Devilman
Devilman: The Classic Collection

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Considered to be the author's most iconic work, Devilman has created certain standards for works to come after it and could be considered a pioneer in that respect. However, it is questionable how well can it cope with the tastes of today and not be cast aside as a mere superheroic work with horror elements.

One of the weakest and probably most prominent aspects is its artwork; which could repel readers immediately. However, there is more than meets the eye in this clunky and out-of-place cartoon-ish style. Emotional overtones simply ooze out of panels, while anatomical accuracy is sacrificed for the sake of distorted depictions which pertain to violence and chaos as one of the themes. Go's expressionistic style flirts with reality, thus never makes violence seem to be there for the sake of fetishization, but instead experiments with the abstraction of it.

When it comes to characters, this work refrains from any in-depth characterization, but rather shamelessly uses them as convenient tools in order to proceed with Akira's development. Justified move, in a sense, since traditional hero portrayal is cast aside in order to act on a wider scale. That can be seen in the way the main character is written, as a paradoxical counterpart to humanity. Where he has to accept his inner evil in order to defeat evil, which is where the aforementioned fails.

The world of Devilman is multi-layered and it is very difficult to analyze its elements individually and in a typical way, because they are all juxtaposed into a sort of an incoherent unity. Naturally, since it wasn't pre-planned, it's ridden with plot holes and erratic pace, however, it does in return offer a certain refreshment worth and perhaps a peculiar charm.

The story itself is ostensibly simplistic, but in actuality is so complex that with each re-read you discover more about it. It tackles philosophies from Buddhism, Zen, and even Christianity. I would say that it focuses mostly on duality, or rather the absurdity of belief that there are two separate extremes. The opposites must be conciliated and balance each other so as to achieve a dynamic equilibrium, which is -- in Devilman -- manifested in the acceptance of one's inner demons.

The colors of Devilman are not black and white; there is no strict dualism that helps us create moral separations. It ventures so far to question God himself and makes us wonder what truly is evil.

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This manga is an experience. Go Nagai experiments with genres, style and tone ultimately creating a story that is incoherent, full of nonsensical plot twists that culminate in a truly bizarre anti-climax ending. Amidst all the chaos, you may find elements you enjoy, but they are likely to be scarce as the manga has no focus whatsoever.

Devilman starts as an origin story for the eponymous character, only far more disturbing than your typical western comic book. This is typical of Go Nagai's work. There's plenty of violence, gore and rape from the beginning. This is in stark contrast to the art style, depicting the human characters as if they're in a newspaper comic strip like Peanuts or Archie Comics. At the beginning, Devilman even has a minor conflict against some school bullies, in the same volume where demons murder a room of people for no reason.

The first arc largely focuses on Devilman keeping his secret identity and saving his would-be love interest from the demons, making use of one time powers such as eyebrow razors that are never seen again in any media. The early part of the manga has some promise, but the tone is completely inconsistent. Most of the time it's fairly lighthearted and Devilman is a normal high school student, but there's always a sense that the plot will go off the rails.

Eventually it does, rather spectacularly. This is what brings us to the next arc of Devilman and the best one in my opinion, the one shot villains, comprising only a few chapters of the entire manga. This is where possibly the best Devilman character, Jinmen, appears and has an amazingly dark, disgusting segment and is definitely worth a look. He would go on to become one of the most featured characters in the franchise and his entire section is excellent, barring maybe the finale of the fight which inserts a moral choice in place of a logical conclusion.

The fights in this manga tend to not be satisfying as Go Nagai will pull a new power for Devilman out of nowhere for him to win. The villains, besides Jinmen and Sirene, tend to be as undeveloped. The same goes for the main characters who largely exist as plot devices or symbols to be subverted, in place of good writing. It's a shame that Jinmen did not become the basis for a slew of one shots, as this whole arc comes to an abrupt stop to make way for build up into the ultimate anti-climax. The story veers off in so many directions it leaves no room for characterization.

Up until this point, Devilman has largely not faced any conflict he can't overcome by brute force and sheer dumb luck. It is now that the writer decides that he wants to make a political story like X-Men where the demons are a symbol for downtrodden people, or something. This is the point of no return where nothing begins to make sense. The story is effectively crumpled up and thrown in the garbage to make way for a massive plot twist. Everything that happened is completely meaningless and the final chapter in particular comes out of nowhere. It gets so abstract I had to read online to understand what the last pages are showing, as it's never explained.

Overall, this manga might be worth a read to form your own opinion. I read it in a day, and I can't say it wasn't captivating, but left me feeling very disappointed. Go Nagai would go on to make other mangas that while not as experimental and acclaimed, were far more coherent and focused properly on either the violence (Violence Jack) or experimental plot (Devilman Lady). To properly enjoy them it's a requirement to at least know the Devilman story. However if you're coming in to the original Devilman expecting a deep plot, good characters and art that isn't stuck in the 70s, I doubt you'll feel satisfied.

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Set at an ever increasing, feverish pace, Devilman is a flawed masterpiece. I find this incredibly hard to rate, because it's simply all over the place. It's easily finished within three or four hours, it feels like a two films, one set in a reasonable setting, and the second in a dream.

The framework for universe is great. There are rules, they make enough sense to be believable, and there's an attempt to adhere to these rules. Simple enough. It mixes in a few genres, and what it attempts in the early chapters works. There's the familiar shounen school setting, a timid boy given powers who becomes more confident (though in Devilman's case, simply becomes rad over night), and he's given a clear goal to work with. Mystery is woven in, along with horror and the very occasional bit of humor, and I was hooked.

The art is great and only improves throughout, coupled with some fantastic panel flow that gives a pretty visceral sense of the action. There's some no holds barred frames scattered throughout the entire series that stick with me, along with one of the creepiest images I've ever seen in a horror manga. There's nothing to complain about here. It works, and it works well.

What I find the most interesting about Devilman is there's not a single part that doesn't have issues, yet it somehow works despite its parts. For instance, the characters almost don't matter. They're pretty stereotypical, and with only five volumes you never truly get a sense of who they are. Go Nagai didn't take time with this story, never really giving it a pace that makes sense. The first couple of chapters happen sequentially, but after that, time can be skipped in huge chunks with only a small bit of exposition later to explain how long it has been, if any exposition is given at all. Many times, details are dropped and seemingly forgotten, without any explanation that I'm aware of. Still, I don't care, because the cohesion is great.

The ending, which takes up pretty much the last two novels, is a whirlwind. I don't want to give too much away, so I'll be vague, but the tone and scope shift so much, it basically becomes another genre. Before I read Devilman or anything related to it, I'd already heard about the ending, which it's quite famous for, and understandably so.

Devilman simply knows what it is. Go Nagai had some concepts in mind, enough to string a narrative along to reach an end goal, and he did just that. The story has very few frills. It doesn't slow down to explore anything beyond the main point, and that is a bit sad to me. I would have liked to have seen more from the world he was building, for him to take some time to attach us to the characters and give it another edge to the punches he knows how to throw. Still, despite it's questionable pacing and character issues, it's easy to see the genius at work here, and ultimately, Devilman is a ballsy, weird, and fun ride.

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Fear.

Fear is a natural defensive mechanism that has been bastardized by our incredible intellect to become our greatest enemy, turning us against ourselves and others.

What was a device to protect our physical self has expanded to protect our psychological self as well with the protection of our ego now playing the greatest role. This causes us to lie, to cheat, to bully, to placate, to hide ourselves, to accept lies, to ignore truths, to dish out shit and take shit, to do so many bizarre and negative things in life. The fear of humiliation, the fear of not fitting in, the fear of being true to ourselves is to me the most fundamental and sad of all human weaknesses.

This manga successfully showed how fear can destroy humanity in an elaborate, philosophical, out of the box , and without holding back any punches.

This is truly a masterpiece in story,art, and character.
Story: 10/10
Art : 9/10
Character : 9/10
Enjoyment : 10/10
Overall : 9.5/10

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