Now this is certainly a rewatch. I've seen these flicks multiple times throughout the years. Now I know about the weirdness of the dub, especially of the first episode. It feels like the script was written by a British or Australian person, while the voice acting is done by Americans. It's very entertaining!
However, I will say that the second episode is much better than the first one. Perhaps a better way to say this would be to watch the films together. (I know the third one was made way after and is way more violent, but I'll hit that one up later. )
OH MAN these films are moody. I think when it comes to horror, I'm an absolute sucker for that intro. Unadulterated GRIME at its finest. This is one of the most beautiful depictions of true chaos that I've ever seen. Basically, you get a flashback into an ancient era when demonic creatures were the dominant force on earth. Demons fight, kill, and devour each other in these super insane ways.... I've been watching Scavengers Reign with my Dad, and in my head it made the connection. Scavenger's Reign is a lot more direct with the idea of humans entering an environment that they do not dominate, but Devilman does evoke the same feeling. It is to my understanding that this becomes a core part of the story later on, and I think going the horror route instead of the more neutral sci fi route that Scavenger's Reign takes is a very valid choice.
Akira kinda looks like Lupin LOL!
The scene where Ryo's father is smoking a cigarette is one of the greatest scenes in all of anime. Puffing that cigarette while being absolutely COVERED in blood while admitting to murdering the family pet?? THIS is what cinema was made for.
Ryo is fucking INSANE!! He invited a bunch of random people to party in his basement so that they might become sacrifices... seems very reckless! and sus!
Other things i really like about this picture:The pacing for the first film is rather slow. If you don't mind that though, you'll enjoy this!
I sorta made the mistake of watching this in Spanish thinking i'd be fine since my brother can speak Spanish (was watching it with him). But he evidently didn't understand enough to get the story plot, so i switched back to English half way thru.
Still, I remember the plot of the first arc. I remember it being pretty emotional honestly. The demon he's fighting is pretty dark, but at the same time it's kind of a stupid gimmick. He transformed the bodies of the humans he encountered into a shield for himself, and uses their agony (yes he keeps them alive) in order to inflict psychological damage upon the other humans he fights. Other than that, the demon has no real abilities other than that he's a big dude. This technique still works on Akira, and it was pretty interesting seeing him reconcile with his mother's demise, eventually forcing him to attack the demon right through his mother's still alive body. Visceral (and kinda stupid), but it was an emotional fight either way.
The other half of this flick deals with this bird lady called Sirene (in the anime she's called something slightly different, but the wiki says Sirene so imma say Sirene). This fight is a pretty long one, but it has a few really cool moments. Of them, the big one that really stood out to me was at the very end of the film.. Akira inflicts a number of deadly wounds upon Sirene, and in her desperate please for help from the devil, she summons a demon with really big horns called Kaim. Right after she says "noo it will throw away your evil life! if we fuse and I'm the main soul then my wounds will kill our fused form!". Kaim says "whatever I wanna see u beat devilman... i love you.." then TEARS OFF HIS HEAD AND OFFERS HIS BODY TO HER. She then jumps into his head socket, and becomes a Kaim-centaur thing (she becomes the main soul..). After using Kaim's GIANT electricity horns to zap Akira to unconsciousness, Sirine-Kaim gazes upon Akira's presumably dead body, basking in glory.. then she dies. After Akira comes to, the film ends on the scene of Sirene’s corpse gazing into the sky like a statue. This is a super weird way to end a movie like this, but it felt really really fitting. Sirene won but at what cost? Costing her literally everything. Kaim seemed like a solid motherfucker until he tore his head off. If Devilman was a Shin Megami Tensei game I'd have Kaim in my party fr. I wouldn't even force him to fuse at Mido's... that IS if he stayed cool and didn't try to kill himself the moment a psychotic bird woman walks by.
Other parts of note
yeah, watch it. it's really fun