Devillady n. 4

Devil Lady #4

by Go Nagai

In un piccolo villaggio di una località termale, esiste una bizzarra storia folkloristica: uno dei rarissimi casi, in Giappone, di leggende che parlino dell'esistenza di vampiri. Quando la morte di una turista ritrovata dissanguata nei boschi circostanti attrae l'attenzione della Human Alliance, che invia Asuka e Jun a indagare; ben presto scopriamo che dietro al semplice folklore si nasconde una verità più terrificante di quanto si possa immaginare...

Genres: Manga, Horror

224 pages, Paperback

First published April 23, 1998

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

[Sushi (寿司) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Il manga è molto meglio dell'anime. Ho provato a guardarne un po' di episodi ma mi sembra così stravolto. Avrei preferito più rispetto verso l'opera originale.

[Killer of Dreams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stuff just keeps getting weirder and weirder... It's intriguing that the sexuality of the Devilmen is explored but it seems to go against the original series by introducing concepts that were not present before. The dialogue felt out of place at times but the further characterization of Jun was well done.


Rating Update 4/4/2019 - 4 stars to 3 stars. Here is my stars awarded for sections of the volume:

0-50 3 stars 0.68181818181818181818181818181818 (Buildup to Asuka and Jun visiting the place)
50-60 4 stars 0.18181818181818181818181818181818 (Backstory on the origin of the vampire)
60-120 2 stars 0.54545454545454545454545454545455 (The ensuing battle between the the Nun and her followers against Jun and Asuka)
120-162 2 stars 0.38181818181818181818181818181818 (Asuka confronting Jun's father)
165-192 5 stars 0.61363636363636363636363636363636 (Jun's sexual *encounter* with the beast)
193-220 2 stars 0.24545454545454545454545454545455 (Asuka attacked by beasts and saved by a devilman)

= 2.65

I decided to round up to 3 giving this volume 3 stars.

Rating Update 19 May 2019
Three stars to two stars. Having looked over the ratings for each of the sections, I believe I have correctly rated all the sections except Jun's fight against the Nun and her followers. The sections is closer to a one star rating than a two star. With this change and all other sections retaining their rating, the cumulative rating of the volume would be roughly 2.36 stars. I have rounded the rating to two stars and have subsequently lowered the volume rating to two stars.

August 31, 2019
Update
With the adoption of my new rating system, a two star rating is befitting. The original review and rating updates conform to the new rating system. I have looked through my "Devilman Lady Abridged" folder to remind myself of this volume's content. I find that all rating updates rate the volume correctly for the most part, but a further remediation would be the lowering of the scene of Jun's sexual encounter with the beast lowered to two stars. I enjoy the significance of that scene now in reflection, but I was disappointed at the turn of the series when I first read the volume, especially when compared to the original "Devilman" series.

The rating of the sections would go:

0-50 three stars 0.68181818181818181818181818181818 (Buildup to Asuka and Jun visiting the place)
50-60 four stars 0.18181818181818181818181818181818 (Backstory on the origin of the vampire)
60-120 one star 0.27272727272727272727272727272727‬ (The ensuing battle between the the Nun and her followers against Jun and Asuka)
120-162 two stars 0.38181818181818181818181818181818 (Asuka confronting Jun's father)
165-192 two stars 0.24545454545454545454545454545455 (Jun's sexual *encounter* with the beast)
193-220 two stars 0.24545454545454545454545454545455 (Asuka attacked by beasts and saved by a devilman)

The cumulative rating is 2.01 stars. The rating of two stars stands.

September 18, 2019
Update
I have been fearful of whether the one star-rating for the battle between the Nun and her followers against Jun and Asuka was draconian, so for hypothetical purposes, I raised the rating of that segment to two stars and came to these calculations:

0-50 Three Stars 0.68181818181818181818181818181818 (Buildup to Asuka and Jun visiting the place)
50-60 Four Stars 0.18181818181818181818181818181818 (Backstory on the origin of the vampire)
60-120 Two Stars 54545454545454545454545454545455‬ (The ensuing battle between the the Nun and her followers against Jun and Asuka)
120-162 Two Stars 0.38181818181818181818181818181818 (Asuka confronting Jun's father)
165-192 Two Stars 0.24545454545454545454545454545455 (Jun's sexual *encounter* with the beast)
193-220 Two Stars 0.24545454545454545454545454545455 (Asuka attacked by beasts and saved by a devilman)

The cumulative rating is 2.28 stars, a reminder that this is not enough to raise the rating to two stars.

September 25, 2019
Update
Anytime I skim through the pages I compiled of this volume in my "Devilman Lady Abridged" folder, I do not see it receiving anything higher than a two star-rating. However, I had originally rated the volume at four stars, and I don't understand. With the adoption of the new rating series, it makes sense that this volume dropped to a three star-rating but a two star drop is a very rare occurrence. The original four star-rating must have been spurred by something, my theory being perhaps the final pages. I will not know sadly the original impulse and will remain with a two star-rating until I reread the volume entirely to gather an accurate rating.