English Dub Review: Dead Account “Miden Academy/Cyberkinesis Output Test”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Miden Academy

Soji wakes up at Miden Academy, a training facility for exorcists that wants to recruit him.

Cyberkinesis Output Test

In order to attend Miden Academy and achieve his goal, Soji must learn to control his flame.

Our Take:

Soji’s acceptance of his young sister’s death was just the beginning of the supernatural adventure he’s about to embark on.  That journey starts similarly to any other media involving particular schools, with Soji awakening at Miden Academy.  This school was briefly mentioned in the previous episode amid Soji’s encounter with the shocking tragedy, but now we get to see what it’s capable of in these two episodes.  As I mentioned in my previous review, Dead Account seems like another ghost-hunting anime where characters use special skills to fight and kill dangerous ghouls.  However, its digital twist, involving spirits haunting social media accounts, offers an opportunity to revitalize one of anime’s recycled tropes.

One such case is the origin of Miden Academy, which was founded to train exorcists to harness Cyberkinesis through their phones to exorcise digital spirits.  However, the only catch to this is that the higher the power output, the faster their phone battery drains, as evidenced by Soji’s “Demon Flame“ ability in “Cyberkinesis Output Test”.  Regarding Soji’s flame-baiting powers, that episode also showed that the key to channeling those flames is through abuse, particularly hateful comments on his videos.  Given Kasubata’s hatred towards flame-baiters, this gives Soji an easier advantage in controlling his newfound Cyberkinesis.  However, due to Akari’s killer, Sad Boy K, also possessing the Demon Flame, it looks like it’ll take more than that to impress those who aren’t fond of this deadly ability and avenge Akari’s death.

Both episodes expanded on the anime’s concept through their tropes, mainly the “academy“ aspect.  Additionally, it offers a hint of Demon Slayer into the mix, with Soji seeking to avenge Akari’s death by getting strong enough to kill Sad Boy K, a powerful digital ghoul.  I also thought that the one instructor who’s more eager to see Soji gone resembles Edward Serfence’s personality from Wistoria: Wand and Sword, which emphasizes that the similarities to other anime are tough to ignore.  While these tropes may not overshadow some of the animation’s limitations, they do evoke a sense of levity to help me tolerate its digital approach to the narrative.  This stems mainly from one of the school’s instructors, Azaki (Ryan Negron), whose cheerful, wacky personality provided a few humorous moments that elevated the show’s entertainment value.  Besides that, we can only hope that its techno take on its exorcist premise will still be enough to exorcise most of its demonic flaws.