I would imagine creating a successful follow-up to your most critically acclaimed work is a very unnerving thing to do. Goodnight Punpun is what many manga readers believe is Inio Asano’s masterpiece. The series is not only masterful in its writing, but dreadfully awe-inspiring in its delivery. Believe me, I am not here to echo the praises of Goodnight Punpun; others have made the case for its genius in more convincing ways than I ever could. The reason I am mentioning this manga is because I believe its existence directly affects Dead Dead Demon’s Dededededestruction (for the sake of this review I’ll abbreviate it to
...
Dededede). As the successor to Goodnight Punpun in Asano's catalog, Dededede is unfortunately aggressed with a subconscious mindset of constant comparison. Many believe Goodnight Punpun is on a different level of manga entirely. Going into Dededede with that behavior will do you no good. Even long-time fans of Asano’s manga will be surprised by the ideas put forth on this manga, whether it be subtle changes in artistic choices or making more debatable narrative choices. While Goodnight Punpun is Asano cohering to his strengths, Dededede is a veteran mangaka experimenting with unfamiliarity.
This is a manga about the human reaction and general anxiety to the uncertain future. It's about the coping mechanisms that humans utilize when faced with more thoughts than they can handle at one time. The story follows a group of soon-to-graduate highschool students who are living their regular lives during an alien invasion. The main two characters, Kadode and Oran, are enjoyable personalities who offer an interesting perspective on the world. An elderly or middle-aged perspective on the impending doom would be similar to that of a reflection; looking back on memories and proudly accepting the life that they have lived. Kadode and Oran, on the other hand, are just graduating high school. Their lives are arguably just beginning. These characters may seem like they are always fun-loving and cheery but they are really just coping in the only way they know how. Dededede is a manga filled with joyful moments, but these same moments can also be rather melancholic.
Dededede plays with comedy, slice-of-life, sci-fi, and drama, which are fused together beautifully in this melting pot of a manga. I love how Asano is never afraid of writing political humor in this manga either. I’m sure he had a plethora of ideas given the manga’s serialization occurred throughout the entire Trump administration (which is mocked more than a few times here). Asano isn’t totally foreign with the concepts in this manga though. Humanity, death, and depression are all themes we’ve seen before, but this time he approaches this from a socio-political lens. That isn’t to say that this manga lacks an 'Asano-personalized touch'. The Isobeyan comics at the beginning of each volume is delivered with a subdued tone I could only attribute to Asano. And, the vivid page-to-page paneling that Asano has mastered at this point is nothing short of breathtaking.
This manga is a slice of life, and not exactly a euphoric one. The 'slice' of this particular 'life' is quite believable. I would describe Dededede as a modern dystopia. It does have the sci-fi tag, and there are some far-fetched ideas that you either accept or dismiss, but Asano doesn't totally abandon realism here. I imagine this is how society would actually act if this situation occurred. The world and characters are established nicely while themes of existentialism and social panic are simultaneously constructed. The plot develops at a relatively slow pace in the beginning, but there is much to uncover regarding the world-building and dialogue. It's just extremely well planned, and every scene serves to build the world or develop the plot and characters.
Speaking of the characters, they are well written and fit into the story well. I wish more development was given to characters such as Rin, but every relevant character is given enough characterization to be serviceable in their respective roles. Oran and Kadode are brilliant, as well as Oran's brother, who proves to be more than just a gag character. Every appearance he makes has me bursting in tears of both kinds, and I'm surprised with something new about him each time. Futaba and Ooba are also nice additions to the cast as well. Kadode can feel like an Asano self insert at times, but as the manga develops, her personality develops too, and she proves to be a multifaceted character in a later arc. Every character is believable. Even Oran, who seems to be the most contrived in personality, is developed in a clever way, negating her character of any criticism I could give.
I normally dislike when writers insert ‘gamer’ slang into their works. It’s normally dated by a couple years and there’s always some mention of something like “Leroy Jenkins'', “get pwned”, or maybe some inaccurate ‘1337speak’ tossed in there that makes me want to blow my brains out every time I see it. Rather than trying to appeal to the demographic, Asano approaches this, and most of the comedy in this manga, with a caustic and exaggerated tone. Comedy is something we rarely see in an Inio Asano manga, and I would say he has full control of it here from the very first chapter. This manga knows how to be brutally honest, hilarious, and heart-wrenching all in one scene.
We already know Asano has consistent fluidity from panel to panel with each drawing. Dededede is no exception. The one change I noticed from previous Asano manga is the change in character design. While the landscapes and textures are still photo-realistic, the character designs are goofy and exaggerated. This isn't a complaint though. I think it was a completely necessary decision, or else the manga would visually play like any other Asano manga. Besides, I think it's an artistic evolution that pays off. The designs compliment the backgrounds very well and they feel natural when facial comedy is used on a character. As always with Inio Asano, the art is amazing, but it should be the last reason you pick up this manga.
This is a must read. Even if you aren't a fan of Asano's previous works, give this one a shot. And if you are a fan of Asano, don't try to compare it to Punpun. This manga is currently more relevant than ever, and I believe everyone can take something away from it. There aren't that many other modern writers creating works like this with the amount of creativity and honesty Asano displays here. And just like his other works, everyone should read this at least once in their lifetime.
 Alternative TitlesJapanese: デッドデッドデーモンズデデデデデストラクション More titlesInformationType: Manga
Volumes: 12
Chapters: 101
Status: Finished
Published: Apr 28, 2014 to Feb 28, 2022
Theme:
School
Demographic:
Seinen
Serialization:
Big Comic Spirits Authors:
Asano, Inio (Story & Art) Statistics Ranked: #3772 2 based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #208
Members: 73,349
Favorites: 2,344 Available AtResources | Reviews
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Mar 30, 2022
I would imagine creating a successful follow-up to your most critically acclaimed work is a very unnerving thing to do. Goodnight Punpun is what many manga readers believe is Inio Asano’s masterpiece. The series is not only masterful in its writing, but dreadfully awe-inspiring in its delivery. Believe me, I am not here to echo the praises of Goodnight Punpun; others have made the case for its genius in more convincing ways than I ever could. The reason I am mentioning this manga is because I believe its existence directly affects Dead Dead Demon’s Dededededestruction (for the sake of this review I’ll abbreviate it to
...
Jul 17, 2016
Read it. It is something you should read, probably now or at least soon. And I say this as a person who always hisses with frustration, when she reads Asano, and is ready to disagree with him in this work too. But DeDeDe is currently so relevant, that it’d be stupid not to explore the living nerve. The collision of life and fiction is like nothing else around, so I’ll keep telling you and others to read it.
DeDeDe is about the anxiety that people of today feel or at least sense brewing, especially the young ones, those with the big unknown ahead and the world ... 
Apr 2, 2022
*Mostly spoiler-free review, spoiler section marked below*
Trying to write a coherent review of an Asano piece is a monumental task, but considering Asano himself is able to consistently deliver compelling work after compelling work, all while separating himself from the formulas that brought him success in the past, I figured I’d at least give it a try. Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction (DDDD for short) can be a hysterical dystopian slice-of-life, an all-out sci-fi world war, a defamation case against our superficial society, or perhaps the most modern and pertinent sociopolitical commentary of our time, but to me, it’s just a fun, simple reminder of things ... 
Feb 13, 2020
The quality of the drawning is outstanding. The pace of the story is somewhat slow, but it's still good to dig in some details of the characters. As the story goes on, there are new details that are revealed to us concerning some totally unexpected actions abd stories of the characters.
The art of the manga is carefully made. I am very grateful that Asano and his assistants have put that amount of effort doing it. If you are not very patient, maybe I would suggest you to only start reading it when it's finished, because the story is still going on. Asano, you have a huge fan ... 
Feb 25, 2017
I started from Chapter 1, which 'tricks' you with a faux story off the bat, then switches to the actual story, for seemingly artistic reasons. it's actually pretty cool, and I kid you not, you might be wishing all of it was like that intro- but I'm getting ahead of myself...
This is frequently called a 'Slice of life' manga- but that's not exactly true. It's just abysmally slow. there is a huge plot just hovering over the lives of the characters, but it is pointedly ignored as far as actual development goes. it's just 'always there', unchanging- and sending out a little hint of progress ... 
Apr 28, 2020
---D English is not my native language, so this will be poorly written but I assume it will be understood the same, in the end for those who speak Spanish there will be a version in that language
--------------------------------------------English-------------------------------------------------- Dead Dead Demon's Dededededetruction is probably the work that Inio Asano has enjoyed the most, among all that he has done to date, while in my opinion it is the most complete work of Asano and curiously also the most different compared to the rest of his sleeves, a refreshing change that was already necessary. Although in parallel with "A Girl on the shore" or "Oyasumi Pun Pun" his ... 
Mar 31, 2022
Dead Dead Demon’s Dededededestruction is such a bizzarre manga, so bizzarre that I’m willing to say that no manga in existence is even remotely any similar to whatever this was about. I’m going to be brutally honest here, DeDeDeDe is not for everyone. It’s a very slow paced slice of life with some hints here and there of an underlying plot. Does the author deliver it in the most meaningful and excellent way? Yes, of course. We are talking about Asano after all, he knows what he’s doing and knows how to make use of every single little thing the story presents to us. But
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May 27, 2021
First of all, i really didn't know what to expect at first by reading the title of this work, so i started reading the 1st chapter and i was like "well, another slice of life Asano style i guess" so i preferred reading other things, i put it on "On-hold". I tried once again thinking "i guess i was just not in the mood to start reading this kind of work, cause you can just expect a really good work by someone who created Oyasumi Punpun" (man, i loved that story), so i read the 2nd chapter and again, i didn't know what to
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Feb 2, 2020
Dead Dead Demons DeDeDeDestruction is the currently running series by Inio Asano, a mangaka who has become the new hotness among pretentious people for the realistic quality of his work and his skill in portraying the depression and alienation of young people, which of course academics love because not only are they all depressed, but also because alienation is a buzzword used about late-stage capitalism or whatever, which is an uplifting term because it implies capitalism will ever end. Anyway, I know all of this from hearsay (and because the other person in the review section who gave this a 9 is one such academic
...
May 6, 2021
There are many words with which you can describe Inio Asano's works: stellar, graphic, beautiful, melancholic, exciting and most importantly, realistic. When I first started a wild ride through his works, I haven't expected much, but going further and further into "Goodnight Punpun" it continued hurting me by how grounded to reality it was, and the creative use of Asano's art makes the characters relatable to anyone. Well, I'm getting a big far away from the original topic.
Speaking about this piece of art, it starts as a slow-burn and somewhat mundane-nish manga about two girls living their life in a dystopia. This might be ...
Aug 31, 2018
I'm a huge Inio Asano fan since I read 'Good night PunPun'. If it wasn't for that, I propably wouldn't have managed to read DDDD to the recent chapter 56. This manga barely shows any progress in the first 30 chapters and mostly evolves around the all day life of some schoolgirls with the small addition that there is a giant mothership floating aimlessly over tokyo since 3 years.
The rather interesting premise and funny character constellations are completely eaten away by the pure boredom of a almost nonexistent progress in a story seemingly heading nowhere. The art is superb as expected with some goofy ... 
Oct 26, 2023
This was great. What do you do when life goes on and on without anything seemingly happening? Do you find joy in the little things, or do you get hung up on them?
Either way, time moves on and on. This work from Asano has such a tranquil start, and a much different flavor compared to his previous work, yet it is undoubtedly his own. The beginning did not show much promise, other than setting up the world and some characters, and even further into the story (about a third of the way through), it didn't seem like the story was moving anywhere. Frankly, it was ...
Mar 5, 2022
This is a very monumental and very adult work (no sexual content here though), with somber undertones, many dark events and serious events. It has amazing visuals, carefully crafted characters, and it does not use stereotypical modern manga visuals.
Here's the problem though... I've been following this for a long time, at some point it went on hiatus and as a result around the end, I COMPLETELY lost track of the events. Who is who? Who are all those people? What the heck is happening? I mean, I still remember the gist of it, but it feels odd. If you read Durarara before, you remember the Durarara ... 
Aug 12, 2020
This is my first review but I wanted to write something about what might possibly end up as the greatest story I've had the pleasure of experiencing, at least to me.
Dead Dead Demon's is one of Inio Asano's best works; and while objectively, Punpun is a much better story, I found myself connecting to the story of DDD much more than I could Punpun. DDD is a story of the effects of war, the bonds between friends, and the fragility of a human's emotions during a time of growth and change. The best part I can point out is what Inio Asano does best, which ... 
May 26, 2021
I'm gonna be boring but here goes: if Berserk didn't exist, this would be my favourite manga by a longshot. Probably still is, but I have a hard time admitting to myself that I like this more than Berserk.
EDITED ON May 11th, 2022. Ok, so I finished it, I mulled it over, reread parts and had a bit of a think. I came to the conclusion that I should redo my prelim "review", mostly from the ground up. Here goes nothing. <text> indicates text i directly took from my preliminary review. The Earth is fucked. ... 
May 9, 2022
Reading yet another one of Asana Inio's works, i can say that this manga is a masterpiece in its own league. I can't articulate enough how this manga seems to blow my mind with it's unique storyline; a rabbit hole of mysteries and answers that goes deeper and deeper as you read through the chapters.
I have read some of the reviews given by other readers who've expected from Asano Inio's works to be the same dark depressing stuff as they might've read Oyasumi Punpun and maybe some of his works. Although, i can say that this manga gives off a lot of character from ... 
Mar 24, 2022
very spoiler heavy, very, very, very. if you are looking for a "read it" or "dont read it" the answer is very clear: read it. dedede is absolute.
anyway, heres my mumbled and deranged oran/dedede ending analysis. coming from reading punpun just last month, i was kinda scared to read dedede because of how high my expectations for asano had been set. i felt like i might've been climbing a hill right after climbing everest, so to say i would be underwhelmed. i really enjoyed dedede, but in such a stunningly different way from punpun. as punpun was a tragically dark and downright horrifying work of ... 
Apr 26, 2023
Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction is not about aliens, it's about love!
This is probably the most significant piece of popular fiction of the century that not enough people are talking about, one which recquires an attentive reader but pays off exponentially. To understand Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction, one must put it in context with the rest of Asano's works and see the theme that has persisted throughout his career. Asano's obsession is the fundamental division between the individual and the collective. This division manifests itself via anxiety about conforming to societal expectations; his most emblematic character, Punpun, is so idealistic about his dreams that ... 
Jan 18, 2023
I started reading this a little after i started rereading Punpun and the tone shift between this and Asano's other works definitely shocked me, but it wasn't unwelcome.
Dead Dead is one of the best modern manga I've read in a long time with wonderful themes and a very well written political undertone. it focuses on those who are "left behind" after a disaster, however, due to the nature of the tragedy it seems like people can simply continue with their normal life with simply some adjustments made so reading it feels quite uncanny as its quite true to life... minus the invasion and mothership ... 
Sep 26, 2023
What a wild ride. Who thought a story about a girl trying to help her friend hook up with the teacher by showing their boobs in the shadow of a giant spaceship would end in time-paradoxes, the end of all civilization, and a post-apocalyptic war between the USA, China, and Google? But hey, here we are.
This series was very weird. It feels unfulfilling by the end, mostly because a huge amounts of the various volumes that desperately wanted to discuss the worldbuilding of this world, but also completely unfocused the story from the heart, which is the two main protagonists. And because of the nature ... |
