Atsushi Kaneko’s Search and Destroy has been a relentless, punk-rock reinterpretation of Tezuka’s Dororo—a series I’ve praised for its furious energy, jagged cyberpunk grime, and the way it channels rage into something strikingly human. Across the first two volumes, Kaneko pushed the story harder and stranger, blending stunningly visceral artwork with a world built on exploitation and uprising. Now, Search and Destroy Vol. 3 brings that momentum to a breaking point.
The state of the world is crumbling in Search and Destroy Vol. 3, with boiling points across multiple areas of the story. The city’s discarded creatures finally rise against the caste system that’s kept them crushed, Doro must face the past they’ve been running from, and Hyaku’s blood-soaked quest for her stolen body parts drives her straight toward the ultimate betrayer—her father. Robots, humans, monsters: no one walks away clean in this explosive and unflinching finale.
This third volume is a rush in more ways than one, good and bad. This finale offers plenty of answers, not leaving a single stone unturned. The ongoing themes continue to play out well, and any expectations are met, if not exceeded, as you could have hoped. It’s a good ending that will also make you think.
There’s also a rush to wrap up the multiple plots, always moving forward. That’s a tall order that is surprisingly effective. Hyaku gets multiple kills in, while the robot uprising is told over various chapters. There’s plenty of key flashbacks as well, especially for Doro, who has two very creepy robots chasing them. These robots lead to a reveal featuring some of the best sci-fi artistry in the series to date, while also offering a glimpse of what could be if there were another volume. And yet, you may not want another volume, since the characters have all grown or reflected enough that their journeys continue for better or worse.
Credit: Fantagraphics
The downside of the rush is that Kaneko could have used another volume to give the story room to breathe. The final kill by Hyaku, for instance, feels almost random at the tail end of the book, acting more as a need to please readers, knowing she needs to find all her body parts. I was honestly confused at first since she seems to appear in front of her kill with no buildup. Doro’s backstory is also revealed in a heavy-handed expositional way, even if it’s visually striking and satisfying.
All that said, there’s still the unwavering thought experiment at work here about what it means to be alive. We’ve seen it countless times in sci-fi media, but it feels a little different, a little darker, and delivered in a way that sticks with you here.
The art continues to be great, especially in the quick cutting action scenes. Hyaku can move so quickly and take a lot of bullets when doing so, which is visually represented well. The city is depicted quite a bit in this volume, with full and double-page spreads showcasing the snowy fascist state. The world is essentially in shambles, yet the skyscrapers and massive statues stand tall, as if to mock the poor robots and humans who suffer at their feet.
Search and Destroy Vol. 3 brings Kaneko’s cyberpunk nightmare to a fierce and unforgettable close, pairing raw thematic bite with explosive artwork—even if the story races so hard toward the finish line that a few moments don’t get the space they need. It’s a finale that satisfies, provokes, and cements the trilogy as a singular, punk-charged reinterpretation of Tezuka’s classic.
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