Devilman

Devilman (デビルマン Debiruman) is a manga and anime character.

Devilman is one of Go Nagai's most popular creations. Devilman was first produced as a manga in 1972, and consists of 5 volumes. The manga's extreme violence and excellent story line made it an instant hit. It was so popular that an anime series was released the same year. The series was 39 episodes long and ran from July 1972 to March 1973. The series sported some differences from the manga, but was still very popular. Two OVAs (Original Video Animation) were released in 1987 and 1990. These videos were what Go Nagai originally intended the first anime series to be like, since the censors made him tone the series down back in 1972 because of its extreme violence. The videos revolve around Akira's transformation into Devilman up until his battle with Silene (also called: Sirene, or Siron). The OVAs are well animated and, other than a few minor alterations, are faithful to the original manga, and were released in the U.S. during the mid 1990s on video and then on DVD in 2000. Also in 2000, Amon: Apocalypse of Devilman was released as a pay-per-view event in Japan and later released on video and DVD. It covers the period between the humans becoming aware of demons and the final battle between Devilman and Satan. It has even spawned a video game for the PlayStation.

Many other manga titles were created later on including Shin Devilman, Neo Devilman and Amon: The Darkside of the Devilman. Also a very popular artbook entitled Devilman Illustrations was published.

In 2004, a tokusatsu Devilman movie using CGI effects was released. Unfortunately, it was universally rejected in Japan, even by Devilman fans. As a consequence, it won Grand Prize in Japan's Bunshun Kiichigo Awards (the Japanese version of the Razzie Awards, which are given to the worst movie of the year).

Storyline

The story line in Devilman really makes it stand out as one of the greatest manga titles of all time. However, its extreme violence made it a major target of protest for the PTA and other groups. Still, the story has become a classic in Japan and has even been working its way through the U.S. over the past decade or so.

A long time ago, the Earth was ruled by demons. The demons constantly fought each other for survival. They soon found themselves fighting a new race of beings. These beings were the first humans. The demons then became imprisoned in ice after a great cataclysm. They would remain there until the ice melted. Satan would then rise up and lead them in Armageddon. That time has come in Go Nagai's Devilman.

Devilman is about a teenager named Akira Fudo. At first, Akira is very modest and avoids conflict. When his parents go away on a business trip, Akira goes to stay with his childhood friend Miki Makimura (both soon form a close relationship as the story progresses). Miki loves Akira but wishes that he would stand up for himself when he gets pushed around.

One day, Akira's best friend, Ryo Asuka, shows up and completely changes Akira's life. Ryo's father had discovered the existence of demons when he found a mask during an excavation of the ruins of an ancient Mayan temple. This mask turned out to be a fossilized demon skull which showed whom ever wore it what the world was like when demons ruled over it. Ryo shows Akira how the world was and informs him about the demons' revival. Akira then sees Ryo's plan, "To fight a demon, one must become a demon."

Demons have the ability to possess and control humans. However, Ryo believes that Akira may be able to harness a demon's powers when possessed due to the fact that Akira has a pure heart. Ryo takes Akira to a demonic nightclub and begins to bring out the demons in the club. The demons begin to attack Akira until he becomes possessed by Amon. Amon is the Lord of War and also one of the strongest demons. His possession of Akira causes Akira to transform into Devilman. Devilman contains the strength and power of the demon Amon, as well as the heart and soul of the human Akira Fudo, giving Akira complete control. After he becomes Devilman, Akira is no longer timid and shy. He becomes very aggressive and no longer lets anyone push him around. This new change pleases Miki, although she is unaware of Akira's new found powers.

Throughout the manga and anime, Devilman has many battles with the demon hordes. He encounters many foes such as Silene (Sirene, Siron) the demon bird (she was also Amon's lover before he possessed Akira), the water demon Geruma (also called Gelmer), a large turtle-like demon called Jinmen, Welvath, Kaim, Zannin, Zan, Zenon (Zenon is basically Satan's right-hand, and strongest, demon), Psycho Jenny, and Saylos (Saylos is one of the main villians in the movie Amon: Apocalypse of Devilman).

The story ends with Akira discovering that his friend Ryo is really Satan in a dormant state. The final fight between Devilman and Satan then ensues.

Related series

Go Nagai also released a manga series called Violence Jack. The series takes place during the aftermath of Armageddon and the battle between Satan and Devilman. This series soon became an anime series, and was released in the U.S. sometime during the 1990s.

In 1997, Go Nagai revamped the series and created Devilman Lady (Devil Lady in the U.S.). Devil Lady is based on Go Nagai's idea of "What if the main character was a woman?" The story is very good and has a very different approach than its Devilman counterpart. In Devil Lady, a woman named Jun Fudo learns that she has the power to transform into a being known as a "devilman" or "Devil Beast". A woman named Ran Asuka shows up and explains to her that her "powers" or "gifts" are actually believed to be somewhat of a disease known as the "Devil Beast Syndrome". It is even stated that these "devilmen" are actually the next step in human evolution as a means of survival. The story became very popular and was made into an anime series in 1998. The series consists of 26 episodes and was released in the U.S. during late 2002 and early 2003. The Devil Lady series is very popular and contains its own original story that stands out from the Devilman series.

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