Neo Devilman Chapters 11-13

[digitalalterego]

 Chapter 11:

 

This one starts out like a romance, which is pretty jarring after some of the other chapters. Our protagonist is a girl (Michiko) who has a crush on Akira, who is her classmate. Eventually she merges with a demon and kills Miki, which causes Akira to kill her. I don't find this chapter that interesting; I like some of the family drama elements but other than that I really don't care.

I think Michiko's love for Akira is supposed to mirror Satan's, which is interesting in concept but I feel like they don't explore it fully. I don't have much else to say.

 

Chapter 12/13:

 

These are both fucking messed up. I don't think either are worth reading, both of them are rather bland or confusing despite their shock content.

 

Chapter 12 is about a politician getting trapped in a strange demon world; the demons want to i guess mess with his brain enough that they can take over his body and politically mess with the world. The two merits of this chapter are that I like the idea of these tiny bug-like weakling demons that only feast on near-dead creatures like a kind of vulture, and the idea of the Sphinx being a demon. I know in Devilman basically all mythological creatures are explained away as being demons but it's nice to see one actually appearing here. What's bad about the Chapter? The story just isn't that interesting. And the shock content... It's horrific, and it's meant to be. They succeeded on that front. But the fact that I don't care about the characters and don't care about the story means that I wasn't much affected by the shock content.

 

Now Chapter 13... I like the art style of this one. Its very simple and clear, and all-around pleasing to the eye; I also like that each character has a distinct face. The story is, once again, just ok. There isn't any message here, there isn't any interesting addition to the Devilman universe, it just is what it is. It focuses on a schoolteacher and her worries as the end of the world gets nearer. And just like the last chapter the end is pretty shocking. I don't like it here. Help!