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This work served as the starting point for the subsequent occult boom featuring yokai and demons like Gegege no Kitaro. It was this work, Akuma-kun, that depicted demons—previously seen only as frightening entities—as comical and relatable to children. Now, let's take a look at this work right away.
00:00Hello. Thank you for watching today. Today's topic is Devilman.
00:21This work was the starting point for the occult boom that later developed into a boom in the occult, including monsters and demons such as those in Gegege no Kitaro. Until then, demons had only been scary creatures, but this work, Akuma-kun, portrayed them as comical and familiar to children.
00:46Now, let's take a look at this work.
00:51The original story of Devilman was written by Shigeru Mizuki, who also wrote Gegege no Kitaro, and a total of 26 episodes were aired from 1966 to 1967.
01:06The story begins with a mysterious old man watching a coffin slide out of a hearse and the corpse inside fly away.
01:16Then, by chance, Yamada Shingo, who later becomes Devilman, happened to be passing by the place and discovered the body. At the same time, he also noticed the suspicious old man, so he followed the man into the old well.
01:33Inside is a magician, an old man who introduces himself as 300-year-old Dr. Faust. Realizing that his life expectancy is coming to an end, he asks Yamada Shingo to take over his mission.
01:47Although he does not fully understand the contents, he accepts the request and inherits various knowledge and treasures from Professor Faust.
01:59Finally, he is taught how to summon the demon Mephisto and how to make a contract with him, the main content of which is to confront monsters and protect world peace.
02:13He was also told to blow Solomon's flute if Mephisto did not follow his orders after summoning him.
02:22After successfully completing the contract, Dr. Faust loses his strength, dies, and disappears.
02:29The scene changes and they discover two monsters, Momomeko and Gunmar, attacking and trying to kidnap a girl, so they head to the scene with Mephisto, but Gunmar escapes with the girl.
02:45When Mephisto escapes into the forest, he tries to blind Gunmar with his magic and a sandstorm, but instead he is hit by the light from Gunmar's eye, putting him at a disadvantage, and the devil himself becomes trapped between rocks and is unable to move.
03:03However, the two work together and defeat Gunmar by decapitating him.
03:11Later, the Devil rescues a girl who had been captured by Gunmar, but when the girl sees Mephisto, she is frightened and cannot stop crying, so the Devil carries her on his back and heads to Kilo.
03:26And from now on, the Devil will continue to have mysterious experiences with Mephisto.
03:36Now, let me introduce the characters.
03:40First, there is Devil-kun, whose real name is Yamada Shingo. He was chosen by chance by Dr. Faust as a boy with a special destiny and was officially recognized by the doctor.
03:53Although he was not particularly good at academics at school, he had a special talent for deciphering ancient books and magical encyclopedias.
04:04Mephistopheles would summon the demons by chanting the incantation "Elohim Eshaim, I seek and plead" in front of a magic circle, but the demons often did not obey his orders obediently, and he would often resort to tactics such as offering them food or money to hang them.
04:22However, if they still do not obey, they blow Solomon's flute to force them to obey.
04:30Additionally, in the film, when traveling with Mephisto, he wears a cloak that allows him to fly.
04:37Mephisto is summoned by the Devil, and his appearance is reminiscent of Dracula: an old paper flower goddess wearing a top hat and carrying a walking stick.
04:53Because the Devil was a boy, despite the contract, every time he was summoned he would be either frivolous or demand something, especially chocolate, coffee, and money.
05:09However, when confronting monsters that disturb the peace, he showed a certain strength.
05:18Since the original work was written by Shigeru Mizuki, the character's selfishness somehow reminds me of the Rat Man.
05:26In addition, in the live-action version, Mephisto's younger brother, who has a similar personality, appears in episode 10.After his older brother is arrested by the demon world police for violating the laws of the demon world, the younger brother takes on the main role from then on.
05:43In fact, this setback was due to Yoshida Yoshio, who played Mephisto's brother, being forced to restrain midway through filming due to a worsening of his illness, which had been present prior to filming.
05:56Another character is Dr. Faust, a 300-year-old man who recognized the Devil's talent and taught him how to summon demons, made a contract with Mephisto, and gave him Solomon's flute, and then moved in next door.
06:15Vinta, a fellow elementary school student who helps with research into summoning demons and helps exterminate monsters, and the informant also often accompany Devil-kun in his activities.
06:30The live-action version of Akuma-kun faces off against the monsters, but there is no monster that he faces off against throughout the 1000 episodes; each episode features a different monster and is complete in itself.
06:48Among the monsters in the play, there are some that Shigeru Mizuki adapted from the original 100-eyed monster for the live-action version, such as Gamma, who appeared in the first episode.
07:00Furthermore, Akuma-kun has been serialized and aired in a wide variety of ways to date.
07:06First of all, the manga series of this work was written by Shigeru Mizuki and was published in the 1963 Lyric Bookstore edition and the 1966 Shonen Magazine edition, and later in the 1970 Shonen Jump edition, the 1987 Comic B edition, and the 1988 Comic Bonbon edition.
07:33Meanwhile, a TV drama, Akuma-kun, was released in 1986, an animated version in 1989, and film versions in 1989 and 1990.
07:50Now, finally, it's the final episode.
07:56One day, a taxi picks up a suspicious passenger, who begins telling the driver his name, date of birth, family situation, and other details that he should not know.
08:09Finally, he predicts to the driver that he will die in 30 seconds, and just as predicted, the driver takes his own life.
08:19This suspicious customer was actually the Grim Reaper, who guides the souls of the dead.
08:25However, the Grim Reaper accidentally drops a large magnifying glass that can be used to see people who will soon die.
08:36Then, by chance, the Grim Reaper finds out that the magnifying glass has been picked up by Akuma-kun's friend, Bunpei, and takes it back.
08:44The Grim Reaper then tells Bunpei that he will die today.
08:50Meanwhile, Devil-kun summons Mephisto and asks him about the mysterious magnifying glass, who explains that if a human holds it, they will be possessed by the Grim Reaper and die.
09:01When the Devil hears about this, he immediately asks Mephisto for help, but Mephisto refuses to rescue Bunpei, saying that according to the Magic Encyclopedia, it is forbidden to interfere with the Grim Reaper's work, and that breaking the law would mean losing his magical powers, so he cannot lay hands on the Devil.
09:23The soldier tries to escape from the Grim Reaper, but is quickly caught.
09:29At that moment, Devil-kun, Vinta, and the informant come to the rescue.
09:35However, they are all captured by the Grim Reaper and are about to be taken to the afterlife along with Bunpei.
09:44The Devil tries to escape somehow and tries to call Mephisto with Solomon's flute, but for some reason he is unable to blow the flute.
09:52The Grim Reaper then tries to send the demons to the afterlife on time, but at the entrance to the afterlife he is told that he is late, is refused entry, and is told to leave.
10:08However, in reality, the voice was an act by Mephisto, and Death is demoted to gatekeeper due to a mistake in his job.
10:19When Death realizes that he has been tricked by Mephisto, he becomes enraged and attacks the demons and Mephisto by turning invisible.
10:28Mephisto tries to defeat the Grim Reaper, who has become invisible, but because he is invisible he has difficulty catching him.
10:41However, the devils dissolve the paint in water and spread it on the floor, making it possible for the invisible man and the Grim Reaper to find his location.
10:50Finally, he catches the Grim Reaper, covers him with a sheet, ties him up with rope, and defeats him.
11:00Then, as dawn broke and the church bells rang, Death flew away in his place as a bat.
11:09The program ends with the Devil and Mephisto looking at the scene in the morning sun, laughing.
11:20Now, let's take a look at the devil in action.
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