SHIN DEVILMAN

Shin Devilman is a strange little side-story/retelling of Devilman that involves Ryo and Akira traveling through time and fighting demons who are trying to derail human history. The plots included are incredibly outlandish, even for the original manga's standards, and the whole thing comes off as an experimental detour.

I can't say much about the plot and characters because they're very predictable and not all that interesting. It was kinda interesting to see how much Go Nagai ramped up the romantic edge between Akira and Ryo in this series, to the point where Ryo's blushing over Akira on occasion. There's also the "famous" storyline about Hitler that has an unintentionally hilarious ending, if anything this is worth reading just to get context for the page that became a slight meme.

Shin Devilman is essentially just a minor curiosity for fans of Devilman to check out if they wanna brush up on Devilman lore. It is far from an essential read, so if you're not interested, you're not missing a whole lot.

I give Shin Devilman a flat 5/10.

When you're creating a sequel to a previous work that has "New" or "Shin" in the title, you're normally setting a high bar for yourself. Shin Megami Tensei spawned a fantastic franchise that completely eclipsed its first few Megami Tensei games. New Super Mario Bros rejuvenated Mario's side-scrolling series and sold 30 million copies, and spawned a ton of sequels. There's probably some more examples but I don't feel like recalling them.

But then there's Shin Devilman. The title may suggest something like a reboot, or a re-imagining, or a sequel. But instead of vastly expanding the Devilman universe, Shin Devilman goes for a more scaled-back approach. It confines itself to taking place in between volumes 2 & 3 of the original series.

The basic premise is that Akira and Ryo keep jumping around to various periods in time to defeat some demons trying to alter history. Although there's still blood and dismemberment, the whole thing feels a bit more lighthearted then the original Devilman manga. There's even a little bit of homoeroticism squeezed in, which is always a nice touch. Each chapter has its own little exposition, climax, and conclusion, and it all happens in a span of 36 pages for each one.

If you weren't satisfied with how the Devilman manga ended, then Shin Devilman's got you covered. The last chapter features an alternate take on the ending, for what that's worth.

So overall, Shin Devilman isn't groundbreaking in any way, shape, or form, but it's a short spinoff that plays it very safe. The whole thing's only 5 chapters, so in the time it took you to read this review, you could have finished a chapter. If you're hungering for more Devilman, you could do much worse then this.

Honestly the title of this should be renamed to Ryo and Akira's Excellent Adventure. In contrast to the unapologetic nature and social-commentary of Devilman. This was one was pretty tame with the exception of the final chapter and I won't lie when I say the final pages had me melancholy if this sequel focused on that.

It's not a bad story by any means as it's your simple run of the mill time travel shenanigans. Sometimes I interpret this as some kind of buddy cop comedy adventure about two dudes fucking up time and killing demons. It didn't ruin the experience for me as I was fairly entertained I mean chapter 3 was a blast to read.

If you're looking for some more Devilman content this one is pretty passable by all means and very short it's only 5 chapters long. If you really loved Devilman then you'll be pretty disappointed with this one.

OKAY LETS GO! Shin Devilman, is so bad, its actually hilarious and I 100% recommend reading if you want a good laugh (do be warned it is INCREDIBLY insensitive especially to native Americans and Jewish people). Story gets a 2 because JESUS CHRIST WHAT SERIOUSLY WHO WHY AND WHAT, ITS CONFUSING OFFENSIVE AND JUST SO BAD, THE ONLY REASON IT GETS A 2 IS BECAUSE HONESTLY IT WAS FUNNY AND I GUESS ONLY KINDA BAD IN CONCEPT WHAT THE HELL EVEN WAS THE ENDING I HAD READ IT TWICE TO EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS GOING ON, EVEN THEN I THINK I GOT IT WRONG. Art is a 4 its fine but they made my boy Akria SO THICCC it gets a extra point. Character gets a 1, you wanna know why, YOU WANT TO KNOW FUCKING WHY, RYOU THE MAN THE MYTH THE LEGEND, THE STAR OF DEVILMAN, DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT THEY DID TO MY BOY, THEY DESTROYED HIM, NORMAL RYOU AMAZING BEAUTIFUL PERFECT, YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT I THINK ABOUT SHIN DEVILMAN RYO, I THINK HES A FUCKING PUSSY END OF SENTIENCE, RYOU DOESN'T CRY THAT IS JUST FACT THAT YOU CANT GET AROUND WITHOUT EXTREMELY SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES (see devilman crybaby) I HATED RYOU HERE DO BETTER. I gave this thing a 10 in enjoyment because i had a baja blast reading this with my friend, it is hilarious in every way, one of the best unintentional comedies. over all it gets a 2, its funny and I hate it, goodbye.