Line #52 YMMV/Devilman


1	* AdaptationDisplacement: A rather complicated example. While the manga and the Toei anime were conceived and launched more or less at the same time, the whole franchise was created in the first place because a Toei executive liked Nagai's ''Manga/DemonLordDante'' and asked him if he could create a series with more humanlike devil hero, leading to the creation of ''Devilman''. Its success made it uber-known, but ''Demon Lord Dante'' became pretty much a historical curiosity and wasn't even given attention by anime producers until The2000s.
2	* AnimationAgeGhetto: Unsurprising, knowing most video stores. The OVA is well known for its incredible brutality and the dub is full of swearing. The 1972 anime, on the other hand, ''was'' aimed at kids, having several changes to its story and generally being LighterAndSofter in comparison with the original manga.
3	* AssPull: Before the climax of the LiveActionAdaptation [[spoiler:Akira is captured by the military and executed. Only for him to come back to life with no explanation after the death of the Makimuras.]]
4	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
5	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5n2bkCZvvY "Devilman No Uta"]], the Japanese opening of the original anime series.
6	*** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJrEZTjHoIk remixed version]] for the 2018 Crybaby adaptation is pretty fun to hear too, with a catchy beat.
7	** The 80's OVA's have really nice and haunting music throughout, which is a breath of fresh air if you don't to hear a J-Pop or J-Rock playing.
8	** Anthem's "Show Must Go On" and "Light It Up" in the ''Devilman: The Birth'' and ''Demon Bird'' [=OVAs=].
9	* BrokenBase: The '70s TV anime. It's a nostalgic favorite for many in Japan and Italy as well, but Westeners familiar only with the manga and later anime adaptations seeing the 1972 series for the first time often consider it laughable and ridiculous, since it's rather blatantly a kids' show (by Japanese standards). This is especially the case in the U.S., where the original anime wasn't released officially until 2014.
10	* CommonKnowledge: [[spoiler: Satan possessed Ryo Asuka’s corpse after he was killed in a car accident. In actuality, Satan only assumed Ryo's identity and the two look nothing alike, a major factor in Ryo discovering their true identity.]] This misconception was likely born from the fact in the 1972 anime Devilman possessed Akira's body after killing the latter.
11	* CompleteMonster: See [[Monster/{{Devilman}} here]].
12	* CreepyAwesome: Jinmen is one of the scariest yet popular characters in manga.
13	* CreepyCute: Some consider Psychogenie to be this.
14	* CrossesTheLineTwice: From Amon: the Apocalypse of Devilman; Devilman ripping the breasts off of a female demon and taking a bite out of one of them.
15	* CrossoverShip: When Akira appeared in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt4Y7mbCJlA episode 7]] of [[Anime/CuteyHoney Shin Cutey Honey]], some fans clearly began shipping him with Honey. It helps that Akira gets slightly flirty at the end of the episode, and there's a possible DidTheyOrDidntThey moment teased.
16	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
17	** Jinmen gets a lot of love for his memorable fight with Akira and for [[CreepyAwesome providing]] one of [[NightmareFuel the most terrifying moments in the series]]. He even has a ''{{VideoGame/MUGEN}}'' character.
18	** Sirene, who would later become something of a BreakoutVillain in no small part due to her memorable design. [[CreatorsFavorite Go Nagai himself even ended up being quite fond of her]].
19	* EsotericHappyEnding: The LiveActionAdaptation has one, [[ZigzaggedTrope sort of.]] [[spoiler:While it follows the ending of the original manga, with civilization being destroyed, the film adds in a RayOfHopeEnding. With Miko and Susumu somehow surviving the apocalypse and vowing to continue living for Miki's sake. Only problem being, all other life forms on earth are dead. They'd be lucky to survive a month before starving to death.]]
20	** [[spoiler:Maybe they were planning to make a Manga/ViolenceJack movie as a sequel?]]
21	* FandomSpecificPlot: It's not to hard to find fanfics and fan art of Miki fusing with Sirene and becoming a Devilman. Incidentally there are two officially published stories that explore the ideas of a Devilman Sirene and Miki becoming a Devilman, but thus far the concept of Miki becoming Devilman Sirene has remained exclusive to fan works.
22	* FanNickname:
23	** Due to a notoriously mistranslated subtitled version of the 1972 anime, DEBIRU-Man has become a popular nickname for the title character.
24	** Some fans are more inclined to refer to Devilman from the 70s anime by his name from the manga, Amon.
25	** ''[[ComicBook/UltimateMarvel Ultimate]]'' ''Devilman'' for ''Devilman'' ''Grimoire''.
26	** Some fans nickname ''Devilman Saga'' as [[WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond ''Devilman Beyond'']] because of its futuristic setting.
27	* FanonDiscontinuity:
28	** Downplayed, but some fans would like to forget/ignore the tidbit where [[spoiler: Ryo/Satan claims that he fell in love with Akira because of his female side (for ValuesDissonance reason)]].
29	** Many fans don't watch the 1972 anime due to the fact that [[AdaptedOut it lacks Ryo Asuka's existence.]] And also because the show is comparatively incredibly lighthearted, since most fans are used to the dark and grim tone of the manga and its other anime adaptations.
30	* FridgeBrilliance:
31	** In the anime incarnation, Devilman starts suspecting that Miki may be under attack because she's growing weaker and her usually "beautiful incarnate" is growing pale and clammier, with every other human character blaming some mild illness. Since in the 1972 series Devilman isn't Akira Fudo anymore, but a powerful superman wearing the looks of a mere human, this makes perfect sense: Devilman has no knowledge of human illnesses, as the Demon Tribe is composed by strong, battle-fit specimens, and the very idea of the girl he loves growing ill with no apparent reason is enough to make him restless, worried and confused.
32	** In the OVA first episode, Akira looks at Ryo at their first meeting and paused for several seconds until he recognized him. The scene went on so long that it came off {{Narm}} and ridiculously hilarious. This could had been intentional as the manga revealed [[spoiler:all of Ryo's childhood memories are fake, implanted by Psycho Jenny as Ryo himself is literally Satan in disguise, and Psycho Jenny also modified Akira's memories to connect with Ryo. Thus, Akira and Ryo never spend time together or even met until that moment]]. Granted the third and final OVA episode was never made, but this would explained the long pause from Akira.
33	** Why is the 70's series LighterAndSofter than the other adaptations? After considering that [[spoiler:Satan doesn't show up]] and Akira's effectively dead, [[spoiler:leaving Satan without somebody to fall in love with,]] there'd be no point for [[spoiler:God]] to dole out his usual punishment.
34	* Jun and Lan are wonderful symbolism for the character of Satan, specifically what sides of her personality they represent. Lan is much like Ryo, an intellectual with determination, talent, and is prone to ranting about philosophy. Lan cares about Jun with the same kind of passion Ryo had for Akira, but sometimes puts her foot in her mouth just like Ryo did for Akira. Lan much like Ryo is the Obi-Wan to Jun that Ryo was to Akira, someone who is in the know about what their problems are and how to solve them, and the hero would be lost without them. Just like Ryo however, Lan is emotionally stunted and could never see the goodness in people the same way Jun/Akira can, meaning Lan could never be the face of the movement. Jun however is kind, compassionate, thoughtful of other people's feelings, shows understanding and even forgiveness towards others, and above all else hates violence. Jun wields her demonic power to kill demons in pursuit of justice and peace, hating violence intrinsically so much you would never suspect she'd even hurt a fly, and yet she sacrifices herself and commits violence for the good of others. Jun is someone who doesn't want power, but embraces it to save lives -- Jun is the face of the movement, she is the one that can make a difference, just like how Ryo had faith in the goodness of Akira. Jun is symbolic of Satan's love for Akira, Jun is her homage to the lesson of kindness and good will that Akira taught her. In essence Jun and Lan are separate beings that embody Ryo and Akira, because Satan is incomplete without Akira. Satan having two souls could easily be explained as a deception to throw off Michael and God, but the second soul (Jun) didn't have to act like Akira, and that is not a coincidence.
35	* FridgeHorror: In ''Devilman Grimoire'', actually. Remember how, in the original ''Devilman'', [[spoiler: Miki and Tare were horribly murdered by a psychotic lynch mob consisting of their own neighbors, because they thought she was a witch?]] When one considers that the cast is pretty much the same in ''Grimoire'' (with a few additions), it stands to reason that the Makimuras' neighbors most likely are also the same people. Which then leads to the realization that the whole neighborhood is a ticking time bomb, ready to go off under the right conditions. It doesn't help that Miki goes around announcing to anyone who's willing to listen that she is a witch. Then again, as of the latest chapters in ''Grimoire'', [[spoiler: Miki herself is now a Devilman, so killing her just became that much more difficult.]] [[spoiler: And [[AvertedTrope completely annihilated]] with Miki being SparedByTheAdaptation and the overall SurprisinglyHappyEnding.]]
36	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The 1972-73 TV series is probably more popular in Italy (where it aired on TV in 1983) than anywhere else, even Japan, where, although it was quite popular, it was dwarfed by its Go Nagai stablemate ''Anime/{{MazingerZ}}'' (which aired on a rival channel).
37	* HarsherInHindsight:
38	** In the opening of the original anime, while fighting a giant demon snake, the snake bites the lower half of Devilman's body. [[spoiler:Akira lost the lower half of his body when he died at the end of the story.]]
39	** Humanity both labelling minorities as being far more likely to turn into demons after Rainuma spreads false information about how demons work, and partially blaming them as being responsible for demon attacks on humanity, leading to them commiting hate crimes en masse is eerily prophetic, given that similar things have happened in the future, except replace demons with various different things entirely, such as Muslims, Arabs, and South Asians for terrorism, people from sub-saharan Africa for AIDS and Ebola, Latin-Americans and African-Americans for drug dealing and gang violence, and Eastern Asians for COVID-19.
40	* HilariousInHindsight:
41	** While the later ''Literature/LeftBehind'' series of apocalyptic fiction has a ''very'' different view of politics, theology, morality and just about everything than ''Devilman'', it also presents some amusing parallels to it. In particular, the visual descriptions given for ''Left Behind'''s human Antichrist Nicolae Carpathia (tall, trim, well-dressed, classically beautiful young man with light blond hair and piercing blue eyes) and FallenAngel BigBad Lucifer (golden-haired UncannyValley-ish inhumanly beautiful angel of light) sound a lot like they're describing Ryo Asuka and Satan in ''Devilman''. For Lucifer/Satan, part of this might be because both series are using [[{{Satan}} a common source]], but there's nothing in the Bible that describes his human form so specifically.
42	** The original ''Devilman'' sees God destroying the entire Russian military with fires from heaven just when they are about to launch a nuclear WorldWarIII. Just about the same thing happens in ''Left Behind'' as well (although the Russians' primary target there is Israel rather than America). That is, in both stories, a literal and extremely obvious miracle of DivineIntervention happens to ward off the nuclear holocaust ... and is then [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight more or less ignored by everyone]] while demonic powers take over the world. However, ''Left Behind'' goes on to lampshade [[FlatEarthAtheist how weird that is]] a little bit.
43	* ItWasHisSled:
44	** [[spoiler: Ryo is an amnesiac Satan and is in love with Akira.]]
45	** [[spoiler: Miki's death]].
46	* MagnificentBastard: Ryo Asuka, in truth the fallen angel {{Satan}}, is the one who connives to have Akira Fudo become Devilman by tricking him into being possessed by the demon Amon. Upon regaining his memories as Satan, Ryo exposes the existence of demons and sets the world into a full-blown panic to make humanity turn on itself while he sweeps in with his demons to eliminate them, eventually facing and killing Akira himself to his great sorrow. Even after God resets the world, forcing Ryo to relive losing Akira over and over, Ryo shows hints of subtly altering things to eventually change the fate forced on him, showing why he is both Akira's greatest friend and deadliest enemy.
47	* MemeticMutation:
48	** [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C5xdZcBVAAAJW5k.jpg MY FATHER DIED!]]
49	** [[https://78.media.tumblr.com/2ab5e533e957a9b9c0204222f0488dbe/tumblr_p2k5r2O3l81qzxv73o1_r1_1280.png Oh, this? It's laced with drugs.]] This became something of an AscendedMeme since Seven Seas' official English translation of the manga kept these exact lines.
50	** And of course.....[[http://i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g370/roman551/vlcsnap-2012-05-13-10h14m15s147.png DEBIRU-Man]]
51	** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubSdfYqCgK8 Devilman OVA Dub]] [[SoBadItsGood in its entirety.]]
52	*** "And then... he died." "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
53	*** "Is it okay for me to run my shoes in here?" "I don't give a shit."
54	*** “Then somehow we fucked up!”
55	*** [[http://hentai-sama.tumblr.com/post/154753550082/me-at-any-social-gathering A scene]] where Akira mutters "What the fuck?!" in exasperation... while at a party has become a popular video on Tumblr, particularly when shared out of context.
56	*** "YOU CAN CALL ME.... '''''DEVILMAN!'''''"
57	*** "WHY, GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!?"
58	*** "I'm no longer Amon, he's eating shit in hell right now!"
59	*** "I'll soap you tits for ya. Whaaheyyyy!"
60	** On Tumblr, some fans would make jokes about people such as Creator/DanteAlighieri being fans of Devilman, and such works as Literature/ParadiseLost, Literature/TheDivineComedy and even Literature/TheBible itself being ''Devilman'' FanFiction.
61	** Japan's local meme flavor is [[https://bit.ly/33EWpfZ Wakaruman,]] where 70's Devilman is used to express understanding or confusion in a manner similar to [[https://bit.ly/2VNJ2Yi Wakari Tetsuya.]]
62	* {{Narm}}:
63	** Satan's immortal line: "For, you see, I am a [[spoiler: hermaphrodite]]."
64	** The live-action movie is filled with this.
65	** Ryo looks incredibly cute... and silly when he puts the Devilman mask on himself and tries to convince Akira to become him. His completely deadpan expression only adds to it.
66	** The finale to the Devilman vs. Amon fight in the OVA. [[spoiler: Devilman grabbing Amon by an impaling arm and punching him in the face? Awesome. Punch a second time? Still pretty cool. Fast forward, high speed punching with reused footage looped over and over again? Hilarious.]]
67	** Ryo's plan for turning Akira into Devilman involves gathering a bunch of hippies together in his basement. ItMakesSenseInContext, yes, but it's hard to take the line "These people here are rogue hippies I've gathered together" seriously.
68	** The art style takes a bit of getting used to, and could even be described as 'cute', which makes it a bit jarring when everything starts going to hell and ends up just looking silly.
69	* NarmCharm: The original anime can also be enjoyed this way. Depending on the viewer, its campy qualities can be a positive.
70	* NeverLiveItDown: The 2004 live action adaptation - much like how ''Film/DragonballEvolution'' will do to anime fans in North America five years later and ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' did with DC Comics fans seven years before. The movie made the people of Japan lose their faith in the possibility of a good live-action movie based on manga.
71	* NightmareFuel: The scene in which Akira puts on the Devilman mask and sees the demon world, are rather psychedelic and ugly enough, reminding a very strong acid bad trip.
72	* NoDubForYou:
73	** Applies with the 1972 TV series in the United States, as Discotek Media's 2014 American DVD release is subtitled-only, unlike the '80s OVA which was given both sub and dub releases.
74	** The '70s TV series was also an example of NoExportForYou for over a decade after its original airing, at least until 1983 when the series was broadcast dubbed in Italy, which may be second only to Japan as the home of Go Nagai's biggest fan base. The TV series is not known to have been dubbed into French or Spanish despite the popularity of other Nagai franchises such as ''Mazinger Z'' and ''UFO Robot Grendizer'' in those territories.
75	* QuestionableCasting:
76	** Of all the voice actors who have voiced Ryo Asuka, Creator/ToruFurusawa (who voices Ryo in the Platform/PlayStation 1 game) and Creator/YumiKakazu (who voices Ryo in the PC Mahjong game) can be considered the weakest choices for Ryo. Toru Furusawa gives Ryo a voice that sounds way too deep and masculine to even remotely suit him, and Yumi Kakazu gives Ryo a voice that makes him sound like a girl or a 13 year old boy.
77	** The 2004 live action movie was criticized for casting teen idols with no acting skills as the main characters. Some also scratched their heads at Akira and Ryo being played by twins, which causes a whole slew of problems. The first one is that Akira and Ryo weren't blood-related in the manga. The second problem is that Ryo is Caucasian on his mother's side, so he's only half the same ethnicity as Akira. The third problem is Ryo's [[spoiler: crush on Akira]], which [[{{Twincest}} goes without saying]].
78	* SignatureScene:
79	** The battle with Jinmen.
80	** The lynch mob scene in general, but a few particular moments stand out:
81	*** The WhamShot of a mobber displaying [[spoiler: Tare's severed head]].
82	*** Akira returning home to the WhamShot of [[spoiler: Miki's severed head on a pike]].
83	*** Akira's cradling [[spoiler: Miki's head while denouncing humanity]] during his HeroicBSOD.
84	** [[spoiler: Satan crying over Akira's mangled corpse]] in the ending.
85	* SoBadItsGood: The English dub of the [=OVAs=]. You can't help but wonder who the hell was in charge of the script and the casting, and yet there's also no denying that the dub provides a lot of laughs, even if it's for all the wrong reasons.
86	* SpecialEffectFailure: The 2004 film is full of it.
87	* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: While still applicable today, the manga's themes of fear ultimately being mankind's biggest enemy would have certainly rang truer for an audience living during the Cold War. Namely, the ending in which [[spoiler:mankind wipes ''itself'' out due to sheer paranoia]] undoubtedly reflected the very real fear that the world could be destroyed in nuclear hellfire at a moment's notice.
88	* ValuesDissonance: [[spoiler: Ryo's (aka: Satan) reasoning for falling in love with Akira because he's a hermaphrodite, specifically because of his ''female'' side, wouldn't cross well for some, especially the LGBT community, people today.]] Not surprising since the manga came out in the 70s.
89	* ValuesResonance: The manga's themes of WarIsHell, and its anti-discrimination and anti-xenophobia stance, has arguably become even more powerful today.
90	* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome:
91	** The two [=OVAs=] are absolutely ''gorgeous'', with some excellent animation quality across the board and some extremely impressive segments of animation, such as Siren and Devilman's fight during the second OVA. It's a shame a third one was never made.
92	** The CGI in the live action film. While subpar by today's standards, the film won an award for best visual effects. The end of the world is the best example.
93	* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids:
94	** The original manga ''in spades'' is filled with {{Gorn}} and nudity, but it ran in ''Weekly Shonen Magazine'' of all things, and some of its elements were actually inspired by children's media (for instance, the demons' ability to fuse together, called ''gattai'' in the original, is common in mecha series aimed at young boys). It's no wonder Nagai's next series, ''Manga/ViolenceJack'' moved to a Seinen magazine after many complaints.
95	** The Toei anime is also aimed at kids, though it's generally LighterAndSofter than the manga. However, it can still be pretty violent by modern day standards, and while there's not as much nudity, it's still there to a degree that some people probably feel is too much for kids to see.
96	* WTHCostumingDepartment:
97	** In the original Toei anime series, Devilman wears spedos with a belt to make him look more like a superhero. Unfortunately that look hasn't aged particularly well by today's standards and looks quite silly, especially when compared to Devilman's more inconic look where his lower torso is completely covered in fur.
98	** In ''Crybaby'', Ryo's choice of clothing is just bizarre, if not borderline silly, where he now wears a furry long-coat, a buttoned-shirt that goes all the way down to his knees, and drop-crotch trousers. That's the kind of clothing one would expect an eccentric hip-hop artist to wear.

Context YMMV / Devilman