Many anime movies are adapted from manga, and Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction is no exception. Typically, a movie will consist of a single part of a larger plot — giving the story on screen a solid beginning, middle, and end. However, this was not the case with the first “Dead Demon” Dededede Destruction movie. With a duration of 120 minutes, this film consists of two parts. And since these installments differ so much in both tone and story, it feels more like two closely related hour-long movies rather than a single cohesive film. That said, both parts of this movie are great in their own right.

The first half of the movie is basically District 9 meets O Maidens in Your Savage Season. There's a UFO in the sky and things are going on in the background as the military ramps up its aggression against invisible aliens but this isn't really a worry for Kadode and Ouran — a pair of senior students. High school level preparing for graduation.

This is a story about a group of teenage girls entering the world of adulthood. Life as they knew it was about to change. In a few months, they will go to college or work—their normal school life will end and they won't see each other every day. On the one hand, this makes them worry about the future. On the other hand, it makes them want to stop drifting through senior year and make the most of every moment.

But this is a coming-of-age story nonetheless, and it's also an argument about how anyone can get used to anything—how myopia still fills our worldview. our. Kadode has lost his father, and military attacks against the aliens continually cause unnecessary damage—often killing an innocent civilian or two. Even when her mother decides to leave Tokyo with a new man to escape this life, Kadode seems unable to see the bigger picture. It's all just “normal” for her and she doesn't want or need to change things beyond the changes she was forced to make growing up.

The second half of the film couldn't be more different. Instead of focusing on Kadode and Ouran in high school, we flash back to them in elementary school. An unlikely pair of friends, the bullied but stubborn Kadode and the shy but popular Ouran, find and befriend an alien—years before UFOs appeared.

This becomes a dark interpretation of Doremon as the aliens give the two girls gadget after gadget—from invisibility cloaks to sonic screwdrivers. After all, what will a bullied girl with a strong sense of justice do when she's suddenly given superpowers—and without adult supervision? It's sad, disturbing, and psychologically horrific—even in contrast to the much happier tone of the first season—and it leaves a lasting impression on you for days to come.

Although both parts of the story shown could easily be separate, unrelated films, there is a simple theme that ties the two together: humans are the real monsters. In both seasons, we never see the aliens harm humans. Rather, people always unilaterally attack what they do not understand—what they do not want to understand in the first place.

The army wants to boost the nation's ego by defeating the “invader”. Scientists are devising new weapons looking forward to the fame and money they will soon receive. People in the media and online continue to spread fear — normalizing the idea that killing aliens is the “right thing” to do — for their own selfish reasons.

And this isn't just directed towards aliens. Kadode in the flashback story had no problem attacking anyone and everyone she deemed “evil.” Everyone is the hero in their own story. In the absence of objective good or evil, even the most horrifying actions imaginable can be rationalized.

It's a heartbreaking (albeit all-too-realistic) pessimism about human nature. But face it, we have the counterexample in Ouran. She is not perfect nor is she a person of good character. However, she tries to avoid directly harming anyone — even if she sometimes fails a little. If the whole world were like Ouran, we'd still have problems, but we wouldn't be determined to genocide an alien race just because they docked in an inconvenient location.

Visually, Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction looks unlike most anime—especially in its character design. None of the main characters have pretty anime faces and typical hourglass bodies. Some characters have crooked teeth, others blush frequently, and still others shed frequent tears. However, despite the exaggerated character designs often seen in anime aimed at young children (or perhaps because of them), the overall story seems much more grounded. The fact that the sci-fi setting and technology are highly detailed also contributes to this.

As for the music, the only thing that really stands out is the ending theme song. It starts out cute and generic but eventually turns into something harsh and dissonant — just like the movie it's attached to. It was a perfect choice.

All in all, this first “Dead Demon” Dededede Destruction movie is simply awesome. While it doesn't feel like a single film due to there being two separate, very different stories, the stories themselves are told very well. And lurking behind them is an ever-exploring theme of the dark side of human nature and our obsession with the idea that, no matter what we do, we are still right. Honestly, I feel lucky that I only had to wait a month for the second movie to come out.