Ranked #1917

Devilman Lady

This is my favourite anime of all time, and I will admit from the off, I am somewhat biased towards it. Nonetheless, I don't expect anyone reading this to go in to this anime expecting something that they themselves will give 10/10, but nonetheless, to check out this series because it is worthwhile.

A quick synopsis to begin: Jun Fudo is a fashion model, who is approached by a mysterious blonde stranger named Lan Asuka. Lan brings her to a warehouse and sets a wolf demon upon Jun, who transforms into a monster herself and fights back. Jun is a Devilman, an evolved human with great power, who has retained her human conscience.

The story's comic book scenario belies an intensly deep story. There are many questions asked in regard to the nature of the human condition, and Jun herself is portrayed not as a heroine as such, again, keeping it away from descending into a comic book feel, but rather as a tool, and a weapon being manipulated in some grand scheme involving the plight of the entire human race. There are romantic elements, the story is very much yuri based, with a lot of sexual ambiguity thrown in. But it never comes across as crude. The series builds to an epic finale which is reminiscent of it's origins: a Devilman story wouldn't be a Devilman story without a truly epic and memorable ending.

The series' one weakpoint is in it's animation quality. Whilst it deserves a solid score for it's design which is realistic and gritty, very true to it's setting and atmosphere, and also for having some genuinely morbid and unique mosnter designs, the smoothness of the animation is very inconsistent as is the detail. This is a low budget anime from the late 90s, and many of them suffered this. However that period is considered a golden period of anime because of how many of these shows were actually incredibly good, and Devilman Lady I think was the absolute best.

Finally, the music, along with the muted pacing and design is the final piece of the puzzle to add to why this anime is so good. It's story is rich, it's characters real, and finally, it's atmosphere is absolutely palpable. Personally I feel this is just about as flawless an anime as you'll find in all but visuals. But I care less about people agreeing with that than simply giving this show more attention, which it definitely deserves, and is one of the best adaptations of Go Nagai's mangas available. read more

The propensity to be a devil is inside of all of us. As moral beings, we subconsciously or even directly battle our inner demons daily. Why? Perhaps so that we do not turn into monsters. Maybe being human is about having the ability to choose whether we want to succumb or triumph over these questions of goodness and evil.

It seems this is the basis, along with a warped idea of evolution, that Devilman Lady explores. Dubbed as The Devil Lady in the Western world, this series manages to take campy horror and mix it in with deep psychological, biological, theological and societal themes. The result is an anime that is deliciously engaging.

Devilman Lady is based of Go Nagai's Devilman franchise, but do not be put off by starting this series; it does not directly have anything to do with its predecessors save for a few cameos and references that barely add anything to the overall anime. This incarnation of Nagai's Devilman saga follows, well, a lady who is a Devilman. Sharp titling there.

In Devilman Lady's Japan, Beasts are on the rise. These Beasts are humans who have evolved into vicious monsters. The human body is so passé. It is weak. It has stopped evolving. Not the Beasts though. Like marvellous (horrendous) specimens, they are the key to humanity's continued development. In a story that would make even Darwin fascinated, we follow Fudo Jun, an up and coming model who gets thrown into the world of the Beasts. Jun learns, in a harsh and horrible way, that she is not just a simple woman. Hell, she's not even a simple human being. She is a Devilman. A human that has not fully evolved into a Beast. Incomplete and imperfect, if you may. But this imperfection makes her the perfect tool for the government. They decide to use her to eliminate these monsters as she can be controlled.

As aforementioned, this series evokes both camp and horror extremely well. It is an action-oriented anime, so expect a lot of fighting, but it marvellously mixes in so many genres, that it manages to be not only mindless entertainment but also an anime that you can ponder over. The storyline is cleverly crafted so that it manages to be both in your face but simultaneously subtle about its development.

It is primarily episodic, and has a literal monster-a-day appeal. Each Beast is given a time in the spotlight, as we see the human in most of them before we see the monster. Their reasons for even turning into crazed monsters are intriguing; one man even turns into an eyeball monster because he's a voyeur photographer with stalker-like qualities. Campy enough for you as yet? However, while some of the Beasts have perverse reasons for their evolution, some tragically change, as seen by characters such as a little girl who has an unhealthy fascination with fire. An underlying romantic story exists as well in this anime. There really is something for everyone. No, not talking about the relationship Jun has with men--the one she has with her friend Kazumi. Their scenes provide the anime with some of its most human and touching moments.

Shocking, terrifying, gross images will grace your screen, and unfortunately, the art does not express all this quite well. Given, the anime looks dated now, which is understandable as it was made in the 90s. It serves its purpose well enough, but this anime is not eye candy. In any respect. The Beasts each have some terribly horrifying (or downright ridiculous) designs. The animation is not exactly the best, and do expect some scenes that look like a visual mess.

But the sound. Oh my, the sound. It is incredible. From the voice acting to the theme songs to the background music, Devilman Lady sounds so inhumanly good. The OP theme song has a chorus hauntingly chanting a song that would scare Gregorian monks. The score is thrilling, intense--it truly evokes what the soundtrack for a horror should be like. It does not forget its other genres, as the score also covers adventurous tracks for the scenes with a lot of action or "power ups". Topping all of this off is a powerful cast of seiyuu. Jun has a wonderfully controlled voice that skilfully serves both her human and her Devilman form. Kazumi's seiyuu probably had the best screams ever heard in anime, ever. And Asuka's voice managed to evoke the image of femme fatale extremely well. Each seiyuu did an excellent job, and there is not a moment they faltered in the delivery of their lines. It is an aural masterpiece of a horror anime.

Mentioning the characters, there is a great cast for this anime as well. Jun starts off as a reserved, shy, people-pleasing woman who has absolutely no self confidence save for whenever she is in front of a camera. It used to be popular thought that cameras see into the souls of people. If so, the camera revealed the fierce beast that Jun really is, since her photos show a woman who is powerful, feral. Her struggle to retain her humanity is an interesting one, undoubtedly. Kazumi is Jun's friend, a younger model who is very attached to her. Kazumi is a lot cleverer than some of the other scream queen supporting characters you meet.

The fascinating aspect of the relationship between Jun and Kazumi is that despite all their meandering around the nature of their relationship, it is clear to both them and the audience that there is something going on between them. In fact, their interaction is so tense, nervous, careful and awkward, that anyone with eyes could tell that there is an unspoken sexual and romantic tension between them both.

Asuka develops into a character that will shock you more and more as each episode goes on, whether it is from her personality or her personal history. There are male characters in this anime that seem to be token rather than what the story focusses on. Jun's manager, Asuka's secretary, an actual male Devilman... these characters are merely fodder for what is a female-oriented series.

Devilman Lady is a prime example of when an anime with multiple genres is done right, it really is a tasty thing to watch. It does have its faults, and they are glaring and undeniable ones. What we assume is the climax is not the climax, and the actual one makes probably no sense. It is almost as though they decided to give up on the script for the denouement of the series. There are some situations coming towards the end of the anime that seem downright out of place as well.

Despite these, Devilman Lady remains a sadly underrated, excellent genre-busting anime that is mindlessly (and mindfully) entertaining. Its thought-stirring themes, absorbing story and captivating though macabre characters add a lot to it. And by the end of it, we learn a little something about devils and we learn a little something about humans.

They're not so different after all. read more