bardofsteel:

DEVILMAN by GO NAGAI

For a lot of people it will be enough to know this manga was the main inspiration behind Hideaki Anno’s Neon Genesis Evangelion. But for the rest of you, what was Devilman all about?

Unlike the campy anime adaptation, Devilman’s original manga run was the story of Akira Fudo, a hero forced to fight evil with evil, a young man forced to abandon his humanity to fight the hordes of demons threatening to take over the Earth. Akira fuses with Amon the God of Battle after a dark ritual, suppressing him with his pure heart to become Devilman as a last effort to stop what appears to be the end of civilization.

Devilman’s narrative is dark and absolutely nihilistic. One clear example comes from its definition of what a demon is. Far from being mythical representations of evil like most Western mythologies, demons are depicted as the true apex predators, creatures who ruled the earth with their power and plunged it into chaos before the ice ages. Their return and ensuing battle to dethrone humans as the reigning species on the planet causes madness, complete anarchy and eventually apocalypse itself. They represent man’s basest passions and most selfish desires.

Staying in tone with the rest of the story, the heavily foreshadowed ending is tragic and poignant. It shows us that no matter how hard you struggle, some things you will not be able to change.

The manga’s early 70s art is very outdated by today’s standards, but it does a great job conveying all the action and horror undertones that made the series famous. Go give it a read!