Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction

Episode 13

Before we talk about Dead Dead Demon's Dededededestruction this week, we were recently provided with an update about the Japanese-language version of anime and the dub-titles on the streaming service Crunchyroll. Ocean Group, which is producing the English dub for the anime series, has clarified with Anime News Network directly that the subtitles, as they appear on the Japanese-language version of the anime, are not being used as intended. Moreover, they informed us that the company's procedures explicitly state that closed captions produced for English-language tracks cannot be used as the subtitles for Japanese language tracks.

With that out of the way, let's dive into this week's episode where we learn Ouran's full backstory—and in the process completely redefine her as a character.

Up until this point, the series has been playing coy about the connection between the present-day story and the elementary school arc. This week, it's explained directly: these are two completely separate timelines—two parallel worlds. The trick, however, is that while the Kadodes are different, it's the same Ouran. Or to put it simply, Ouran is a slider.

Ouran, after living through the tragic death of Kadode in the “Doraemon” timeline, decided to discard that world and come to another timeline where she'd have a second chance to save Kadode. However, in doing so, she traded a world where the mother ship never came to Earth with the one we see now. What's more, Ouran knew this going in—knew that the best way to save Kadode was to make sure they never met the alien in the first place. In a real way, all the deaths in this show—be they alien or human—all stem from Ouran's choice to slide into this world.

But that's only the first layer of what happened with Ouran. She had to forcibly change her personality to take actions so drastically different from her original timeline. Ouran took her fear, sadness, guilt, and pain at Kadode's death and forged them into determination. This doesn't mean she was no longer shy or embarrassed but that she has the drive to power through it.

All this brings us to Kadode's core memory of Ouran—where a girl she hardly knew suddenly stood up to the bullies in class and saved her from a life of loneliness. Of course, with all the new information we have, this scene becomes entirely different. Ouran proclaims herself the true villain to the class—not only to draw their ire away from Kodade but also because she is the true villain of her world. (She has the opportunity to stop the aliens and does not for Kadode's sake. )

But even as she makes her proclamation—awkwardly calling out both sets of bullies in her class—we can see the first appearance of Ouran's leaky eyes and drooling mouth. Rather than being a face she makes when she's overcome by excitement, we can now see that it's a face she makes when embarrassed beyond belief but is determined to power through for Kadode's sake. It completely changes the interpretation of every other instance of this face in the series when you realize that Ouran is still constantly battling with her shy nature to keep Kadode safe and happy.

What's doubly interesting is that, despite not knowing her backstory, others are aware that there is something different about Ouran. In this episode, we see Futaba come clean to Ouran about her activities—how she's been roped into an assassination plot. She even gives Ouran the hand-made gun for safekeeping. But this naturally raises the question, why would Futaba confess all this to Ouran? Isn't she just the crazy girl obsessed with games and conspiracy theories? They're not even close friends or anything.

It's clear that Futaba, at least on a subconscious level, sees the fanatical determination within Ouran—sees that Ouran is always true to herself and her purpose. Nothing Futaba has done would cause Ouran to freak out. And she's right. The only thing Futaba didn't see coming was that Ouran would have the courage to do what she could not and throw the gun away completely. And it makes sense—having a lethal weapon around Kadode (not to mention the disruption it could bring into their daily lives after the assassination) would never sit well with Ouran. It's just too bad the others arrive before she has the chance to discard it.

The final layer of this episode comes from the framing device and revolves around Oba's insecurities. The big remaining mystery regarding Ouran is how much she remembers her original timeline. Does she have clear memories or is she just subconsciously reacting to them? As Oba has fallen in love with Ouran, he's worried that she remembers the original reality in full—and thus has the knowledge to abandon the current timeline and start over in another one without any of them. Yet, despite seeing her memories, Oba does not seem to understand her—or perhaps it's just his fear of abandonment overriding what he should know to be true.

The fact of the matter is that Ouran has built her entire self around one thing: Kadode. She frankly doesn't care about people not directly connected to her. As long as Kadode is alive and moderately happy, she's fine watching the world burn. An impending apocalypse isn't enough to make her discard everyone. (Of course, the trick to this is that “everyone” in her mind is only Kadode and Oba at this point—i.e., those she's made promise not to abandon her.)

In the end, this episode is designed to show the poetic relationship between our two heroines: Kadode wanted to be the hero who saved the world. Ouran wants to be the villain who saved one person. However, while Kadode's dream ended in tragedy, Ouran's may still yet succeed—even if billions die in the process.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• Kadode was a girl seeking something to believe in. In the original timeline, she chose herself to be that—to be her own “absolute”. And when she was proven to be wrong in her thinking, it destroyed her. In the new timeline, Ouran made herself Kodade's “absolute”—the one thing Kadode could always count on. Ouran hasn't failed yet.

• It seems likely that Hiroshi also used the machine to follow Ouran. This would explain his sudden shift from pretty boy to pessimistic net troll once the aliens arrived—not to mention his overprotectiveness of Ouran.

• Ouran was sad about the death of Kiho not only because they were friends but also because she knows, on some level, that it's her fault.

• I can't help but wonder what happened to Ouran's original body. Was it destroyed? Was it left mindless? Or was only a copy of her consciousness sent and that Ouran was forced to live out her days in a world without Kadode?

Update 8/26/2024: Added introduction paragraph with The Ocean Group dubbing/subtitling clarification.

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Dead Dead Demon's Dededededestruction is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.