Devilman (デビルマン Debiruman?) is a live-action film adaptation of the original Devilman manga series. It was directed by Hiroyuki Nasu and was released in Japan on 9 October, 2004.
Plot summary[]
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Cast[]
- Akira Fudo/Devilman - Hisato Izaki
- Ryo Asuka/Satan - Yusuke Izaki
- Miki Makimura - Ayana Sakai
- Sirene - Ai Tominaga
- Jinmen - Masakatsu Funaki
- Miiko Kawamoto - Asuka Shibuya
- Susumu - Shōta Sometani
- Keisuke Makimura - Ryudo Uzaki
- Emi Makimura - Yoko Aki
- Professor Asuka - Hirotaro Honda
- Masao Ushiku - Masaki Nishina
- World Newscaster Morrison - Bob Sapp
- Priest - Go Nagai
Critical reception[]
The Devilman film was universally panned by both critics and fans of the original manga, citing reasons such as the CGI being hideous and the poor use of inexperienced actors in the form of idols such as the Izaki twins as the main drawbacks. Due to trying to force the whole story into a short run time, many have also criticized the progression of the film as the events had moved so fast that making little to no sense, there is no time was used to develop the characters. Domestically, the film did much better in terms of box office. However, in terms of critical reception, it was given three rewards for recognition as the worst film of 2004. The only remotely good award received was Best Special Effects at Asia-Pacific Film Festival in 2004.
Trivia[]
- It might be worth noting that Hiroyuki Nasu has directed 20 movies prior to Devilman, including the adaptation of popular manga series Be-Bop High School, which won him a Best Director award at the 8th Yokohama Film Festival.
- This film was released six months after the release of the 2004 Cutie Honey live-action film, another film based on a manga by Go Nagai.
- In the mid 90's, horror director/producer Brian Yuzna, the special effects artist Screaming Mad George and producers Aki Komine and Taka Ichise began working on a live action Devilman film. According to Brian Yuzna, they had a complete script that was following the manga and animes very closely. However, the project was cancelled because of not only some disagreement between Komine and Yuzna, but also due to the limitations of special effects of the pre-CGI era.[1]