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Devilman (part 3)

 

Index

Part I: Introduction; History, plot and a general review (no spoilers)

Part II: Comment and Interpretation (spoilers)

Part III: Other appearances in mangas and videogames (updated on 4 January 2019)

Update notes: Wew! It’s been a long time since I updated this page…the previous update is dated 6 August 2012! I’ve added some brief infos for the official English release of Devilman (2018), Devilman vs Hades crossover (2012), the still ongoing Devilman Saga (started in 2014) and some infos for the upcoming Super Robot Wars DD mobile game which will feature Devilman and will be released in 2019. 

NOTE

Devilman never got a proper english edition, the
only english edition is a japanese bilingual print done in Kodansha in
2002. However, Devilman has been fully scanlated and can be easily found
on the net. Not true anymore. Following maybe the great success of the Netflix ‘s Devilman Crybaby anime serie (2018), Devilman has been fully translated and officially released in English in May 2018 by Seven Seas editions, in a two volume edition! It has took a while, but now there is an official English translation for it too! In this part of the article, I’ve focused my attention on mangas and videogames. I haven’t included any OAV, movie, books, etc in it for now. Maybe I’ll do that on a second time.

You can find the Nagai’s memories about Devilman which I’ve mentioned earlier in the article here

MANGA

Amon
Translated / Scanlated ? Yes

This is a six volumes Devilman’s spin-off conceived by Yu Kinutani.
It’s events take place before the very final part of Devilman. This work
differs from Devilman in various aspects, the characters in particular
are charaterized in a very different way.

Cyber Devilman
Translated / Scanlated ? No

This is a very obscure work. It’s not even sure that it has been
brought to completion. I’ve found a couple of pics of it online. It
should be a retelling of the Devilman story in a sort of cyberpunk
setting using CG graphics only, created by Tamotsu Shinohara. If you
have more info about this, please contact me.

Demon Knight
Translated / Scanlated ? No

This is a short spin-off for Devilman, taking the reader back to the
era before humanity, when demons ruled the Earth. It has been published
on the Comic Morning magazine in 2009.

Devilman Grimoire / Devilman G
Translated / Scanlated ? Yes

A brand new Devilman manga by Rui Takato. It has been published first on Champion RED and later collected in a five volume edition, which are also available in English, published by the Seven Seas editions, the same ones who published the official translation of the original Devilman manga. Devilman G has an “easier” and relaxed approach to the story: for example, Miki now is a some sort of shojo witch! Personally I haven’t liked it a lot.

Devilman Lady
Translated / Scanlated ? Yes

This monumental work (17 volumes) is Devilman’s true sequel and
inheritor. It starts as telling what would have happened if the role of
Devilman was been taken by a woman, and then develops in a very complex
way, intervining with the storyline of a lot of Nagai’s works. The plot
is very complex and full of twists and turns and has a very strong
philosophical side in it. This work in some way draws an entire universe
for a lot of the Nagai’s works. Be warned tough: Devilman Lady is also
full of violence and sex, so it’s not for everyone. Because of it’s
complexity, maybe I’ll write an article about it. It also contains
another mini Devilman spin-off, Devilman Ghost.

Devilman Mokushiroku – Strange Days
Translated / Scanlated ? Yes (scanlated)

This volume is a spin-off of Amon. Again, like Amon, it’s authored by Yu Kinutani.

Devilman Saga (ongoing)
Translated / Scanlated ? Yes

Started in 2014 by Nagai himself and still ongoing, Devilman Saga aims to be the final chapter after Devilman and Devilman Lady in the franchise. Starring Yuki Fudo, a robotic professor and enterpeneur (and married with Miki!), and set in 2025, the manga follows the adventures of Fudo in discovering the mysteries of the Demon Armours, a set of sort of ancient bio-armors which first seek and then bond with their wielders, discovered by Ryo Asuka, a childhood friend of Fudo who later turned out to focus on weapon research. For now (January 2019) eight volumes have been published and the serie is still ongoing: the manga is quite ambitious and take a slower pace focusing more on the characters and touching many questions, like AI, the nature of war, etc in the classic Nagai fashion. The serie is quite original and unpredictable, I’m liking it a lot and I am very curious to see how it will develop!

Devilman vs Getter Robot
Translated / Scanlated ? Yes

A very nice one-volume spin-off, done in a vein similar of the one of the Mazinger Vs Devilman movie.
The Demon empire allies with the Getter’s Dinosaur empire to conquer
Earth. During Akira’s and Miki visit to the Getter’s base (Miki and
Getter’s Mikiru are friends), the demons attack. The Getter team fights
the demons without knowing about Akira’s real identity, but in order to
face the threat Devilman and Getter will be forced to cooperate with
each other.

Devilman vs Hades
Translated / Scanlated ? Yes

A 2012 Devilman and Mazinger Z (the new one, Mazinger Edition Z: The Impact / Shin Mazinger Impact Z, dated 2009) crossover in three volumes to celebrate the 40 years of both the Mazinger and Devilman franchises. Honestly I haven’t liked it much, I found it to be quite confusing and not of great interest. However, it’s not terrible either. It’s available in English officially by the Seven Seas editions, like the original Devilman manga and Devilman G / Grimoire.

 

Dynamic Heroes
Translated / Scanlated ? No

This work is an homage to all the popular super robots by Nagai.
Devilman (TV version) and Cutey Honey are in there too, along with other
Nagai’s characters.

Gekiman
Translated / Scanlated ? No

Gekiman is an autobiography of Nagai. It speaks about and examines a
lot of his works, and of course it spends a lot of time on Devilman,
with some nice trivias and alternative ideas for it. When the article
was written (August 2011) Gekiman is still in the works in Japan.

Mazinsaga
Translated / Scanlated ? No

In this beautiful cyberpunk rendition of Mazinger Z (with a lot of
horror and sci-fi overtones), sadly unfinished, there are some Devilman
characters. Nagai himself planned to give them more space in the comic,
in fact one of the Devilman’s characters should have had a central role
in it, but the project was terminated before completion.

Neo Devilman
Translated / Scanlated ? No

A three volumes collection of short stories regarding the Devilman’s
universe written and drawn by Nagai and other authors. It features a
Devilman Lady spin-off too, Devilman in the Dark.

Shin Devilman
Translated / Scanlated ? Yes

A collection of five short spin off stories situated in the central
part of Devilman. The first one of them, situated in a pre-WW II
Austria, is a truly masterpiece, the others are nice but don’t add or
subtract nothing to the main opera. Part of it was colored and published
in the USA by Glenn Danzig’s Verotika.

 

Siren Tanjo Hen
Translated / Scanlated? No

A short spin-off focused on the origins of the demoness Silene from the original Devilman.

Violence Jack
Translated / Scanlated ? Partially (some stories)

This is maybe the longest and most ambitious Nagai’s work ever. In a
post-apocalyptic Japan, the comic shows the adventures of many
survivors, all of them linked by the figure of Violence Jack, a
mysterious man wielding an enourmous Jack knife. When he appears,
violence and chaos starts, bringing death and destruction. The opera is
very complex and has more or less all the major Nagai’s character in it,
including Devilman’s characters.

 

VIDEOGAMES

CB Chara Wars (SNES)
Translated ? No

A super deformed (small bodies with big heads) beat ‘em up game
situated in the CB Nagai world. Player 1 takes the role of Devilman,
player 2 plays as Mazinger Z. A lot of other Nagai’s characters like
Getter Robot, Dr Hell, Cutey Honey and others appear here.

Devilman (NES)
Translated ? Yes (patch)

An action-adventure game covering the events of Devilman. There are multiple endings available.

Devilman (PSX)
Translated ? No

A survival horror (in the first part) / action (in the later part of
the game) covering the first half of Devilman events. Atmospheric and
very gory, it’s maybe the best game ever done on Devilman, give it a
chance. Thanks to the FAQ posted on Gamefaqs, it’s perfectly playable
even without knowing Japanese.

Devilman Pachinko Slot
Translated? No

Slot machine with Devilman characters. The various stages are portrayed as battles between Devilman and other villians.

Legend of Dynamic Goushouden Houkai no Rondo (GBA)
Translated ? No

A very nice RPG for the GBA featuring a lot of Nagai’s characters
like Cutey Honey, Devilman, Violence Jack and Getter Robot. Let’s hope
for a translation…

Sunday vs Magazine: Shuuketsu! Choujou Daikessen! (PSP)
Translated ? No

A fighting game for the PSP featuring various famous manga and anime
characters like Casshern, Ashita no Joe and, of course, Devilman (manga
version).

Super Erect Taisen SEX (PC-98)
Translated ? No

A spoof of the Super Robot Taisen / War saga. The engine and the
graphics are very similar to the ones used in the Saturn’s Super Robot
Taisens. Some Nagai characters appears here, like Dororon Enma Kun and
Devilman. Watch out for Devilman’s villians, they are STRONG.

Super Robot Wars DD (iOS/Android) (not released yet)
Translated ? No

A new chapter in the very well known (at least in Japan) and estabilished Super Robot Wars saga, which origins are back in 1991 and the Game Boy system. Not much is known at the moment, only that it will feature Devilman in it and that the game will be released in 2019 in Japan for smartphones.

 

The Night Before Armageddon
Translated ? No

 

Not much is known about this game. This should have been an online
RPG game for mobile phones released only in Japan in 2001 by Bandai
Network.