Dead Account

Episodes 1-2

This year has barely begun, and Dead Account's first few episodes have already given us what may be one of the most unlikeable characters of the year. Soji Enihiro does everything to make him worthy of our contempt while still managing to be just another indiscernible shonen protagonist. When Dead Account is not trying to make a hero out of someone who shouldn't be, it does everything else to barely leave any impression on the viewer.

Soji is essentially a Logan Paul-type of guy, collecting ad revenue from making online flamebait videos (taking videos of dead bodies is one of the first things we see him do). The plan is that said revenue is supposed to go towards his sick sister Akari's hospital bills. It's an asinine concept. It would have been better if Dead Account examined why and how the Internet relies on negativity for engagement. But such a theme isn't going to be in the cards for this type of show now, is it?

Beyond just being a trolly, online dude, a lot of people would block within seconds flat, the narrative does everything it can to force us into thinking Soji cares about Akari. What's frustrating is that so many of his actions contradict this. A plot twist midway through the first episode reveals that Akari has been dead the entire time, and that Soji actually skipped going to her own funeral. To say that was a jerk move on Soji's part is to immensely understate things.

But wait, because Soji thought his sister was still alive somehow, since he received weird texts from her online account. How did this not raise any suspicion? Did Soji try to investigate the cause behind this? Did Soji ever think of asking the funeral parlor or the hospital about what actually went on? Or maybe (and more realistically) it was as simple as her account was hacked? The show reveals that the “Akari” Soji thought was still texting him was actually a demonic spirit who killed her while she was still sick, and then took hold of her online account for some reason.

A boring fight between Soji, the aforementioned demonic spirit, and an exorcist named Kasubata ensues to conclude the first episode, knocking Soji unconscious. After Kasubata wakes him up in the next episode to relay what happened to Akari's dead online account, Soji throws up his hands, chalking up his sister's death as just another chapter of the cycle of life, all with such a shit-eating grin that it makes you wonder if he's even fazed by it.

The show tries again and again to make us believe that he cared about his sister by having him riled up when Kasubata insults Soji for being a weak, pathetic man who made flamebait for the attention, when there were other ways to make money. Is Kasubata even wrong? The show is trying to make Kasubata into a passive-aggressive a-hole rival, but his ability to see right through Soji makes him a more likable character. When Kasubata had to fight Soji at the end of the episode, I found myself rooting for Kasubata.

As far as I know, Dead Account's manga didn't warrant enough hype to have a better budget, and does it ever show in this here anime. The first episode's fight between Soji, Kasubata, and the demon that took over Akari's account is very, very flat. The fight in the second episode is slightly better since there's more action and animation thrown about, but it's better only by default. A tour of the exorcist academy is shown in the hopes of setting up an exam arc, but all it does so far is waste time in not building up whatever scraps of narrative and characters could be made here. Admittedly, the music here is good, and I can appreciate the funky hip-hop vibes that pop up here and there. But the score alone can't force any intensity or emotion in a series that thus far doesn't have much going for it.

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Dead Account is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.