Devilman
Firsttankōbon volume cover, featuringAkira Fudo (foreground) and Devilman (background)
デビルマン (Debiruman)
Genre	Apocalyptic[1] Dark fantasy[2] Superhero[3][4]
Manga
Written by	Go Nagai
Published by	Kodansha
English publisher	NA:Seven Seas Entertainment
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Magazine
Original run	June 11, 1972 –June 24, 1973
Volumes	5(List of volumes)
Anime television series
Directed by	Masayuki Akehi Tomoharu Katsumata
Produced by	Ken Ariga Yoshifumi Hatano
Written by	Masaki Tsuji
Music by	Goh Misawa
Studio	Toei Animation
Licensed by	NA:Discotek Media
Original network	ANN (NET)
Original run	July 8, 1972 – April 7, 1973
Episodes	39(List of episodes)
Further information Manga Shin Devilman Written by Yasutaka Nagai Illustrated by Go Nagai Published by Kodansha English publisher NA:Verotik[5] Magazine Shōnen Magazine Special Original run May 25, 1979 –May 8, 1981 Volumes 1 Novel series Shin Devilman Written by Yasutaka Nagai Illustrated by Go Nagai Published by Asahi Sonorama Imprint Sonorama Bunko Original run May 13, 1981 –March 31, 1982 Volumes 4 Novel Devilman: The Birth Written by Yasutaka Nagai Illustrated by Kazuo Komatsubara Published by Kodansha Published July 7, 1987 Original video animation Devilman: The Birth Devilman: Demon Bird Sirène Directed by Umanosuke Iida Produced by Toshio Tanaka Ryohei Suzuki Katsuhiko Hasegawa Koichi Murata Written by Go Nagai Umanosuke Iida Music by Kenji Kawai Studio Oh! Production Licensed by AUS:Madman Entertainment NA:Discotek Media UK:Manga Entertainment Released November 1, 1987 (The Birth) February 25, 1990 (Demon Bird Sirène) Runtime 50 minutes Episodes 2 Novel series Devilman: The Novel Written by Yasutaka Nagai Illustrated by Go Nagai Published by MediaWorks Imprint Dengeki Bunko Original run May 25, 1999 –August 25, 1999 Volumes 4 Manga Neo Devilman Written by Various (anthology) Published by Kodansha Original run June 21, 1999 –February 21, 2000 Volumes 3 Manga Demon Knight Written by Go Nagai Published by Kodansha Magazine Mandala Original run March 23, 2007 –July 3, 2009 Manga Devilman vs.Getter Robo Written by Go Nagai Illustrated by Dynamic Pro Published by Akita Shoten Magazine Champion Red Published 2010 Volumes 1 Manga Silene-chan Written by Go Nagai Published by Nihon Bungeisha Magazine Comic Heaven Original run August 9, 2012 –February 9, 2013 Manga Devilman Gaiden: Ningen Senki Written by Fujihiko Hosono Published by Kodansha Magazine Monthly Young Magazine Original run January 23, 2023 –June 20, 2023
Spin-off manga
Devil Lady (1997–2000) Amon: The Darkside of the Devilman (1999–2004) Devilman Grimoire (2012–2013) Devilman vs. Hades (2012–2014) Devilman Saga (2014–2020)
Crossover anime
Mazinger Z vs. Devilman (1973) Cyborg 009 VS Devilman (2015)
Live-action film
Devilman (2004)
ONA
Devilman Crybaby (2018)
Anime and manga portal

Devilman (Japanese:デビルマン,Hepburn:Debiruman) is a Japanesemanga series written and illustrated byGo Nagai. The manga focuses on a high school student namedAkira Fudo who absorbs the powers of the demon called "Amon" with help of his friend Ryo Asuka in order to battle creatures hidden in human society, thus calling himself the "Devilman" in the process. The series was originally ordered byToei Animation as a toned-downanime version of Nagai's previous manga series,Demon Lord Dante, althoughDevilman ended up having a darker tone which reflected Nagai'santi-war sentiments.

Devilman's 39-episode anime series was developed by Toei Animation in 1972, while Nagai began theDevilman as a manga inKodansha'sWeekly Shōnen Magazine, barely a month before the anime series started. The manga was published between June 1972 and June 1973, while multiple publishers have released it in collected volumes (tankōbon).Seven Seas Entertainment published the English translation of the original manga in two volumes in 2018. The series has since spawned numerousOVAs, manga, novels, films, and asequel. Devilman and other characters from the series have shown up in cameo appearances numerous times in Go Nagai's other works. The most notable isTomoharu Katsumata's 1973 feature filmMazinger Z vs. Devilman, which features Devilman teaming up with Nagai's titular robot to fight Dr. Hell. In 2018, a remake titledDevilman Crybaby directed byMasaaki Yuasa was created showing an alternate more modern-like retelling of the manga.

Devilman is among Nagai's most popular and influential works.^[6] The manga has sold 50 million copies worldwide, making it one of thebest-selling manga series. Despite mixed reception in regards to whether or not the art was appealing, critics enjoyed Nagai's darker take on the superhero tropes mostly due to how violent the manga was and recommended the manga to most readers who are not sensitive to gore. The series' themes and Akira's design have influenced multiple other series such asNeon Genesis Evangelion andX.

Akira Fudo is a shy teenager who lives in his friend Miki Makimura's house as his parents work abroad. One day, Akira's childhood friend Ryo Asuka reveals that the Earth is about to be invaded by demons, monstrous beings who have been hibernating for centuries. The only way to defeat them is to take control of their powers and fight them on equal terms. Ryo then involves his friend in a ritual called theBlack Sabbath, an event where numerous demons plan to merge with humans to infiltrate society. During the Black Sabbath, Akira merges with Amon, a demon warrior both idolized and feared among his kind for his incredible strength. However, instead of Amon holding control over Akira, the latter's pure soul triumphs over that of Amon, bringing the demon to heel and creating Devilman.

After fighting out of the Black Sabbath, Akira uses his demon persona to battle multiple enemies hidden in society. However, Akira starts to question his methods after he encounters Sirene and Kaim, two demons whose relationship with one another challenged Akira's prior perception of all demons being immoral, and the cruel Jinmen, a turtle-like demon who contained the still-living souls of his human victims on his shell, forcing Akira to destroy them to defeat him. A large detachment of demons led by the demon Lord Zennon invade Tokyo, alerting the world's population to the existence of demons. Akira learns that other humans are becoming Devilmen, and resolves to contact them to form a team dedicated to protecting humankind from the demons.

Meanwhile, Ryo journeys back to the mansion where he informed Akira of the world of demons, and finds an album supposedly about his life, which states he died years ago in a car accident. During his ensuingexistential crisis, Ryo is met by a group of demons led by the demoness Psycho Jenny, who tells Ryo he is actuallySatan, afallen angel who sympathized with the demons and turned on God for wanting to exterminate them. As part of Satan's plan to lead an all-out war on humanity, he had Psycho Jenny erase his memories and replace them with those of Ryo Asuka until the time when he was ready to begin the war. During a television broadcast, Ryo reveals the existence of Devilmen to the public but does not differentiate them from demons when he shows footage of Akira's first transformation. This leads to a mass hysteria that causes humans to turn on each other worldwide.

While Akira confronts Ryo for answers and learns the truth of his former friend's identity, a mob of humans kills Miki and her family for being associated with him. With Miki's death, Akira sinks to despair and loses faith in humanity before vowing to get revenge on Satan. When asked by Zennon about why he wanted Akira to survive humankind's extinction by becoming a Devilman, Satan implies that the reason is that he loved Akira and wanted to protect him. Twenty years pass, and all humans, save for the Devilmen recruited by Akira, are extinct. During their final battle, the Devilmen and the demons are both annihilated and Satan mortally wounds Akira. Satan then realizes that what he did to humankind was no different from what God did to demons, and grieves over Akira's death as God's angels descend upon the Earth.

One of the Demon Tribe's strongest warriors, Devilman is sent to lead a full-scale invasion of the human world by Zennon. After he ambushes and kills Akira and his father in the Himalayas, not far from the base of operations of the Demon Tribe, he selects Akira as his host, restoring him to life, but giving him a wild and unpredictable streak. However, after returning to Japan, Akira encounters and falls in love with Miki Makimura, and Devilman is tamed by his desire to protect her. Devilman resolves to defect from his orders, and from then on fights a slew of opponents sent by Zennon and his Demon Generals.

Devilman evolved from Go Nagai's previous manga,Demon Lord Dante, afterToei Animation approached Nagai about turningDante 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.^[7] Devilman's outfit seems be inspired by a villain from the 1972Gekko Kamen anime. Go Nagai worked on the anime's scenario along with renowned screenwriter and science-fiction novelistMasaki 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 inWeekly Shōnen Magazine beginning in 1972.^[8] Go Nagai designed the manga to be more horror-like and mature than the anime version.^[7] When developing theDevilman manga, Nagai was told by his editor to write an alternative take of the anime aimed towards a more mature audience.^[9]

Nagai designedDevilman as ananti-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."^[7]

In further exploring themes of war, Nagai stated that he wrote this manga to alert the world in regards of the narrative's chaos possibly happening in the real world. He further stated that despite Satan's actions in the manga, he was not a stereotypical villain as Nagai believes that God would fit more into this category as a result for the actions he committed against demons years before the series' start.^{[10][page needed]}

The manga was originally published by Kodansha from June 11, 1972, to June 24, 1973, inWeekly Shōnen Magazine.^[8] The series has been published intankōbon format several times, most of them byKodansha. Starting with the 1987 publishing, most Kodansha editions includeShin Devilman, which originally was not meant to be included in the canon of the original series, as a part of the volumes.^[11] The manga has been translated into English in a series of five bilingual manga volumes published by Kodansha.^[12]

The manga has also been published along withCutie Honey in the magazineGekkan 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^[13] in order to take advantage of the release of the live-action films of both series.

Seven Seas Entertainment published the English translation of the original manga in two volumes in 2018,^[14] and ofDevilman G andDevilman VS. Hades in 2017 and 2018.

Shin Devilman (新デビルマン,Shin Debiruman) was originally published inKodansha'sShōnen Magazine Special in May 25, 1979, January 25, 1980, September 15, 1980, March 6, 1981, and May 8, 1981. All chapters were drawn by Go Nagai, but the first chapter was written in collaboration withMasaki Tsuji, while chapters two and three were written byHiroshi Koenji.^[15] The rest of the chapters were done by Nagai. The manga is sometimes known asDevilman 2 andNeo Devilman.^[11]

A one-shot, which is not originally part ofShin Devilman, but that has always been compiled along with the series intankōbon, was published in the magazineVariety byKadokawa Shoten.^[15] 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.

Go Nagai published the mangaDevilman Saga inShogakukan'sBig Comic from December 25, 2014, to March 10, 2020.^[16][17] The story takes place in the year 2025, aroboticist 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. Shogakukan compiled its chapters into thirteentankōbon volumes, released from June 30, 2015, to May 29, 2020.^[18][19]

A manga series written and illustrated byFujihiko Hosono, titledDevilman Gaiden: Ningen Senki, was serialized in Kodansha'sMonthly Young Magazine from January 23, 2023,^[20] to June 20 of the same year.^[21]

The anime television series was 39 episodes long and ran from July 8, 1972, to April 7, 1973, on NET (nowTV Asahi).^[22] 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.^[23] The TV series has been licensed for the first time in North America byDiscotek Media who released the series on DVD in 2014.^[24]

Devilman: The Birth (デビルマン 誕生編,Debiruman Tanjō Hen) was released on November 1, 1987, byKing Records.^[25] It was followed byDevilman: Demon Bird Sirène (デビルマン 妖鳥シレーヌ編,Debiruman Yōchō Shirēnu Hen), released on February 25, 1990, byBandai Visual.^[26]Kazuo Komatsubara, an animation director on the original TV series, was the character designer for the OVAs, which were animated by hisOh 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 onLaserdisc and on a single DVD by Bandai Visual on March 28, 2003.^[27] The two OVAs were also the onlyDevilman anime to have been commercially released in the United States (byManga 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. Based onAmon: The Darkside of The Devilman, it covers the period between the humans becoming aware of demons and the semi-final battle between Devilman and Amon, who was unleashed after Akira became demoralized by witnessing the death of Miki. In the final battle, Amon is subdued and remerges with Akira, but instead of Akira then proceeding to battle Satan, he rejects the latter's challenge, and walks away into the wreckage of Tokyo.

In 2015,Cyborg 009 VS Devilman was released. The three-episode OVA features theDevilman series crossing over withShotaro Ishinomori'sCyborg 009, with the titular characters from each series becoming rivals before working together to bring down a joint threat.^[28]

A 10-episodeoriginal net animation adaptation produced byScience Saru and directed byMasaaki Yuasa, titledDevilman Crybaby,^[29] was released worldwide on January 5, 2018, exclusively onNetflix.^[30]

Mazinger Z Vs. Devilman is a crossover animated film betweenDevilman andMazinger Z produced by Toei and released in July 18, 1973. While the film stars the majority of the characters from each series, it features alternative versions of the events from both, and is therefore not canonical to either one.

In October 9, 2004, a live-actiontokusatsu film directed byHiroyuki Nasu was theatrically released in Japan.^[31]The film starred Hisato Izaki as Devilman, Yūsuke Izaki as Ryo Asuka and Ayana Sakai as Miki Makimura. The cast also includedAV IdolMaria Yumeno.^[31][32] The film was criticized for its poor special effects and the casting of various popular celebrities with no prior acting experience.

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

Three novels have been released. The first oneShin Devilman (真・デビルマン,Shin Debiruman) was written by Go Nagai's brotherYasutaka Nagai with illustrations by Go. It was originally published in 1981 byAsahi Sonorama in four books.^[33] It is not related to the mangaShin 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 titledShin 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 titledDevilman: The Novel (デビルマン The Novel) was published byMediaWorks and once again written by Yasutaka and illustrated by Go.^[33] All three series of novels are unrelated to each other even though all were written by Yasutaka Nagai.

A video game based onDevilman was released for theFamicom byNamco on April 25, 1989.^[34]Bandai also released a game based onDevilman for theSonyPlayStation on April 13, 2000.^[35] Along with several of Nagai's other creations, Devilman appeared in the JapaneseSuper Famicom gameCB Chara Wars: Ushinawareta Gag [ja] (CBキャラウォーズ 失われたギャーグ,CB Kyarauōzu Ushinawareta Gyāgu).^[36]

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 mangaOira Sukeban, and Akira has appeared in various incarnations ofCutie Honey, most notably the 1994 OVANew Cutie Honey. Miki and Ryo Asuka also appear as dogs (with dog-like bodies and human heads) in theViolence Jack manga. In 1997, Nagai createdDevil Lady, based on his idea of if the main character was a woman. TheDevil Lady series contains its own original story that stands out from theDevilman series. Fudo's silhouette briefly appears in the opening credits ofDevil Lady. The cast ofDevilman also crossed over with characters fromMazinger Z andViolence Jack in the 1991 OVACB Chara Nagai Go World. This release featured the familiar characters in comical and lighthearted antics insuper 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 anotaku and that she knew of Akira's identity as Devilman due to reading the manga offscreen.

By March 2017,Devilman had over 50 million copies in circulation.^[37] In 2018,Anime News Network listedDevilman among the seven "Best New Manga for Grown-Ups".^[38]

Critical response initially focused on Akira's personality and the controversial themes portrayed before Akira becomes Devilman.Zona Negativa found the narrative simple since Akira and Ryo learn about the demons and through a party that involves orgies and other controversial themes Nagai is famous for.^[39]Anime News Network initially referred to Akira as an appealing hero based on his kind demeanor, but criticized his relationship with Miki due to how she berates these traits. As a result, when Akira becomes a more violent person due to absorbing Amon, the review believes Nagai was expressing the idea of a man undergoing growth but still retaining his kind self. Although Akira and Ryo's relationship is not fully explored, the review felt there was a homoerotic tension between them that was interesting for readers.^[40]Manga News found the manga's prologue outstanding based on how Akira becomes a Devilman and how psychologically it affects him.^[41]

The dark narrative presented in general was noted especially during Miki's death which felt toJason ThompsonANN to look "like a visualization of a child's nightmare".^[3] In the bookManga Design, Masanao Amano and Julius Wiedemann found the twist involving humans killing other humans as a major plot twist that shocked the audience as well as next generation manga artists, comparing it to witch-hunting.^[42] The Fandom Post also found the manga to be too gruesome but hoped that more people read it if they can get past its gore. He also praised Nagai's art for the horror presented and brutal fight scenes.^[43] Manga News was shocked that despite Akira's belief in mankind, he sees a disturbing scenario caused by the war between men and devils, resulting in one of the deepest and saddest endings in manga history.^[44] Thompson was more critical to Nagai's art, stating "his characters' eyes rarely seem to be looking in the same direction, their limbs look like pipe cleaners, and the women are like blow-up dolls with apples glued to their chests."^[3]

Although its controversial depiction of violence made it a major target of protest forPTAs and other groups, the storyline inDevilman made it stand apart from other manga of the time^[45] and it impacted the industry as a whole. 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."^[46] Jason Huff of The Anime Review Notes "a couple of enjoyable bits" in the OVA adaptation, yet ultimately recommendsVampire Hunter D instead "if you want to see a splatterfest of grotesque monsters getting all gooey and split in two",.^[47] Helen McCarthy and Jonathan Clements ofThe Anime Encyclopedia said that the series was brought down by "the messy confluence of Japanese and European mythology".^[48]

A character designer fromSNK admitted thatDevilman was an influence in designingKyo Kusanagi.^[49] Manga writerNanase Ohkawa claimed thatDevilman was the manga that shocked her the most as a child.^[50] Ohkawa was eventually influenced byDevilman to writeX due to the themes employed in both manga, most notably theArmageddon.^[51]Neon Genesis Evangelion directorHideaki Anno said themecha Evangelion Unit 01 was influenced by Devilman. Anno claims that Devilman's scary facial expressions were the basis for the mecha alongsideMazinger Z.^[10] For the film 2011Tekken: Blood Vengeance, the fighter Jin Kazama achieves a demonic form designed by Takayuki Takeya, who is famous designing characters fromDevilman andKamen Rider.^[52]

• Silverman, Rebecca (June 23, 2018)."Devilman: The Classic Collection GN 1 - Review".Anime News Network.

• Devilman: The Classic Collection at Seven Seas Entertainment
• Devilman atIMDb
• Devilman (manga) atAnime News Network's encyclopedia

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