Film review of Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction Part 2 – Sci-Fi anime ends in chaos

This is news that would send any normal person running, but Kadode and Ouran (voiced by J-pop starlets Lilas Ikuta and Ano) have more pressing matters.

High school is officially over and they are now free to enter university as strong, independent young adults. Worryingly, this means that Kadode wastes no time and moves in with her former teacher Watarase, embarking on a heated and relatively short-lived relationship.

Ouran meets Obu (Miyu Irino), a strange young man who resembles a boy band idol who disappeared on August 31 three years earlier – the day the aliens arrived.

He reveals that he is actually an intruder, and as a romance blossoms between them, he reveals to Ouran a number of shocking truths about her past and the stormy events she and Kadode experienced during their childhood.

Compressing Inio Asano’s ten-year manga series into four hours of screen time was never going to be easy, so it’s no surprise that the producers were working on a longer animated series at the same time.

The sheer scope and ambition of the narrative require more time and attention, as military conspiracies, internal alien power struggles, and vigilantism on both sides compete for attention with the youthful escapades of a group of young women.

Inevitably, this second film stumbles somewhat in its efforts to fully realize the potential of what its predecessor offered.

The introduction of alternate timelines and characters moving between them feels like too much narrative entanglement in an already dense story.

Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction is at its best when it’s about how ordinary citizens navigate their lives despite conflict, prejudice, and existential threats – things that have become an all too common backdrop to our everyday trivialities.

Is it our responsibility to get actively involved, or do we try to keep calm and carry on? That such questions are even raised in a medium aimed at younger people is a cause for celebration, even if what follows creates more chaos than clarity.