Devilman, vol. 2

Devilman (3 volumes) #2

by Go Nagai

Genres: Manga, Horror, Comics, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Japan

376 pages, Paperback

First published November 25, 1972

About the author

Kiyoshi Nagai (永井潔 Nagai Kiyoshi, born September 6, 1945 in Wajima, Ishikawa), better known by the penname Gō Nagai (永井 豪 Nagai Gō?), is a Japanese manga artist and a prolific author of science fiction, fantasy, horror and erotica. He made his professional debut in 1967 with Meakashi Polikichi, but is best known for creating Cutie Honey, Devilman, and Mazinger Z in the 1970s. In 2005, he became a Character Design professor at the Osaka University of Arts. Since 2009, he is a member of Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize's nominating committee.

Reviews

[Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good story, but kind of annoys me sometimes. It's more about the story than how the characters interact with each other, and really a lot of the relationships between the characters are lacking majorly. The most you know about the two main characters is that "they're friends from childhood" and they trust each other, which is nice, but doesn't explain why they work so well together in this shocking situation.

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once upon a time, demons invaded the world, wiping out all prehistoric creatures that once ruled the earth. After dominating all life, they ruled the world for many long years until the great ice age froze them in burials of ice deep down in the underworld. After the demons were lost to history, a new race called humans were born, and they became the new rulers of the world. Left undisturbed for thousands of years, the humans were ignorant of the threat of demons lurking just under their feet. In the modern age of technology, industrialization and political turmoil, the demons begin to rise once more, merging with corrupt humans to pollute the world with violence so they may rule once more.

Mankind’s only hope for salvation is to use the demons’ power against them, and only a pure-hearted man like Akira Fudo can do so without losing his humanity. Once, he was little more than a timid crybaby, but Akira now wields the terrible power of a devil, yet holds the innocent soul of a man; he is a Devilman. Akira gets dragged into a dark world of conspiracy, betrayal and bloodshed by his best friend Ryo. Ryo's father was a genius researcher of the occult who left many records and findings informing them of the oncoming demon invasion before he was possessed and took his own life. Now the two friends are the only ones with the power and the knowledge to save the world or lead it to its destruction.

Devilman has quite the legacy. It's very rough around the edges and it definitely shows its age with some stale dialogue, major pacing issues, one dimensional characters who react unrealistically, etc, but all of these things are to be expected since it was written in 1972 around the time when the medium was just beginning to find solid ground and can be considered the grandfather of all modern horror, dark fantasy and mature adult manga in general. It heavily inspired countess classic masterpieces and memorable modern tales such as Berserk, Attack on Titan, Gantz, Neon Genesis Evangalion, Parasyte, Death Note, Tokyo Ghoul, as well as the works of Junji Ito, Naoki Urasawa and Satoshi Kon. Hell, even many non-horror series have drawn inspiration from it such as Yu Yu Hakusho, Inuyasha and Dragon Ball. You could say that Devilman is to manga what Lovecraft is to modern horror.

Though it does struggle to move itself forward at times, the lore behind the demons, the origin of the main character merging with a powerful entity which is used in many modern series and the emotional climactic ending are all fascinating to see. The author also utilizes a lot of real-world literature to set the foundation of the plot and backstory. In the world of Devilman, the events of Dante's Divine Comedy and the Christian Bible are things that actually happened, it also brings in a lot of historical references and events such as the Salem Witch Trials, Black Sabbaths, WWII, race feuds, slavery and colonization. It's one of the first series that created the 'humans can be more cruel, terrifying and monstrous than actual demons, monsters and wild animals' plots that we've seen done thousands of times.

It's definitely a tad corny and poorly written in some places, but it's great to see where many modern storytelling tropes originated from and how it inspired so many of my all-time favorite series. The Netflix adaption Devilman Crybaby is also a very cool modernized retelling of the original story and I honestly prefer it over the manga a bit.

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[Ramón Peña · Rating 4 out of 5]

Segundo de tres tomos de la reedición reciente del manga clásico de Go Nagai de los 70. Junto con Mazinger Z, esta es su obra más conocida. Aunque ha tenido varias versiones y spin-offs, la historia original se encuentra de principio a fin en estos tres tomos. En este primero, asistimos al origen de Devilman. Con su estilo de dibujo tosco pero vigoroso, mantiene el interés manejando habilmente el interés hasta que el personaje titular no aparece hasta alrededor de la página 200 del primer tomo. A partir de ahí, y a lo largo de los tres tomos la acción no decae y las revelaciones se suceden hasta llegar a la inexorable conclusión. Leí los tres gruesos tomos (53 capítulos en total) de una sentada.

Esta edición está compuesta por tres tomos formato kanzenban (formato "de lujo", con la inclusión de las páginas a color de la publicación seriada original) superior a los clásicos tankôbon. Este manga fundacional, de importancia histórica en el género, merece la inclusión en la biblioteca de cualquier aficionado al manga que se precie y solamente se le puede echar en cara la falta de algo de material adicional para poner en contexto al autor y la obra.

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 70's style artwork and complex interwoven themes made the series a dynamic and enjoyable read.

[. · Rating 5 out of 5]

mózg eksplodował. pustka.

[Javier Muñoz · Rating 4 out of 5]

La cosa se pone aún más turbia según avanza el manga, monstruos cada vez más extraños, enemigos cada vez más poderosos y muchas cosas chungas e inesperadas (ejemplo: un demonio con cuerpo similar a una tortuga que se come a la gente pero las caras de estos permanecen en su caparazón durante un tiempo con capacidad de hablar hasta que termina de digerirlos).

Hacia el final del tomo tenemos el gran ataque de los demonios a la humanidad, que cambiará el destino de la tierra.

Un espectáculo visual y una historia que avanza rápidamente en pocos tomos.

[Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply stunning once more. the final image is completely compelling to look at, and indeed many other pages are. At times I spent minutes looking at a single image. It is so nice to see that it’s recent adaptation didn’t copy the source material word for word, devilman crybaby is very much recontextualised. But I’m glad that both stand on their own level of high merit and one hasn’t made me resent the other. I also feel like many of the characters are far more aggressive in this. I’m not mad, it’s interesting to see the different interpretations of their personalities. Akira at present is far more angsty and bloodlusty in this and it is highly intriguing.

Also I am very shocked that the sexual part between Silen and Amon was not part of the original concept!! It truly felt like it was, so top job to the creators on that! Their whole dynamic was a little altered and I loved it!! Made me feel a bit more heartbroken for the poor gal.