Ein Eindringling hat sich On-tan zu erkennen gegeben und sie weiht natürlich sofort Kadode ein! Dass der Eindringling sich den Körper des bekannten Stars Oba zu eigen gemacht hat, ist zudem eine Belastung, denn draußen wird er gern mal erkannt. Zu dritt versuchen sie, nicht aufzufliegen, doch ob das gut geht?
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).
Volume 5 I read as the Men who run various countries again begin beating the drums of war, this time in Ukraine. The world economy is in the doldrums, so we need a war economy!! And this volume from a decade previous is thematically connected: An invader’s Mothership hovers over Tokyo, with obvious foreboding. Early on I thought it was a series about anything that threatens life as we knew it--Climate change, Fukushima, endless wars. And that’s still true, essentially, but the focus is shifting.
The first four volumes were mostly about getting to know a small group of young people, slice-of-life stories, as they just try to get back to life as usual as this darkly absurd threat to livelihood hangs over their heads. In this volume more and more of the invaders--cute little aliens--are coming down and the military has decided to exterminate all of them (refugees?). Some of the young people are trying to defend the invaders’ right to safety, even as we meet one soldier who has been killing the invaders, traumatized by his own acts. Then our group of young people seem to be sheltering and disguising one of the invaders.
The backdrop of this more plot-oriented volume (vs. character-driven, slice-of-life is war profiteering and the dehumanization of enemies/others, and there’s also the use by the government of pop culture to both rev up the war effort and to distract the public from its horrors (i.e., what are Kim and Pete and Kanye doing as the world burns??!!). Marx said religion is the opiate of the people, but pop culture--sports, music, the internet--emerges here also as the great distractors they maybe always have been. The plot is getting suddenly wilder and messier.
Since the invaders were revealed, we’ve been gaining deeper insight into their perspective, and I have to admit, it’s pretty heartbreaking. It makes me wonder if Asano is using this as a critique of how we treat those who don’t belong to our "tribe".
DDDDD keeps being very good in a very oddball sort of way. We learn a bit more about the alien invaders, Ouran goes through a few really important and emotional moments, and the humanity at large keeps sucking at being human. The switch to more plot-oriented storytelling is not my favourite choice (I quite enjoyed the slice-of-life format of the previous books), but by this point I'm just really into all of the characters and their personal goings-on, so I'm always happy to get a new portion Dededede. And Asano's artwork is exquisite as usual. Side-note: this volume featured probably the funniest Isobeyan skit yet.
Horrifying in a way only Asano could be. Every volume gets better. A quirky slice-of-life story about war profiteering, dehumanization of enemies, PTSD, and pop propaganda. There's no book quite like this.
Obra de arte, Inio se vuelve a reinventar, caras más variadas, mejores (¿se puede?) fondos, personajes más definidos sin abandonar su estilo... emociona por lo que les pasa y por lo que le pasa al mundo... podría calificar este manga como slice-of-sci-fi y me quedo más ancho que largo.
El contexto de un Japón donde la nacionalismo vuelve a dominar la vida pública, el ejército se rearma y se persigue la inmigración es ya omnipresente. Mientras, las protagonistas continúan con su ocioso día a día que no se rompe ni con el nuevo compañero que se han echado. La neurosis de una sociedad imperturbable ante los desastres que la devoran desde dentro queda representada a la perfección con escenas como la cacería de alienígenas en la Universidad.
Life after high school goes on for Kadode, Ontan and their friends, while Tokyo and Japan as a whole is undergoing rapid changes due to the perceived threat of the invaders and the mysterious mothership casting its shadow over Tokyo. The country is increasingly defined by "invader panic", which feeds the military-industrial complex and polarises the country.
Dead Dead Demon's is impeccably attuned to the zeitgeist, as it foreshadows the post-truth era, the Covid 'invasion', and global political changes brought on by the war in Ukraine. Up until volume 4 the overall tone was pretty lighthearted, but in this volume Asano intensifies the stakes and cranks up the darkness. In between scenes of Kadode and Ontan's usual shenanigans, Asano shows us what war against the invaders looks like from the perspective of the invaders and it ain't pretty.
The art is crazy good, mixing super detailed backgrounds with cartoony character designs. I feel like this might turn out to be Asano's most accomplished manga work to date.
Langsam aber stetig dreht Inio Asano das Schräubchen der Narration weiter, und wie die dunklen Vorausdeutungen zunehmen, so steigert sich das Gefühl und die Gewissheit, dass es kein gutes Ende nehmen wird. Interessant, dass die Außerirdischen vor allem das neu gebaute Olympia-Stadion als menschliche Superwaffe missinterpretieren. Ein klarer Kommentar des Mangaka zur Lage der Nation.
Ansonsten in diesem Band: die Entwicklungen in Dingen Liebe schreiten voran. Kadodes und On-tans erste Schritte in Sachen Körperlichkeit.
He leído varias obras de este autor, y me sigue sorprendiendo. Es capaz de combinar muy bien la ciencia ficción, y su realismo e introspeccion habitual, con la crítica a la sociedad, la política, la belicosidad y muchas otras cosas, tan solo en este tomo. Manteniendo eso si, el interés y el ritmo de la trama principal y el día a día de sus personajes. Esta serie empezaba un poco floja en cuanto al argumento, pero a medida que avanza mejora notablemente.
This really does just remain a strange read. Like, I can tell the author is doing some stuff thematically and messaging wise like usual, but the plot and the variety of it is kind of chaotic. We move from following Kadode and friends, to meeting an alien body snatcher, to seeing the perspective of the invaders, to following a soldier + his family, to getting a look at the internal organization of world leaders planning escape.
Some of those themes?
The more things change, the more they don't. Life goes on. Apocalypse now? Or when? Or does it even matter. Peace through peaceful solutions vs peace through war. Romance (is it a good idea to date during such a tumultuous time?).
There's probably a boatload more I'm missing too. For instance, growing up seems to be a theme in the work as well to some extent (or holding on to one's childhood / past vs changing). Becoming something you don't want to become against your will is a bit of a theme. Characters becoming numb to the violence and dehumanizing the invaders (or just generally not picking sides or caring about invaders or humans at large) is in there too.
If it sounds chaotic, that's exactly how it feels. I think this is a series I want to spend more time with in rereads to "get it" if that's possible.
El manga va en camino a convertirse en una gran historia clásica: un romance con alguien del país enemigo. Y me gusta, aún más por todo el trasfondo que le están dando a los “invasores”, quienes ya sabemos que en realidad fueron los primeros seres inteligentes de la Tierra.
Sinceramente, al principio no me gustaba nada el manga, pero ahora estoy encontrando esos destellos que me cautivan, tanto a nivel político como en el desarrollo de la historia adolescente de amor, porque ambos elementos se sienten completamente conectados.
Por un lado, vemos cómo un militar comienza a “humanizar” a los invasores, cuestionándose realmente si debe matarlos o no. Por otro, observamos la vida cotidiana de los invasores, que es prácticamente la de un campo de guerra, donde deben sobrevivir con lo poco y nada que tienen. Finalmente, todo converge en un doble punto de tensión: el conflicto político y el amor entre una humana y un invasor.
Todavía no me ha volado la cabeza, pero, como decía, tiene mucho potencial y puede convertirse en algo realmente memorable.
The government heats up their defense strategy against the invaders, while the girls befriend Oba and protect him. I loved the story about the soldier. It’s nuanced look at duty, and shows how inhuman humanity is becoming amidst the situation. DDDDD is more plot-driven by this point, but Asano leaves some room for character moments, as well as humor. It’s still a fascinating read. And this volume is especially depressing, in a good way. What started as a quirky slice-of-life story has morphed into a terrifying tale of war and xenophobia.
Maybe the second funniest Isobeyan episode framing this volume. The mothership is smoking. Is it simple evaporation or is something else at play? And what could go wrong when private interest profit on war—suddenly new enemies appear to push profits! Very intense Robocop vibes as we get an Enforcement Droid series 209 reveal at the S.E.S. festival. More carnage ensues. Meanwhile, Kadode and Oran might be looking for love before the world ends! Another emotional roller coaster in this one.
Ohhhh that ending was cute. And now I see where this is going in terms of the overall theme/purpose of this story. While war vs pacifism and the military industrial complex is a strong theme, ultimately Asano's emotional target here is looking like what would you if you knew the world was going to end. Can't wait to see how this goes forward!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This didn't fully captured my attention as some of the late volumes had, but it was still quite enjoyable.
The art is awesome, the characters are quirky and cute and funny, and we get to experiment life from the invaders point of view even more, with some heart wrenching moments that seem to be gearing up for a significant twist in the story... but who knows?
Sempre più disilluso e critico con il governo e le sue manipolazioni. Depistaggi sugli investimenti per combattere gli invasori e piani segreti di rafforzamento del potere. Che tenera la piccola Ontan e quel bacio 🥰
I don't know how to feel about this series. I get very angsty reading it- from the impending doom of the invaders, to the stages of growing up of Ontan and Kadode. I haven’t yet found a character to get behind…
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.