Warning: Contains spoilers for Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction episode #4.Crunchyroll’s new hit anime, Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction, delivered a major twist in episode #4 with the sudden death of Kiho Kurihara, one of the more prominent members of Kadode and Ouran’s friend group. It was an incredibly dark moment for what had been a mostly down-to-earth story, and Kiho just having received major character development before her death made it hit even harder.

Kiho’s death in Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction was surprising, but what was even more surprising was how it was handled. There was plenty of gravitas to go along with Kiho’s death, as is to be expected of that sort of subject matter, but Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction episode #4 handled its big death in a far more serious manner than one would expect a story to, anime or otherwise.

That was even more surprising than the death, itself, and it’s a great showing of how strong the writing in the anime can be.

Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction Shows the Reality of Death

The Anime Shows What Death Is Really Like

What makes Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction’s handling of Kiho’s death so unique is how realistically it’s treated. While stories will typically make a big event out of the death of one of the protagonist’s friends, Kiho’s death happens completely offscreen with little to no foreshadowing, and while her friends care about it, in-universe, her death is treated as little more than a statistic. The show reminds viewers that death is often an abrupt and quick event rather than something big and dramatic, and that level of realism is as engaging as it is heartwrenching.

That realism continues with how everyone reacts to Kiho’s death. While Kiho’s friends are all heartbroken over her death, they still have to go to school, their classmates are only briefly affected before moving on, and above all else, there isn’t anything they can do about her death. All of that was Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction showing that the world doesn’t stop moving just because someone close to you dies; Kiho’s death even stopped being the focus of the episode halfway through, and that does a perfect job of emphasizing how perfectly matter-of-factly the series handles death.

Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction Is Surprisingly Grounded With Its Drama

Based on the Manga by Inio Asano; Anime Produced by Production +h

Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction’s handling of Kiho’s death is a perfect way of showing how grounded the anime is. As much as the anime might be about an alien invasion, it’s just as much about the lives of Kadode, Ouran, and their friends, possibly even more so, and as such, dealing with the tragedy of a friend suddenly dying perfectly shows how grounded the character writing is. That’s always shone itself through comedy and witty dialogue, and seeing it come out through this sort of drama is an even greater showing of its strength.

That writing is especially evident in how the story of Kiho’s death concludes. Ouran’s sudden emotional outburst finally gets everyone to cry over Kiho, and the way they come together and then go about their lives afterward can be seen as DDDD showing that people can recover from a loved one’s death and keep living their lives. The Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction anime takes the time to remind people of that, showing its grounded writing, and hopefully, more of that will show itself as it continues to play out on Crunchyroll.

Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction releases new episodes on Thursdays on Crunchyroll.