I'm sorry but like... DEAD ACCOUNT is actually a pretty hype anime and I never even heard of it until now???
Why is it sleep on so much? Sure it has cliche shounen stereotype, but it also just as many subversion for a supernatural school genre manga. This is practically an alternative story for JJK, but — prefrence wise — has so much more interesting power setting and premise.
I just finished watching the first 4 episodes of the anime and I'm like so lock in with the premise that I'm absolutely going to read the manga!!
Spoiler alert of the first 4 episodes of the Anime as I'm discussin what I love about it
Okay, so I think with a premise and story beat that almost parallels with JJK, it's only fair to say that I will use it as a comparison.
Objectively speaking, Dead Account is NOT at all BETTER than JJK. But it DOES fits much more to my niche prefrence, and hook me in the first episode better than JJK did. Even then, I'm comparing only the first 4 episodes of those animes, so don't go into the story expecting it to be better than anything, this is an entirely subjective view point.
First 30 second within the show we got a lore drop and BOY is it an interesting lore drop. Account of dead people being haunted and turn to ghost is not only cool but also so clever with the way the author incorporate something that resonate with the modern age; which is the use of social media in almost every industry, even ones that are supposed to be outdated.
Ghosts and spirits has always been a reflection to a community's culture, so it's only make sense that the internet — with a culture akin to a wild west — would manifest ghost and spirit to exorcise.
Thus, we are then introduced with the first internet personality via Soji Enshiro (Aoringo): the Troll
Immidiately we are meant to hate on the guy with the way he revels and make money out of kicking people's ass. This is, unfortunately, not an uncommon behavior that is present in the social media circle. In contrast to Yuji, who is a kind kid from the get go and has a pretty normal yet a little bit lonely life.
Both are pretty common main character archetype. The Asshole and the Sweetheart.
Then, we get introduced to Akari. Enshiro's hospitilized little sister who I fighred in the first second is why a highschool dropout is making money out of being an asshole. I thought, "Okay, we got the layer. Cliche, cool, but not enough to make me feel hook into Enshiro's character."
Then the next scene we find out Aoringo delete his account and retire a month later. Which is a big question mark right? How is he gonna get money now?
But them we found him chatting with his sister, saying the surgery had went well and I thought, "Oh, so he doesn't need to ragebait anymore with her sister well, that's good to know."
Yet, there was still tension there of something going, we just don't know what it is.
Until the arrival of the second character Kukuru Kasubata came in like a hammer.
No, seriously. The guy broke into his house and came swinging a hammer.
And what an entrance. I apologize to JJK's fans, but his appearance beat Megumi's by a mile. What a way to make an impression, all the while insulting Enshiro and apologizing for being vulgar but never stopping.
One thing I love about Dead Account, when it has a bit, it sticks to it until the end.
Then another layer of Enshiro that had me falling for him drop; when Kasubata accused him of being a flamebaiter, Enshiro apologizes. Even going so far as to kneel and do a dogeza — and being earnest about it!
That threw me off a bit, but that sincerity and humbleness makes a comeback again and again in these 4 episodes. I have never met a teenage character who is so very willing to apologize, thanking, and ask for help to someone he doesn't get along and actively despised him for being a troll.
Teenager are often immature so while it gets tiring, it usually takes character development to bow their heads in most shounen mangas. But Enshiro, despite how he get his money, is pretty down-to-earth and acknowledges he's doing harmful stuff and is willing to accept the consequences once it catches up to him. That contrast makes an interesting metaphor of how people's internet personality and real life personality can be intertwined but not always reflect their true selves with only just one part of them being shown.
Anyway, I got off tangent there. So Kasubata and Enshiro meet. And PLOT TWIST; The Sister was dead.
And Enshiro has been chatting with her sister's dead account this whole time.
In hinsight, it was pretty obvious if you remember the title but damn that still caught me off guard.
And Kasubata has been trying to destroy his smartphone this whole time in order to keep the digitized ghost from manifesting.
Here, another difference which made me like Dead Account more; the Inciting Incident.
In the case of Yuji; Sukuna's finger placement is both the tacting of Kenjaku combine with teenage curiosity. But in the context of the first 4 episode, I assume what led Yuji to Sukuna was compouding choices of stupid choices between clueless high schoolers and clueless teacher who sent a First Year ALONE to take a sealed Special Grade tool back.
Early on, that made me, as a reader, underestimate the Danger Scale of a 'special grade' because you'd normally expect someone more experienced to handle it.
Then, we have Enshiro's incident. His choices hindered Kasubata's exorcism because he was in grief and still grieving. There was no way for Enshiro to make sound judgement. It's the ghost of his sister after all. Unlike Yuji's senpai who got into trouble but was barely a prominent figure of his life and never appeared again, Akari had been Enshiro's entire motivation for living. His last family member. I felt the stake. I felt the gut punch when the guy was struggling in denial of her death that he ended up chatting with her dead account.
Kasubata's immaturity and personality was also then shown with the way he was so focused on beating the crap out of the ghost, he didn't consider trying to alliviate the grief or keep him calm so as to not get in the way of exorcism. And I think that makes more SENSE than a series of specific incidents and coincidences that lead to eating a dead finger.
Another thing that made me love Dead Account more Enshiro and Kasubata Chemistry.
I'm not one to ship two guys just because they are depicted as good and emotionally secured friends. But if any of you guys ship Yuji than Megumi, then you're gonna love these two because their dynamic is off the chart just from the 4 episodes.
I mean seriously, why isn't this more hyped? The mangaka knows exactly who they're baiting with the scenes between them.
In the recent episode, it is revealed while Enshiro is a Troll, Kasabuta is a Basher. He bashes account! (which, again, in hindisght. It should have been obvious with the way he was bashing everything with his hammer. Heck, it's even called the Banhammer of Civility 😂).
Which makes sense for the teacher of the Exorcist School to have them work together because Kasubata gets off being a self-righteous prick by telling people off and Enshiro gets off from trolling other people and getting them to react. Those two challenge each other as much as they power themselves up by being an asshole to each other.
10/10 toxic relationship there. Yet, the only one that is valid to have since they're saving people with their toxicity.
The toxicity was then upped with the introduction of a third to make this a trio; Kiyomi Urusugawa, with her power being called Para-social Pistol.
I think the name speaks for itself of how she fuels her power. That girl ain't right in the head. Nobody is.
So we've got three people with shit internet personality. And they own it during exorcism, and as a result they each accept a part of their personality — while distasteful — doesn't define who they are as a whole and found understanding from their fellow exorcist.
Urgh, I can see potential from those three. I look forward to see how Watanabe-sensei cook with them.
I also like how the mangaka basically reflavor the concept of "negative energy" through the use of internet personality. The cyberspace and the anonimity it provides allows a lot of people to be jerks without repercussion. Maybe even rewarded like the way Aoringo account used to be.
They speedrun in how the MC manages to control and gain the ability — which is honestly typical shounen plot armor that I'm not gonna get into it.
I do want to give brownie points to small detail of the school setting. Because I've read a number of school genre shounen that lacks teachings of basic materials that just acknowledging the fact they are in a freaking SCHOOL deserve recognition.
Love that in the first 4 episode we have a scene of them learning match in class and the fact they need to actually teach it in order to get license for being a school. The creativity of making the school interior be more like a Ryoukan is honestly a great ingenuity that I am jelalous they get to have a hot spring in their school. Not to mention the presence of other students, senpais, teachers, and administration that moves behind the scenes. That they are reactive to any incident that happened on school ground instead of being gone entirely and only appear when it's convinient to the plot (Yes, this is a jab to JJK again. Worldbuilding is not that manga's strong suit).
Anyway, 7/10 so far. Not anything mindblowing. But something that made me want to see more and curious what plot has in store that is still hidden and waiting to be discovered. Definitely reccomend to a friend.