Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction (Japanese: デッドデッドデーモンズデデデデデストラクション, Hepburn: Deddo Deddo Dēmonzu Dededede Desutorakushon), also abbreviated as DDDD, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Inio Asano. It was serialized in Shogakukan's seinen manga magazine Big Comic Spirits from April 2014 to February 2022, with its chapters collected in 12 tankōbon volumes. Viz Media licensed the manga for English release in North America. The story follows two high school students struggling with the mundanity of life after an alien spaceship appears over Japan.
A two-part anime film adaptation produced by Production +h. premiered its first part in March 2024, with the second part premiering in May of the same year. An 18-episode original net animation (ONA) series edition of the films streamed worldwide on Crunchyroll from May to September 2024.
By March 2022, Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction had over 3 million copies in circulation. In 2021, the manga won the 66th Shogakukan Manga Award in the general category, as well as the Excellence Award of the 25th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2022.
Plot
Three years before the events of the story, on August 31, an alien spaceship appeared over Tokyo. Although it has not attacked, the Japanese government, seeing it as a potential threat, unsuccessfully tries to destroy it. The situation leads to a cold war between the humans on Earth and the invaders in the mothership above the Tokyo skyline. There is further conflict between political groups who want to eliminate the aliens, called "warctopuses," and those who want to negotiate peace, called "peacesquids." Despite the tense and precarious state of the world, high school students Koyama Kadode and Nakagawa Ouran live their lives with some semblance of normalcy. The focus of the story is not on the alien invasion but on human nature and growing up in a turbulent and uncertain world.
Characters
The cast of Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction (from left to right): Kadode Koyama, Ai Demoto, Ouran Nakagawa, Rin Hirama, and Kiho Kurihara
A third-year high school student and later university student who is a fan of the in-universe manga Isobeyan. She is of average height, has short black hair, and wears red glasses. Kadode has been best friends with Ouran since she was ten years old and calls her "Ontan." Despite her father, Nobuo, going missing on 8/31 and her friend Kiho dying in an incident involving an invader spacecraft, she has little interest in politics or the invaders.
A third-year high school student and later university student who is Kadode's best friend, she has oval-shaped eyebrows, is often seen drooling, and has long, black hair that she wears in pigtails with skull-shaped clips. Although Ouran is eccentric, friendly, and expressive in public, she tends to show her true self only to her friends and family. Ouran enjoys video games and dreams of bringing about the downfall of society and enslaving the human race. She values her friendship with Kadode above all else, calling their bond "absolute."
A fellow student at Kadode's and Ouran's high school who is also friends with Ai and Rin. She is short, sports a bob haircut, and has very thick eyebrows. As the most recent girl to join their friend group, she sometimes feels left out amongst the other girls. Her boyfriend is Kenichi Kohiruimaki. During the new year's holiday, she dies when an invader spacecraft is shot down over her apartment.
She was a friend of Kadode and Ouran in high school and university. She is of short, round stature and has small eyes and oversized glasses. Ai cares very little about the cold war between humans and the invaders, investing most of her time into caring for her five younger brothers. Her best friend is Rin.
A tall, lean, and angular girl who is a friend of Kadode and Ouran at high school and in university. Although she is almost always silent, Rin is noted to be a major fan of boys' love manga.
Futaba Takemoto (竹本 ふたば, Takemoto Futaba)
Voiced by: Azumi Waki[7] (Japanese); Chelsea Miller[5] (English)
A young woman from Hakui, Ishikawa, moves to Tokyo and attends the same university as Kadode, Ouran, Makoto, Rin, and Ai. She has distinctive pink blush marks and an oval-shaped nose. During orientation, she bonds with Kadode over their shared love of Isobeyan and joins her friend group. Futaba came to Tokyo in order to become involved in the "peacesquid" movement, which advocates for the safety and rights of invaders.
A student at Kadode and Ouran's university who moved from Hakui along with Futaba. Although Makoto is a boy, he loves dressing in women's clothing and wearing a blond wig. He wanted to be seen as an idol, so he moved to Tokyo in order to escape small-town gender norms and found an accepting group of friends in Futaba, Ouran, Kadode, Rin, Ai, and Oba.
A teen idol who disappeared on 8/31 and whose body was possessed by an invader. Oba befriends Kadode and Ouran, who quickly learn that he is an invader impersonating a human.
Kiho's anxious and terminally online boyfriend. Kenichi is radicalized following the death of his girlfriend and forms a vigilante group intent on killing off the invaders.
Kadode and Ouran's high school teacher, who has a stoic and pessimistic demeanor, after their graduation, Kadode pursues a brief romantic relationship with him.
The titular character of the in-universe manga is Isobeyan. A parody of Doraemon, he is a humanoid mushroom who gives Debeko various gadgets in a misguided attempt to help her solve her problems.
A parody of Nobita Nobi in the in-universe manga Isobeyan. She is a careless and unintelligent girl who uses Isobeyan's gadgets to solve her problems, which usually backfires.
Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction, written and illustrated by Inio Asano, was first announced with the tentative title Honobono Fūfu (ほのぼの夫婦, "Tender-hearted Couple").[10][11][12] The manga started in Shogakukan's seinen manga magazine, Big Comic Spirits, on April 28, 2014.[12] The series went on hiatus multiple times.[13][14][15] It finished on February 28, 2022.[16][17] Shogakukan collected its chapters in twelve tankōbon volumes, released from September 30, 2014,[18] to March 30, 2022.[19]
In March 2022, it was announced that the series would receive an anime adaptation produced by Production +h.[53] It was later confirmed to be a two-part film adaptation directed by Tomoyuki Kurokawa, with a screenplay by Reiko Yoshida, character designs and chief animation direction by Nobutaka Ito, and music composed by Taro Umebayashi.[54][55] The first part premiered in Japanese theaters on March 22, 2024.[4] The second part was originally scheduled for April 19, but was later delayed to May 24 to improve the film's quality.[56] The first part features the theme song "ZeZeZeZettai Seiiki" (絶絶絶絶対聖域, lit.'Abababab Absolute Sanctuary'), performed by Ano [ja] feat. Lilas Ikuta, while the second part features the theme song "Seishun Ōka" (青春謳歌, lit.'Adolescence Hymn'), performed by Lilas Ikuta feat. Ano.[57][58]
An 18-episode original net animation (ONA) series edition of the films streamed worldwide on Crunchyroll from May 24 to September 20, 2024, featuring new footage not included in the theatrical release.[59] The opening song is "Shinsekai Yori" (SHINSEKAIより, lit.'From the New World'), performed by Ano and Lilas Ikuta (used as an ending song for episode 0), while the ending song is the film's first part theme song "ZeZeZeZettai Seiiki" for episodes 1–8, and the second part theme song "Seishun Ōka" for episodes 9–17. Gaga [ja] will release the episodes in Japan on a limited Blu-ray Disc box set, which is set to be available for purchase through its online store on December 4, 2024.[60]
By March 2022, the manga had over 3 million copies in circulation.[62]
Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction, alongside PLINIVS, placed eighteenth on Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! 2016 ranking of top 20 manga for male readers.[63] It won the French award of "Daruma for Best Drawing Manga" at the Japan Expo Awards in 2017.[64] The series was chosen as one of the best manga at the San Diego Comic-Con Best and Worst Manga Awards of 2018.[65] The manga received the Attilio Micheluzzi Award in 2018 for Best Foreign Manga.[66] The series won the French Konishi Prize for the Best Translated Manga in 2019.[67] In 2021, along with Police in a Pod, Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction won the 66th Shogakukan Manga Award in the general category.[68][69][70] It was also awarded an Excellence Award in the Manga Division at the 25th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2022.[71]
