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Deca-Dence (TV)

Genres: Action, Sci-Fi, Adventure

Plot Summary: Many years have passed since humanity was driven to the brink of extinction by the sudden emergence of the unknown life forms Gadoll. Those humans that survived now dwell in a 3000m-high mobile fortress Deca-dence built to protect themselves from the Gadoll threat.

Denizens of Deca-dence fall into two categories: Gears, warriors who fight the Gadoll daily, and Tankers, those without the skills to fight. One day, Natsume, a Tanker girl who dreams of becoming a Gear meets surly Kaburagi, an armor repairman of Deca-dence.

This chance meeting between the seemingly two opposites, the girl with a positive attitude who never gives up on her dreams and the realist who has given up on his, will eventually shake the future course of this world.

Episode 1

Looking at the promotional art and basic premise, I was kind of worried that this would turn out to be like an Attack on Titan ripoff, maybe be disappointing like Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress turned out to be. Well, at least the first episode turned out quite good, there is a lot going on but it did turn out pretty good even if I wasn't quite sure how old Natsume is, between school child, and she might have been hit on by adults and gotten drunk.

Anyway, this all looks dense, with humans fighting in a world that was ravished by some sort of alien monsters, that there are humanoid aliens on their side, that they use alien monster blood as a energy source, to an end that feels like weird robots are secretly in control. Unless I missed something, it kind of feels like we are not meant to fully trust everything right now, and makes me wonder if they are being tricked into harvesting by robots that maybe can even influence their perception, we so AR like first person stuff. The anti-gravity fight killing all the monsters certainly felt like it was so much going on that I was getting overwhelmed at the point when the city did a mega rocket punch against the whale.

This looks like it's going to be a fun series to watch for the action alone. Post-apocalyptic anime is a path well trodden, so I'm hoping there's more to this series than just the action. The final scene featuring the Deca-Dence activation caps off a very impressive action set piece featuring Kaburagi (with Natsume in tow).

There are a few questions thrown up about Kaburagi's background and the nature of his disillusionment. As for the world setting, I'm not sure how effective a rigid stratification of human society is when most of the world population is wiped out; after all it takes more than elite soldiers to win a defensive war. It looks like the mobile fortress has been active for so long that the residents go about their daily business even when the fortress is in an active war state.

That lost shot was really weird; it looked like a whole bunch of Gadolls walking about after seeing the outcome on a giant TV screen. Not sure what that's about, but hoping to see more in the coming weeks.

#2

It's not often that the first segment of a series answers three questions I had from the pilot episode, yet succeeds in completely bamboozling me because of the extreme contrast between the world inhabited by the Tankers and the "world" visited by the Power.

A lot of questions from the pilot episode answered, yet some more present themselves. The initial worldbuilding regarding Deca-Dence, was that just a cover? Kaburagi knows the commander by name, so did they go back from the time Kaburagi was an active top player or during his penance?

The bombshell regarding Natsume caught me by surprise, but it would explain why she's so different from the rest of her peers who are happy with their designated caste in the new world order. Perhaps the prosthetic arm Natsume now wields is going to be key to deciphering her secret, which Kaburagi is now extremely interested in and has given up his desire to commit suicide.

I confess I am a little confused... Kaburagi is actually some kind of avatar looking bot and the "human" Kaburagi is the actual avatar? Are all Gears these kinds of avatar looking bots? And Tankers are all actual humans? It seems like Deca-Dence was once a huge entertainment arcade but at some points the humans moved in? I guess more blanks will be filled in as the show progresses.

Now that is a bizarre shift. The fighters are actually avatars of robots, and the whole thing is treated like a whole game for them. But they also need fuel that is the monster blood. But it is also not just entertainment since the robots are also employees and property to who runs the whole thing. It does lead some questions about who built the robots, like if it was humans, they treat the humans like a little bit of a spectacle of seeing them endangered, and also somehow humans can become bugs, problems for the system. Natsume should be a bug because she spotted something she should not have, but for some reason she is already marked as dead. Was it from when she lost her arm?

Anybody else notice how the "main" bot - the one who gave Kaburagi his marching orders - bore a startling resemblance to the ring announcer from The God of High School? I guess the funky sunglasses and stinger nose look is "in" this season.

#3

Anyone who had no clue of what the first scene in episode #2 was about now has the background info required to connect the dots. Two parallel worlds, but one side has no idea they are just living props for the amusement of the other. The background to the Gadoll has not yet been officially revealed, but it would not surprise me if it was artificially induced by Solid Quake as a business venture.

Kaburagi has his own problems which he's been running away from for the past seven years. His enforced indenture as a bug hunter means he's always one step away from being recycled himself. His rebellious independence marks him out as different from his cyborg peers, in a similar way to Natsume with her insistence on joining the warrior ranks.

Speaking of Natsume, she'd never progress as far as she has without Kaburagi's support. Throwing her into the deep end was a whim of his, but for him to come up with an actual training plan to properly prepare her for an actual kill (gamey as it is) gives her every chance of becoming a full-fledged human warrior in her own right without going through the official route. Not just that, he's even upgraded what was widely perceived as her handicap to something which can outclass even the best human depending on budget and available parts.

The story doesn't end here, since it appears Pipe is an interesting anomaly which even the commander of the vessel is aware of. Obviously Kaburagi letting its existence slip is going to mean the permanent end of him, Natsume and possibly the commander as well. Looks like the next episode will feature subterranean battles with the subplot of securing Pipe without revealing its secret.

So the robots are cyborgs that descended from humans to escape the Earth becoming inhospitable, with the last of humans kept as property inside of a dome in Eurasia. Is that these humans, are they still on Earth? Although we have been given pretty much infodumps, I would not be surprised that some element of them are incorrect, that the truth differs from what the cyborgs are told.

I'm still a bit hazy about the physical location of the heybots. Could a tanker theoretically go into the space they are in? The heybots seem to have to go through some device to enter their avatars so it seems like a human can't get into their domain. If Natsume found Kaburagi's human avatar when his heybot form isn't inhabiting it, would it just be standing, sittting, lying there frozen and unresponsive? Why did humans create cyborgs that are so cartoonish looking? Eh, I'm still not sold on the heybot angle, but everything else is pretty cool.

#4

One arc ends, another begins with most of the episode devoted to the building up for next week.

Nice job Natsume, looks like she has enough latent talent to let her go far should she develop it (and survive). If you've attracted the attention of the strongest Tanker and are personally scouted for the position, then it's earned through merit. What's surprising is Kurenai knows Kaburagi (Kabu-sama?!) and is going to battle each time to impress him (the cyborg doesn't particularly much for her).

As for Kaburagi, I can understand why he's so intent on getting Natsume to not get herself killed. No matter how talented she is, fighting 5000+ metres above sea level against a monster that is programmed to decimate all but the most elite of the Gears is tantamount to suicide. Even if his motivation is to see how far a "bug" like her can go in a world that does not even acknowledge her existence, it's ironic that his wish to see her go far is opposed by the paradoxical desire to keep her safe until she's "ready". What's worse, the cyborgs apparently don't die provided they earn their living in Oxyone, so he's probably seen enough of the world as an active player for far longer than Natsume's ancestors.

Natsume's self-drive is something viewers can learn from, although her willingness to live life to the full even if it kills her isn't something I could bring myself to admire. She might die fulfilled, but it'd seem like a waste if she dies a dog's death in the event. I reckon Kaburagi will have to sneak out and bail her somehow. What would REALLY throw a spanner in the works would be Kaburagi and Natsume somehow screwing up the predetermined outcome in such a way that the system is forced to undergo some kind of unexpected paradigm shift. They won't have world peace, but drawing too much attention to themselves is going to be a death sentence in its own right for the pair of protagonists.

#5

It's an original series, so anything could have happened after last week's setup. I didn't expect Kaburagi to go that far, but his actions (inspired by Natsume) look to have permanently cost him. He DID have to use the limiter cheat which was what got him into trouble years before, but he managed to pull off what the majority of Gears and Tankers couldn't even dream of doing. Funny thing is, if Kaburagi is able to do this in his human form just how ridiculous are his ex-colleagues in the former elite squad who were higher ranked than he was?

Natsume's bravery has been the trigger, but she now understands why Kaburagi was so dead set against her participating. Not sure how much of the "truth" she'll learn, but Kaburagi probably won't be around to save her bacon the next time she's faced with life or death.

Cliffhanger ending, but this series has a ways to go yet. Official website has a huge roster of characters so the series isn't done with Natsume or Kaburagi yet.

#6

I would not be surprised if it was the Deca-Dence commander who interceded on behalf of Kaburagi to spare him the scrap. In exchange, he's been given the equivalent of life imprisonment and hard labour. At least Kaburagi still lives to fight another day.

While he's at it, he gets another chance to log in to the game again. Obviously he's not going in as the armour repair avatar, so he's going to be weaker than his former pupil if and when they finally meet again.

I read about Kaburagi's former teammates in the official webpage, so it's not surprising most of them (especially the #2) hate his guts. Still, Donatello has honour despite his brutish personality and he kept his word. To be honest, I didn't think Kaburagi's character design was anything more than for show, turns out he was hiding his trump card for the last.

Not much of Natsume this week, but at least she survived and thanks to Kaburagi's solo rampage is still in one piece because of the game's forced overhaul. While we were at it, it turns out the corporation is running the show even from the monster production end. So it's clear they don't want the fortress destroyed because of the costs involved; so keeping the game entertaining and with as many players as possible gives the Tankers the one thing they need to continue surviving on what's left of Earth.

A recap episode with new animation and background on Kaburagi himself is available on YouTube. Unlike the recap episodes of other series, this is worth a watch because there's more background on the world setting than was let on in aired episodes and the official website.

Not an attack or anything, but I think that I have reached a conclusion that I am not a big fan of the weird robot thing in terms of designs and style. I understand that it may have an impact on people who have a history at that sort of thing in old children's shows, but it mostly takes me out of the otherwise realistic human side of the show. There was something I liked though about the end of the episode having the game select screen in choosing to Continue or New Game, making me curious over what exactly a new game means.

Also curious over seeing another small creature, which they seem to be trying to train to catch balls. I was just thinking about the idea of games like MMO having pets.

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