And now... let's take a plunge into the horror... ^ __-
We wonder if his masterpieces (Mazinger, Getter Robo, UFO-Robo Grendizer etc...) are myth more than he is... the master Go Nagai! It's a sure thing that we can consider him as the father of the giant robot anime series, but we cannot ignore that he is also Devilman creator. This manga by Go Nagai, with its harsh and strong tones and therefore clearly identified to target a more adult audience, it's very different from the animated TV series that was turned to the standard story of one of usual many superheroes who fight the evil.
Luckily, the next OAVs produced, directly took the manga and not the TV series as the starting point and that means harshness and violence... but it would be a big mistake to think that Devilman is only a horror work...
by Veggie

Devilman - The Story
This is the story from Go Nagai manga...
Millions of years ago the Earth was ruled by demons. After having been frozen until modern times, they come back to life and begin their war against humans to reconquer their reign. A boy named Ryo Asuka, who learns the secret of the demons from old writings left by his father, notices the dangerous unavoidable conflict that is sure to come. He is convinced that the only way to oppose the power of demons is to be possessed by them... But it is not so simple: only who has a strong will and a pure heart can hope, when he and the demon will become one only being, to be able not to lose the control over himself. That's just the way Akira is...
Ryo's friend, Akira Fudo, is rather timid and his soul is pure; so he might be able to control any demon that tries to possess him and obtain his power! Akira is possessed by Amon, one of the strongest demons, and becomes Devilman. Thanks to the new powers acquired by Amon, Akira-Devilman succesfully fights the enemy demons, and is able to save the Makimura family, where he lives, and Miki, his childhood friend! Miki Makimura loves him, but finds it difficult to confess her love to someone so reserved...
But the enemies to be defeated are many and the demons soon start to possess other humans, so the suspicion that whoever is under demons control is big. Then, while Zenon, the three-headed devil Satan deputy on the Earth, leader of the demon forces against Devilman, declares war on the whole human race, the humans, who now suspect each other of being possessed, become a true threat themselves: they begin their antidemon hunt and be angry even with Makimura family, because of his relationship with Akira, and Miki and her little brother unfairly treated as incarnations of demons. When Akira arrives home and see the mob with Miki's severed head on a staff, he suffers a very hard traumatic blow! He realizes that the human nature is not less sanguinary than that of demons and that humans can be cruel just like demons... So the dark demon Amon will overwhelm his Devilman part and he'll start killing anybody who stands in his way, even the other devilman "friends", products of the fusion between demons and pure heart men themselves!
And now it's they, the "Devilmen" who represent the good and have to try to oppose Satan plans and, at the same time, to die hard against humans... The Earth is struck by absolute terror but the biggest battle is the one inside Akira, between Amon and Devilman...

Well... do you realize now that we're right when we said that Devilman is not only a horror work? It also denounces the weakness of every man, his internal journey to discover and find out who he really is and realize that the evil often overwhelmes him, making him cruel just like a demon...
Devilman manga, first produced in 1972, was so popular that it became a TV anime series in that same year, but was heavy censored. Tre three OAVs released contain more violence and are very much based on the Go Nagai manga. Devilman Vol. 1: Genesis covers the origin of Devilman; Devilman Vol. 2: Siren the Demon Bird is much more action oriented and shows Devilman's epic battle with Siren. The third, and by now the last, is Amon: The Apocalypse of Devilman whose story tells what happens when Akira withdraws into himself and the demon Amon gets to run around loose... Devilman is almost completely defeated by Amon but...
Is then everything lost? ^__- And here a certain Paolo Gatelli now enters with his great music video "AMan Inside" to give us a possible solution...
by Veggie