DEAD DEAD DEMONS DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION Ep. 12 is basically a storm of revelations. Mostly about the true nature of the alien invaders. This includes what’s actually under those cyclopean helmets they wear, and you’re going to be shocked when you see them.

DEAD DEAD DEMONS DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION Ep. 12: Details

DEAD DEAD DEMONS DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION NA key visual.
You can already tell that the slice of life hijinks are coming to an end.

DEAD DEAD DEMONS DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION Ep. 12 is the 12th episode (you can read my reviews of Ep. 0, Ep. 1, Ep. 2, Ep. 3, Ep. 4, Ep. 5, Ep. 6, Ep. 7, Ep. 8, Ep. 9, Ep. 10, and Ep. 11 here) of this science fiction slice-of-life anime series. Said anime is the anime adaptation of the manga of the same name by Inio Asano (Solanin, Goodnight Punpun). Said anime also originally premiered as a pair of anime films on March 22, 2024, and May 24, 2024. Production +h. (The Orbital Children) is the animation studio behind this anime. Crunchyroll is the company licensing this anime for its worldwide debut.

Production Cast

Tomoyuki Kurokawa is the director behind DEAD DEAD DEMONS DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION Ep. 12, and alas, he is the only member of the production cast we know is behind this specific episode. For the anime as a whole, we do still know that Tomoyuki Kurokawa (PSYCHO-PASS) is the director. Reiko Yoshida (Violet Evergarden) is the writer. Takaaki Suzuki (Violet Evergarden series) did the world setting. Nobutake Ito (INU-OH) is the chief animation director and character designer. Satoshi Takezawa (Digimon Adventure) is the color designer. Mika Nishimura (Typhoon Noruda) is the art director. Satoi Inami is the CG director. Takuma Morooka (Moriarty the Patriot) is the cinematographer. Masayuki Kurosawa (Laid-Back Camp) is the editor. Takeshi Takadera ([Oshi no Ko]) is the sound director. Taro Umebayashi (Space Dandy) is the composer responsible for the music.

Speaking of the music: the opening theme song is “Shinsekai Yori” (SHINSEKAIより, lit. ’ From the New World’) by Ano and Lilas Ikuta. This time though, “Seishun Ōka” (青春謳歌, lit. ’ Adolescence Hymn’) by Lilas Ikuta feat. Ano is the new ending theme song for this second part.

Voice Cast

DEAD DEAD DEMONS DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION Ep. 12 features the voices of Lilas Ikuta (Elyse Maloway in English dub) as Kadode Koyama and (Britt McKillip in English dub) as Oran “Ontan” Nakagawa. Other notable voices in this episode include Miyuri Shimabukuro (Meaghan Hommy in English dub) as Ai Demoto, Saeko Oki (Kazumi Evans in English dub) as Rin Hirama, Azumi Waki (Chelsea Miller in English dub) as Futaba Takemoto, Ryoko Shiraishi (Travis Turner in English dub) as Makoto Tainuma, Koki Uchiyama (Graham Hamilton in English dub) as Kenichi Kohiruimaki, Saori Ōnishi (Kazumi Evans in English dub) as Hikari Sumaru, and Miyu Irino (Cole Howard in English dub) as Keita Ōba.

When and Where to Watch

DEAD DEAD DEMONS DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION Ep. 12 made its airing and streaming (aka. simulcast) debut on August 15, 2024. You can watch this episode of the anime only on Crunchyroll. In fact, you can watch this anime series as a whole only on Crunchyroll as well, due to it being an exclusive there.

DEAD DEAD DEMONS DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION Ep. 12: Synopsis

Now we find out what’s under that rotating face.

Alas, DEAD DEAD DEMONS DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION is an ongoing anime series. In fact, DEAD DEAD DEMONS DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION Ep. 12 only just premiered five days ago as of this writing. Thus, you will all get the official synopsis of this episode from Crunchyroll in place of a spoiler-filled plot summary…is what I want to say. Unfortunately, there’s a big, blank space where the synopsis should be. Thus, you will all get the official synopsis for the anime as a whole instead. Here’s that synopsis below:

As the world is threatened by the sudden appearance of a mysterious alien mothership, best friends Koyama Kadode and Nakagawa “Ontan” Oran carry on about their high school life. But as they grow up, they face existential questions, learning adulthood’s complexities and that the true threat may not be from above.

DEAD DEAD DEMONS DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION Ep. 12: The Good

DEAD DEAD DEMONS DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION Ep. 12 screenshot showing Keita looking down on the world below.
The goodiest of good guys here, oddly enough. Too bad he’s probably going to fail.

Okay, the story of DEAD DEAD DEMONS DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION Ep. 12 definitely had me on the edge of my seat for quite a good portion of it. Most of it is because it’s basically a sci-fi thriller at that point. Not only that, but it finally gives us quite a few revelations regarding the aliens that will make you raise your eyebrows quite a bit. Needless to say, Inio Asano is very good at writing plot twists like this. Some rather freaky plot twists as well.

All with that story being complemented by the animation. Production +h. continue to do an amazing job with that animation quality, even to the point of disturbing with the blood and gore. Also, the aliens’ face reveal wouldn’t nearly be as disturbing without the suddenly radical animation change of their faces. Without spoilers, it’s almost like Junji Ito briefly invaded this anime. Definitely lends some horror flavor to this episode of the anime.

DEAD DEAD DEMONS DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION Ep. 12: The Bad

DEAD DEAD DEMONS DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION Ep. 12 screenshot showing Ontan and Keita holding hand as they look at a crashed spaceship.
The bad part here is what happened to the crew of this spaceship.

Honestly, if there’s one pet peeve I have with this episode, it’s Kadode and Ontan not really acknowledging the relationship they have with each other. It might be that my yuri goggles are on a bit too tight, but I do feel that what they have is romantic love. However, they’re not really acknowledging it. Also however though, this is just my pet peeve. Your mileage may vary here.

Other than that, action junkies might not be a fan of DEAD DEAD DEMONS DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION Ep. 12. There’s very little in the way of action in this episode, and most of what is there is thriller-type drama more than action. If you want high-intensity action scenes, then you might want to check out Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Solo Leveling, Kaiju No. 8, and/or The Elusive Samurai. Those anime series should have more than enough action to get your heart pumping. Fortunately, not pumping your blood out of your body like what’s happening to the aliens.