The Devil Within, Volume 1

The Devil Within

by Ryo Takagi

Rion, who believes all men are devils and only young boys are angels, finds herself engaged to three mysterious men, and must pick one to marry, but discovers something sinister about herself and her love for young Tenshi.

Genres: Manga, Romance, Shojo, Graphic Novels, Supernatural, Paranormal, Comics

200 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2007

About the author

TAKAGI Ryo: 高城リョウ

Also writes under the pen-name of Hazuki Ryouka.

Ryo Takagi, a much-loved author in the yaoi genre, is most known for her series Kirepapa, which was developed into a drama CD and in 2008, an OVA.
She made her debut with a comic called Okome-chan.
The Devil Within is her first manga to be published in the U.S.

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, it's hard to get past the fact that the main character is attracted to little boys. And I didn't get past it. That's just gross. Thanks to her father purposely traumatically scarring her when she was a child, Rion believes all men are devils. Literal demons. Only little boys are safe to her, and so she's attracted to them exclusively. If it wasn't for that, this book would have a chance -- it would have been easy to have her afraid of/disliking men without having her think they're demons or having her attracted to young boys -- but it went there.

Plus the neighbor who supposedly stopped growing at 5 is actually her height, so that makes no sense too.

What I'm saying is that this is a hot mess.

[Riah Lovez Ya · Rating 5 out of 5]

i fell so in love with this manga they never complete the series though.

[Yoyomaus Die Büchereule · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kleine Jungen sind Engel,
Männer sind Dämonen!
Das ist Gesetz!


Zum Inhalt:
Seit ihrer Kindheit hat Rion ein Trauma. Nachdem sie zufällig über einen Film für Erwachsene gestolpert war, blieb sie völlig verstört zurück. Sie ist seitdem davon überzeugt, dass alle Männer Teufel sind. Und es ist ziemlich schwierig, diese Angst zu überwinden, wenn ihr Vater der schlimmste von allen ist! Ihm hat es Rion zu verdanken, mit drei Typen konfrontiert zu werden – und mit einem davon muss sie sich verloben! Plötzlich steht sie drei ungeduldigen Bräutigamen gegenüber. Kann Rion ihre Angst lange genug im Zaum halten, um den geheimen Plan ihres Vaters zu vereiteln? Kann sie der drohenden Heirat entrinnen?

Cover:
Das Cover zeigt die Protagonistin Rion sowie ihre drei Heiratskandidaten, welche auf einem rosafarbenen Grunde dargestellt sind. Das passt an sich ganz gut, hat mir aber bereits schon verraten, dass ich von der Qualität der Zeichnungen nicht all zu viel zu erwarten habe und so war es dann auch. Über den Inhalt des Buchs sagt das Cover rein gar nichts aus, was auch ein bisschen schade ist, aber man kann ja bekanntlich nicht alles haben.

Eigener Eindruck:
Seitdem die kleine Rion einen Film für Erwachsene gesehen hat, hat sie ein Trauma davongetragen. Auch jetzt im Erwachsenenalter ist für Rion klar, dass nur kleine Jungen Engel sind und erwachsene Männer die Dämonen höchstselbst. Dass sie so gar kein Interesse an Männern hat, das können auch ihre Mitschülerinnen nicht verstehen und foppen sie deswegen regelmäßig. Als Rion in ihrem Haus einen neuen Mitbewohner bekommt und der jugendlich wirkt und sie küsst, ist sie Feuer und Flamme. Doch bereits in ihrer Wohnung erwartet sie das Unglaubliche. Ihr Vater hat drei Männer eingeladen, von denen sie einen heiraten soll. Für sie sind diese Männer ganz klar Dämonen, doch dann beweisen sie ihr das Gegenteil, denn sie sind Engel und sie selbst soll der Dämon sein…

Der erste Band der Dilogie „The Devil within“ konnte mich nicht wirklich überzeugen. Die Zeichnungen sind in meinen Augen recht dahin geschmiert und die Storyline recht sprunghaft, obwohl der Anfang eigentlich recht vielversprechend war. Es kommen einige humorvolle Szenen vor, die mich haben schmunzeln lassen, aber der Rest der Geschichte war mir dann doch zu wirr und zu abgehoben. Da wurde versucht zu viel Abhandlung in zu wenig Paneele zu packen. Dadurch wirkt alle sehr erzwungen, Emotionen kann man nicht abkaufen und der rote Faden geht leider doch recht schnell verloren. Und sind wir mal ehrlich? Die Thematik Engel, Dämonen und wie das alles hier zusammenhängen soll – ohne hier noch groß zu spoilern – das ist dann doch zu abgedroschen und vorhersehbar. Schade irgendwie, aber von mir gibt es keine Leseempfehlung.

Fazit:
Potentiell gute Idee, welche jedoch in meinen Augen vor die Wand gefahren wurde. Hier werden die Wenigsten ihre Freude haben.

Idee: 5/5
Charaktere: 3/5
Logik: 3/5
Spannung: 2/5
Emotionen: 2/5


Gesamt: 3/5

Daten:
ISBN: 9783770472963
Sprache: Deutsch
Ausgabe: Taschenbuch
Umfang: 192 Seiten
Verlag: EMA - Egmont Manga und Anime
Erscheinungsdatum: 06.07.2010

[Casper Lambert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay so rating this one a bit hard.
I read this one a long time ago and decided to give it a reread since I couldn’t really remember the actual story. I just remembered the character designs. Since I kept seeing a copy at Book-Off, I figured what’s the harm, it’s not that expensive….kinda wish I hadn’t bought it….it wasn’t worth the 10 bucks. Lol well if I did like it before, I don’t now. My taste in manga has evolved through the years. Thank you manga publishers for releasing more variety! 😂
The art is still enjoyable and there are funny moments which is why I don’t want to rate lower than three. However, it’s definitely not my cup of tea.
The characters and story however should get a two in my opinion. I struggled to get through the story simply because I was getting irritated with the characters 😬 especially the main girl. None of the characters are fleshed out well enough and the story stops right where things should typically start to get interesting. I’m not sure if it was dropped or cancelled, but it definitely feels incomplete.

[Lara · Rating 1 out of 5]

There's a more thorough review coming, but I feel obligated to tell everyone that this is a book with very weird and dark themes,including pedophilia.
The 15 year old protagonist is attracted to a 5 year old and others like him. And the manga does attempt to excuse her behavior, because actually he is 15 years old too, he just stopped aging at five years old?!!
Also her father is trying to marry his fiveteen years old daughter to one of three boys soon

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Convoluted with the male characters roles & personalities.

[Makayla Reagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a cute little book, want to buy the rest of series… def routing for the characters of this story

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outrageously funny!
When I first picked this up I was thinking that it was going to be about some kind of dark paranormal romance. While there are paranormal elements and it is kind of a romance, it is definitely not dark.
This book is pure comedy with a dash of romance. I think my favorite part of the story was the fact that none of the characters really took anything too seriously. There was not stop laughter and even a couple of sweet moments.
I also enjoyed the romantic elements too. At the beginning Rion isn’t interested in any guy let alone her new fiancés. However, she immediately takes a shine to Tenshi her new neighbor. She is very fond of Tenshi from the first. Unfortunately he isn’t very interested in her. I thought the budding relationship between these two opposites was very cute!
Tenshi is a fun character, but a bit arrogant. He is always talking about how he is annoyed by Rion, but we still find him doing whatever he can to help her.
The three fiancé’s that Rion’s dad picks out for her are all a bit intimidating, but each have their own quirk about them. For example Koki can be seen as cool and stoic, but we also see him at the beginning as a homeless man and later as a bit of a food maniac.
I can’t wait to learn a little bit more about the other fiancé candidates and see where things go with Rion and Tenshi.
If you like romance with a bit of comedy than you will love this!

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely one of the weirder shojos I've picked up in the last few months, but I'm not sure if it'll carry my attention past a second volume.

The main character, Rion, saw an extremely disturbing indie-porn movie as a child that scarred her for life. She sees all men as devils (including her father) and has an over-the-top obsession with bishi boys. Just when Rion falls for a young boy in her apartment building, however, her father presents her with a choice: choose a fiance from the three guys he's picked out for her. Hijinks and plot twists ensue.

If you take out the details, this story is super generic for shojo manga (girl likes boy, something blocks their affection, they must work to overcome it). However, the details...man. The plot is super, super weird and despite how it sounds, this actually isn't an adult-oriented manga.

I'm curious to see what happens in the second volume, but please: borrow the book from me rather than buying it. Aside from the special effects, this story doesn't have much going for it.

[Solace Winter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wavered between a 2 and a 3. This could potentially be a very interesting story, but because it's only two novels long seems to be very rushed. To not answer her questions the men tease giving her some answers, but she keeps getting answers. This is an awful plot device to novels, manga or otherwise, and should not be used the way it's being used here. Also, our main heroine, is annoying with a Shota-con complex that would be creepy if she was a male but is somehow meant to be endearing on her. It's really not. There seems to be only one way to write women who like younger men, and this is the standard. But it is an interesting concept. If the next novel decides to slow it down and not rush through scene after scene it could pick up, but as it is I'm not seeing that happening.

[Dorcas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I flipped through this manga and picked it up because of the art as well as the interesting blurb on the back. "Rion believes with all her heart that grown men are devils!" Also, there's a funny cat. However, I found the storyline to be a bit muddled, where the author slips bits of information or clues to what's going on at random places. It's a cute school girl story that suddenly takes a paranormal twist. I'm debating on whether or not to pick up the next volume. I am teased but not wholly convinced to read more.

I'd mention it to fans of Love Monster by Riko Miyagi or someone who just wants to read something with a lot of bishounen.

[Cat · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story is very silly and if the main character wasn't female but a male instead she'd be considered a danger to society and disgusting for her appetite for very young boys (like kindergarteners!). The artwork isn't even some of Takagi-sensei's best either - sometimes the legs and feet are just plain awful! - and the fathers don't look old enough to have teenage children at all. The plotline is straight forward but nothing interesting is done with it at all.

[Reader17 Der · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this it made me laugh. This is about a girl and her father tells her she has to marry one of three guys. She thinks the guys are the devils with the way they act. The all keep trying to seduce her to get her to marry him. But she meets another guy that she is interested in.

[Audry]

The perviest thing we ever published. <3 Sold like gangbusters to droves of teenage girls. I was not the editor on this one, but I did pick it out for licensing. (I picked out almost everything we licensed, come to think of it...)

[Jerjonji · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a great or original story- not even great art, but still amusing and interesting.

[Kelly D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird. Hit a lot of aspects that I didn't really favor. I didn't love it, but it's one of those books where I still want to know what happens.

[Emerian Rich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concept. But doesn't go anywhere.

[TJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute but didn't go in the direction I was expecting.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely love it!