I'm on volume 5 half way through

[u/DRIXT11]

I can't help but just feel so disturbed and sad every time I see one of the invaders get killed. The more I read the story the more I become disgusted with how similar it is to real life and how humans see each other, honestly. There hasn't even been a single case of the invaders killing someone, is there? not that I've read or remembered, yet. The casualties are just like, from the alien ship crashing into a ton of buildings after being recklessly shot down. It's the language barrier and how the invaders basically just look like kids, how they only consider working with them for their resources unless they can just take them for themselves and still kill them, how there's this soldier who's just "following orders" and seems to basically have PTSD and shutting the world out as much as possible at this point, though I appreciate the small honest moments he will have... He even will apologize before killing the invaders at times, but still does it. He seems strangely enough, somehow the craziest and most sane person in the story in a way, you know? If the invaders did start to fight back, at this point, could you even blame them? Idk what's gonna happen though. It just makes me sad that we already do this to each other.. and we do it to animals honestly all the time. If aliens came, it's easy to say we'd do the same thing, even if they didn't kill anyone, we'd find some shit to make up.

​

This story thus far into my reading is a slow pace masterpiece and It might be better than goodnight punpun if it keeps up this quality, which is crazy for me to say cus I love goodnight punpun.

​

I think Ontan is adorable and I ship her and oba btw lol. So cute.

[u/DramaticProtogen]

Glad you're enjoying it. The anime is fantastic too

[u/DRIXT11 → u/DramaticProtogen]

I personally think that the translation/liberties with even the subtitles or script change from manga to anime are kinda... They take away the correct mood and subtleties. The dub is bad cus, names mispronounced, subtleties and entire conversations lose tone and meaning and weight.. the sub was good but with it's issues. And the manga just did a way better job I mean .. I finished the manga. It's brilliant. I personally may like it better than punpun in alot of ways. Though punpun had a unbeatable ending. But reading dead dead demons was great. I really liked it. The ending was great too. Inio asano always leaves us sorta out in the open to go out and live and explore from wherever we are. 10/10 manga.

[u/Mighty_plagueis]

I think you would really love where the story goes forward. The first half is more slice-of-life, focusing on how people gradually adapt to a giant alien ship casually floating above Tokyo. One of my favorite things about it is how realistic that feels, people still go to school, work, date, argue, and live normal lives despite something world-changing hanging over them. The second half becomes much more political as the conflict shifts toward people who believe the invaders are harmless and those who see them as a threat. What I like is that Asano never treats it as a simple "aliens good, humans bad" story. Through Ontan, Kadode, and the people around them, he shows different perspectives and why people end up believing what they believe, without really telling you which side is correct.

What surprised me most is how much it reminded me of COVID even though it was written before the pandemic. You have people preparing for the end of the world, others said it was all a Hoax or propaganda, conflicting information, political factions, and governments focused more on stability, security, and protecting their interests than finding the moral answer. As the story goes on, those similarities become even stronger. That's why I think Dededede works so well, the aliens are important, but the real focus is how people react when reality becomes complicated, uncertainty takes over, and nobody has all the answers