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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Devilman (in all its iterations) is a favorite of a friend of mine, so I spent the first few months of 2023 picking through Go Nagai-san’s work. This review focuses on the original Devilman manga, and not the prequels, midquels, or sequels.
Makimura Miki and Fudo Akira are the best of friends. With his parents off traveling, Akira even lives at Miki’s house with her brother and parents. Sporting nicknames like “The Hands” or “The Witch,” Miki encourages the shy Akira to live life more boldly. She has no idea how bold he’s going to go when his childhood friend Asuka Ryo returns to town. The mysterious Ryo is far more than he seems, and he recruits Akira into an ongoing secret war with demons. As global warming wakes them from their icy sleep, these previous inhabitants of earth are quite angry with what humans have done with the place.
Devilman is a seminal work in the history of manga. A mind-boggling amount of trope mainstays trace their lineage to Nagai-san’s work, especially in the horror, post-apocalyptic, shōnen, and seinen genres. The wonky art and troubling storytelling decisions–as well as the brilliance–have influenced countless mangaka who came after, and today’s adaptation of Devilman: Crybaby has sparked renewed interest. Both intentionally and not-so-intentionally, Devilman’s a wild ride and not for the faint of heart. Nagai-san will neither pull punches nor hold your hand. I’ve linked a GoodReads review that I largely agree with that talks more about manga history and Devilman’s flaws.
As for the drawing skill itself, it took me a bit to get into the art style. In the beginning, the lanky, weird anatomy and facial expression reminded me of Popeye the Sailorman. As the manga continued, Nagai-san noticeably improved. The storytelling done with paneling especially dazzled me. I could feel how much emotion Nagai-san wanted each page to convey, even if it wasn’t conveyed in the most elegant way.
I watched Devilman: Crybaby before reading, so I was familiar with the basic plot beats before going in. However, the manga narrative is head and shoulders above the TV show’s. Nagai-san had a clear idea of his themes, and his characters were the chosen vehicles to convey them. For example, Kaim and Sirene aren’t just a bump in the road, but instead have major thematic weight in proving that demons have personhood. Kaim proves that demons are sensible to unconditional love, aesthetic beauty, loyalty, and devotion. By attacking Akira, Sirene hopes to avenge Amon’s “death,” showing grief veering into revenge’s sharp obsession. Then there’s Miki. Miki’s death isn’t a simple, melodramatic martyrdom to drive Akira’s ego. Instead, she’s a meditation on the societal attraction of machismo and violence, and how the glorification of these traits are totally divorced from the grim reality of violence. She’s a much more compelling, complicated character. By the end of the manga, the only thing I liked about Crybaby’s storytelling was how they expanded Miko’s character. We love a spider girl in this house.
Because of Nagai-san’s focus on themes, there’s so much texture to dig into here. Devilman is about how war destroys; Devilman is a warning about climate change; Devilman cranks shōnen and seinen tropes to logical, tragic ends; Devilman is a railing against an uncaring God; Devilman is about race wars and multi-racial identity; Devilman warns that to rule by fear is to condemn oneself. Each reader can come to the comic and find something new to think about. Decades later, Devilman still finds its way into readers’ hearts and no wonder.
This GoodReads review good: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3791825661
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, War
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
I was very pleasantly surprised. I’ve watched the Devilman crybaby anime and because I loved it I decided to read this. Despite being an old series, it’s really good. I especially liked the start of it and how it jumped right into the story. Perhaps because I already had the gist of it, while also introducing the story really well.
Fudo Akira was a sensitive boy, mocked by his classmates, until he merged with a devil. Until he became... Devilman!
Devilman: The Classic Collection Vol. 1 collects stories from Go Nagai's Devilman run in the 1970s in a sweet looking hardcover from Seven Seas Entertainment.
My dive into manga history continues with Devilman, tales of a teenage boy fused with a devil, battling demons that threaten mankind. It's a lot of fun. Akira has gory battles with all sorts of demons, some even in different points in earth's history.
I really like the character design on Devilman and the other demons. Go Nagai's art is ahead of the curve for the time period. The stories are a little simplistic at times but I wouldn't say the comics from the Big Two were much more complex in the early 1970s.
Nagai's art gives the carnage a little more impact when it happens. I showed my wife a child's severed head in a puddle of blood and said "It's drawn cutesy so it's okay, right?" Actually, one of the more interesting parts of my manga education is noticing the cultural differences. American comics from the 70s don't have people peeing themselves, breasts, naked hermaphroditic angels, tons of gore, or people using their eyebrows as weapons.
The Devilman character is like a hybrid of Hulk and Wolverine, a violent badass taking on other violent badasses. The mythology behind the demons and their role in human history was really interesting and I'll be interested to see how it pans out in volume two. The time travel stories seem to be from a different time period. I'm wondering if they were inserted in this volume according to where they fall in continuity. Again, I guess I'll find out in the next volume.
Devilman: The Classic Collection was an interesting dive into manga history. I'm on board for volume 2 when it drops. Four out of five stars.
Devilman: The Classic Collection Vol. 1 collects stories from Go Nagai's Devilman run in the 1970s in a sweet looking hardcover from Seven Seas Entertainment.
My dive into manga history continues with Devilman, tales of a teenage boy fused with a devil, battling demons that threaten mankind. It's a lot of fun. Akira has gory battles with all sorts of demons, some even in different points in earth's history.
I really like the character design on Devilman and the other demons. Go Nagai's art is ahead of the curve for the time period. The stories are a little simplistic at times but I wouldn't say the comics from the Big Two were much more complex in the early 1970s.
Nagai's art gives the carnage a little more impact when it happens. I showed my wife a child's severed head in a puddle of blood and said "It's drawn cutesy so it's okay, right?" Actually, one of the more interesting parts of my manga education is noticing the cultural differences. American comics from the 70s don't have people peeing themselves, breasts, naked hermaphroditic angels, tons of gore, or people using their eyebrows as weapons.
The Devilman character is like a hybrid of Hulk and Wolverine, a violent badass taking on other violent badasses. The mythology behind the demons and their role in human history was really interesting and I'll be interested to see how it pans out in volume two. The time travel stories seem to be from a different time period. I'm wondering if they were inserted in this volume according to where they fall in continuity. Again, I guess I'll find out in the next volume.
Devilman: The Classic Collection was an interesting dive into manga history. I'm on board for volume 2 when it drops. Four out of five stars.
Demons have infiltrated human society and the world is in flames! Can Devilman save humanity, even if it isn't worth saving?
Devilman: The Classic Collection Vol. 2 completes Go Nagai's Devilman run from the 1970s in a sweet looking hardcover from Seven Seas Entertainment. After the last Devilman collection, I wasn't sure what to expect. I sure didn't expect carnage of this magnitude!
Fudo Akira continues to wage war on demons but humanity might be his greatest enemy. After Satan, of course. The gore factor in this is tremendously high. No one is safe and there are fountains of blood and gore. From Akira and Ryo at Little Bighorn to the worldwide slaughter in the present, Go Nagai wasn't fucking around. There are decapitations and assorted mutilations, grotesque demons, hermaphroditic angels, and all sorts of other craziness.
Go Nagai had balls, that's for sure. I wonder if he had the big twist coming or it was something he came up with sometime during the creative process. Also, the series ender was a shocker akin to the Silver Age Doom Patrol.
That's about all I can say without spoilage. Devilman: The Classic Collection Volume 2 easily surpasses the first volume. Four out of five stars.
Devilman: The Classic Collection Vol. 2 completes Go Nagai's Devilman run from the 1970s in a sweet looking hardcover from Seven Seas Entertainment. After the last Devilman collection, I wasn't sure what to expect. I sure didn't expect carnage of this magnitude!
Fudo Akira continues to wage war on demons but humanity might be his greatest enemy. After Satan, of course. The gore factor in this is tremendously high. No one is safe and there are fountains of blood and gore. From Akira and Ryo at Little Bighorn to the worldwide slaughter in the present, Go Nagai wasn't fucking around. There are decapitations and assorted mutilations, grotesque demons, hermaphroditic angels, and all sorts of other craziness.
Go Nagai had balls, that's for sure. I wonder if he had the big twist coming or it was something he came up with sometime during the creative process. Also, the series ender was a shocker akin to the Silver Age Doom Patrol.
That's about all I can say without spoilage. Devilman: The Classic Collection Volume 2 easily surpasses the first volume. Four out of five stars.
(For both books and not including the Shin Devilman stuff shoved in the middle)
After reading a bunch of Go Nagai's work, it still feels so special jumping back into Devilman. He definitely feels a bit reigned in in comparison to some of his other works, but I also think he probably needs to be reigned in a little bit.
This is just so wildly good and you can feel the raw energy of Nagai's creativity pouring into it. The narrative begins simple and ends up really striking home emotionally with every complexity that gets added on top, by the end reaching an incredible tragedy.
It also can't be understated how queer Nagai's works feel. A lot of it is clearly his transgressive attitude of trying to push boundaries, but the love Ryo feels for Akira is so poignant and such a beautiful wrinkle to the story.
It's also so much fun to see how MUCH this inspired to come later, right off the top of my head and deep in public zeitgeist right now being Berserk and Chainsaw Man.
Again, absolute masterpiece. One of the best.
After reading a bunch of Go Nagai's work, it still feels so special jumping back into Devilman. He definitely feels a bit reigned in in comparison to some of his other works, but I also think he probably needs to be reigned in a little bit.
This is just so wildly good and you can feel the raw energy of Nagai's creativity pouring into it. The narrative begins simple and ends up really striking home emotionally with every complexity that gets added on top, by the end reaching an incredible tragedy.
It also can't be understated how queer Nagai's works feel. A lot of it is clearly his transgressive attitude of trying to push boundaries, but the love Ryo feels for Akira is so poignant and such a beautiful wrinkle to the story.
It's also so much fun to see how MUCH this inspired to come later, right off the top of my head and deep in public zeitgeist right now being Berserk and Chainsaw Man.
Again, absolute masterpiece. One of the best.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated