Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction vol. 11

There’s a lot of stuff that happens in the first four chapters of this volume.  Oran and Oba have what appears to be a final encounter.  Miura goes on TV to let everyone know that the alien mothership is going to explode in a few hours.  Hiroshi tries to get out of the city while leaving a final message to his sister.  Ikeda, the soldier who has popped up a few times over the course of this series, starts to question whether the orders he’s been given are correct.  Oran and Kadode also reaffirm their bond to each other with the latter telling the former she’ll be on her side regardless of whether or not the world is against her.  Smooches may also be involved in that last part.

Then Chapter 86 rolls around and a lot of this stuff appears to become inconsequential.

Not to give too much away but mangaka Inio Asano flexes his visual storytelling skills in big ways that convey destruction in equal parts breathtaking and heartbreaking nature.  It and the two chapters that follow represent some of the most indelible scenes I’ve read in comics all year as the level of illustrative detail matches the emotional content involved.  It’s a turning point for the series as it heads into its final act, with only two volumes left and one more surprise.  Which is of the, “I didn’t believe I’d ever see THAT character in the present day!” variety.

Oh, and if all that wasn’t enough, we get what looks to be the final installment of “Isobeyan” in this volume as well.  While these “Doraemon”-esque shorts have tended to be of the dark enough to ruin your day variety, this one… is not.  Perhaps sensing that his audience would need some kind of uplift after the events of vol. 11 proper, Asano decided to send this series out on a surprisingly heartwarming note without betraying the core tenets of “Isobeyan” so far.