REVIEW: ‘Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction’ Episode 0

When the world is falling apart, it can be abrupt and discombobulating. As seen in Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction Episode 0, it can be years before things start to come together. This is the case for Nobuo Koyama (Giles Panton). Before a mysterious alien mothership arrives, he is a simple manga editor. After that fateful day coinciding with the mothership’s destruction, Nobuo’s life is forever changed.

Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction Episode 0 starts with the mundane day-to-day life of a manga editor. Nobuo is chasing down his writers to meet deadlines. He’s even tasked by the Editor (Michael Dobson) to gently let someone go. It seems like a pretty standard day for Nobuo. Eventually, he runs home and collides with his daughter, Kadode (Elyse Maloway).

Nobuo questions why she is not in school, and she reminds him that she is coming from tutoring. At first glance, it’s a regular run-in. But between the two of them, neither of them knows that this is the last time they’ll meet. But Nobuo’s connection with his daughter is the tie that binds him in Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction Episode 0.

The next day, Nobuo is on public transit heading to work. That is until a strange occurrence happens overhead. A ship, large and obtrusive, descends. Knocking into a building, everyone, including Nobuo, panics inside the bus they’re on. As bits of the building fall, no one registers how much their lives will be upended.

The change from the slice-of-life format to a post-apocalyptic dystopian world is sudden but necessary. Viewers feel this as Nobuo wakes up suddenly. Confused and unsure, he wakes up to a world he barely recognizes. And, while the info dumping he experiences through the remainder of Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction Episode 0 breaks the rules surrounding showing and not telling, it reflects the overload Nobuo feels.

He is confronted by two young girls, Kimika (Michelle Creber) and Hako (Lexi Ly), who try to get him up to speed when they realize the situation. It’s been over eight years since Nobuo was conscious. An invader had been occupying his body during that time, taking care of the two girls. However, with the disappearance of another girl, the intruder couldn’t keep fighting Nobuo’s will to live and, ultimately, succumbed to its own weakness.

This new world Nobuo wakes up to is cruel and violent. It is desperate and grieving. This becomes more apparent throughout Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction Episode 0. The discovery of Kimika’s and Hako’s friend bloodied outside the safe confines of the subway station is the first proof of that. The strange blobs called asterisks are seen floating in the air and seem innocuous, yet, according to Kimika, they can annihilate a person.

There are groups that also utilize violent means. New Japan Harmony aims to protect the invaders, but not everything as it seems. Operating separately are Fuji #9, machines programmed by rogue AI determined to wipe out those non-compliant. Violence and inequality are spreading rapidly, with those who are non-compliant being forced into slavery or killed. Despite this, Nobuo is determined to try to find his daughter and brave the dangers that this new world presents.

Kimika and Hako join him, with the journey proving to be their last. Kimika organizes a meeting with New Japan Harmony in the hopes of joining them. In exchange, she sacrifices Nobuo for their experimentations. But safety was always a ruse. The members dispatch Kimika and Hako and, in their distraction, Nobuo is able to make his escape. Just as he’s about to get got, he is saved by another organization called SHIP. Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction Episode 0 then ends with one of the members recognizing Nobuo as Kadode’s dad.

Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction Episode 0 hits the ground running in explaining to both Nobuo and the audience what kind of world to brace themselves for. There’s a lot of exposition but it sets the stage for what is likely to come for the rest of the series. There’s enough action later on in the episode to keep things from being too bogged down, helping the pacing and info processing along.

With the animation produced by Production +h, there are moments throughout Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction Episode 0 where there are obvious and distracting anatomical problems. It is most obvious in Nobuo’s design, with his body proportions constantly morphing throughout the episode.

That nitpick aside, as an introduction to the world of this latest anime series, Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction Episode 0 easily paints a picture of the danger that comes in the wake of the intruders. While it’s unclear whether or not the intruders are just as violent as the humans left behind, the different factions running things now are brutal and dangerous. With Nobuo’s single mission to find his daughter, there are enough stakes to get viewers invested.

Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction Episode 0 is out now on Crunchyroll. An English dub and sub are now available.