Title: Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction Vol. 10
Author: Inio Asano
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 168
Genre: Slice-of-Life, Fantasy, Drama
Publication Date: September 21, 2021
The Story
The tenth volume of Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction brings us closer to the end of humanity. As this happens, various political moves are happening all at once, bringing chaos and turmoil that the citizens are not even aware of.
The volume explores many different facets including Prime Minister Ogino, the launch of the Ocean project, Mr. Takarada’s involvement in its launch, as well as a planned uprising by the invaders who were gathering in the black fog.
On top of this, parts of the mothership begin to crumble, destroying buildings and causing casualties below. One of those is a news reporter that came to run a story on a person taking care of her mother who suffers from dementia and has been using the government’s assistance to get by. While neither of these characters play a significant role, it serves as a small piece of the bigger story… how the citizens of Tokyo have to endure the impending explosion of the mothership… an event that they’re not even aware of.
On the political front, it appears that President Padron is launching a secret mission to invade and secure Tokyo all for himself although we don’t see this happening quite yet (or if it ever will). The Japanese government is also feeling the pressure from China and with two large nations applying major pressure, there is talk of the government just taking up root and abandoning Tokyo. With the launch of Ocean, there are indications that may have actually happened.
The invaders get some time to shine in this volume, too. They realize that there is no escape from the planet and that the humans want them hunted down. Their only hope is to go out on their own terms. They gathered 4,000 members and are planning a mass suicide bombing by detonating their spacesuits. They feel that this would allow them to die with honor and make their ancestors proud. There is a small monkey wrench in their plans that you’ll have to see in order to believe, though.
As all of these events unfold, the manga ends with Oba (Keita) attempting to leave as he has information that may be able to stop the mothership from exploding; however, Oran catches him trying to go. As the two of them standoff, we are less than half a day away from the end of humanity.
Characters
While we don’t get much from our main cast of characters, we do get a bit more between Keita and Oran. The two of them are developing quite a romantic relationship and while they haven’t had sex or anything (which is shocking by Inio Asano’s standards), they do end up kissing. Oran even confesses her love for Keita as he’s trying to go handle business… business that he hasn’t really told any of them about. It’s nice to see Oran act a bit differently… although she still does get excited over an upcoming D&D update to which she craves digital blood!
The reporter that we meet is Keito Shiho. She’s highly addicted to social media and cares way too much about the number of likes her posts get. She also seems to be the type where if she’s not doing her job, she’s whoring herself out to as many men as possible. Again, this seems in line with what Inio Asano is known for!
Her story ties into Emiko Takashima’s story. Emiko is the aforementioned girl who is taking care of her mother with dementia. Eventually, the two meet up and Keito wants to know what she’s going to do when the government deems her neighborhood a safe area and stops handing out financial assistance. Emiko dances around the questions until she caves and shows the real reason as to why she doesn’t want to move out. Despite learning of it, Keito has no desire to run that as a story. This is when the mothership collapse happens and Keito is pinned beneath some rubble. Emiko ends up helping her by sending out S.O.S. signals through social media in hopes a rescue team will come to find them.
Towards the end, we get to see a different side of Prime Minister Ogino. I won’t really spoil what that means but when you read it, you kind of feel a bit of gravity to everything that is happening.
Final Thoughts
Things are certainly heating up as the clock ticks closer and closer to Armageddon. I don’t know how many volumes are left but I do know that the manga is nearing completion according to Inio Asano. I also know that the manga did go on hiatus several times as well but the reason I’m bringing all of this up is that we are so close to the end of humanity that the true end of the series feels closer than ever.
Of course, I don’t expect it to actually end. Remember, we did have the whole time travel arc over the past two volumes which means that this is a different timeline. Keita could, indeed, end up going to the mothership and saving humanity but, if that happens, there is still the political pressure from the US and China that Japan has to deal with. While a future spared of annihilation sounds nice, it could lead to a future ravaged by war and political turmoil which could, in turn, bring the end of humanity anyway.
There are many ways this story could go but all I know is that we are closing in on a major intersection where something huge is going to happen. I can’t wait to see what that something is!
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This item was provided for review by VIZ Media
