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This article is about the manga series. For other uses, see Devilman (disambiguation).
Devilman
Cover of the first volume of Devilman, as published in Japan by Kodansha
デビルマン
(Debiruman)
GenreAction,[1] dark fantasy,[2] horror[3]
Manga
Written byGo Nagai
Published byKodansha
English publisher
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Magazine
DemographicShōnen
Original runJune 11, 1972 – June 24, 1973
Volumes5 (List of volumes)
Anime television series
Directed byMasayuki Akehi
Tomoharu Katsumata
Produced byKen Ariga
Yoshifumi Hatano
Written byMasaki Tsuji
Music byGoh Misawa
StudioToei Animation
Licensed by
Original networkNET (now TV asahi)
Original run July 8, 1972 – April 7, 1973
Episodes39 (List of episodes)
Manga
Shin Devilman
Written byYasutaka Nagai
Illustrated byGo Nagai
Published byKodansha
English publisher
MagazineShōnen Magazine Special
DemographicShōnen
Original runMay 25, 1979 – May 8, 1981
Volumes1
Novel series
Shin Devilman
Written byYasutaka Nagai
Illustrated byGo Nagai
Published byAsahi Sonorama
ImprintSonorama Bunko
Original runMay 13, 1981 – March 31, 1982
Volumes4
Novel
Devilman: The Birth
Written byYasutaka Nagai
Illustrated byKazuo Komatsubara
Published byKodansha
DemographicMale
PublishedJuly 7, 1987
Original video animation
Devilman: The Birth
Devilman: Demon Bird Sirène
Directed byUmanosuke Iida
Produced byToshio Tanaka
Ryohei Suzuki
Katsuhiko Hasegawa
Koichi Murata
Written byGo Nagai
Umanosuke Iida
Music byKenji Kawai
StudioOh! Production
Licensed by
ReleasedNovember 1, 1987 (The Birth)
February 25, 1990 (Demon Bird Sirène)
Runtime50 minutes
Episodes2
Novel series
Devilman: The Novel
Written byYasutaka Nagai
Illustrated byGo Nagai
Published byMediaWorks
ImprintDengeki Bunko
DemographicMale
Original runMay 25, 1999 – August 25, 1999
Volumes4
Manga
Demon Knight
Written byGo Nagai
Published byKodansha
MagazineMANDALA
DemographicSeinen
Original run2007 – 2009
Manga
Devilman G
Written byGo Nagai
Illustrated byRui Takatō
Published byAkita Shoten
English publisher
  • NA: Seven Seas Entertainment
MagazineChampion Red
DemographicShōnen
Original runMarch 2012 – February 2014
Volumes50 (List of volumes)
Manga
Devilman Saga
Written byGo Nagai
Published byShogakukan
MagazineBig Comic
DemographicSeinen
Original runDecember 25, 2014 – present
Volumes12
Live-action film
ONA

Devilman (Japanese: デビルマン, Hepburn: Debiruman) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai, which originally started as an anime adaptation of the concept of Nagai's previous manga series, Demon Lord Dante. Devilman’s 39-episode anime series was developed by Toei Animation in 1972, while Nagai began the Devilman as a manga in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine, barely a month before the anime series started. The series has since spawned numerous OVAs, manga, novels, films, and a sequel.

Devilman and other characters from the series have shown up in cameo appearances numerous times in Go Nagai's other works. The most notable is Tomoharu Katsumata's 1973 feature film Mazinger Z vs. Devilman, which features Devilman teaming up with Nagai's titular robot to fight Dr. Hell.

Plot

Akira Fudo is a timid teenage boy who lives with Miki Makimura and her family after his parents died on a trip to the Arctic. One day, Akira's best friend, Ryo Asuka, asks for help when his archaeologist father died after uncovering a mask during an excavation of ancient Mayan ruins, confirming the existence of ancient apex predators that assimilate other lifeforms to evolve: demons. The mask is revealed to be a fossilized demon skull that shows the wearer the world as it was many millennia ago when demons roam the Earth. Ryo's plan is to prevent the revival of demons: "To fight a demon, one must become a demon."

Ryo believes that people like Akira with a pure heart may be able to harness a demon's powers without being consumed and Akira agrees to help after they encounter demons in Ryo's house. Ryo takes his friend to a nightclub in his father’s basement then picks a fight and draws blood to attract demonic attention. Demons begin to possess the clubbers and threaten Ryo and Akira, until a powerful demon known as Amon – the Lord of War, also called the Beast of Hell – consumes Akira. But Akira manages to retain his sense of self while possessing some Amon's personality traits and power as he becomes known as Devilman. Throughout the series, Devilman has many battles with the demon hordes, encountering foes such as Amon's harpy-like lover Sirène and her unrequited paramour Kaim, the water demon Geruma, and the large turtle-demon Jinmen who incorporates the souls of his victims into his shell.

Eventually, the demons start a world war with humanity which causes mass panic and paranoia across the planet with mankind turning on itself. Akira starts to gather other Devilmen like him to fight the demons, only to be betrayed by Ryo after he exposes him to the public. Ryo’s betrayal results in Miki's parents being arrested by the government while she and her brother are violently murdered by a paranoid mob which Akira slaughters in retribution. It was then that Ryo reveals himself as the reincarnation of the fallen angel Satan, having unconsciously orchestrated his true plan while exploiting humanity's flaws. With no one left to protect, Akira ends his friendship with Satan as they eventually settle things in an epic battle lasting twenty years after the vast majority of humanity is left extinct.

On the day of the final battle, Satan's second-in-command, the arch-demon Zennon, criticises Satan for allowing Akira to be alive, and questions Satan as to whether he has fallen in love with Akira, to which Satan asserts to be true. Zennon criticises Satan for this, and implies that Akira's transformation into Devilman was orchestrated by Satan simply as a way of trying to ensure he would remain alive following the war. During the final battle, Satan reveals to Akira that the demons were unintentionally created by God and that he defied the order to kill them, as he believed they had a right to exist. Satan convinced the demons to enter a state of hibernation in the ice to conserve their strength for the final battle with God, awakening to find Earth ravaged by humanity which he resolved to exterminate first. With the Devilman army defeated by the demons, Satan finds Akira lying seemingly unconscious on an isolated island in the sea. As Satan explains his reasons for attacking humanity and waging war against the Devilmen, he begins to realise that his actions made him and the demons no better than God, then learns too late that he already killed Akira during the final battle. As God's angels descend upon the planet, Satan mourns the bisected body of Akira next to him as the world is remade anew.

Production

Devilman evolved from Go Nagai's previous manga, Demon Lord Dante, after Toei Animation approached Nagai about turning Dante into a television series. The producers wanted certain elements toned down, and a more human-like anti-hero created. Devilman was born as a result of this.[4] Devilman's outfit seems be inspired by a villain from his 1972 anime Gekko Kamen. Go Nagai worked on the anime's scenario along with renowned screenwriter and science-fiction novelist Masaki Tsuji, who wrote the scripts for 35 of the TV series' 39 episodes.[citation needed] Along with the television series, Devilman was also produced as a serialized manga in Shōnen Magazine beginning in 1972.[5] Go Nagai designed the manga to be more horror-like and mature than the anime version.[4]

Nagai designed Devilman as an anti-war work; the fusion of humans and demons is an analogy for the draft, and Miki's violent death symbolizes the death of peace. "There is no justice in war, any war," wrote Nagai, "nor is there any justification for human beings killing one another. Devilman carries a message of warning, as we step toward a bright future."[4]

Media

Manga

Main article: List of Devilman chapters

The manga was originally published by Kodansha from June 11, 1972 (1972-06-11) to June 24, 1973 (1973-06-24) in Shōnen Magazine.[5] The series has been published in tankōbon format several times, most of them by Kodansha. Starting with the 1987 publishing, most Kodansha editions include Shin Devilman, which originally was not meant to be included in the canon of the original series, as a part of the volumes.[6] The manga has been translated into English in a series of five bilingual manga volumes published by Kodansha.[7]

The manga has also been published along with Cutie Honey in the magazine Gekkan Kanzenban Devilman x Cutie Honey (月刊完全版デビルマン×キューティーハニー, gekkan kanzenban debiruman x kyūteī hanī) published by JIVE during 2004[8] in order to take advantage of the release of the live-action films of both series.

Shin Devilman (新デビルマン, Shin Debiruman) was originally published in Kodansha's Shōnen Magazine Special in May 25, 1979 (1979-05-25), January 25, 1980 (1980-01-25), September 15, 1980 (1980-09-15), March 6, 1981 (1981-03-06) and May 8, 1981 (1981-05-08). All chapters were drawn by Go Nagai, but the first chapter was written in collaboration with Masaki Tsuji, while chapters two and three were written by Hiroshi Koenji.[9] The rest of the chapters were done by Nagai. The manga is sometimes known as Devilman 2 and Neo Devilman.[6]

A one-shot, which is not originally part of Shin Devilman, but that has always been compiled along with the series in tankōbon, was published in the magazine Variety by Kadokawa Shoten.[9] This 16-page story does not have any text and it presents the moments of Akira after the death of Miki in the original series, but before the battle with Satan, as he buries the remains of Miki and encounters Ryo.

Seven Seas Entertainment announced the publication of the original manga for 2018.[10]

Animated adaptations

Main article: List of Devilman episodes

The anime television series was 39 episodes long and ran from July 8, 1972 (1972-07-08) to April 7, 1973 (1973-04-07) on NET (now TV Asahi).[11] Outside Japan, the TV series was broadcast in Italy in 1983 and enjoyed great popularity there.[citation needed] A DVD box set of the series was released in Japan on September 21, 2002.[12] The TV series has been licensed for the first time in North America by Discotek Media who released the series on DVD in 2014.[13]

Devilman: The Birth (デビルマン 誕生編, Debiruman Tanjō Hen) was released in November 1, 1987 (1987-11-01) by King Records.[14] It was followed by Devilman: Demon Bird Sirène (デビルマン 妖鳥シレーヌ編, Debiruman Yōchō Shirēnu Hen), released in February 25, 1990 (1990-02-25) by Bandai Visual.[15] Kazuo Komatsubara, an animation director on the original TV series, was the character designer for the OVAs, which were animated by his Oh Production.

Both were directed by Umanosuke Iida (credited under his birth name, Tsutomu Iida) and were closely developed in conjunction with Nagai himself. The OVAs' plot revolves around Akira's transformation into Devilman up until his battle with Sirène. Besides a few minor alterations, the OVAs are faithful to the original manga. Both OVAs were released on Laserdisc and on a single DVD by Bandai Visual in March 28, 2003 (2003-03-28).[16] The two OVAs were also the only Devilman anime to have been commercially released in the United States (by Manga Entertainment) prior to 2014. The DVD release included only the English-dubbed version (the original Japanese version was previously released on VHS in 1995 by L.A. Hero and Dark Image Entertainment).

In 2000, Amon: Apocalypse of Devilman was released as a pay-per-view event in Japan and was later released on video and DVD. It covers the period between the humans becoming aware of demons and the semi-final battle between Devilman and Amon. The battle between Devilman and Satan does not occur in this animation.

In 2015, Cyborg 009 VS Devilman was released. The 3-episode OVA features Devilman battling the cast of Shotaro Ishinomori's Cyborg 009.[17]

A 10-episode original net animation adaptation produced by Science Saru and directed by Masaaki Yuasa, titled Devilman Crybaby,[1] was released worldwide on January 5, 2018 exclusively on Netflix.[18]

Films

Mazinger Z Vs. Devilman is a crossover animated film between Devilman and Mazinger Z produced by Toei and released in July 18, 1973 (1973-07-18). The movie features alternative versions of the events from both series, and is therefore not canonical to either one.

In October 9, 2004 (2004-10-09), a live-action tokusatsu film directed by Hiroyuki Nasu was theatrically released in Japan.[19] The film starred Hisato Izaki as Devilman, Yūsuke Izaki as Ryo Asuka and Ayana Sakai as Miki Makimura. The cast also included AV Idol Maria Yumeno.[19][20] The film was criticized for its poor special effects and the casting of various popular celebrities with no prior acting experience. Due to the negative reception, it won 1st place in the 2004 Bunshun Kiichigo Awards.

Music

A large number of soundtrack albums have been released since the beginning of the original series.

Title Format Company Standard number Release date
Devilman Flexi disc Asahi Sonorama APM-4016 July 10, 1972 (1972-07-10)
Devilman EP record Columbia SCS-502 August 10, 1972 (1972-08-10)
TV Original BGM Collection: Devilman LP album Columbia CX-7088 March 1983 (1983-03)
TV Original BGM Collection: Devilman CD Columbia 28CC-2295 May 21, 1988 (1988-05-21)
TV Animation Drama Series: Devilman CD Columbia COCC-12398 March 1, 1995 (1995-03-01)
Animex 1200 Series 71: Devilman CD Columbia COCC-72071 September 22, 2004 (2004-09-22)
Original Soundtrack Devilman Tanjo Hen Ongakushu LP album King Records K20G-7359 1987 (1987)
Original Soundtrack Devilman Tanjo Hen Ongakushu CD King Records K30X-7094 November 1987 (1987-11)
Visual Sound Series Devilman Shin Mokushiroku CD King Records K32X-7055 1987 (1987)
Devilman Tanjo Hen / Yocho Sirène Hen CD King Records KICA-10 March 21, 1990 (1990-03-21)
Devilman Densetsu ~ The Legends of DEVILMAN CD Pony Canyon FSCA-10054 October 21, 1998 (1998-10-21)
Nagai Go Hero Densetsu Onkyo Geki Devilman Armageddon Hen CD First Smile Entertainment FSCA-10209 February 20, 2002 (2002-02-20)
Devilman Densetsu + 3 ~ The Legends of DEVILMAN CD BeeSmile BSCH-30011 March 10, 2004 (2004-03-10)
Eternal Edition Dynamic Pro Films Files No.11 & 12: Devilman CD Columbia COCX-32285/6 July 23, 2003 (2003-07-23)
Devilman no Uta (21st century ver.) CD single TEAM Entertainment KDSD-95 February 22, 2006 (2006-02-22)
Hikari no Naka de CD single Sonic Groove AVCD-16051 September 23, 2004 (2004-09-23)
Devilman Original Soundtrack CD avex trax AVCD-17543 October 6, 2004 (2004-10-06)

In other media

Three novels have been released. The first one Shin Devilman (真・デビルマン, Shin Debiruman) was written by Go Nagai's brother Yasutaka Nagai with illustrations by Go. It was originally published in 1981 by Asahi Sonorama in four books.[21] It is not related to the manga Shin Devilman, from which some chapters were also written by Yasutaka. With the release of the first OVA, in 1987 a single volume novel based on it was released by Kodansha titled Shin Video Shosetsu – Devilman: Tanjo Hen (新ビデオ小説 デビルマン 誕生編, shin bideo shousetsu debiruman tanjou hen). It was also written by Yasutaka Nagai, but it had illustrations by the OVA's main designer, Kazuo Komatsubara. In 1999 a second novelization of 4 volumes titled Devilman: The Novel (デビルマン The Novel) was published by MediaWorks and once again written by Yasutaka and illustrated by Go.[21] All three series of novels are unrelated to each other even though all were written by Yasutaka Nagai.

A video game based on Devilman was released for the Famicom by Namco on April 25, 1989 (1989-04-25).[22] Bandai also released a game based on Devilman for the Sony PlayStation and Windows 98 on April 13, 2000 (2000-04-13).[23] Along with several of Nagai's other creations, Devilman appeared in the Japanese Super Famicom game CB Chara Wars: Ushinawareta Gag (CBキャラウォーズ 笑われたギャーグ, cb kyarauōzu warawa reta gyāgu).[24]

Devilman and other characters from the series have shown up in cameo appearances numerous times in Go Nagai's other works. Miki is the first female protagonist of the 1974 manga Oira Sukeban, and Akira has appeared in various incarnations of Cutie Honey, most notably the 1994 OVA New Cutie Honey. Miki and Ryo Asuka also appear as dogs (with dog-like bodies and human heads) in the Violence Jack manga. In 1997, Nagai created Devil Lady, based on his idea of if the main character was a woman. The Devil Lady series contains its own original story that stands out from the Devilman series. Fudo's silhouette briefly appears in the opening credits of Devil Lady. The cast of Devilman also crossed over with characters from Mazinger Z and Violence Jack in the 1991 OVA CB Chara Nagai Go World. This release featured the familiar characters in comical and lighthearted antics in super deformed forms. In this series, it is revealed that Violence Jack is a future version of Akira Fudo. It is also revealed that Miki is an otaku and that she knew of Akira's identity as Devilman due to reading the manga offscreen.

Go Nagai started the manga Devilman Saga (デビルマンサーガ, Debiruman Sāga) in Shogakukan's Big Comic on December 25, 2014.[25] The story takes place in the year 2025, a roboticist named Fudou Yuuki joins a project involving a large mural depicting humanity's true past as well as the ancient but advanced technology found in Antarctica. In January 2020, it was announced that the manga would be finished in two chapters.[26]

Reception

The manga has sold over 50 million copies as of March 2017.[27]

The storyline in Devilman made it stand apart from other manga of the time. However, its controversial violence made it a major target of protest for the PTA and other groups.[28]

Go Nagai is said to have been highly shocked that his giant-robot work Mazinger Z, which was on Japanese TV at the same time as Devilman and which he originally did not take very seriously, surpassed Devilman in popularity. The reason was that he had worked especially hard on Devilman and only made Mazinger as a way to blow off steam.

Devilman was ranked fifth in Mania Entertainment's 10 Most Iconic Anime Heroes written by Thomas Zoth who commented that "Shonen manga developed a dark tone with Devilman's graphic violence, casual blasphemy, and theme of using evil itself to fight evil."[29] A character designer from SNK admitted that Devilman was an influence in designing Kyo Kusanagi.[30]

Jason Huff of The Anime Review Notes "a couple of enjoyable bits" in the OVA adaptation, yet ultimately recommends Vampire Hunter D instead "if you want to see a splatterfest of grotesque monsters getting all gooey and split in two",.[31] Helen McCarthy and Jonathan Clements of The Anime Encyclopedia said that the series was brought down by "the messy confluence of Japanese and European mythology".[32]

References

  1. ^ a b "Masaaki Yuasa Directs New Devilman Anime for Netflix". Anime News Network. 2017-03-15. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  2. ^ "【トラウマ注意】エグいファンタジーまんが15選" (in Japanese). eBook Initiative Japan Co.,Ltd. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
  3. ^ "Devilman: The Classic Collection". Seven Seas Entertainment. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c "Devilman Revelations". devilworld.org. Archived from the original on 2006-06-20.
  5. ^ a b "Go Nagai works list 1971–1975". Nagai Go Special Corner (in Japanese). Japan: eBOOK Initiative Japan. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
  6. ^ a b "Shin Debiruman – Devilman 2". Nagai Go Special Corner (in Italian). Japan: d/visual. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
  7. ^ "Devilman (Kodansha bilingual comics)" (in Japanese). Japan: National Institute of Informatics.
  8. ^ "Gekkan Kanzenban Devilman x Cutie Honey Vol.1" (in Japanese). Japan: JIVE. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
  9. ^ a b "Go Nagai works list 1976–1980". Nagai Go Special Corner (in Japanese). Japan: eBOOK Initiative Japan. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
  10. ^ "Seven Seas Licenses Devilman, Devilman Vs. Hades Manga". animenewsnetwork.com.
  11. ^ "Devilman (1972's anime television series) - animemorial.net". Japan: animemorial.net. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
  12. ^ "Newtype". 18 (10). Kadokawa Shoten. June 2002: 12. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. ^ "Discotek Adds Devilman TV, Cardcaptor Sakura Film, Jin-Roh, Dallos". Anime News Network. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  14. ^ "Devilman: Tanjo Hen" (in Japanese). Japan: allcinema. Retrieved 2009-07-31.
  15. ^ "Devilman: Yocho Sirène Hen (Digital Beat – Work detail)" (in Japanese). Japan: Bandai Visual. Archived from the original on 2011-06-13. Retrieved 2009-07-31.
  16. ^ "Devilman OVA Collection (Digital Beat – Work detail)" (in Japanese). Japan: Bandai Visual. Archived from the original on 2011-06-13. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
  17. ^ "Cyborg 009 Vs. Devilman Anime Reveals Main Devilman Cast - News". Anime News Network. 2015-07-13. Retrieved 2016-11-08.
  18. ^ "Devilman Crybaby Anime Reveals New Trailer, Visual, Theme Song". Anime News Network. November 21, 2017. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  19. ^ a b "Devilman film" (in Japanese). AllCinema. Retrieved 2010-10-30.
  20. ^ Devilman at IMDb
  21. ^ a b "Devilman variation novels" (in Japanese). Japan: Viva! Dynamic. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
  22. ^ "Devilman for NES". GAMESPOT.com.
  23. ^ "Devilman Release Information for PlayStation – GameFAQs". USA: CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2009-07-31.
  24. ^ "CB Chara Wars Release Information for SNES – GameFAQs". USA: CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2009-07-31.
  25. ^ Loveridge, Lynzee (October 28, 2014). "Go Nagai's New Manga Series is Devilman Saga". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  26. ^ Mateo, Alex (January 23, 2020). "Devilman Saga Manga Ends in 2 Chapters". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  27. ^ 永井豪原作の漫画『デビルマン』を湯浅監督が新作アニメとして映像化！ティザービジュアル＆特報解禁!! (in Japanese). Dengeki. March 16, 2017. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
  28. ^ "Masaaki Yuasa's Devilman project is officially titled Devilman Crybaby". Men of Comics.
  29. ^ Zoth, Thomas (January 12, 2010). "10 Most Iconic Anime Heroes". Mania Entertainment. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2010.
  30. ^ blackoak. "King of Fighters '94 – Developer Interview". Shmuplations. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  31. ^ "Devilman". TheAnimeReview.
  32. ^ The Anime Encyclopedia, Page 143
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