DEVILMAN

Original title: Debiruman Characters: Akira Fudo / Devilman, Miki Makimura, Zenon, General Zan Author: Go Nagai Production: Toei Doga, Dynamic Planning Regia: Masayuki Akehi, Tomoharu Katsumata

Country: Japan Year: 1972 Broadcast in Italy: 1983 Gender: Horror Episodes: 39 mm Duration: 24 minutes Recommended age: Teenagers aged 13 to 19

Devilman was born as a manga comic in 1972 by the great screenwriter and cartoonist Go Nagai, an artist who revolutionized the world of cartoons thanks to the mythicals Grendizer, Jeeg Robot and Mazinger. The character of Devilman was commissioned by Toei Animation, after enjoying the comic by Mao Dante (still unfinished), as she was determined to produce an animated series. The Devilman manga, however, was definitely very violent and provocative so much that Toei had to convince Go Nagai to change her story. The author did not consent to the distortion of the character and decided to continue drawing Devilman only as a comic, while Toei Animation continued the realization of the series, with the variation of the plot and the graphic aspect of the character, making it less terrifying and more suitable for a young audience. In 1978 the animated version faithful to the original manga will be redone and distributed in a home video version.

Devilman tells the story of the young man Akira Fudo, who one day is made aware by his friend Ryo Asuka, of a disconcerting news: the devils are preparing to invade the earth, to take back their place of origin. Akira's skepticism is immediately dispelled by the aggression of two demons who appear in Ryo's room; the two boys miraculously manage to defeat them, however they realize that by fighting with their human strength, they will not be able to face the next devils. The two boys through a magical ritual try to unite their bodies with the demons in order to transform themselves into Devilman, but the experiment succeeds only in Akira who acquires the powers of the powerful devil Amun. From here on we will see several episodes of the fight between Akira Devilman against the demons, which from time to time will be new and more and more terrifying, among these we remember the witch Silen, and the demons Muzan, Zoldover, Geruge and Zenon. The graphic style and the dynamic cartoons enhance the violent and strong impact scenes to the limit of splatter, in order to provoke strong and upsetting emotions in the reader, which obviously are aimed at an adult audience. Go Nagai also inserts complaints and references to our company in the plots. So much for the story reported in the paper comic.
In the animated series, which was broadcast in Italy in 1982, Devilman it changes both in the graphic aspect and in the story. In fact, he no longer has clawed hands and his body is entirely human even though he has red metallic wings and a blue body. The story begins with the demons who rebel because man is destroying the earth with pollution, therefore they decide to punish him by invading it with their hordes of devils who take possession of the souls of human beings. Among these demons is Amon who takes the form of Akira Fudo. However, the demon has not come to terms with the feeling of love he feels towards Miki Makimura, Akira's friend. This will upset him to the point of rebelling against demons and defending the human race for the sake of his beloved Miki, but in front of her he will always have the appearance of Akira Fudo. From time to time Devilman will fight against various demons, which he will defeat thanks to his super-equipped paraphernalia such as the wings of Devilman, the radius of Devilman, flash of Devilman, sharp blades and electric shocks and more. Despite substantial changes have been made, the images of the cartoon were still too violent and shocking for the children of the 80s (they would still be today), so that the series consisting of 39 episodes had to be suspended, after the heated protests from parents. In fact, the offending scenes are the violence of demons against human beings, which Devilman will try to avoid.

To mitigate a little the drama of the cartoon we think Tare, the little brother of Miky who will offer some tasty comic scenes, especially related to his fear of devils. In the final we will see the battle between Devilman and Godman, the powerful demon his old superior, this clash will lead him to reveal his true identity to Miki. Devilman manages to defeat the demon and Miki despite being shocked by that revelation, decides to follow Devilman, who will forever love Miky in the appearance of Akira.