Summary

Crunchyroll has acquired rights to the
Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction
film adaptation and will release it as an 18-episode anime.
The surreal and contemplative nature of the story is sure to make the anime a major hit.
Crunchyroll’s decision to release the series quickly in the West shows their commitment to bringing popular anime to fans.

Crunchyroll has just announced that they’ve obtained the rights to the film adaptation of Inio Asano’s Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction. The first film was released in Japan on March 22 to rave reviews, and the second film is bound to be met with just as good reception, if not better.

What’s especially unique about Crunchyroll acquiring Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction is that they won’t be releasing it as films like in Japan. Following the release of the second film in Japan, Crunchyroll will release Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction as an 18-episode anime starting Thursday, May 23 at 8:00 PM PT.

This is hardly the first time Crunchyroll has broken an anime film up into individual episodes, and overall, the fact that there’s such a short wait for the series to come to the West is plenty great, on its own.

Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction’s Story Explained

Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction takes place three years after a UFO appeared in the skies over Japan. While the aliens haven’t done anything, the JSDF and other armies around the world still want to destroy them, and people around the world are either trying to profit from the chaos or protest the entire situation. Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction’s story, however, doesn’t have much to do with the conflict surrounding the aliens, the plot mostly revolves around the daily lives of Kadode, Ouran, and their friends, although they do sometimes end up affected by the aliens, for better or worse.

Inio Asano is famous for dark and surreal storytelling, most notably from Goodnight Punpun (an incredible manga that will likely never get an anime), and that’s on full display in Dead Dead Demon. Just like with Asano’s other works, Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction uses surreal imagery and storytelling to tell an engaging narrative about humanity and a person’s psychology, and based on the trailers, the animation will bring all of that to life well. The first film even received high praise from Your Name director Makoto Shinkai, and that is a good indication of how exciting it will be.

Why Is Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction Not Airing As Films?

As great as it is that Crunchyroll will be streaming Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction, a question that comes to mind is why it isn’t being released as films like in Japan. Inio Asano is still a rather niche author outside of Japan, so if Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction came to theaters in the West, it probably wouldn’t have been that successful. As such, Crunchyroll releasing Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction as a weekly anime is probably to release it without losing too much money, as just streaming it would undoubtedly be more cost-effective than putting it in theaters.

That being said, the format change might be to the films’ benefit. If the films were just released as films, their popularity would die down rather quickly, but Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction being released as a weekly anime means it will be in conversation for a much longer time, and that could help it maintain its popularity throughout the year. Crunchyroll releasing Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction as an anime instead of the film duology is the best way they could handle it, and it’s sure to become one of the best anime of the year because of it.

Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction Director Tomoyuki Kurokawa Release Date March 22, 2024 Studio(s) Production +h. Writers Reiko Yoshida Cast Lilas Ikuta , Ano , Atsumi Tanezaki , Miyuri Shimabukuro , Saeko Oooki , Azumi Waki , Ryôko Shiraishi , Miyu Irino Runtime 240 Minutes Main Genre Sci-Fi Expand