Manga Review: Devilman vs. Hades, Vol. 3 story by Go Nagai, art by Team Moon
Note: SPOILERS for the first two volumes follow immediately.
This miniseries crossover project was made to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of two Go Nagai series, Devilman and Mazinger Z. The first, as long time readers of this blog will remember, is about Akira Fudo, who merges with the demon Amon to battle other demons as the dark hero Devilman. The latter was a series of mecha series about heroes piloting giant robots against invading monsters created by evil conquerors.
This series starts with a slightly alternate version of Devilman where he does not perish at the end, but Akira Fudo is still in anguish over the death of his beloved Miki. He decides to enter the Underworld, Orpheus-like, to demand that she be returned to the land of the living. While fighting the many, many monsters in Hell, Devilman more or less accidentally causes the death of Persephone, wife of Hades.
Meanwhile, on the alternate Earth inhabited by the Mazinger crew, they are about to enter the final battle against the Mycenae Empire, led by the Emperor of Darkness. The Emperor, who is somehow also Hades, learns of Devilman’s activities and goes back to Hell to deal with this issue. The Mazinger crew, not aware of the enemy’s intentions, interpret this as him running away and finish off the forces he left behind.
The battle between Devilman and Hades is inconclusive, and impressed by the demon’s strength and not wanting further destruction of the Underworld, Hades offers a deal. If Devilman travels to the alternate Earth and destroys the Emperor of Darkness’ most dangerous enemy there, Great Mazinger, Hades will indeed restore Miki to life.
Thus this final volume begins with a comatose Akira washing ashore on the fishing line of Boss (who’s kind of the comic relief guy of the Mazinger series.) The dimensional transfer was rough on him, but Hades’ minion Momo, a catgirl demon, has become more powerful. And she’s determined to keep Akira on mission, even if she has to summon an army of Warrior Beasts to force the issue.
This leads to a showdown between Devilman and Great Mazinger, but given the title, the main match is set for the finale!
The ending itself is a touch ambiguous.
This is mostly a “fanservice” series, in the broader sense of being all “hey, you guys love this character, here they are.” (There’s some closeups of female cleavage for those of you interested in the more common meaning.) As such, it’s much more about the cool moments than a sensical plot or deep characterization. Many of the actions scenes are congested with speed lines and odd angles that look exciting but make it unclear what is actually happening.
Plus, if you’re unfamiliar with the characters, coming in on Volume 3 is going to be confusing at best. Recommended primarily for fans of the Go Nagai Extended Universe.
And for those of you wondering what Great Mazinger is like in its own series:
