Title: Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction Vol. 4
Author: Inio Asano
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 164
Genre: Slice-of-Life, Fantasy, Drama
Publication Date: January 15, 2019
The Story
The fourth volume of Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction introduces us to two brand-new characters in Makoto and Futaba. Futaba wants to go to university in Tokyo but her father is against it because it’s the center for the invader’s mothership and feels it’s too dangerous. Despite this, Futaba goes anyway and Makoto tags along. Once they arrive, they run into Oran and Kadode who are being asked to join an occult club at the college. Futaba and Oran hit it off as friends so Makoto ends up becoming part of the group by default.
On the other side of the coin, we see Japan test their new canon against a medium-sized invader ship which caused hundreds of invaders to plunge to their deaths. Later in the volume, we catch up with one invader who ends up surviving the fall. He (or she?) is rescued by another invader where it takes them to a foggy area that humans cannot enter due to A-Ray contamination. It explains that survivors have been living there for years but on the way there, they are mostly massacred by a human extermination squad.
The volume ends with Oran paying a visit to Ojiro, the recruiter for the occult club. His power is off because he forgot to pay his electric bill. When he goes to pay it, Oran discovers that Keita is hiding there. Oran quickly texts Kadode claiming that she caught an invader!
I really enjoyed this volume because while it did introduce some new and interesting characters, it also took a look at life from the invader’s point of view. They said that their home country sent them to Earth and now they’re trapped there. They had no idea Earth would be this dangerous. It really painted a picture that they were there just to visit and ended up getting attacked for no good reason. Now all they want to do is go home so they spend their days hoping and praying that their home country will come to rescue them.
This situation reminds me of Shiki where you finally got to understand the vampire’s point of view. You began to feel for the vampires and hate the humans. I’m getting that same vibe here with the humans and the invaders. I’m also interested in seeing how they handle Keita and Oran’s interaction. I’m beginning to wonder if Keita will end up like the Ken Kaneki of the series in the sense that he will become the bridge between humans and invaders.
Characters
Our first new character is Futaba. She’s a girl who is very book smart and is hell-bent on going to Tokyo to continue her education despite the danger posed by the invaders. She’s not the greatest cook in the world but she makes do with what skills she has. Outside of that, she’s a rather normal girl who seems to be into video games. So far, she’s a “just there’ kind of character that hasn’t really been given anything special to write home about.
Makoto, on the other hand, seems to have a crush on Futaba. There were a few moments in the volume where it seemed like he was trying to confess his love to her but just couldn’t find the right words to say. Makoto has a bit of an interesting side to him in the fact that he enjoys cross-dressing as a girl. Futaba wants to know if he’s gay or transgender but Makoto says no to both and that he just wants to feel cute. Outside of this aspect, Makoto is also very plain in his demeanor and if it wasn’t for the crossdressing aspect, he’d be another “just there” character.
Kadode went on a date with Mr. Watarase and it was as awkward as you’d think it would be. You can tell that Watarase is just entertaining her knowing that it isn’t anything serious yet I don’t think Kadode feels the same way. Then again, she is still young and inexperienced so this should serve as a good life lesson for her. I don’t think it’s an actual relationship but moreso a teacher doing his job and teaching her a lesson. Then again, this is Inio Asano we are talking about here and he’s not scared to pull the trigger on a subject like this so who knows for sure?
Lastly, our final new character Ojiro is a bit of an oddball. The fact that he’s the recruiter for the occult club speaks volumes. He’s portrayed as a normal person at first but then he starts talking about his obsessions with UFOs and wanting to search for them… despite the fact that the invader’s mothership is right outside his window in the sky. He thinks they are fake aliens because true aliens would never reveal themselves publicly like this. Maybe he should go out and buy a clue while he’s out paying his electric bill? Despite that, it’s going to be pure gold when he comes back and discovers Keita in his house.
Final Thoughts
Still a bit of a calm volume for the most part but it had to be so that we could establish our three new characters and fold them into the story. Still, I loved the glimpse into the lives of the invaders and the chance for us to see things from their side. My only regret was that I was enjoying this aspect so much that I was angry when they suddenly died.
“Oh wow! We get to see where the invaders liv—aaaaaand they’re dead. Great….”
Thank you, Asano, for that ungodly tease but that’s what you need to do to keep people reading, right? Give them a hook. Now we sit and wait to see if we’ll get another chance to see the invaders refugee camp that they established in the contaminated zone… but… with Keita showing back up, do we really need to? Hoping that he just doesn’t take off running again, this could be our chance to learn more about the invaders vicariously through him. If he ended up joining the group along with everyone else, that would be amazing.
I feel like we’re on the cusp of getting to the very heart of this series. Asano is setting up for something big and we could get it as early as next volume. Now if he could only stop putting the manga on hiatus, that would be great!
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This item was provided for review by VIZ Media
