デッドデッドデーモンズデデデデデストラクション 9

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] #9

by Inio Asano

「私はあなたの、絶対なの」


「私はあなたの、絶対なの」

別の「平行世界」から来た、
タイムトラベラーである凰蘭。
そして、彼女の記憶を辿る大場とマコト。

8年前、凰蘭と門出は「侵略者」と出会う。
門出は、次第に『侵略者』の力を使い
己の正義を振りかざし始める。

止まらない、門出の暴走の数々。
そして行き着いてしまった結末、
悲しき真実とは――!?

Genres: Manga, Comics, Science Fiction, Seinen, Comics Manga, Drama, Fiction

196 pages, Paperback

First published December 26, 2019

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]

“Everything sucks.”

“Earth is screwed.”

So this is what I have been expecting, that the mania of this series, the dark comedy and teen goofiness, would lead to greater and greater darkness in keeping with Inio Asano's essentially cynical view about the state of the planet. Which means I admire this volume in a way more than others, though I’ll admit it is almost unrelentlessly brutal, even beginning with the typically goofy Isobeyan manga series that always opens each volume. Then violence happens to a leader, at the hands of youth. And more violence, murder, at the hands of this one particular individual we have come to know (at the same time the murder of the aliens continues, at the hands of the government and the military that in part serves them).

“Kids are so easygoing.”

Then we see pieces of the mothership over Tokyo failing into various neighborhoods, creating havoc and death in these areas, encouraging international military action, even as life in other areas seems to go on as usual (I think of the youth soccer game I attended yesterday as we heard about mass graves in Ukraine). I know, I know: what else are you gonna do, you go to school, you fall in love, you watch sports, even if you do care about the state of the world. But Asano makes you increasingly uncomfortable as you watch people living their lives as if nothing had changed.

For instance, the fact that the Occult Club is still enjoying themselves at the beach looks less lighthearted than clueless now. Kids are of course into musical supergroups and cute outfits as they were before, but now as events prove more ominous, escapism and teen business as usual--doesn’t seem quite so justified. Yet Asano also really seems to care about these kids, too, so that's a neat trick.

[Urbon Adamsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume picks up the storyline begun in the previous one, continuing the narrative in flashback form through Ouran’s memories.

Some interesting revelations shed a bit more light on the invasion, though not entirely. I have to admit, these plot twists leave me a bit confused.


So, if I understood correctly, after they saved the invader who acted as a kind of “scout” for the invading race, Kadode and Ouran set events in motion that ultimately lead to Kadode’s death. Feeling guilty, Ouran asks Isobeyan (the disguised invader) for a way to bring Kadode back, and by doing so, they create a new timeline where both are alive and they never saved or encountered the invader. Without the information he provided that could have prevented the invasion, the invasion ends up happening.

I think that’s it. What a tangle! 😅

[Artemy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series has always skewed towards being depressing, but this was a bit too much even by its own standards. This volume was filled with sadness, nihilism, teenage angst and existential dread to such a point that I didn’t enjoy reading it. I mean, I still really like this series as a whole, and knowing Asano’s reputation I was prepared for the book to eventually dip into this territory, but boy was it a rough read anyway.

[Ignacio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esta historia, que comenzaba siendo una de invasiones alienígenas, el nacionalismo y la xenofobia crecientes de la sociedad japonesa y adolescentes buscando su lugar en el mundo, ha terminado mostrando una mirada intimista e incisiva sobre la amistad, la rabia y la depresión cuando las expectativas y los resultados son irreconciliables. Esta transición, además, ha llegado en una voltereta metacomiquera que, durante unos tomos, ha transformado el relato en una historia de Doraemon mortalmente seria, sin descuadrar nada; se cierra sobre sí misma en un final a la altura del planteamiento. Muy bien Asano y su equipo. La cuestión es... ¿y ahora qué?

[David Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Narrative plot points converge in this cornestone volume. Yet again Asano-Sensei proves he is at the peak of his craft.

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

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5 stars)

This volume was an emotional rollercoaster :')

[Bailey Renalds · Rating 5 out of 5]

God it’s like this series was made for me

[Philip McCarty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ooof, volumes 8 and 9 were real rough, heart wrenching, and I had to talk a nice long walk to process it. Every once in a while, a backstory reveal comes along that shakes up a whole narrative in an organic way, explaining things that had seemed off while sticking to the core of the series, and these volumes were it! We basically get a twisted version of Isobeyan playing out with children who see themselves as rational. In 5th grade, Kadode and Ontan come across an alien while on vacation who decides he wants to see how human's exist so tags along with them back to Tokyo. He gives them advanced alien tech, letting them instantly translate, fly, and disappear. Leading up to this, we see that Ontan is a very different person, passively standing by while everyone bullies Kadode for being different. Kadode's parents are the same as they are in the future, not being present and when they are, either trying to buy her affection or berating her. The tools gifted to the girls give Kadode the chance to fight back, the ability to make a difference, and a power she doesn't have the control she thinks she does over. It's hard to watch as she wins over the boy's to do good deeds for strangers, but then she starts looking for opportunities to help where there might not be any, which leads to the terrifying action where she accidentally kills someone. This leads to a spiral where she chooses to kill bad people, because having taken a life she might as well take the lives of those who are evil. She sees herself as irredeemable and Ontan is only able to watch as this happens, until it leads to the heart wrenching moment where Kadode kills herself and no one is able to save her. Her actions also led to the alien's choosing not to invade earth because they saw that there was no way they could have successful negotiations with humanity. Ontan is distraught and chooses to time travel back to before the events, and in this redo of life, takes on the wildly unhinged persona we know and love. Because they don't have the experience with the alien though, this leads to them invading in this timeline, while Ontan has to live with the realization that her actions resulted in this. It's real heavy stuff and the kind of drama that makes this story so good. Still need to take some time though to sit with this arc, because oof, it's a lot.

[Dani Wladdimiro · Rating 2 out of 5]

Por lejos, este es el volumen que menos me gustó del manga. Puedo entender por qué a algunas personas les parece increíble, extraordinario o impactante, pero, sinceramente, a mí me resultó predecible. No porque la previsibilidad sea un problema en sí misma—después de todo, las pistas estaban ahí desde el inicio con Isobeyan—sino porque siento que se utilizó como un recurso para generar impacto gratuito y dejar al lector o lectora con un mal sabor de boca.

Podemos analizar la escena desde distintos ángulos: su contexto familiar, el entorno social, la falta de una red de apoyo. Sí, entiendo todos estos factores, y cada uno podría haber dado lugar a diferentes desarrollos narrativos. Pero al final, ¿era realmente necesario llevar la historia al extremo de hacer que la protagonista se suicide frente a su amiga, después de todo lo que había construido?

No lo sé. En A Silent Voice, cuando ocurre una escena similar, el impacto emocional es completamente diferente. Ahí realmente quiero que el personaje no sufra ese destino, porque la historia se ha dedicado a construir un trasfondo sólido que hace que su dolor sea comprensible. Es la esencia misma del relato. En este caso, en cambio, la historia transita entre slice of life, sci-fi y geopolítica, pero sin profundizar realmente en ninguno de estos elementos. Al final, todo queda a medias, y el tratamiento del suicidio me pareció irresponsable. Otros mangas han abordado esta temática de manera mucho más profunda, sin necesidad de tramas tan enredadas ni giros forzados para impactar al lector o lectora.

Me quedo con una sensación de frustración, porque el mensaje que deja este volumen es demasiado superficial para el peso del tema que intenta abordar.

[Estibaliz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best volume ever! And I know I said something along those lines for the previous one, but this definitely is even better than volume 8.

We are still in full flashback mode, with some heartbreaking events taking place in this alternate reality that really explain a lot on why things are they way they are now, when it comes to both, Kadode and Oran, and also the whole invaders situation.

Whose fault is everything that's happening, really? This volume offers a lot of insight and material for interpretation, with some unexpected twists and, in a weird sad way, lots of fun.

And, of course, and once again, great art.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine an author writes a book. It's tense, political, and philosophical. Yet it's also wholesome, filled with friendship, overcoming tribulations, and struggling to survive in a world that doesn't make sense.

Then imagine that all of that was just a plot to gut-punch you multiple times, over and over, with the context you've learned after reading. Suddenly, all those silly events and happy memories are all tinged which raw, ugly discomfort.

So that's what happened in this book. If you were curious.

[Aildiin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Up until the previous volume this was a good manga with a slightly slow start but the slowness wasn't an issue due to the way Asano builds his characters.
But with this volume we get a huge plot twist and what was good to very good is now great!
We have entered Punpun level of greatness.
I can't wait to read what happens next...

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damn, even the framing, parallel episode of Isobeyan is intensely dark and depressing in this one. As always, Dead Dead... is superbly drawn with deep, wild backgrounds, unique character designs, and great narrative flow (which is essential for all the abstraction and absurdity involved).

[Baylor Heath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wowzers. After so much slice of life fun & dark comedy, this series really took a decisive, plot-heavy, tonal shift!

This is like when Lost pivoted hard at the end of season 3 and started aggressively answering questions as they marched toward the ending.

[Marco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Devastante e chiarificatore al tempo stesso (forse è devastante perché chiarificatore). A questo punto sono contento di aver continuato la lettura dopo i primi volumi un po' così così; preparo i fazzoletti per i prossimi.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know Asano Inio wrote the "Oyasumi Punpun" series (I haven't read that one but it has a "reputation" among manga fans)...but man, I didn't expect it to get this dark. Now all the subtle buildup from the beginning (albeit a bit slow) is paying off and it's spectacular.

[Mateen Mahboubi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty dark, even without an impending alien invasion. Not sure if I love the big end set piece/set up at the end but I'm definitely curious as to where it's going.

[V.S. Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very smart volume that explained an awful lot. Poor sweet Ontan.

If you're not already reading this series, then I highly recommend you do - along with everything else Asano has written.

[mayday · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOHOO TOLOOONG

[Cassie Fleurs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Things got turner so fastly in this volume. My poor babies.

This volume will really start moving things along , you can see a huge shift in the boring peaceful days

[Alba Munarriz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was waiting for the moment this motherfucker would make me cry, and volume 9 is the one :___

[alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

ohhh shhh like my heart is stabbed into thousand pieces😭😭😭

[Natalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

AAAAAAAGHHHH 😭

[Kitty · Rating 5 out of 5]

💧

[Felix Christie]

heartbreaking volume omg

[Nicolas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ontan 😢

[Cecilia Carolina Vicario · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Porque yo soy tu absoluto"

🤧🤧🤧🤧

[The Rev. Dr. Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best volume of the series so far. No notes.

[Rafaela Cristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

por essa eu não tava esperando.

[Solim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hands down the best and saddest volume yet.