©Ino Asano/Shogakukan/DeDeDeDe Committee
This is another episode where we step away from the core duo so that we can better understand what’s going on. Therefore, we focus on three people: Ikeda, Tsutomu, and Futaba.
Ikeda is the soldier we’ve seen in past episodes struggling with his job. He was the first to kill an alien and was one of the few to admit that the aliens seemed to have human emotions and seemed to attempt to communicate in their final moments. In this episode, we see him return to his childhood home while on sabbatical. Japan Self-Defense Forces.
To say Ikeda is struggling would be an understatement. On the one hand, he felt the need to protect himself by attacking the naive idle position of those who wished for peace. But this is just a deflection. The real problem is that he can’t admit that what he’s doing is wrong, because once he does, he’s no longer a soldier but a murderer. Yet, deep down, he knew it was true. That’s why he doesn’t want others to view his sins as bug-killing, nor does he want people who don’t know what it means to take a life to make fun of the genocide he’s participating in. No one in his personal life supports him.
The other side of the coin is Nu, the alien from previous episodes, who reunites with his love only to have her brutally murdered in front of him. However, despite this, he still longs for peace and believes there is some way to communicate with humanity. Unfortunately, the Japanese government decided to eliminate the human variable entirely and instead use artificial intelligence-controlled murder machines. So Nu, surrounded by the corpses of dozens of adoring alien children, is faced with a question: Can you really be a pacifist when your people are suffering genocide?
Finally, there’s Futaba. She came to Tokyo just to challenge her ideals. Of course, she immediately joined one of the first groups to support them and has since become a true believer in the cause. However, she now finds that few people share her enthusiasm. Most of her friends, including her boyfriend, left the group – suggesting it was a fad among young, idealistic youth who wanted to change the world more than anything else. Once the novelty wears off, they’re ready to move on.
As membership dwindled, the group began to doubt whether protests and leaflets were enough, so they began to change their ideals. Once peaceful groups are becoming radicalized and turning to violence to express their views. This leaves Futaba wondering where she fits into the whole incident. Will she need to sacrifice her beliefs for the greater good? Is violence necessary to demonstrate commitment to an ideal?
There are no answers in this episode—not for Ikeda, Tsutomu, or Futaba. Everyone is stuck in their own moral quagmire with no way out. In the end, only one group of people seems truly happy: Kadod, Ouran, and friends. Herein lies the truly pessimistic message of this episode: Perhaps the best way to live is to willfully ignore the burning world around you.
grade:
Random thoughts:
• This episode consists almost entirely of new footage that did not appear in the film version of the story.
• Interestingly, aliens view humans as invaders. It sounds like it’s going to have a bigger impact as things develop.
• What could be more telling for the character of Kenichi than that he is upset that the government is killing too many aliens and ruining his fun? This shows that he cares more about personal revenge than any actual ideals.
• Besides, today is Ouran’s birthday─and she didn’t expect such a party at all.
Dead Dead Demon’s Dededed Currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
