Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction

Episode 9

This is one of those episodes that's kind of hard to write about. It's not that nothing happens—a lot does—but most of it is just set up for what comes next. For example, in the big picture sense, it's made public that aliens do exist and are on the surface. Moreover, the government seems to have some sort of ark being built just in case, you know, the aliens decide they're tired of being mercilessly slaughtered and start fighting back.

On the personal side of things, we get to see how Ouran, Kadode, Ai, and Rin's first days at college go. While the group is initially tight, both circumstances and differing interests start pulling them apart. Ai, given her family situation, has little time outside of class to mess around and Rin has gotten a job at a maid cafe, allowing her to get paid to wear the type of clothing she loves so much. Meanwhile, Kadode is now living on her own, thus needing some kind of part-time job. But what's taking up her time is pursuing an actual relationship with her old high school teacher, Watarase.

Kadode is a girl with no romantic experience whatsoever. And given her “deceased” workaholic father and hypochondriac mother, it's not like she's had a lot of role models when it comes to healthy relationships. Thus, her idea of romance is whatever the internet tells her it is. So she takes Watarase shopping for things she doesn't want, see a movie she's not interested in, and then hits up a cafe for pancakes. Basically, it's a date that neither he nor she really cares about.

Then comes the part of the date that Watarase is really interested in—heading home/to a hotel for sex. Kadode knows what he's expecting but he's so far ahead of her it's crazy, not only in experience but maturity too. She's worried about if it's too soon to hold his hand or call him by his name instead of calling him “teacher.” In fact, the latter makes her so embarrassed she runs off home alone after doing so. Hers in an innocent love and Watarase isn't so much leading her on as letting her lead herself on. He's showing her who he is—how little he really cares either way about being a couple with her—and is waiting for her to notice.

Of course, if anyone is bothered by Kadode's attempt at a relationship, it's Ouran. Since Kadode is her “absolute”, she would never stop her from doing whatever it is she wants, but this does leave Ouran with a bit more free time than she knows what to do with. Unsurprisingly, she finds a club that does more or less exactly what she did in her free time in high school, uselessly chasing the paranormal. This leads us to the episode cliffhanger where Ouran has her second close encounter of the third kind. Hopefully, things will turn out less traumatic this time around.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• I think Kodade is the only person who would describe Ouran as “shy.”

• It's nice to see Makoto and Ouran as gaming friends.

• Futaba came to Tokyo to challenge her preconceptions—only to fall in with the first group she found that mirrored her personal beliefs.

• I really don't understand why Kenichi blames the aliens for Kiho's death and not the Japanese government. The pessimist in me thinks it's probably because he can get revenge on the aliens without any actual consequences.

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Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.