive alien presence in the daily lives of people. The aliens so far don’t seem too interested in conquering humanity, but that doesn’t stop folks like Kenichi from thinking the worst.
Kiho represents a rare perspective in this series of someone just living their life, whose anxieties center around their internal life than the external one where aliens are a strange constant. It’s these glimpses into the lives of people in strange circumstances that makes Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction such a unique piece of science fiction.
Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction is currently streaming on Crunchyroll. New episodes drop every Friday.
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