Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and VIZ Media

On July 9th, the fourth volume of Destroy All Humans, They Can't Be Regenerated, a manga by Katsura Ise and Takuma Yokota, released, localized in English by VIZ Media.

I covered this slice-of-life manga series before, all the way back with Volume 1. I soon covered Volume 2 and Volume 3, but this is my first official review within the series for EDHREC. If you want the 411 on this slice-of-life Magic: The Gathering manga series but haven't picked up any of it yet, I highly recommend it.

Anyway, this particular review of Volume 4 of DAH will contain major spoilers for the volume and for the series as a whole. This is your warning, folks! Take it or leave it, but this is where we start.

Destroy All Humans, They Can't Be Regenerated, Vol. 4 Promo

To buffer the spoilers just a little bit, let's talk about the promo card for this volume: Voltaic KeyVoltaic Key. This card was a mainstay in Magic's Combo Winter era, which spanned from late 1998 through early 1999. Incidentally, this is the same time period where the majority of Volume 4 takes place.

Let's take a good look at that promo copy of Voltaic Key!

Notably, only the first printing of this manga series contains promo cards. Some consumers have recently complained about the quality control for these promos, so if you get your hands on an intact copy, you may be a little more fortunate than those fans. That said, this depends on perspective as misprints and mis-cuts tend to fetch a nice premium among certain collector circles.

Now, with that all out of the way, let's discuss the plot of Volume 4 of Destroy All Humans, They Can't Be Regenerated!

Chapter 13: Our Helter-Skelter

In Volume 3, we left off with our protagonist, Hajime Kano, facing off against his best friend Kurushima. The stakes were ultimately this: Whoever lost would have to give up on attempting to court Sawatari Emi, the leading lady of the manga. At this time, it seems that Kano is doing this without fully realizing why he is doing it.

Deep down, he has a serious crush on Sawatari. At the surface, he hasn't come into that epiphany just yet.

Anyway, Kano and Kurushima are facing off in a best-of-3 match of Standard Magic. As mentioned earlier, the time was late 1998, during the infamous Combo Winter. Kurushima uses a supercharged "Turbo Genius" combo deck revolving around Mind Over MatterMind Over Matter, Time SpiralTime Spiral, and Stroke of GeniusStroke of Genius.

Kano uses his favorite deck, a mono-black build geared toward paying life to harm his opponent even more. Magic's history often refers to this deck type as "Suicide Black." However, for reasons of sensitivity, if we refer to Kano's deck from here on out, we will refrain from using that term.

When we left off at the end of Volume 3, Kurushima had won the first game in the match.

Kano ultimately sideboards in a playset of MegrimMegrims to oust Kurushima's Mind Over Matter combo, winning him Game 2, and leading to a third to decide the match. Kurushima ends up being too hyper-focused on the Megrims in Kano's deck and uses Jester's CapJester's Cap to remove them from Kano's deck.

However, Kano uses his signature instant spell, HatredHatred, to pump his creature, a CarnophageCarnophage, to win the match.

Chapter 13, Post-Match

After the match, Kurushima reveals that he isn't single and is still with his longtime girlfriend. He was just playing for stakes to motivate Kano. Kurushima is also moving away and leaving the school that the two attended together. Kurushima also wishes Kano luck with Sawatari.

The last part of the chapter is largely a device for Kano to fully recognize that his crush on Sawatari is real. However, Kano expresses internal conflict about this. Ultimately, he's so focused on playing Magic that he has a little bit of animosity towards Sawatari despite all this.

Chapter 14: Our Farewell

This chapter sees Kano and Sawatari doing a couple of things in their school system, including taking part in the school's sports and fitness festival.

The two face off against each other in a track and field competition. Kano suddenly trips but gets up to beat Sawatari in the race. A series of flashbacks that imply Kano was an underdog but would soon outpace Sawatari underscore this race. We also presumably encounter Sawatari's mother during this track event.

Soon, we also see Kano face against Tory, a rival at the local game store, in Block Constructed. This is an introduction to the format, although it's not too vital in the grand context of the chapter. That said, Tory is embracing combos like EarthcraftEarthcraft plus WorkhorseWorkhorse, which is fun to see referenced, if dated.

Finally, we see Kano and Sawatari at the train station, seeing Kurushima off as he leaves town for his new home. Kano and Kurushima promise to face each other at Grand Prix Kyoto, and Kano gives Kurushima a copy of MorphlingMorphling.

Chapter 15/16: Our Jamboree (Parts 1 & 2)

The next two chapters, the last in the volume, revolve around Christmastime. At the local game store, fellow Magic players Gob and Tory invite Sawatari and Kano to a group blind dating event. Tory consigned Sawatari to go, which ruffled Kano's feathers, so to speak. Meanwhile, Kano wasn't originally planning to attend, but Sawatari, for better or for worse, volunteered Kano to go with her.

At the event, everyone is enjoying themselves except for Kano or Sawatari, who, privately, wish they could both be pretty much anywhere else. Eventually, the topic of romantic affection comes up over a game of Truth or Dare. Tory asks Kano who he likes, romantically. Because he didn't want to embarrass himself through rejection, he does not say Sawatari's name.

This causes Sawatari to leave abruptly, clearly upset about this unforced error on Kano's part. Kano is upset about his mistake as well. Eventually, he tries to make it up to Sawatari. At the local game store's holiday party, Tory is presented with a box of Anthology. Sawatari previously mentioned her desire to open a box of Anthology, so Kano wisely decides to ask Tory to trade the present he got for Kano's (a figure that the owner of the store made). Tory and Kano decide to play each other for it. Kano wins.

Later on, Kano disguises himself as Santa Claus and gives Sawatari the box. The two propose that they go to a café in the near future to talk things out and figure out their feelings.

The Plot Works Well, and Expands the Characters

When I read this volume of Destroy All Humans, I felt very convinced of the primary characters' chemistry. It's clear that Kano, while just a Magic-zealous middle schooler, is beginning to grow up and become a more responsible and caring person. At the same time, the volume shows that he isn't infallible.

Sawatari is also growing but seems relatively stifled under her parents' thumbs, it seems. There's room for her to grow as a character. Unfortunately, as long as her mom, seen briefly in Chapter 14, is so overbearing, that may not be as feasible as we, as readers, might want.

Meanwhile, we should also address Tory. Tory is a secondary character whom I initially thought was a bit of a bully. But, he actually seems to be growing as a character as well. Initially, I never would have considered him generous. However, even to offer to put his booster box up as stakes is a big deal.

Furthermore, we see a side to the secondary character Gob. Earlier volumes of the manga portray the secondary characters as pretty one-dimensional. Volume 4 was a step towards showing these characters as multifaceted, far beyond the monomanic auspices of Magic: The Gathering.

Conclusion

All in all, I appreciated this fourth volume of Destroy All Humans, They Can't Be Regenerated. It showed a lot of charm. I'd certainly recommend you read the other volumes first. That said, you won't want to skip this volume at all once you get a feel for the slice-of-life nature of the manga. Once you read this one, if you weren't hooked before, you will be, by volume's end.

Let's hear from you now, dear readers! Are you already reading Destroy All Humans? How did you feel about this volume, or previous volumes? Are you looking forward to the next installments of the manga? Sound off below!