Devilman

Akira Fudo is a shy teenager who lives in his friend Miki Makimura's house as his parents work abroad. One day, Akira's childhood friend Ryo Asuka reveals to him that the Earth is about to be invaded by demons, monstrous beings hibernating for centuries in the ice that are about to return to the surface. According to Ryo, demons have lived on Earth before the appearance of man, and now they want to claim possession of it. The only way to defeat them is to take control of the powers of the demons themselves to fight them on equal terms. Ryo then involves his friend in a ritual called the Black Sabbath, an event where numerous demons plan to merge with humans to infiltrate society. During the Black Sabbath, Akira merges with Amon, a demon warrior both idolised and feared among his kind for his incredible strength. However, instead of Amon holding control over Akira, the latter's pure soul triumphed over that of Amon, bringing the demon to heel and creating Devilman.

After fighting his way out of the Black Sabbath, Akira uses his demon persona to battle multiple enemies hidden in society. However, Akira starts to question his own methods after he encounters Sirene and Kaim, two demons whose relationship to one another challenged Akira's prior perception of all demons being immoral, and the cruel Jinmen, a turtle-like demon who contained the still-living souls of his human victims on his shell, forcing Akira to destroy them in order to defeat the demon. A large detachment of demons led by the demon Lord Zennon invades Tokyo, alerting the population of the world to the existence of demons. Akira learns that other humans are becoming Devilman, and resolves to contact them to form a team dedicated to protecting humankind from the demons. However, during a TV broadcast, Ryo confirms that demons exist, but claims that Akira and the Devilman are also dangerous. This panic leads to humans turning on each other across the world.

Ryo journeys back to the mansion where he informed Akira of the world of the demons, and finds an album about his life which states he died years ago in a car accident. During his ensuing existential crisis, he is met by a group of demons led by the demoness Psycho Jenny, who informs him of the reality of his identity. Ryo is actually Satan, a fallen angel who was sealed by God with the demons for sympathizing with them, who God sought to exterminate. As part of Satan's plan to lead an all-out war on humanity, he had Psycho Jenny erase his memories and replace them with those of Ryo Asuka until the time when he was ready to begin the war. Akira is devastated when humans kill Miki and her family for being associated with him. Akira confronts Ryo to get revenge, and learns the truth of his former friend's identity. Several years pass, and all humans - save for the Devilman recruited by Akira - are extinct. On the day of the final battle, Zennon confronts Satan with the question as to why he wanted Akira to survive by becoming a Devilman, when this would conflict with his plans to leave Earth to the demons. Zennon then asks him if the reason for this is because he loved Akira and wanted to protect him, a statement which Satan implies to be true. The two forces collide, and the Devilman are wiped out. In the midst of the confrontation, Akira and Satan fight each other, but Satan unknowingly kills Akira by bisecting him with his attacks. As Satan reflects on the events, then comes to realize what he has done, God’s angels descend upon the Earth.

One of the Demon Tribe's strongest warriors, Devilman is sent to lead a full-scale invasion of the human world by Zennon. After he ambushes and kills Akira and his father in the Himalayas, not far from the base of operations of the Demon Tribe, he selects Akira as his host, restoring him to life, but giving him a wild and unpredictable streak. However, after returning to Japan, Akira encounters and falls in love with Miki Makimura, and Devilman is tamed by his desire to protect her. Devilman resolves to defect from his orders, and from then on fights a slew of opponents sent by Zennon and his Demon Generals.

The manga was originally published by Kodansha from June 11, 1972, to June 24, 1973, in Weekly Shōnen Magazine.[7] The series has been published in tankōbon format several times, most of them by Kodansha. Starting with the 1987 publishing, most Kodansha editions include Shin Devilman, which originally was not meant to be included in the canon of the original series, as a part of the volumes.[10] The manga has been translated into English in a series of five bilingual manga volumes published by Kodansha.[11]

The manga has also been published along with Cutie Honey in the magazine Gekkan Kanzenban Devilman x Cutie Honey (月刊完全版デビルマン×キューティーハニー, gekkan kanzenban debiruman x kyūteī hanī) published by JIVE during 2004[12] in order to take advantage of the release of the live-action films of both series.

Seven Seas Entertainment published the English translation of the original manga in two volumes in 2018,[13] and of Devilman G and Devilman VS. Hades in 2017 and 2018.

Shin Devilman (新デビルマン, Shin Debiruman) was originally published in Kodansha's Shōnen Magazine Special in May 25, 1979, January 25, 1980, September 15, 1980, March 6, 1981, and May 8, 1981. All chapters were drawn by Go Nagai, but the first chapter was written in collaboration with Masaki Tsuji, while chapters two and three were written by Hiroshi Koenji.[14] The rest of the chapters were done by Nagai. The manga is sometimes known as Devilman 2 and Neo Devilman.[10]

A one-shot, which is not originally part of Shin Devilman, but that has always been compiled along with the series in tankōbon, was published in the magazine Variety by Kadokawa Shoten.[14] This 16-page story does not have any text and it presents the moments of Akira after the death of Miki in the original series, but before the battle with Satan, as he buries the remains of Miki and encounters Ryo.

Go Nagai published the manga Devilman Saga in Shogakukan's Big Comic from December 25, 2014, to March 10, 2020.[15][16] The story takes place in the year 2025, a roboticist named Fudou Yuuki joins a project involving a large mural depicting humanity's true past as well as the ancient but advanced technology found in Antarctica. Shogakukan compiled its chapters into thirteen tankōbon volumes, released from June 30, 2015, to May 29, 2020.[17][18]

A manga series written and illustrated by Fujihiko Hosono, titled Devilman Gaiden: Ningen Senki, was serialized in Kodansha's Monthly Young Magazine from January 23, 2023,[19] to June 20 of the same year.[20]

The anime television series was 39 episodes long and ran from July 8, 1972, to April 7, 1973, on NET (now TV Asahi).[21] Outside Japan, the TV series was broadcast in Italy in 1983 and enjoyed great popularity there. A DVD box set of the series was released in Japan on September 21, 2002.[22] The TV series has been licensed for the first time in North America by Discotek Media who released the series on DVD in 2014.[23]

Devilman: The Birth (デビルマン 誕生編, Debiruman Tanjō Hen) was released on November 1, 1987, by King Records.[24] It was followed by Devilman: Demon Bird Sirène (デビルマン 妖鳥シレーヌ編, Debiruman Yōchō Shirēnu Hen), released on February 25, 1990, by Bandai Visual.[25] Kazuo Komatsubara, an animation director on the original TV series, was the character designer for the OVAs, which were animated by his Oh Production.

Both were directed by Umanosuke Iida (credited under his birth name, Tsutomu Iida) and were closely developed in conjunction with Nagai himself. The OVAs' plot revolves around Akira's transformation into Devilman up until his battle with Sirène. Besides a few minor alterations, the OVAs are faithful to the original manga. Both OVAs were released on Laserdisc and on a single DVD by Bandai Visual on March 28, 2003.[26] The two OVAs were also the only Devilman anime to have been commercially released in the United States (by Manga Entertainment) prior to 2014. The DVD release included only the English-dubbed version (the original Japanese version was previously released on VHS in 1995 by L.A. Hero and Dark Image Entertainment).

In 2000, Amon: Apocalypse of Devilman was released as a pay-per-view event in Japan and was later released on video and DVD. Based on Amon: The Darkside of The Devilman, it covers the period between the humans becoming aware of demons and the semi-final battle between Devilman and Amon, who was unleashed after Akira became demoralized by witnessing the death of Miki. In the final battle, Amon is subdued and remerges with Akira, but instead of Akira then proceeding to battle Satan, he rejects the latter's challenge, and walks away into the wreckage of Tokyo.

In 2015, Cyborg 009 VS Devilman was released. The three-episode OVA features the Devilman series crossing over with Shotaro Ishinomori's Cyborg 009, with the titular characters from each series becoming rivals before working together to bring down a joint threat.[27]

A 10-episode original net animation adaptation produced by Science Saru and directed by Masaaki Yuasa, titled Devilman Crybaby,[28] was released worldwide on January 5, 2018, exclusively on Netflix.[29]

Mazinger Z Vs. Devilman is a crossover animated film between Devilman and Mazinger Z produced by Toei and released in July 18, 1973. While the film stars the majority of the characters from each series, it features alternative versions of the events from both, and is therefore not canonical to either one.

In October 9, 2004, a live-action tokusatsu film directed by Hiroyuki Nasu was theatrically released in Japan.[30] The film starred Hisato Izaki as Devilman, Yūsuke Izaki as Ryo Asuka and Ayana Sakai as Miki Makimura. The cast also included AV Idol Maria Yumeno.[30][31] The film was criticized for its poor special effects and the casting of various popular celebrities with no prior acting experience.

A large number of soundtrack albums have been released since the beginning of the original series.

Three novels have been released. The first one Shin Devilman (真・デビルマン, Shin Debiruman) was written by Go Nagai's brother Yasutaka Nagai with illustrations by Go. It was originally published in 1981 by Asahi Sonorama in four books.[32] It is not related to the manga Shin Devilman, from which some chapters were also written by Yasutaka. With the release of the first OVA, in 1987 a single volume novel based on it was released by Kodansha titled Shin Video Shosetsu – Devilman: Tanjo Hen (新ビデオ小説 デビルマン 誕生編, shin bideo shousetsu debiruman tanjou hen). It was also written by Yasutaka Nagai, but it had illustrations by the OVA's main designer, Kazuo Komatsubara. In 1999 a second novelization of 4 volumes titled Devilman: The Novel (デビルマン The Novel) was published by MediaWorks and once again written by Yasutaka and illustrated by Go.[32] All three series of novels are unrelated to each other even though all were written by Yasutaka Nagai.

A video game based on Devilman was released for the Famicom by Namco on April 25, 1989.[33] Bandai also released a game based on Devilman for the Sony PlayStation on April 13, 2000.[34] Along with several of Nagai's other creations, Devilman appeared in the Japanese Super Famicom game CB Chara Wars: Ushinawareta Gag (CBキャラウォーズ 失われたギャーグ, CB Kyarauōzu Ushinawareta Gyāgu).[35]

Devilman and other characters from the series have shown up in cameo appearances numerous times in Go Nagai's other works. Miki is the first female protagonist of the 1974 manga Oira Sukeban, and Akira has appeared in various incarnations of Cutie Honey, most notably the 1994 OVA New Cutie Honey. Miki and Ryo Asuka also appear as dogs (with dog-like bodies and human heads) in the Violence Jack manga. In 1997, Nagai created Devil Lady, based on his idea of if the main character was a woman. The Devil Lady series contains its own original story that stands out from the Devilman series. Fudo's silhouette briefly appears in the opening credits of Devil Lady. The cast of Devilman also crossed over with characters from Mazinger Z and Violence Jack in the 1991 OVA CB Chara Nagai Go World. This release featured the familiar characters in comical and lighthearted antics in super deformed forms. In this series, it is revealed that Violence Jack is a future version of Akira Fudo. It is also revealed that Miki is an otaku and that she knew of Akira's identity as Devilman due to reading the manga offscreen.

A character designer from SNK admitted that Devilman was an influence in designing Kyo Kusanagi.[48] Manga writer Nanase Ohkawa claimed that Devilman was the manga that shocked her the most as a child.[49] Ohkawa was eventually influenced by Devilman to write X due to the themes employed in both mangas, most notably the Armageddon.[50] Neon Genesis Evangelion director Hideaki Anno said the mecha Evangelion Unit 01 was influenced by Devilman. Anno claims that Devilman's scary facial expressions were the basis for the mecha alongside Mazinger Z.[9] For the film 2011 Tekken: Blood Vengeance, the fighter Jin Kazama achieves a demonic form designed by Takayuki Takeya, who is famous designing characters from Devilman and Kamen Rider.[51]