Devilman: The Classic Collection Vol. 2
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- Create Date：2021-10-05 09:53:28
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Go Nagai
- ISBN：1626928959
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Reviews
Taylor Orr
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So this was my first Manga series and I absolutely loved it。 The art， the words， the lessons。 I just loved it。 Why did it take me so long to get into manga I don’t know， let’s saying being dumb and young。 Back to the book， at the surface it’s your typical good vs。 evil that everyone has read and every author has their version。 But as you read and the story unfolds it becomes more than that。 Now I did see the twist that came into play but I couldn’t put it down I had to know what happened， if it So this was my first Manga series and I absolutely loved it。 The art， the words， the lessons。 I just loved it。 Why did it take me so long to get into manga I don’t know， let’s saying being dumb and young。 Back to the book， at the surface it’s your typical good vs。 evil that everyone has read and every author has their version。 But as you read and the story unfolds it becomes more than that。 Now I did see the twist that came into play but I couldn’t put it down I had to know what happened， if it wasn’t for life getting in the way I would have finished sooner。 I can honestly say I have my new obsession and that’s manga。 。。。more
Cienna Lyon
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A book where every possibly thing that could go wrong does go wrong。 The second half of a brilliantly dark story。 Unique in a way you would never guess。 Highly recommended for people who love books with shocking outcomes。
Amyainsy
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 the second volume really is when you start to realize just how much they changed in the anime。 like how half of the deaths in the manga are different than the anime。 also they changed their explanation for how ryo became satan。 and in the manga， akira waits for YEARS gathering his army to fight ryo， while in the anime he fights ryo directly after he finds miki’s body （atleast i’m pretty sure that’s how it went down）。 there are plenty of other things that are different but it would take me HOURS the second volume really is when you start to realize just how much they changed in the anime。 like how half of the deaths in the manga are different than the anime。 also they changed their explanation for how ryo became satan。 and in the manga， akira waits for YEARS gathering his army to fight ryo， while in the anime he fights ryo directly after he finds miki’s body （atleast i’m pretty sure that’s how it went down）。 there are plenty of other things that are different but it would take me HOURS to cover it all。 i’ll end this by saying， both the anime and manga are phenomenal and are PEAK FICTION lol 。。。more
ArabellaGray271
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What a conclusion。 While still pretty dated in many ways， this volume leaps forward in thematic depth and in some cases， subtle character building。 The art also really pops here as the cute 70s shonen designs merge with the horrific metal album demon art to shockingly disturbing effect。
Christian
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good ending。better than the first volume。
Michael Sorbello
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Once upon a time， demons invaded the world， wiping out all prehistoric creatures that once ruled the earth。 After dominating all life， they ruled the world for many long years until the great ice age froze them in burials of ice deep down in the underworld。 After the demons were lost to history， a new race called humans were born， and they became the new rulers of the world。 Left undisturbed for thousands of years， the humans were ignorant of the threat of demons lurking just under their feet。 I Once upon a time， demons invaded the world， wiping out all prehistoric creatures that once ruled the earth。 After dominating all life， they ruled the world for many long years until the great ice age froze them in burials of ice deep down in the underworld。 After the demons were lost to history， a new race called humans were born， and they became the new rulers of the world。 Left undisturbed for thousands of years， the humans were ignorant of the threat of demons lurking just under their feet。 In the modern age of technology， industrialization and political turmoil， the demons begin to rise once more， merging with corrupt humans to pollute the world with violence so they may rule once more。Mankind’s only hope for salvation is to use the demons’ power against them， and only a pure-hearted man like Akira Fudo can do so without losing his humanity。 Once， he was little more than a timid crybaby， but Akira now wields the terrible power of a devil， yet holds the innocent soul of a man; he is a Devilman。 Akira gets dragged into a dark world of conspiracy， betrayal and bloodshed by his best friend Ryo。 Ryo's father was a genius researcher of the occult who left many records and findings informing them of the oncoming demon invasion before he was possessed and took his own life。 Now the two friends are the only ones with the power and the knowledge to save the world or lead it to its destruction。Devilman has quite the legacy。 It's very rough around the edges and it definitely shows its age with some stale dialogue， major pacing issues， one dimensional characters who react unrealistically， etc， but all of these things are to be expected since it was written in 1972 around the time when the medium was just beginning to find solid ground and can be considered the grandfather of all modern horror， dark fantasy and mature adult manga in general。 It heavily inspired countess classic masterpieces and memorable modern tales such as Berserk， Attack on Titan， Gantz， Neon Genesis Evangalion， Parasyte， Death Note， Tokyo Ghoul， as well as the works of Junji Ito， Naoki Urasawa and Satoshi Kon。 Hell， even many non-horror series have drawn inspiration from it such as Yu Yu Hakusho， Inuyasha and Dragon Ball。 You could say that Devilman is to manga what Lovecraft is to modern horror。Though it does struggle to move itself forward at times， the lore behind the demons， the origin of the main character merging with a powerful entity which is used in many modern series and the emotional climactic ending are all fascinating to see。 The author also utilizes a lot of real-world literature to set the foundation of the plot and backstory。 In the world of Devilman， the events of Dante's Divine Comedy and the Christian Bible are things that actually happened， it also brings in a lot of historical references and events such as the Salem Witch Trials， Black Sabbaths， WWII， race feuds， slavery and colonization。 It's one of the first series that created the 'humans can be more cruel， terrifying and monstrous than actual demons， monsters and wild animals' plots that we've seen done thousands of times。It's definitely a tad corny and poorly written in some places， but it's great to see where many modern storytelling tropes originated from and how it inspired so many of my all-time favorite series。 The Netflix adaption Devilman Crybaby is also a very cool modernized retelling of the original story and I honestly prefer it over the manga a bit。***My Social MediaMy YouTube Channel: https://www。youtube。com/channel/UCPPs。。。My Instagram Account: https://www。instagram。com/michael_sor。。。My Wattpad Account: https://www。wattpad。com/user/Michael-。。。 。。。more
Kaylee
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Reviewing both volumes here。MAJOR DISCLAIMER: If I could， I would give negative stars for the Shin Devilman chapters， which have an excellent Akira/Ryo dynamic but ultimately age like a bad egg in their fumbling and frankly racist attempts to comment on prejudice and violence throughout history。 Honestly wish the collected volumes had ditched these additional time travel arcs （published after the original manga！！） entirely。The art and story of Devilman though？ Groundbreaking。 Go Nagai created so Reviewing both volumes here。MAJOR DISCLAIMER: If I could， I would give negative stars for the Shin Devilman chapters， which have an excellent Akira/Ryo dynamic but ultimately age like a bad egg in their fumbling and frankly racist attempts to comment on prejudice and violence throughout history。 Honestly wish the collected volumes had ditched these additional time travel arcs （published after the original manga！！） entirely。The art and story of Devilman though？ Groundbreaking。 Go Nagai created so many innovative ways to show movement and convey events happening on a grand scale。 Even better， each epic moment stays grounded in the emotions of the main cast。 I love how it comes together in the final arc， and I really wish any of the adaptations focused for longer on the Demon Corps。 That being said， thank you 2018 anime for giving Miki a real personality because wooooow wow does she need one in the manga。I'll always have complicated feelings about Devilman， but I know I'll also always come back to it！ Glad to have finally read the source material。 。。。more
Chris
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I have mixed feelings about this。 The concept is still great， but the execution is lacking。 The book begins with more time travel that fails to add anything to the overall narrative。 Then we finally move forward with the beginning of the end， with an unnecessary introduction by a 4th wall breaking Akira。 This part of the story is great and really could have been fleshed out more。 When we get to the final chapter， though， it is jarring。 We are told that it's now 20 years later， we get scant expos I have mixed feelings about this。 The concept is still great， but the execution is lacking。 The book begins with more time travel that fails to add anything to the overall narrative。 Then we finally move forward with the beginning of the end， with an unnecessary introduction by a 4th wall breaking Akira。 This part of the story is great and really could have been fleshed out more。 When we get to the final chapter， though， it is jarring。 We are told that it's now 20 years later， we get scant exposition with no dialog， and just a series of splash pages。 They look nice， but it's anticlimactic。 The resolution is absolutely what it needs to be， though， and it should never be changed。 It's everything leading up to it that leaves it lacking。 。。。more
Kristian Dobson
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Fast become one of my favourite manga。 It’s so over the top and insane and I love it。
Vijay Williams
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A great successor to the first collection that delves into the philosophy and warnings about humanities future that the series is known for。 I wish the series was like that continuously but for the most part this specific book is that。
Eleanor
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WOOOOOOO WILD， flawed and messy and Miki isn’t very well developed as a character but HOLY SHIT THERE IS SOME POWERFUL AND WILD AND KINETIC STUFF IN HERE。。。ITS EXCEPTIONALLY TRAGIC AND SAD AND POETIC AND ALSO PHENOMENALLY RAD AND WILD AND AWESOME AND TWISTY AND TURNY AND HORRIFICALLY COOL
Steven Middaugh
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This second half of the graphic novel by far is the darkest yet。 But it is sad， just when the reader thinks he's got it all figured out only to be proven wrong。 Just as Fudo Akira has found out the hard way。 Still， it kinda sucked when that happened。 Still a good story though。 This second half of the graphic novel by far is the darkest yet。 But it is sad， just when the reader thinks he's got it all figured out only to be proven wrong。 Just as Fudo Akira has found out the hard way。 Still， it kinda sucked when that happened。 Still a good story though。 。。。more
Sab Cornelius
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My feelings between this as the second/ending and my review of the first isn't all that much different。 Despite that the themes/art had matured somewhat from the beginning to how it ends， it's still very important to keep in that it released in 70's Japan。。。 so a lot of the humor， characters， portrayals， concepts/etc are pretty dated。 I already knew what I was getting into， but I can see how it would be a shock to anyone completely unaware of what the series is like。 The second part of this coll My feelings between this as the second/ending and my review of the first isn't all that much different。 Despite that the themes/art had matured somewhat from the beginning to how it ends， it's still very important to keep in that it released in 70's Japan。。。 so a lot of the humor， characters， portrayals， concepts/etc are pretty dated。 I already knew what I was getting into， but I can see how it would be a shock to anyone completely unaware of what the series is like。 The second part of this collection ups a bit of the seriousness as it starts going into the god vs satan plot more thoroughly， and because of such the depictions of rape/death/gore/etc also ups in seriousness。 I actually like this more serious direction， where the occasional comedy isn't AS silly， and is a nice break in insanity。 I'm glad that these collections exist now， as I think that because the newest anime had to be crunched at the end， it helps fill in a lot of gaps leftover that I've seen a lot of people have/personally asked me because I was someone who had actually read it before/seen the older anime[s]。 They look great on my horror manga shelf。 。。。more
Beth
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There are themes of how we humans tend to treat the marginalized， and how it takes all too little for us to turn on and destroy each other， and how fear and distrust create grand tragedies。 All in between a bunch of nudity， scenes of cruelty that are sometimes hard to stomach （and sometimes both at once， unfortunately）， long， mildly boring stretches where Ryo explains everything that's going on to the reader， and fairly pointless morality-tale historical side stories。 Violent， kinetic， erratical There are themes of how we humans tend to treat the marginalized， and how it takes all too little for us to turn on and destroy each other， and how fear and distrust create grand tragedies。 All in between a bunch of nudity， scenes of cruelty that are sometimes hard to stomach （and sometimes both at once， unfortunately）， long， mildly boring stretches where Ryo explains everything that's going on to the reader， and fairly pointless morality-tale historical side stories。 Violent， kinetic， erratically paced， interesting。 It isn't something I anticipate reading more than this once， but it was worth a look。 。。。more
Jack
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2。5The art is neat， but I’m just not that into epic battle stuff like the human/demon/devilmen wars。 Points for being almost comically mean towards the end。
Kim
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A great， heart-rending ending to this series。 Well， for this first iteration of Devilman。 There's a sequel （Devilman Lady） that I don't think has gotten a release in the States， that seems to be really， really convoluted。 Anyway！ In case you were wondering， the "Devilman: Crybaby" is a pretty faithful adaptation， if the story intrigues you but you can't handle Go Nagai's。。。unique artwork。 Overall， I can see why this is one of the anime / manga greats。 It deserves it。 A great， heart-rending ending to this series。 Well， for this first iteration of Devilman。 There's a sequel （Devilman Lady） that I don't think has gotten a release in the States， that seems to be really， really convoluted。 Anyway！ In case you were wondering， the "Devilman: Crybaby" is a pretty faithful adaptation， if the story intrigues you but you can't handle Go Nagai's。。。unique artwork。 Overall， I can see why this is one of the anime / manga greats。 It deserves it。 。。。more
Stuartandbooks
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Love the way Nagai draws facial expressions
Spencer Greenfield
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Jesus Christ， tone it down a bit， Go Nagai。
Matt
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Damn！ This went in a direction I didn't expect whatsoever， and I loved it！ I always enjoyed the old '80s OVAs for their crazy gore， but none of those touch on where this story will go， and neither does the first volume of this collection。 It was all quite entertaining， but at the end of the day nothing very substantial or lasting。 The second half of the manga is a totally different beast altogether。 Now I understand why this has been labeled as such a highly influential manga， as I can see it no Damn！ This went in a direction I didn't expect whatsoever， and I loved it！ I always enjoyed the old '80s OVAs for their crazy gore， but none of those touch on where this story will go， and neither does the first volume of this collection。 It was all quite entertaining， but at the end of the day nothing very substantial or lasting。 The second half of the manga is a totally different beast altogether。 Now I understand why this has been labeled as such a highly influential manga， as I can see it now in so many of my favorite series over the years。 Gotta highly recommend this one！ 。。。more
Russell Grant
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Torn on this one。 The conclusion to the story is fine， the art is great， the action is bonkers。 It's a bit more convoluted than it should be and I get the sense that the odd bit of this as whole had chapters maybe appearing in other magazines or something since it doesn't flow well until it gets into the final chapters。 That said， the insane violence and truly bizarre demons keep you interested so it's still worth a look if you're curious about classic manga。 Torn on this one。 The conclusion to the story is fine， the art is great， the action is bonkers。 It's a bit more convoluted than it should be and I get the sense that the odd bit of this as whole had chapters maybe appearing in other magazines or something since it doesn't flow well until it gets into the final chapters。 That said， the insane violence and truly bizarre demons keep you interested so it's still worth a look if you're curious about classic manga。 。。。more
ISMOTU
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The final volume of Go Nagai's original Devilman manga continued the insane story of demons at war with humans and Devilman caught in the middle。 No saccharine sappy endings here， the brutal horror builds and builds up to the final chapter。 Betrayal and barbarism abound。 The juxtaposition of the classic cartoony manga style of the human characters with the gruesome designs of the demons is truly spectacular to behold。 Not a manga for the kiddies， it was almost too much for me if I'm honest。 The final volume of Go Nagai's original Devilman manga continued the insane story of demons at war with humans and Devilman caught in the middle。 No saccharine sappy endings here， the brutal horror builds and builds up to the final chapter。 Betrayal and barbarism abound。 The juxtaposition of the classic cartoony manga style of the human characters with the gruesome designs of the demons is truly spectacular to behold。 Not a manga for the kiddies， it was almost too much for me if I'm honest。 。。。more
Alex MacMillan
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I decided to read the original manga because the Netflix original series was my favorite show on TV in 2018 and because PewDiePie recommended reading this to get the full story。 The second half of the Netflix series （dealing with the apocalyptic war between humans and demons） was rushed due to budgetary constraints， but this original manga fills in the gaps。 Vol。 1 of the original collection contains campy and pointless time travel stories that were rightly cut out of the Netflix series， but Vol I decided to read the original manga because the Netflix original series was my favorite show on TV in 2018 and because PewDiePie recommended reading this to get the full story。 The second half of the Netflix series （dealing with the apocalyptic war between humans and demons） was rushed due to budgetary constraints， but this original manga fills in the gaps。 Vol。 1 of the original collection contains campy and pointless time travel stories that were rightly cut out of the Netflix series， but Vol。 2 is fortunately free of such filler。 At its best， this manga's writing and animation is on the same level as Akira。 。。。more
Perry
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The GOAT
Chad de Lisle
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Classic Japanese horror manga。 Fun read。
Brandon
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Seven Seas continue their compilation of Go Nagai's original Devilman manga with this volume。 As was the case with the previous "Classic Collection，" this is based on Japan's "Deluxe Edition，" broken into five volumes but compiled for the West as two， so the final product is a bit wonky， especially as regards the additional content injected within the text of the greater Devilman story。 That said， this volume is near-perfect for containing what I believe to be the truest essence of Devilman， tha Seven Seas continue their compilation of Go Nagai's original Devilman manga with this volume。 As was the case with the previous "Classic Collection，" this is based on Japan's "Deluxe Edition，" broken into five volumes but compiled for the West as two， so the final product is a bit wonky， especially as regards the additional content injected within the text of the greater Devilman story。 That said， this volume is near-perfect for containing what I believe to be the truest essence of Devilman， that is the Armageddon battle and the events leading up to it， which I believe had greater influence on anime/manga to come （though I do suppose it's true the more episodic "monster-of-the-week" battles had their own influence on shonen-demographic battle manga）。Devilman: The Classic Collection Volume 2 begins with the last chapter of the Shin Devilman stories， short pieces written nearly a decade after Nagai finished the "canon" Devilman story。 As with the stories included in Classic Collection 1， this one is basically worthless， a brief tale of time travel meant to fluff up the length of the book。 As it is， this is actually one of the better Shin tales， second or third to the Jeanne d'Arc one （"third" if we're giving the Hitler story credit for its unintentional humor）。 This is a tale of the Wild West， about Custer's Last Stand。 Akira and Ryo are hanging out with some Cheyenne Indians， wary of possible war with the white men。 Custer and his troops are possessed by demons， leading them to rape and murder Cheyennes en masse， to later be defeated by the coalition between Cheyenne and Sioux。 The demons once more lose a battle intentionally to help their cause for the overall war with humanity， setting up further racial violence by tricking the red men into killing the whites。 But the real significance here， in my opinion， is that Nagai is a wee bit more explicit with the homo-eroticism from Ryo， setting up the deal with Satan at Armageddon， though of course Shin Devilman was written years later， so it's more like "retroactive character development，" if that makes sense。There's another story that appears in this volume that isn't exactly canon to the initial Devilman tale， and was indeed written a little while later， but which has some value for the same reason as the "Little Bighorn" story。 "One Summer Day" builds on the little love triangle between Ryo， Akira， and Miki， culminating in a battle with a sea monster who may or may not have been summoned by Satan's energy。 Ryo gets a premonition showing Akira may grow to hate him， and that is indeed what kinda happens later on， chronologically， though （again） this story was written after Devilman's original conclusion， and so is another case of "retroactive character development。"Now， for the actual "meat" of the Devilman story， it's all basically great。 There is a bit of a "monster-of-the-week" battle， but the fight is somewhat interesting， and the rest of the story introduces/continues a subplot that will bide its time until the overall story goes into full swing。 We return to the group of bullies / juvenile delinquents who messed with Akira and Miki back in the first volume。 They're out to get revenge on Akira， but he doesn't care enough to bother with them， so they fuck off to the roof of the school to plan a means of getting Akira's attention， where they are possessed by some kind of spider demon。 Akira uses the power of Devilman to destroy the spiders attached to the bullies' heads， and the bullies in turn come to Devilman's aid to stop the demon attacking the school。 What's interesting about the fight is that the demon is actually a mass of thread/silk who takes up a giant spider body as a decoy， rather than being simply the spider itself。 A bit cooler than the turtle Jinmen with his shell covered in faces。 I guess it's just a creative idea and it appealed to me for reasons that many background demons interest me more than the bigger villains Nagai used for his stories。 Anyway， the real significance of this story is that the bullies have become willing allies of Akira/Devilman， and will go on to play a larger role when Shit Goes Down。On that note， after getting through the Shin Devilman， spider-thread-demon， and "One Summer Day" stories， shit does indeed go down， and the rest of this book concerns the coming apocalypse and Amon's final battle with Satan （and/or Akira's final battle with Ryo）。 Done with dicking around in isolated incidents of possession and terrorism and attempts on Miki and Akira's lives， the coalition of demons decide to launch a gigantic assault， first infecting many humans' bodies to kill the many who do not have potential to become Devilmen themselves， and secondly gathering under Demon King Zennon to wage physical war against the human armies of the world。 Between events， Akira is able to sense the births of many fellow Devilman， and seeks them out as allies to defend humanity against the threat of Zennon and his followers。 Unfortunately， the human leaders are complete fascist war-mongers （in the most didactic of Nagai's overt messages， which threaten to weaken the story's value on the whole）， and they fall easy prey to the demons' usurpation of the USSR， who launch nukes at the US， who in turn move to launch nukes at the USSR， seguing to the start of World War III。 Luckily（？）， a mysterious sphere of light rises around Russia， evaporating the nuclear missiles at the cost of melting everything in existence， buildings and people alike， allowing the US to abort their attempts at contributing to world war。 The demons pull back， but the humans aren't done with their violence （revealing the demons' true goal as terrorism rather than concrete war， forcing a fear of demons to incorporate a fear of Devilmen to fuck with Akira）， and a witch-hunt begins alongside the formation of a high-tech legion of devil-hunters armed with laser rifles and power armor。 The funny thing is how extremely "sci-fi" the series gets at this point， especially w/r/t the devil-hunters' wacky headquarters tower， foretelling the more explicit "sci-fi-over-dark-fantasy" feel of Nagai's later Mazinger Z， but which does not show up in any film/anime adaptation of Devilman （note the lack of laser beams in Crybaby）。I'll blaze through the plot summary to reflect the brisk speed with which Nagai burns through his story。 Akira and Masa's gang gather Devilmen while Miki's family stays in their house， guarded by Masa and the rest。 Ryo believes there is a being above Zennon in power， a god of demons to surpass Zennon as king。 He and Akira figure it must be the biblical Satan。 Ryo tries to uncover secrets his father may have left back at his house， only to learn he's not the "real" Ryo Asuka。 He is then visited by a demon called Psycho Jenny who "hypnotizes" him （really， she undoes a previous hypnosis）， and realizes he was actually Satan in disguise the whole time （which sounds dumber than it is， and it's actually well done， even if you know the twist going into reading the manga）。 Satan prepares himself for a final battle against his beloved Akira， fueled by his love for his friend， attributing his homosexuality to the hermaphroditism of his angel/demon body （he has a dick and tits）。 As Ryo， Satan goes on TV to tell all of humanity to keep an eye on possible demons， to cast suspicion on anyone who goes against the flow of society （decent satire here）， and ends his spiel by showing the video of Akira's fusion with Amon and the resulting massacre of failed-Devilmen in the nightclub from Volume 1。 With Akira as public enemy #1， Miki and her family become targets for the witch hunt， for their association with Akira。 Miki's parents are abducted by the State devil-hunters， so Devilman goes to save them， burning down their HQ tower in the process。 Meanwhile， a mad mob breaks into Miki's house and murders everyone， displaying bits of their bodies on pikes， pissing Akira off， and showing him there is no more reason to save humanity， since the only humans worth saving are now dead。 Akira then goes to meet Ryo， who transforms into Satan。 The final battle begins， leading to Devilman's loss。 Satan sheds a tear for his fallen friend while the sphere of light from before encroaches upon him， filled with vengeful angels， God's last step in the defeat of Satan， suggesting the entire plot of Devilman thus far was God's attempt to fuck Satan over with finality， tricking him into loving a human so he could feel the sting of His divine betrayal。 There was never any hope for humans or demons in Devilman's saga， because God was always at the height of His powers， always planning on slapping Satan down when he came close to "winning，" the Pyrrhic nature of his "victory" perhaps foreshadowed by Silene's fight ages ago。 （Later Devilman-related series would suggest a time-loop binding Satan to a constant repeat of this story as further punishment for his attack against God）。I know Devilman mostly for its influence on Berserk's Eclipse and Evangelion's Third Impact。 With these great "events" experienced before I ever read Devilman， I came into Nagai's series expected to seek the "weight" of its Armageddon scenes。 Perhaps Devilman had an influence on the genre of shonen-demographic supernatural battle manga with its episodic fight scenes， his skillset influencing Seiya the Pegasus， Kenshiro of the Hokuto no Ken martial art， and the Saiyan hero Son Goku， and perhaps that is a large part of Devilman's historic significance。 I don't know。 It explains why the big OVAs cover only the first two volumes of Nagai's original manga， at least。 But I'm really here for the "bigger" stuff， the apocalypse and the events leading up to it。 There's a point where shit hits the fan， hard， and the manga spirals ever downward into despair， "tumbling down，" to call back to Evangelion。 THAT is what I looked for in Devilman， and that was what impressed me most。 The births of new Devilmen， the resulting war against Zennon， the resulting world war among humans， the resulting witch hunt， the resulting reveal of Akira's truth， the resulting deaths of Miki and company， the resulting battle between Devilman and Satan， and the resulting （assumed） evaporation of Satan by his oncoming angel opponents。 It's a hell （huehue） of a sequence of events！ I didn't plan on reading this book all the way through， but once I got to the introduction of "Miko" （the first Devilman after Akira）， it was nearly impossible to put down。How do I feel about the "Classic Collection，" specifically？ I don't know。 I think Shin Devilman kinda-sorta sucks。 The stories are sometimes kinda neat， but they don't add too much to the "main" Devilman story， and often feel more like fluffy padding to up the total page-count， slightly derailing the progress of the "actual" story， at conflict with the reader's investment in the trials and tribulations of Akira Fudo。 But they aren't inoffensive， and I'm glad they're available in English， and I'd maybe rather they were placed in the middle of the text， rather than shitting up the perfect ending by coming afterward。 So that's good。 The other additions are better， the "Great War" chapter that precedes the whole thing and the additional pages added to the final couple chapters。 Nagai's demons look amazing and it's always great to get more of them。 I guess， somewhat unfortunately， most of the "best" material （imo） is loaded into this book， making the first Classic Collection volume feel much weaker by comparison。 But there's probably no way around that， other than to make a single 1200-page tome， so it's fine。One minor nitpick for the Devilman story: the big final fight moves too fast。 There's little dialogue to pad it out， so it can technically be "read" in seconds。 Of course， I spent time studying Nagai's art， so I didn't just blaze through the chapter， but still。 Masaaki Yuasa's version in Crybaby feels too long， Nagai's original feels too short。 What can you do？ 。。。more
Dan Schwent
，