It's very easy to be turned off to Go Nagai's 1972 work titled Devilman, as it is likely that most people who will ever end up hearing about Devilman will be watching it any form but it's original manga presentation. If I were reviewing any of the different translations of Devilman to anime or OVA, it would be undoubtedly a harsh review - even if I still relatively enjoy those works for their quirkiness and inadequacies. However, the charm of Devilman becomes nearly completely lost in it's other forms, as it's positives only truly become apparent and shine in it's manga form.

One has to keep in mind that Devilman is in no sense a perfect manga, especially by today's standards. Don't expect a manga made in 1972 to be able to somehow compete alongside the manga of today, because it just won't. However, from a historical perspective, Devilman (and really all of Go Nagai's works from this period) are intensely influential and groundbreaking in their creation of niche manga genres. Devilman's appeal really comes primarily in two forms: The influential, and the thematic. Reading Devilman after reading so many clearly influenced works, generates an odd feeling of nostalgia for something I've never read before - a truly interesting experience that keeps occurring as I now attempt to rummage through Go Nagai's classics.

It isn't simple enough to say a manga like Berserk was influenced by Devilman, as it's far more complicated then that. Devilman itself is a product of several factors: mythology/religion, modern human war, and man itself. The whole narrative of Devilman is swallowed by the mythology and interpretations of Satan, God, Angels, and Demons. There is a charm to a piece like this that attempts to practically insert itself into the canon of such a well-known and already constructed mythology - Devilman is basically a potential ending branch of these tales it bases itself from. This isn't unique to Devilman, surely, but the manner in which it does this is quite in-depth for such an early manga, and still keeps my interest. While one can still get a mild sense of this in the OVAs, the depth by which Go Nagai plunges into these biblical references just doesn't become felt at all. The story may feel rushed or cheap to some by the end, by I find it actually incredibly entertaining and consistent with the theme of the work. The experience isn't hindered by it's age either, if not further defined and interesting, as it's thematic discussion on the nature of humankind remains forever relevant.

The art by today's standard is rather hit or miss, as many of the character designs either come off as annoying or missing detail. It's not as bad as some chapters of Hunter x Hunter, luckily, but it rarely comes gloss to touching the detail of panels found in Berserk. I understand that's a pretty vague and huge range, but I would personally put Devilman a bit closer to Berserk for it's attempts at drawing just morbid demon designs (One of my favorite part of any mangas, to be honest) The art gets better as it goes along, at least in my opinion, especially in the last two volumes. Some characters just don't work for, and bother me every-time I have to look at them. Ryo's head and hair just NEVER seem to look decent in ANY of the panels Nagai makes, which is practically the only thing that is remedied in the OVAs.

Discussion and pondering about Go Nagai's works and their potential influences is endlessly entertaining to me, and it empowers Devilman with greater character even now. Still, even for it's time, I find Devilman to be a great first attempt at a future age of violent, controversial, and unorthodox manga. It may have ended abruptly, but the echos of it's efforts likely still ring true through many manga to this day.