デッドデッドデーモンズデデデデデストラクション 1

デッドデッドデーモンズデデデデデストラクション [Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction] #1

by Inio Asano, 浅野いにお

3年前の8月31日。
突如　『侵略者』の巨大な『母艦』が東京へ舞い降り、
この世界は終わりを迎えるかにみえた――

その後、絶望は日常へと溶け込んでゆき、
大きな円盤が空に浮かぶ世界は
今日も変わらず廻り続ける。

小山門出（こやまかどで）、
中川凰蘭（なかがわおうらん）、
2人の女子高生は
終わりを迎えなかった世界で
青春時代を通行中！

『ソラニン』『おやすみプンプン』の
浅野いにお最新作！
2人の少女のデストピア青春日常譜、開幕。

Genres: Manga, Comics, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Slice Of Life, Seinen

196 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2014

About the author

Inio Asano (浅野いにお, Asano Inio) is a Japanese cartoonist. He is known for his character-driven stories and his detailed art-style, making him one of the most influential manga author of his generation.
Asano was born in 1980 and produced his first amateur comics as a teenager. His professional debut happened in 2000 in the pages of the magazine Big Comic Spirits. Since then, he has collaborated with most of the major Japanese magazines of seinen manga (comics for a mature audience). Among Asano's internationally acclaimed works are: the psychological horror Nijigahara Holograph (2003-2005); the drama Solanin (2005-2006); the existentialistic slice-of-life Goodnight Punpun (2007-2013); the erotic A Girl on the Shore (2009-2013); the sci-fi Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction (2014-2022).

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the work of Inio Asano, including Solanin; Goodnight, Punpun; A Girl on the Shore, and especially Nijigahara Holograph, but I was intrigued to find a couple negative reviews about this newer series from friends I respect. But as I take a closer look, I see reviews of his work all across the board. Some people really hate this guy’s work and some love it. What I can say is that he usually privileges some combination of mystery and teen boredom/cynicism over action. There’s a strange, quirky tone to almost everything he does, maybe call it sadness/black humor, and he doesn’t mind you’re being confused about what is going on in some of his strangest work.

So in this one, we are three years after an alien attack on Japan, with hundreds of thousands of people dead. And since then there is this spaceship just hovering overhead, and people have largely gone on with their lives. As in contemporary society, living our lives as endless war ravages the planet. Or post-Fukushima. Or facing climate change: Yeah, we’re probably screwed, things suck, but should I go to college or just play video games all day? Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we shall die? But in Asano, teens are never really merry. Wacky, at best.

This series has the feel of War of the World, an invasion, without the war. At least not yet. And then, these two cynical, bored girls, Ouran and Kadode, take center stage. They aren’t ambitious, they aren’t into school, they are into videogames, the most pressing thing for them is that a student loan is due, and sure, this flying saucer could be the end of the world, ho hum, but even though they are bored and dull and totally millennial, they seem to be developing an interest in tracking what is going on with this h'yar invasion. The title is a key to the quirk: Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction. Emblematic of a generation? Signs of our time? Existentialism for a new age? Feels like it. And with unbelievably good art.

One thing I don’t like is the creepy teacher; not funny, Inio. You know what I'm talking about, dude!

[Sean O'Hara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the most Millennial comic ever. The plot is basically, "Aliens have invaded, but my student loan is still due on Tuesday."

So not much different from life in modern America.

[Rod Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

The point of this book is to show how mundane and tedious life can be even in the shadow of something as world-changing as an alien invasion. I suppose there are parallels to how ordinary life is in parts of the world like the U.S. and Japan even in the shadow of 9/11 and the ongoing war on terror that has devastated entire other countries. Ooh, the threat of terror hangs over us like an alien spaceship, but we carry on being our boring-ass selves and worrying about boring-ass stuff.

To really drive his point home, the creator has made this book as boring as humanly possible. Oh my god make it stop boring. Boring, boring, boring. Boring.

I really need to learn this mangaka's name so I stop picking up his books. This is even worse than Goodnight Punpun Omnibus (2-in-1 Edition), Vol. 1.

(p.s. Is the title referencing "19," the Paul Hardcastle song?)

[Urbon Adamsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Initially, I was leaning towards a 4-star rating, but by the time I finished the book, I found myself reaching for the next one almost immediately. It’s rare for a series to hook me like this.

Inio Asano is one of those manga authors you have to read if you're serious about manga, especially as an adult.

Now, as for the manga itself—honestly, not much happens plot-wise at first. We're introduced to a variety of characters and given a sense of the world they inhabit, but the direction of the story remains unclear.

The setting is a post-invasion Japan. An alien race attacked three years ago, causing massive casualties during their initial strike. Since then, their mothership has lingered over Tokyo, forcing the citizens to carry on with their lives beneath its ominous presence. We know nothing about these aliens aside from their destructive arrival.

The story follows a group of teenagers trying to navigate life in this altered reality. While I’m not sure where the plot is heading yet, the writing and atmosphere are utterly gripping. It’s one of those reads that pulls you in even without a clear destination.

[Artemy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three years ago, a devastating alien attack left Japan in a catastrophic state, with no way to defend themselves and hundreds of thousands people dead. Since then, the gigantic flying saucer has been just hanging above Japan, doing nothing, and it eventually became just a regular part of people's lives. Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction, or DDDDD for short, follows two teenage girls living in that world and going through their everyday lives.

I've been aware of Inio Asano and his work for a long time, but have never actually read any of his manga before. DDDDD is his latest English-translated book, so I decided to start with that to get to know his style. The premise is basically Ghost World meets Warren Ellis's Trees with a distinctively Japanese feel. Ouran and Kadode remind me a lot of Enid and Rebecca from Ghost World, two very angry, sarcastic and cynical young women who have trouble communicating with other people and the outside world. And the passive threat of the alien saucer looming over Tokyo is very much like trees from, er... Trees, a seemingly non-aggressive but terrifying reminder of humanity's helplessness in the face of much greater unknown power. This is a very unusual setting that's used to tell a very personal, down-to-earth story. DDDDD basically reads as a slice of life manga, just without the comedy that usually comes with this genre.

Asano's artwork is superb and adds so much depth and atmosphere to the book as a whole. His character designs are very distinctive and convey their personality really well, and the way he tells the story through his art, especially with the double page spreads at the very beginning and through numerous wordless scenes, it's just breathtaking.

The storytelling is sometimes not very clear, though. There were a few moments where I was really confused about what was going on, especially when it came to the character of Ouran, who sometimes just spewed pure nonsense because she's a quirky girl like that. The characters in general aren't particularly likeable, although that is probably the whole point — how many likeable teenagers have you met in your life? I certainly wasn't any better at that age.

Overall, I really liked Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction. It has a whacky name, whacky characters and whacky premise, and it all works together quite well. I'll be reading the next volume for sure.

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 3 out of 5]

If something can travel across the infinite expanse of outer space and park itself above one of the biggest human cities, stay hovering there for years without doing much, maybe you shouldn't provoke it into doing something violent? You probably can't destroy it, you'll just tick it off. See if you could communicate instead. Yeah?

These people are morons.

[Zala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Placeholder for volumes 1-7
I think I was able to enjoy this so much because I read it at the perfect time (last year of high school) and was able to relate to the girl mcs to a bigger extent than I could have before or after that point. I also liked the aliens ofc.

[Chantaal · Rating 2 out of 5]

I get that this is going for a strange "mundane life goes on even when the world is ending" kind of vibe, but it would be served better if it made ANY SORT OF SENSE.

Reading this felt like I was off-kilter and inches away from Getting It every other page. These aren't characters, these are weirdos who said weirdo things that make NO damn sense. Could I tell you the difference between the two best friends if they didn't have different hair? Hell no. Why was there a weird almost teacher/student subplot?? Every single theme, character, plot, scene, conversation felt like half of it was missing from the story entirely. It was just ODD.

I did grab the first 3 volumes from my library, but I don't care enough to continue.

[James DeSantis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dead Dead Damon has a interesting enough setting with Aliens coming to earth but kind of just not doing anything right away. Kind of like Trees. However, the main story is about Kadode and her life as a teenager.

Inio at this point is one of my favorite slice of life writers. He puts really interesting situations with just normal everyday things. While the aliens being on earth is a great background setting it's really Kadode and her best friends story that's interesting. Life goes on even with a major event like Aliens coming down and while they might effect certain plot points its watching the characters grow that is the best part.

I really enjoyed this book. Kadode is a interesting character with a lot of charm but also going through so much. On top of that her best friend is too funny but also a great secondary focus in this story. The storylines themselves are interesting from loss of a family, to love, to taboo love even. It's all here, and it's presented really well. It also helps the art is great.

I can't wait to read more. This is my favorite work behind "The Girl by the shore" and well worth reading. A 5 out of 5.

[The Artisan Geek]

22/8/20
Not going to lie, I was a bit confused with this one. Will have to read this one again once I get more volumes.

You can find me on
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[Sergsab · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soy la única persona que para desconectar de Inio Asano se lee otra obra de este señor. Y sé que estas cosas no se hacen. Es como enamorarse del chico de rebote con el que sales para olvidar a tu ex. No. Así me va. Que me acabo enganchando más a Dead Dead Demons que a Buenas noches Punpun. Y ya sabéis cómo muero por el manga del pollito famélico!

Se nota tanto, tanto cómo ha evolucionado la mano del autor en el camino correcto que el dominio de la viñeta es absoluto. Con planos y sentimientos que difícilmente verás en otro autor (y ojo! que digo autor, no mangaka).

La historia del desarrollo sentimental de estas cinco chicas en un mundo con una nave nodriza sobre sus cabezas es ABSOLUTAMENTE MARAVILLOSA. Leedla. Sé que sigue abierta. Sé que sólo hay dos tomos publicados, pero leedla. Es tan total que quiero empezar ya el tomo 2.

Me veo desconectando de esto leyendo más Punpun, entrando en un círculo de amor y vicio por el mejor autor de manga vivo: Inio Asano.

[Nore · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is essentially CGDCT masquerading as social commentary on how everyday life remains mundane, even in extraordinary circumstances.

I just do not like Asano. I don't like the way he views the world - it's the same depressing, cloying negativity that you see in a lot of other "intellectual" works, especially by male authors, and while I understand that viewpoint, I'm done wallowing in it in the way all of his comics do. This man is almost 40 years old and apparently thinks that a scene where a school teacher tells his student that they can be "friends with benefits" after she graduates (and then states that he's going to watch porn once she's left) is what will best further his work.

Also, Asano needs learn to draw a fat person, the fool! The absolute buffoon! Everything else he can draw beautifully, but fat people? Just draw a fleshy tire around the neck and call it a day, huh? Magnificent.

[Negar · Rating 1 out of 5]

هیچوقت یه کتاب/مانگا رو به خاطر جلد قشنگش نخرید.

[Fraser Simons · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cautiously interested still. There’s some manga staples here I dislike, like a pervy teacher, of course there’s a teacher who says stuff like after she graduates they can be friends with benefits :\ gross. The actual plot is quite slow: aliens came to earth and destroyed a few buildings and some people died but the attack halted.

That was three years ago. Most of the time it’s two girl best friends who just… hang out, living with the spectre of a giant floating saucer and it’s little minion saucers floating around Tokyo. People have adapted to this new state of affairs, and young people, like the girls, hate the normalcy of it. They’d rather the Penny drop and have war or be wiped out, than the tension of not knowing if there will even be a future, and if working hard will be something worth putting energy and money into. It’s a fairly pat allegory for seemingly disaffected you and the eco disaster we are marching towards, though this is far more literal.

I’d read another volume, I think. It’s a lot more low-key than I expected. The artwork is great and the ending was ominous and possibly a cliffhanger, depending how it’s interpreted? Slightly baffling? Confused? Intrigued? I am these things.

[Derek Royal · Rating 5 out of 5]

As expected, I really enjoyed the first volume of the latest Inio Asano translation. And as with other Asano stories, this one is a curious balance of primary storyline (from what I can tell with just the first issue) and ancillary events and dramas that, while perhaps not clearly apparent connected to the main narrative trajectory, will nonetheless connect up at some point and contribute to a fuller story. The premise of this series, while not entirely unique, is unusual enough and given enough twist to intrigue. As with Goodnight Punpun, I eagerly await future volumes and am impatient to see where the series goes.

Reread 6/10/2018

[maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was definitely quirky and weird, which is what I totally expected it to be. It was a little hard to follow at times, but it became easier to understand as the volume went on. The art was amazing and as detailed as always from Inio Asano! The cliffhanger was pretty crazy too! I can't wait for the next volume!

[Violet ♡]

Slice of life. Sci-fi.  And dark humor and themes. It has them all.

The plot revolves around this two high school girls, their friendship, the ups and downs of their lives, and an alien spaceship. I found it kind of weird, but the art style is clear. 😬



This volume ends on a cliffhanger, but I don't think I'll continue the series. 🥲

[Krysta ꕤ · Rating 1 out of 5]

this did absolutely nothing for me and I was bored

[milena enevoada · Rating 4 out of 5]

eu amo como esse mangá é caótico
"ow, tem uma NAVE ALIENÍGENA NO NOSSO PAÍS, mas qual faculdade tu vai fazer mesmo?"
o cliffhanger do final é maravilhoso, ansiosa pro próx volume.

[Jon Ureña · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've read Asano's mostly autobiographical "Reiraku", he speaks about not enjoying mangas in general. He seems to consider most of what's out there shallow and idiotic. While he was falling apart and failing to come up with his next masterpiece to rival "Oyasumi Punpun" (as if), his alter ego in "Reiraku" decided to start a sort of mainstream, marketable series that would fit in comfortably amongst all the other crap out there. This is a zany slice of life manga about high school girls dealing with an alien invasion, made by someone who despises these kinds of mangas, despises those who make them, and likely despises those who read them as well. It's as if he's facing the crowd and yelling, "isn't this what you like, motherfuckers? Are you not entertained?". And so far, this series is a blast.

Asano took his anxieties about certain doom in the horizon, palpable in his most of his serious stories, and turned it into an obvious plot element. A huge mothership seemingly commanded by not particularly competent aliens invades Japan. The initial hostilities killed a few dozen thousand people. A coalition was formed, and the Japanese decided to attack the mothership with a newly designed American weapon called a "F" bomb. The resulting contamination killed a bunch more people and not too many aliens. Although the world changed, three years later most people have already returned to their daily lives. Meanwhile, a gargantuan mothership threatens to fall and flatten half of Tokyo. It's like that South African movie "District 9" but without the apartheid guilt.




However, this is not a shonen manga. We follow mainly two zany high school girls as they live their regular lives while the threat of the unknown and possible mass annihilation literally hangs over them. While the main protagonist is somewhat dull apart from a pushy crush on one of her teachers, I love her best friend, a 16-ish year old conspiracy theorist with absurdly long pigtails, who keeps informing her unwilling listeners that the American military-industrial complex has engineered this alien situation. She wastes many nights playing online shooters, and yearns for world domination over the masses of sheep. The absurd way she talks, in addition to her surprising reactions, steal every scene she's in.

So we have a slice of life comedy aware of how ridiculous it is, and a writer very aware of clichés who keeps pushing the boundaries of absurdity in most scenes, no matter how perfunctory. In a present where most of the country has been shocked into hysterics by the sudden attack and loss of lives, in a quite explicit parallel to 9/11, the slice of life aspects maneuver around how the society adapts to the constant threat and possibility that the mothership might release a myriad of flying saucers at any moment.



The darkness inherent to the situation often seeps through to our protagonists, only for the self aware script to pull some manga equivalent of "what do we know, we are dumb high school girls!".



So far we have two particularly interesting side characters. The main protagonist's mother is a doomsday prepper with an anxiety disorder and who constantly wears a gas mask. She tries to convince her daughter to move to some self-sufficient commune. The other character is an old acquaintance of the two friends, a ridiculous looking computer tech guy with a sense of purpose and self-worth that contrast his appearance and general circumstances.



The art is exceptional. Asano seemingly dragged the team that put together the wonderful drawings from "Oyasumi Punpun", "Reiraku" and "A Girl on the Shore", and added someone clearly specialized in drawing mechanical devices as in "Akira". The result is just great to look at page after page. In contrast Asano decided to make the characters look like they belong in "Made in Abyss", which reminds you that you are reading a comedy that isn't meant to be taken seriously.

I spent half this volume with a smile on my face. And I'm guessing that Asano had a lot of fun making it as well. There is space for many kinds of stories.

[Joel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic, quirky art, super-relatable characters, I only have a vague idea of what is happening. So it's like Pun-Pun, except it didn't make me want to crawl under my bed and cry.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shout out to my local manga book club for introducing me to this very unique title that I probably wouldn't have otherwise picked up.

It's a sci-fi about an alien invasion, but it's also a slice of life about growing up and the monotony of waiting for something "big" to happen.

The art is wonderfully detailed, as it's simultaneously a reflection of our world and a foreign one where a spaceship just hovers over Japan for years doing nothing.

While I didn't emotionally connect with any of the characters, I did love the lead's quirky best friend whose personality is a bit misanthrope, a bit paranoia, and a lot of love for her best friend.

When I finished this title, I was unsure if I wanted to continue the manga or just watch the anime, but after our book club discussion, I think I'll definitely be reading more.

[Mehsi · Rating 2 out of 5]

"When you look up at the sky, what do you see? A blue sky? Freedom? A hopeful future? The people of Tokyo see none of these. Instead, an ominous alien mothership looms overhead, engulfing the city skyscape."

Review for Volume 1 and 2.

Yep, I was definitely intrigued by that sentence when I spotted this series. But in the end it just felt short. Mostly because it is about the daily lives of several girls, all friends, with some aliens/spookiness/feeling of something wrong. I was just hoping that it would be a bit more about the aliens, maybe some more threats and danger instead of girls just going their way and trying to get into college. You keep seeing the aliens (or well the ship/ships) and you feel unsettled but then nothing really happens!

The characters are interesting, but very goofy and weird. I am also a bit confused about their age, they look like middle-graders, but are instead high-schoolers about to graduate (it wasn't until I saw one of them drive and the other talk about college that I saw that they were much older). Most of the time we see them go through their daily lives, thinking about if they should leave Tokyo and go to somewhere safer (as people say that those who stay in Tokyo are pretty suicidal), trying to graduate and get to college, one of the girls has a short romance (with a terrible dude), one girl's dad is missing which caused her mom to go pretty wonky, but we also see them think about the aliens and discuss it.

We also find more out about the aliens, how they came to be in Tokyo, we see aliens (who look pretty human). And there are some revelations that me wonder about the true intentions of both the humans and the aliens.

I did love how they revealed the aliens to us. At first it seems everything is just happy happy, but then you see them look up at the sky.

The art is gorgeous, well I should specify, the backgrounds/scenery are amazing. The characters are hit and miss. :P Especially the side characters feel like the author just couldn't give a fig about their design.

I would continue to read this one, but frankly I am not that much interested in reading it further. I may just wait until it is done and then check the last volume to see if something happens with the aliens.

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/

[Ami 乁⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠o⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠ㄏ (written by Jane Austen) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐🌟💫 (3.75 stars rounded up to 4)

The first volume serves as a good beginning where we're introduced to the basics of the plot and the characters. It's done in a way that's fun and keeps you interested. Though the general vibe of the story is absurd fun, there are also moments of seriousness and the manga handles both equally well.

So far, I'm really intrigued by the characters and love their dynamicsm. Really looking forward to where the plot goes from here.

[Tocotin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome drawings (I love how realistic and detailed everything is, feels totally like our neighborhood), characters lovable and/or interesting. I'm not much into manga, but I was told that the story is not what it looks like – and I like unexpected; there is not enough of unexpected those days, in books I mean.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slice-of-life mixed with sci-fi. I got immediately sucked into the detailed illustrations. An interesting look these high schoolers living their normal lives with an alien invasion happening at the same time. Can't wait to read more. I loved it.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This pretty much sums up the world today: everything's going to hell, but hey, gotta pay off that student loan.

[Benjamin Kozel]

A good analysis of growing up in a post 9/11 world. Asano is a millennial and does a good job understanding the striving of the zoomer generation but can at times let his own views seep in and destroy the messaging. Set in a world on the constant verge of an invasion, Asano paints a surprisingly bright picture compared to his previous works. Dead dead captures the apathy that the gen Z saw in their high school years where everything seem set up against us so we became existential, aggressive and happy oddly. Absurdism is prevalent throughout the entire series where characters act as though there isn't a flying saucer right above them. Its almost relatable but Asano gets it just wrong enough to throw off his target audience, at least for me. In particular, how Asano treats world leaders and the government at large is extremely millennial, everyone who holds office is an idiot while the super geniuses are in the background pulling the strings. It's funny but I don't think that's how the gen Z thinks of leaders, if they think of them at all relative to millennials.

It's a really messy series with a lot of good, plenty of bad and a very poor ending but it does have an inkling of something I think is uniquely relatable to my generation.

[Melanie Schneider · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was habe ich gerade gelesen? XD (Nachtrag: Auf die positive Art gemeint)

Ich bin noch ein bisschen verwirrt über all die Zusammenhänge und ich würde so gern mehr wissen über den Erstauftritt der Aliens und warum das so ist, wie es ist und ja!

Die Figuren sind typisch japanisch: liebenswert und gleichzeitig übertrieben. Aber ich habe sie ins Herz geschlossen und werde mir wohl die weiteren Bände in der Bibliothek ausleihen.

[ScottIsANerd (GrilledCheeseSamurai) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slice of life story that just happens to take place during an alien invasion/occupation.

A solid premise with a couple of young protagonists that I enjoyed following around. Will definitely carry on with volume 2.