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