If you are super-keen to see what I thought about specific episodes of Deca-Dence I was writing weekly, back when the show aired, and those posts start over here. (That first post contains a few predictions, of which I was half-correct about from memory.)
Deca-Dence (Dekadansu) 2020
Here, I’ll say that I really enjoyed Deca-Dence.
It had lots of things that I seek in a show; science-fiction, action, secrets and even a tiny adventure feel (sans exploration). Of course I liked the characters too, as people such as Natsume and Kaburagi were easy to root for in their fight against an unjust system.
Really enjoyed the setting too, despite some elements that seemed to clash…
Deca-Dence was popular during screening – a bit polarising also – and so if you haven’t had a chance to see it yet, and you’ve also somehow managed to avoid spoilers, I wanted to mention that I’ll have some below.
Plenty of us have expressed disappointment over the big reveal.
The vivid clash between art styles that becomes clear once you see the truth about the cyborgs and their cruel ‘game’ was a surprise for sure. In time, I guess I did adjust to the visuals but it really did take a few episodes. The cute designs and flat or bright colours maybe functioned as a disturbingly cheerful veneer, but for me it did undercut the tone of the story too.
There was also a storytelling choice that I still can’t decide how I responded to – namely, when the audience got the truth vs when our main POV character Natsume was let in on the game.
I think it would have hit me harder if I’d learned what was going on when she did (around episode 9 or so I think) but on the other hand, there was a different tension afforded to me after learning what was going on so early in the series. I was a few steps ahead of Natsume and that caused different worries and so I was still engaged.
And in the end, I thought Deca-Dence was heaps of fun both to watch and to write about.
Even if I still want a sequel series to see our heroes go out and explore the world, there’s definitely a clear and satisfying resolution to the Deca-Dence, so if you take a look you won’t be left hanging after episode 12.
(And Pipe is cute too.)
4 Stars
The Review Heap 
I’ve heard a few things about this series. Good on them for making a complete story. The tonal clash does look a bit weird, but at least there was a reason for it from what I gather.
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Definitely a reason – I saw an interview that I can’t find now, where I read a little about the reasoning behind it which was definitely interesting.
It was nice to have a resolution too, yeah 🙂
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I see. If you ever find that interview, then let me know.
Very good. This could be a series I may watch when I have some time.
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Will do 🙂 (It might have been on twitter, which might make it somewhat more difficult to find but I’ll go digging!)
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If it’s on Twitter, then I can see why that would be tricky.
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