Deca-Dence

Deca-Dence (Japanese: デカダンス, Hepburn: Dekadansu) is an original anime television series produced and animated by NUT. The series premiered on July 8, 2020.

Deca-Dence
Key visual
デカダンス
(Dekadansu)
Genre
Created by
Anime television series
Directed byYuzuru Tachikawa
Produced by
  • Kazufumi Kikushima
  • Hiroto Utsunomiya
  • Aya Iizuka
  • Tomoyuki Ōwada
  • Mitsuhiro Ogata
Written byHiroshi Seko
Music byMasahiro Tokuda
StudioNUT
Licensed byFunimation
Original networkAT-X, Tokyo MX, TVA, KBS Kyoto, Sun TV, BS11
Original run July 8, 2020 – present
Episodes6

Synopsis

Setting

In the latter part of the 2400s, air pollution reached lethal levels. As humanity hurtled toward extinction, they were also threatened by the emergence of life forms known as Gadoll causing the destruction of 90% of the world's population. Large corporations developed cyborgs to carry out human functions, but the cyborgs eventually began to outnumber humans and the Solid Quake corporation acquired rights to manage humanity. The company created a giant dome on the Eurasian continent in which they installed a colossal entertainment facility called Deca-dence, with its own independent all-governing system to make all decisions. The cyborg citizens could then safely experience adventure as human avatars at Deca-dence without the risk of real injury.

Plot

In the fortress city of Deca-dence, the lowly Tanker girl, Natsume, dreams of becoming a Gear warrior following her father's death during a Gadoll attack. She is assigned to a maintenance team led by Kaburagi whom she discovers is more than he appears. Kaburagi has a secret role in eliminating "bugs", humans who threaten Solid Quake's operations. When Kaburagi discovers that Natsume is listed as dead in the company database, he decides to keep her under observation and offers to train her to fight.

Characters
Natsume (ナツメ)
Voiced by: Tomori Kusunoki[1]
A teenage Tanker girl who lost her father and her right arm due to a Gadoll attack when she was a child. She has a prosthetic right arm and dreams of joining The Power and fight the Gadoll as a warrior, but after graduating from the Tanker Orphanage she ends up working under Kaburagi as a maintenance worker.
Kaburagi (カブラギ)
Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi[1]
A veteran Deca-dence armor repairer with a blunt and surly manner. He was once a great warrior but lost the ardor to fight and spends his days supervising a team on maintenance duties. He follows the cyborg Hugin's orders and spends his nights eliminating "bugs" by removing their chips. His apathetic state of mind changes through his encounter with Natsume who is determined to become a fighter.
Fei (フェイ)
Voiced by: Mei Shibata[2]
Natsume's best friend at Tanker Orphanage.
Fennel (フェンネル, Fenneru)
Voiced by: Eiji Takeuchi[2]
One of Natsume's friends at Tanker Orphanage.
Linmei (リンメイ, Rinmei)
Voiced by: Yoshino Aoyama[2]
A student at Tanker Orphanage with long purple hair who teases Natsume about her ambitions to become a Gear.
Kurenai (クレナイ)
Voiced by: Eri Kitamura[2]
A great female Tanker fighter who Natsume admires.
Minato (ミナト)
Voiced by: Kohsuke Toriumi[2]
A friend of Kaburagi's who is the Commander in Chief of Deca-dence.
Pipe (パイプ, Paipu)
Voiced by: Eri Kitamura[3]
A "bug" which Kaburagi found six years ago and Natsume named Pipe because of its penchant to hold pieces of pipe in its mouth.
Gadoll (ガドル, Gadoru)
Beasts which often attack Deca-dence and have been given names such as: octhulhu, avispine, seldurum, spoonwormer, nemollis, burrn, darumoss, megaloain and the gigantic giland. Both the fortress city Deca-dence and the cyborg society under the control of the Solid Quake corporation utilize the liquid oxyone which flows through the Gadoll's veins as their power source.

Production

Deca-Dence was first announced on July 5, 2019, by Kadokawa,[4] and is the first original anime work of NUT, known for producing the anime adaptation of The Saga of Tanya the Evil.[5] It is directed by Yuzuru Tachikawa, written by Hiroshi Seko, featuring original character designs by Pomodorosa,[lower-alpha 3] animation character designs and chief animation direction by Shinichi Kurita, and music composed by Masahiro Tokuda.[4] The Deca-dence fortress is designed by Zhou Haosong,[lower-alpha 4] the cyborgs are designed by Kiyotaka Oshiyama, and the Gadolls are designed by Satoshi Matsūra.[1]

Director Yuzuru Tachikawa and chief producer Takuya Tsunoki, who had joined Madhouse around the same time and collaborated on the 2015 series Death Parade, had talked about creating their own original work. After the establishment of NUT in 2017, the idea of creating an original work was spurred within the company, and Tsunoki and chief producer Shō Tanaka, who collaborated on NUT's adaptation of The Saga of Tanya the Evil, had talked about "doing something" together. As a result, Tachikawa, Tsunoki, and Tanaka initiated the project.[6] Writer Hiroshi Seko, who had previously worked with Tachikawa on Mob Psycho 100,[4] was eventually added to the project after some foundations had been built and, together, the four created the series' original concepts.[7]

Tachikawa prioritized developing the script for the dramatic beats that he wanted to depict because developing the setting and characters for an original work could take a long time.[5] Having been written in its entirety based on the story concept created by Tachikawa, Tsunoki, Tanaka, and Seko, the script had to be revised from episode one to allow for more foreshadowing and narrative development in the first half of the story,[7] such as brief introductions of the world view,[8] so that the second half would not be so packed. As a result, more time was spent in the script meetings themselves.[7] In this process, they discovered it was important to drill down on the relationship between Kaburagi and Natsume, and therefore put more effort to portray their interactions and how they complement the inefficiencies of each other from episode two to episode four.[8]

While the production team decided to have a world view of "fighting against big monsters", they wanted to add a plot twist on top of it. Tachikawa then came up with the idea that "actually this world is a creation and operated by something else", which was accepted because it was both interesting and could easily allow for added depth when necessary.[9]

The team decided to create new designs for the cyborgs instead of using skeletal or mechanical ones, and it was decided that said cyborgs would be hand drawn instead of being made with 3DCG. The design lightly referenced Doraemon, a robot from the future with a cute design. They also considered the cute, organic design as a mitigation to the violent atmosphere of the story. The designer of the cyborgs, Kiyotaka Oshiyama, had worked with NUT during the production of FLCL Alternative. The staff found Oshiyama's design of mechas to be organic and soft, yet still clearly mecha-like, which suited Deca-Dence, and therefore invited him to join the project.[9]

The design of the cyborgs directly affected that of the Gadolls; while the team thought it was good to use ordinary designs, for example, dragon-like or spider-like monsters, Tachikawa was worried it would make the atmosphere of the story too violent. After Oshiyama's designs were finished, the team decided to make the Gadolls cuter but horrible because that is what those cyborgs would create. The designer of the Gadolls, Satoshi Matsūra, was invited by Tsunoki via the contact listed on Matsūra's Twitter account after Tsunoki found Matsūra's character designs on the Internet and thought the style was suitable.[9]

Release

While the first episode had an advanced premiere screening at FunimationCon 2020 on July 3, 2020,[10] the series officially began airing on July 8, 2020 on AT-X and other channels.[11][2] Funimation licensed for streaming the anime.[12] The opening theme song, "Theater of Life", is performed by Konomi Suzuki, while the ending theme song, "Kioku no Hakobune" ("Ark of Memories"), is performed by Kashitarō Itō.[1]

Episode list
No.Title [13]Directed byOriginal air date
1"Ignition"
Yuzuru TachikawaJuly 8, 2020 (2020-07-08)[14][lower-alpha 5]
Teenager Natsume graduates from Tanker Orphanage with dreams of becoming a Gear and fighting the Gadoll, but she is assigned to an armor repair team led by the surly leader Kaburagi. However, she discovers that he has a gentle side and is breaking the rules by keeping what appears to be a small Gadoll as a pet which she names "Pipe". One night, Kaburagi is seen removing a "chip" from a comatose man in a dark alley. While Kaburagi and Natsume are cleaning the exterior of the moving fortress city of Deca-dence, they come under attack by a horde of Gadoll, including one called a "giland" which is almost as big as Deca-dence. Natsume, Kaburagi and two others of the team fall from their positions, and surprisingly Kaburagi proves to be an accomplished warrior. He not only saves Natsume, but also attacks and kills some of the approaching Gadoll. Eventually, Deca-dence moves into defensive action and fires a blast from its canon at the giant Gadoll, destroying it after first draining its oxyone.
2"Sprocket"
Kei MiuraJuly 15, 2020 (2020-07-15)[15]
In the aftermath of the Gadoll attack, some Gears lay dead or wounded, but Tankers are already carving up the Gadoll meat. It is then revealed that Deca-dence is run by the Solid Quake corporation as a colossal entertainment facility in the continent called Eurasia which digital beings can safely experience adventure as human avatars with no risk of real injury. However, Mikey makes the decision to break the rules and enhance his abilities by 20% to improve his performance and experience as a Gear, although he risks incurring real physical damage fighting Gadolls. It is also revealed that Kaburagi is working as a recovery agent for Solid Quake corporation by retrieving chips from humans like Mikey who perform prohibited actions. This happens to Mikey who is considered a "bug" risk and is "scrapped". After Natsume sees Kaburagi retrieving a chip, she confronts him, and he offers to train her to fight. Kaburagi then researches Natsume and discovers that she is listed as dead, indicating that she may be a bug. He then decides to observe her and takes her to visit the opulent Gears level of Deca-dence.
3"Steering"
Hideyuki SatakeJuly 22, 2020 (2020-07-22)[16]
Kaburagi researches Natsume's "death" and discovers that although her heart stopped after the Gadoll attack in which she lost her arm, she was revived, possibly causing her chip to malfunction making her a bug. He takes Natsume hunting Gadoll and they find a small "spoonwormer" where Kaburagi shows her the basics of the Gadoll defense system and ways to counteract it. She finds fighting it to be more difficult than it looks and suffers some minor injuries, but still aspires to be a great Tanker fighter like her hero, Kurenai, and continues training. Kaburagi then modifies her mechanical hand to become a more effective weapon against the Gadoll, able to launch the spear-like "needles" used to kill the beasts. One day, while Kaburagi and Natsume are out training, Deca-dence comes to a grinding halt from subterranean attack by a horde of Gadoll. Pipe falls into the cavern and, as the Gears rush out to engage the Gadoll, Kaburagi thinks back to six years earlier when he found the bug Natsume now calls Pipe.
4"Transmission"
Yūji ŌyaJuly 29, 2020 (2020-07-29)[17]
Kaburagi prepares to fight the Gadoll and Natsume follows him, arming herself with a needle. Gears join the battle, but Natsume panics after seeing some of them killed. She remembers Kaburagi's training and after regaining her composure, effectively engages with the Gadoll herself. A rolling Gadoll breaks through the Gears' defenses but it is killed by Kurenai. Impressed by Natsume's skill, Kurenai invites her to join the Power, and is especially impressed when she sees Kaburagi whom she calls "Kabu". Later, Deca-dence locates the Gadoll nest which is located in an icy wasteland and shrouded in a fog created by a Gadoll they call "alpha". The Power prepares for an all-out assault. Meanwhile, back at Solid Quake, it is predicted that many Gears will be killed in the battle, and Kaburagi is advised not to become involved. Natsume is placed under the care of the triplets, Mindy, Mundy and Mendy, but Kaburagi advises her not to fight, almost revealing to her that the conflict between Deca-dence and the Gadoll is a manufactured fiction. Natsume decides to join the fight anyway and the assault on the Gadoll nest begins.
5"Differential Gear"
Yutaka UemuraAugust 5, 2020 (2020-08-05)[18]
The Gears, including Unit 6 with Kurenai and Natsume, exit Deca-dence in a effort to lift the fog by eliminating Gadoll alpha. Unit 6's assault is initially successful and they enter a huge cavern, but find many dead Gears and Gadoll alpha. The Gadoll is fast and appears to anticipate their moves, causing more casualties until Kaburagi arrives and saves Natsume. He tells her to leave, but she risks her life to get her team to leave rather than let them die needlessly. Kaburagi recklessly stays to fight the Gadoll, ignoring Minato's instructions, bypassing his "limiter" to enhance his abilities, and risking changing the existing "storyline". He kills the Gadoll, but this causes the unscripted release of the giant Gadoll, stargate. It advances on Deca-dence which prepares to fire its massive cannon, but the stargate also prepares to fire an energy blast. Kaburagi detects a weakness in the Gadoll and attacks, causing it to misfire and provide time for Deca-dence to destroy it. The following morning, Natsume and the other Gears realize that the Gadoll are not destroyed, but there are many more and the battle will never end. Meanwhile, Kaburagi is punished for his disobedience and refusal to admit that the world must be rid of bugs.
5.5"Install"
Kei Miura[19]August 7, 2020 (2020-08-07)[20]
Summary of the first five episodes with some new cuts. Available only on the web.
6"Radiator"
Kei MiuraAugust 12, 2020 (2020-08-12)[21]
The cyborg Kaburagi is sent to a bug correctional facility instead of being scrapped for insubordination as it appears that someone intervened in his behalf. He and the other bugs find themselves tasked with chopping up rock-hard Gadoll feces for reprocessing in to energy for Daca-dence. The job is unpleasant and dangerous, and the bug Sarkozy explains that no-one has ever left and escape is impossible. However, it is possible to illegally log into the Deca-dence system and he introduces Kaburagi to Donatello, leader of a tough band of bugs who has access. Donatello criticizes Kaburagi for not sticking to his principles in the past and becoming an armor repairer. He challenges Kaburagi to a Death Dive match above the rotating Gadoll feces crushers for a chance to contact Natsume through the Deca-dence link. As Kaburagi is about to win to match, Donatello takes both of them into the cesspit far below. However, Kaburagi uses his rocket backpack to fly them both back to the top. With Kaburagi having proved his resolve, Donatello authorizes the bug Jill to take Kaburagi to the Deca-dence link although he cannot use his former identity to connect. Meanwhile, at the Gadoll Factory Cell Production Room, newly produces Gadoll are being prepared to be released into the field.
7"Driveshaft"
Yūji ŌyaAugust 19, 2020 (2020-08-19)[22]

Notes
  1. Original work, production committee.
  2. Original concept.
  3. The pen name is stylized as "pomodorosa".
  4. Zhou Haosong (周浩嵩), surname Zhou, comes from China and uses the pen name Shū Hiromatsu (シュウ浩嵩) in Japan.
  5. Had an advanced premiere screening on July 3, 2020.[10]
gollark: bee you.
gollark: The [HG]Tech™ Standard Reality Scale®.
gollark: Or you could have a universe where that is the correct way to model it, probably maybe *somehow*.
gollark: You can just muck with the axioms.
gollark: 1+1=2 assuming you accept the axioms making that the case.

References
  1. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (May 15, 2020). "Deca-Dence Original Anime Announces Cast, More Staff, Story, Theme Song Artists". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  2. Loo, Egan (June 12, 2020). "Original Sci-Fi Anime Deca-Dence's Full Promo Video Unveils More Cast, July 8 Debut". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  3. "Character". decadence-anime.com (in Japanese). Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  4. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (July 5, 2019). "Mob Psycho 100's Yuzuru Tachikawa Directs Deca-Dence Original TV Anime". Anime News Network. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
  5. Morrissy, Kim (July 7, 2020). "Interview: Deca-dence Director Yuzuru Tachikawa and Producer Takuya Tsunoki". Anime News Network. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  6. 「デカダンス」リレーインタビュー　プロデューサー・角木卓哉「大事にしたかったのは、型にはまらないキャラクターたちのドラマ」. WebNewType (in Japanese). June 26, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  7. 「デカダンス」リレーインタビュー　監督・立川譲「圧倒的スケールの移動要塞はもちろん、人間ドラマにも注目してほしい」. WebNewType (in Japanese). June 19, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  8. 「デカダンス」リレーインタビュー　監督・立川譲「“バグ”の問題は、今の時代に置き換えることもできる」. WebNewType (in Japanese). August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  9. 「デカダンス」リレーインタビュー　プロデューサー・角木卓哉「実は殺伐とした世界。デザインのバランスで悲壮感を緩和した」. WebNewType (in Japanese). July 16, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  10. Friedman, Nicholas (June 30, 2020). "FunimationCon 2020: Full Lineup and Schedule Revealed!". Funimation. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  11. Hodgkins, Crystalyn (March 20, 2020). "Deca-Dence Original TV Anime Premieres This Summer". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  12. Sherman, Jennifer (May 11, 2020). "Funimation to Stream Deca-Dence Original TV Anime This Summer". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  13. "Story". decadence-anime.com (in Japanese). Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  14. "週間番組表(2020/07/06～2020/07/12)". AT-X (in Japanese). Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  15. "週間番組表(2020/07/13～2020/07/19)". AT-X (in Japanese). Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  16. "週間番組表(2020/07/20～2020/07/26)". AT-X (in Japanese). Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  17. "週間番組表(2020/07/27～2020/08/02)". AT-X (in Japanese). Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  18. "週間番組表(2020/08/03～2020/08/09)". AT-X (in Japanese). Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  19. 三浦 慧 [@cometarou_m] (August 8, 2020). デカダンス＃5.5（総集編）の新作パートのコンテと演出をやらせてもらいました！ (Tweet). Retrieved August 9, 2020 – via Twitter.
  20. KADOKAWAanime (August 7, 2020). TVアニメ『デカダンス』第5.5話「install」　※第1～5話総集編　※新規カットあり！. YouTube (in Japanese). Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  21. "週間番組表(2020/08/10～2020/08/16)". AT-X (in Japanese). Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  22. "週間番組表(2020/08/17～2020/08/23)". AT-X (in Japanese). Retrieved August 14, 2020.
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