Devilman (1987–1990) User Reviews

Interesting , violent, mean and gory.

[stormruston · 8/10 · 21 August 2005]

This is not a happy cartoon.It is mean spirited,over the top violent,tonnes of great gore, and by todays standards not that well animated. So why the 8 ? Well it is a very interesting story and had a lot of potential,and the story line suites its darkness and violence very well...And I think it shocked me a little.

I think it is important to watch 1 and 2 together, as the first half of volume one is story not action orientated.

A group of archaeologists find cave full of Demons that ruled the Earth millions of years ago. A teen-aged schoolboy attempts a ritual which will give him demonic powers, and with it the power to save the world.Things do not quite work out the way he thought.The end of vol 1 is a cliffhanger just so you are warned.

"F****n-A, run for it!!!" Welcome to anime meets hell.

[Foreverisacastironmess123 · 8/10 · 30 December 2015]

While science fiction, fantasy and adventure might dominate the anime world, there are standouts in the realm of horror. Not least among them are the Devilman trilogy, which have a very strong atmosphere of dread, madness and the macabre... The hectic demented action is set in a world where ancient slumbering demons have been awakened(by global warming!) and threaten to devour mankind in an impending apocalypse of bodily possession and chaotic slaughter, and the only way to stand a chance against the emerging hordes is to become one of them, cue an innocent young guy named Akira who starts out as a brave but weak guy who refuses to give up his remaining bunny to vicious thugs and ends up an unstoppable bad ass! Too pure of heart to be totally corrupted, he fuses with and gains the strength of a legendary demon warrior named "Amon" while maintaining his fragile self control. I just love the dark bizarre tone and the raw gritty look of the excellent animation. It's kinda like Yu-Gi-Oh with real balls! And it cracks me up how unintentionally hilarious it is a lot due to the perky dub job which includes a lot of gratuitous unnecessary swearing that feels like it was only put in as a verbal attempt to make things seem more adult and hardcore. Oh it is one of the most vulgar animes you'll ever watch! As the demons erupt from ordinary looking humans it feels a lot like John Carpenter's The Thing, and it sets up the grim tone right away with the intro of what appears to be a verdant paradise but soon turns into a surreal nightmare as angelic beings are attacked and eaten by all kinds of twisted abominations. It's very Lovecraftian and genuinely unnerving, especially the scene where Akira puts on the demon skull and sees the ancient past. It's got some seriously twisted themes in it and I love that. The climactic sequence that sees Akira's crazy friend wantonly slashing up a rock gig full of revellers in order to spread a ton of blood and attract demonic souls is so mad and sick! And then it gets really awesome as the music kicks in and Devilman first appears and destroys everything!!! I really enjoy all of the Devilman animes. What they lack in subtlety and character development they make up for in gore, malevolent insanity and horrific monster imagery that may stick with you for a while... You need help staying up at night? Just watch these movies!

Above average animated horror.

[iainsmith · 6/10 · 13 January 2001]

I had high hopes for this movie, which unfortunately weren't met. The basic premise is that a group of archaeologists uncovered a deep cave which unfortunately releases demons which roamed the Earth millions of years ago. A schoolboy attempts a ritual which will give him the power of a demon, and with it the power to save the world.

The movie is basically enjoyable, but takes far too long to get going. It takes almost 2/3 of the film to establish the characters and get main plot-line going. It is fun from that point, but it all ends too quickly. There is a sequel to the movie which is supposed to continue the story, but I haven't seen this one.

Overall, if you get the chance to see this than you may like it, but I wouldn't make a great effort to catch it.

An Anime cult classic..

[buchass · 7/10 · 22 September 2005]

I'm a big fan of anime(series and films), "Devil Man" is a true classic,an adaptation "Go Nagai" "manga" characters,with a great story,animation and soundtrack, full of action, violence, and grotesque and imaginative demons. Amon (Akira)is the "Devil Man" half man half demon, hes propose is fight against demons that destroy earth and humanity.. The sequel "Devil Man 2-Demon Bird" is nice, but the first its superior, i highly recommend this film, for all violent anime fans. If you like this one, i recommend:

"Demon of Overfiend"(one of the best, highly recommend) and "Devil Man 2-Demon Bird" (whort a watch).

Well worth watching!

[luke_bale · 10/10 · 2 February 2004]

This is a great introduction to what could have been an excellent series, unfortunately never finished. Animation is a little primitive to todays standards but enjoyable all the same. Great original story as well as great characters. There is a sequel which continues the story but unfortunately that doesn't conclude anything. A sequel was recently made which is just awful and barely follows on from the others with any sense what so ever it also has awful subs and isn't that easy to get hold of (Amon: apocolypse of devilman.)This also doesn't conclude the series but it is definately still worth watching the first 2 parts (demon birth, demon bird.)

Surprisingly Deep

[chris411-2 · 9/10 · 29 May 2001]

Thanks to ugo.com, I was able to watch this anime. The first one was quite promising, but this one delivers the good. From the get-go, Devil Man fights hordes of demons, with only a few breaks for character development. There is also a twist at the end, regarding his enemy, which while is slightly cliche'd for an anime, would probably never happen in an American feature.

Definitely worth tracking down. However, beware the level of violence, as well as nudity throughout. They did not bother me in the least, but this isn't for kids.

Animazing...

[poe426 · 10/10 · 12 April 2009]

It behooves one, when sitting down to watch anime, to hope that one will be seeing it in the original Japanese (preferably, with subtitles), as dubbing is often disappointing (not in terms of the language, of course, but in terms of execution: the nuances of inflection that often help "sell" the more fantastic elements of anime are often missing, and detract from one's enjoyment). I "lucked out" in this regard just the other day when a buddy loaned me DEVIL MAN- undubbed, and lacking subtitles. The story was easy enough to follow (I was already familiar with the manga, the anime, and the live-action version), but it was the fantastic FEEL of the first episode that blew me away. The ominous music strikes all the right chords throughout, the animation itself is top of the line (part of the story takes place in an abandoned house that is ten times scarier than anything you're ever likely to see in a live-action movie, with shots through boarded-up windows from the outside that lend the unfolding tale a palpable sense of impending menace) and the voicework is excellent: lines are delivered with just the right weight and manage to evoke dread and despair the likes of which simply aren't to be found in the dubbed versions. The opening sequence, which shows a flock of happy-go-lucky fairies being attacked and decimated by monsters who spring from the earth itself, is vintage Nagai and an excellent introduction to HIS world(s). One can't help but wonder why DEVIL MAN isn't more readily available to the paying public: it's certainly one of the better anime and one that audiences in general would embrace.

where can I find devil man the demon birth vol 2

[klemen977 · 8/10 · 6 December 2006]

I enjoyed too in watching the first volume of devil man the genesis. I was couldn't t believe that a movie could end in such a way. So now I discovered that exists a volume 2 of demon birth, but I can t find it. I would be grateful if somebody tells me the URL address of a page from I can download it.

The movie Apocalypse of devil man was a little confusing, but full of good stuff in sense of drama. The way in which the shots were taken and how are transit from one to another is fine.

I still not understand fully the story, the battle between devil man and "Amon" is symbolic in his dreams, where is fighting against the demonic side, And the question is about who will stay in that body of "Akira" "what personality "Akira" would have" human or demonic.

second thesis of mine, when "akira" is attached in a hangar with his two friends is doubled, (here the movie isn't clear) can somebody explain me. Somebody who read the "manga" story. Meybe this is different.

Question. Are they making another movie (cinema) of devil man? a continuation of the devil man the movie???

A ver good short-time adaption of it's source

[AdityaDev007 · 8/10 · 12 December 2020]

This Adaption is trying to be very true to it's source material hence we have seen many severe scenes in the overall episode not a single sequence is able to watch with somebody with weak heart it has set some benchmarks on violence category with its release and you should definitely try it if you are a true gore-horror anime lover.

Typical teenage-anime with demons.

[noseman-2 · 17 December 2002]

At an excavation, a professor finds evidence of ancient monsters resembling demons of legend. After a fashion a relative of the professor and his friend find out about the ancient demons' coming back. Something has to be done, but no-one can fight the demons, not with the powers of mortals anyway...

Someone has to lose himself to save mankind.

Very slight nudity and violence.