The narrator may have a cutesy voice, but the message is sinister: “Hey you there! Are you on social media? I bet you are. Now, picture this…What is going to happen to your account when you die?” For his part, Soji Enishiro has probably never given such techno-philosophical questions any consideration; he’s too busy jumping and beating people up for his flamebait streaming account, Aoringo (blue apple), where he puts his one talent to use—fighting and getting into trouble—to make some cash. He’s a high school dropout who revels in the hatred he inspires, so long as it comes with clicks and comments. But he’s also a doting big brother, and it’s all for the sake of his sickly little sister, Akari, and her mounting medical bills, that he’s fashioned himself into a troll. Pretty soon, he’ll be able to wrap up his online schtick, though, because in a month’s time, Akari is going for life-saving, miracle-working surgery by a super-doctor in America! Once that final bill is paid, Soji can abandon his accounts and live the quiet life with his lil sis. Cut to a month later, and the news is good! Akari texts to let her bro know she’ll be home soon, and scolds him about his pudding intake. Soji goes to bed contented. And awakens with a scream as a giant sledgehammer careens down toward him, wielded by a shadowy figure dressed in an old-fashioned martial arts uniform. Who is this guy, and why is he trying to kill Soji? Or is it Aoringo he’s trying to punish? Wait, it’s not Soji at all that the guy is after…but his phone?!
First off, be warned! The OP animation spoils the twist! So skip it (it comes immediately after the sinister opening narration) if you wanna maximize potential enjoyment. And indeed, there is enjoyment to be had here, as this is a decent opening salvo for a series of the “supernatural powers martial arts training school shonen/seinen” variety. It’s like JJK but with smartphones, and in fact reminds me a lot of JJK 0 (which I thought did a better job of introducing the franchise than the actual JJK premiere episode). In terms of tone, Dead Account is a mash-up midway between Mashle and JJK, with a jokey, gag-like opening half segueing into a darker second part. The worldbuilding is a little thin at this point, but inventive nevertheless, riffing off the themes in the opening narration and digitizing the supernatural. The character designs are more on the shonen side, complete with Naruto headband for our blue-coded MC, and the animation is fine, with decent action sequences. Nothing to complain about! What I most appreciated about this episode, though, is that it is a complete story in itself, with a full emotional arc that gets surprisingly heavy, in a good way. It’s also a story that, with just a pinch more zany randomness, could fit in quite nicely with the recently released animated anthology of youthful one-shots from the mangaka of Chainsaw Man, Fujimoto 17-26. That said, for me personally, this one episode is enough. I’ll admit, I’m not super-excited about the genre, but I also have a feeling that this premiere may just have spent all its emotional cachet in one go. But if supernatural superpower marital arts training school is your jam, definitely check this one out! It may just sustain you in between JJK 3 episodes.
Dead Account is streaming on Crunchyroll.
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You have a typo in here where you describe the show as “supernatural powers /marital arts/ training school shonen/seinen” and I suspect you mean MARTIAL arts. Let’s hope so anyway!
😆😆😆😆 Thank you!!!