To start off, my thoughts will likely be biased because Devilman is one of my favourite fictional stories of all time. I feel it's a good time to review it now that Netflix's Devilman Crybaby is on its way which I've already written about here.
You've probably never heard much of Devilman in the anglosphere, at least till now. Yet, the series holds a legendary status among well established industry veterans such as Hideaki Anno of Evangelion, Kentarou Miura of Berserk, Kazuki Nakashima of Kill La Kill, Yoshihiro Nishimura of Tokyo Gore Police, Suda51 of Lollipop Chainsaw etc.
The most likely reasons for its obscurity are its general lack of availability and age.
Sure, some may point out that it indeed received several releases in English such as the infamous UK based Manga Entertainment dub of the first two Devilman OVAs, or the botched mess that were the incomplete Glenn Danzig's Verotik releases but these never made a dent on the local US market due to their licencor's poor work on the material. Even if they did do a good work, we are talking about a 40 year old manga which had English releases in the 90s. That is a long time ago.
Glenn Danzig's Devilman (デビルマン) tatoo.
But it was this year, 2017, that we finally started getting officially licensed Devilman-related releases that weren't a total mess. (Devilman Grimoire, Devilman Classic, Devilman vs Hades, future volumes on the way.)
First volume of Devilman Grimoire, the recent manga reboot.
What's Devilman about?
Devilman is a 1972 violent action manga by Go Nagai, the same guy who drew other crazy manga like Mazinger and Cutie Honey. In short, the story is about that of young teenage orphan, Akira Fudou whose trust in his long time friend, Ryo Asuka leads him to discover the existence of demons through the latter's dead father's inheritance.
Akira Fudou and his partner-in-crime, Ryo Asuka.
Your average looking demons.
The demons who are the results of several merging and in-fighting of multiple lifeforms are hell bent on reclaiming the earth for themselves, which were originally theirs to begin with before the humans took over. After finding out about the impending doom that humanity faces against such a threat, Akira is convinced by his friend that to fight a demon, you must become a demon.
Friendship is magic.
To achieve this, Akira must let a demon merge with him to gain his powerful abilities, but that's easier said than done. As the blonde teen puts it, only those of pure heart can merge with a demon without losing their human consciousness. Should the merge happen with a human of poor etiquette who makes up society's degenerates, the resulting merge would be a complete demon takeover of the human's conscience and his/her death. This is essentially the kind of people the demons want to merge with to grow their army. Akira is the perfect candidate for such a merge given his virtuous AND righteous nature would be strong enough to overcome the demon's beastly instincts. Once Akira has merged and has become not a demon, but Devilman, he can then use his newly gained abilities to beat the living shit out of demons.
How are they going to get the demons in one place so that Akira can mess them up, you might ask? Ryo has the answer. He decides to gather society's outcasts and have them throw a totally degenerate party in his father's basement.
Drugs, booze, sex while a smug looking Ryo looks on.
The plan is that once demons start possessing these people and gain their physical form, Akira who would then become Devilman and start killing the shit out of them. But how are they going to get the demons to target them and the hippies in the first place? Again, Ryo has the answer to everything, and it involves a lot of blood, lots of it. Demons are naturally attracted to blood, and this will cause them to start possessing the humans like flies.
One might suspect that Ryo is a psycho but it's all done in good faith.
Akira becomes Devilman, the hippies become demons, and violence ensues. This is essentially the gist of what Devilman is about without going in too much depth. There are other characters at play, such as Miki Makimura, who Akira is currently living with and her family after having lost his own parents. The rest? I'll leave them for you to find out.
Miki defends herself from school bullies.
The Makimura Family from the 1988 OVA, The Birth.
What do I like about Devilman?
The paneling and the artstyle
For a 70s manga, the paneling is surprisingly good. Nagai's action and talking scenes flow rather well from one panel to other without ever feeling like a tedious read, contrary to a lot of modern manga I've read these days. Concerning the artstyle, I get that it isn't exactly everyone's cup of tea, but the way Nagai makes use of black and white contrast to set the mood of some of the scenes is what make them definitely standout.
Devilman in deep thoughts.
Violence is art
The demons are ugly, and yet they still manage to evoke a sense of exotic beauty. When the action gets dirty, limbs are ripped apart, blood is sprayed all over as Devilman laughs maniacally. What arose from these brief moments of violence is the similar feeling you get when you look at Picasso's art. It's crude, yet amazing to look at. It's a hard concept to explain, but I think you understand a little bit where I'm coming from.
That must hurt.
It can be funny
If you only read the first volume, you might think this whole manga is some sort of parody or a big in-joke, but I don't blame you, because that part of the manga is rife with jokes with memetic qualities. Ryo constantly has a smug face on him and Akira acts like a complete buffoon on several occasions. These moments help lighten up the mood for what is to come. Some of these pages were so out there that a bunch of fans started redrawing them.
Was it really the time to crack a joke, Ryo?
Its narrative relevance
No one is a stranger to the horrors that are being committed in the name of humanity. Even though it's been 4 decades since Devilman, the human race is still having petty fights over resources, religion and their own ego. The facts about us presented in the work aren't pretty; we are some the most barbaric and vile creatures to ever walk this earth. I'm we'll aware there are many other manga that may have gone way deeper in exploring the human psyche, but because of Devilman's shortness, this makes it a fast and easy read for people of all ages.
You demons!!!!
Its authenticity
Nowadays, artists will spend ages trying to plan their masterpiece. They'll think hard about what readers would love, sort of like a checklist. The author of Devilman, Go Nagai, didn't plan the narrative. He himself didn't even know how the last act was going to turn out until he actually finished drawing it. After finishing it, it was said that the author's mental and physique were completely exhausted. Because of his lack of planning, the manga was genuinely refreshing to read. I wasn't reading a structured manga that was made to appeal and pander to me, I was reading a manga that gave me a piece of the author's mind.
No one is safe in Devilman.
Are there things in it that people would consider to be "flaws"?
Sure, no work of fiction is perfect, because we are humans, not robots. For starters, if you absolutely cannot stand the 70s art, you may want to skip Devilman, but if you either enjoy it or can tolerate it, do stick along, because the art and the paneling can get really creative in the later volumes. The writing does leave a few holes which you'll have to find out and justify on your own, but as I've said earlier, Devilman wasn't a planned manga. The author took it to places so wild that he himself didn't expect. Also, some characters such as Sachiko could have received more development. I would also like to emphasize that the violence is part of the work's identity, and if you cannot stomach such things, then this may not be for you.
Lastly, I just want to say that I really enjoyed reading Devilman, and I literally cannot wait for this new adaptation. I do strongly suggest reading the manga, but if you cannot for personal reasons, then your next best bet is to wait for the upcoming Devilman Crybaby adaptation which covers the entire 5 volume manga from a to z.
None of the images or videos posted or linked here belong to me. Everything else is my writing. If you enjoyed reading this post, do consider reading the manga. As a fan, it brings me no greater joy than people discovering a favourite of mine.
Check out my other posts on anime and manga here.