Plot: Returning to the Devilman timeline, Akira and the others struggle with trying to live in their post-apocalyptic society as more and more people are turning into devilmen. As the demon and devilman increase in numbers, so do the numbers of people killed by the ADSC. Many allies fall, and Akira starts to have difficulties discerning between himself and Devilman.
Breakdown: It is so nice to be back in familiar territory. After four volumes of oddities and confusion, it’s a relief to finally have a good idea of what’s happening.
This volume returns us to the Devilman world we’re familiar with, but sticks us right in the part where the great war has already happened and humanity is starting to go extinct. I appreciate the volume starting at this point because this was one part of the manga I really wanted to see more of.
Trouble is, there’s not much they’re building on so far. Some of Miki’s friends die, we get some nice moments with Dosuroku and his gang buddies, but they ultimately die too, and we get more insight into Akira and Ryo’s relationship.
They introduce a new character named Cadney who is the personal secretary to Kouzou Rainuma, head of demon issues at the Department of Defense. But we don’t learn a whole lot about him in regards to who or what he really is. All we know is that he is firm in the belief that the concept of ‘devilmen’ is merely an illusion and that he has strength and abilities that not only rival devilmen, but also rival Akira quite easily. He seems to either be a devilman or a complete demon.
He says their department aims to eradicate demons and help innocent people who became devilmen. His first appearance is attempting to ‘help’ Miko, who, sadly, doesn’t get much time in this volume.
This volume also introduces us to some ways humanity has adapted to this situation. For example, there are obviously people benefiting from the devilman and demon outbreaks by gaining wealth and power, but there are also aspects such as cage matches between devilmen that rich people put on for sport and betting.
Akira is succumbing to an increasing feeling of bloodlust and is questioning who really has control over his body – him or Devilman/Amon. This is something they didn’t really address in Devilman as he always seemed to have a good degree over control over himself, even in the very end, so it’s an interesting aspect of his character to explore. It also seems to be the real reason behind why Ryo outs Akira over the news in Devilman, but that’s not made clear yet. All he keeps saying is that he wants to save him.
Miki is, sadly, no better than she usually is. She gushes over Akira, tries to get all up in that hotness and is ultimately useless. She is the point of some contention between Ryou and Akira because, despite them having a near romantic moment in the heat of Akira losing his sanity, Miki is shown to be able to reverse Akira’s transformations by merely touching him, which makes Ryou jealous.
But at least we get some quality time with Dosuroku. I can’t remember the last time a mostly minor character has been so missed to me, but dammit I love me some Dosuroku.
All in all, this was a pretty great volume that I hope is leading into a fantastic finale. I have to wonder how this will end considering we already know the grand ending of Devilman. What else is left to show? What’s left to tell?
Recommended Audience: Not better or worse than the other volumes. 15+
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Plot: Ichigo has been recruited to work in a café that is run by Shirogane and Akasaka and acts as their Mew Mew base. They tell her that she’ll need to find the other girls that were selected for the Mew project in order to help complete their mission. Along the way, Ichigo discovers a rich ballerina named Mint who turns out to be one of the Mews.
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After Akasaka and Shirogane show Ichigo the café, Akasaka tells her that Aoyama was brought home safely from yesterday’s attack. She expresses happiness and gratitude at this. In the dub, Wesley explains that the café is her new place of employment, she awkwardly asks what that means, and Elliot says it’s not like she has a choice.
As she looks over the cafe, Ichigo says that it’s a beautiful store in a sincere tone. In the dub, she basically makes fun of the guys for making such a girly looking cafe.
A shot of the ceiling is cut out before we cut back to Shirogane and Akasaka talking in the dark.
In the original, Akasaka says that Professor Shirogane, Ryou’s father, would’ve been proud of Ryou’s progress in the Mew Project. Ryou responds that he wishes he could’ve lived to see it come to fruition. In the dub, they just say that the project’s underway. No mention of Elliot’s father or his death.
In the original, after Akasaka compliments Ichigo on how she looks, Ryou says that it’s just because the uniform was designed so well, and Ichigo yells at him. In the dub, Elliot basically does say that she looks cute, but Zoey gets mad at him anyway.
The name for the Chimera Animals in the dub is predasites (I assume the name means predatory parasites) – animals that have been taken over by aliens called infusors. In the original, the aliens that take them over aren’t named.
In the original, Ichigo freaks out because she’s going to slowly become more cat-like. In the dub, she freaks out because she can’t catch the school bus but they want her to save the world.
Text is removed from the various daydream magazines that appear as Wesley explains how adored she’ll be as a Mew.
Subbed:
Dubbed:
Our first glimpse of a Mew mark in the dub, we see Zoey’s as Elliot explains the marks to her. Like I said before, they’re edited out quite often for no reason, but when they need to show them, they’re sometimes edited. Ichigo’s mark is on her upper thigh whereas Zoey’s is lower down around the knee. I guess this is to divert attention away from her crotch.
Subbed:
Dubbed:
In the original, Akasaka coaxes Ichigo into working at the café on the promise that she can eat as many cakes and pastries as she wants. Since she loves cakes, she gushes at the idea but soon freaks out again because she’s trying to take all of this in.
In the dub, Wesley coaxes her into working there by calling her a superhero. Zoey gushes at the idea of being a superhero, saying that Mark will be so impressed, but quickly freaks out because she thinks that Mark will instead think that she’s a freak.
Wow, the voice of Deep Blue in the dub is ech. I know WHY he has that voice, but still.
Uh, Mint’s grandmother says to please excuse Miki and says that Miki ran out of the car to play. In the dub, Corina’s grandmother says that Micky (sounds more like Micky than Miki in the dub) jumped out of the window to ‘play with the street urchin.’ OUCH. What did she do to warrant that? Geez.
Also, in the original, there’s more subtlety to how Mint acts. In the original, she just scolds Miki for running off, politely apologizes to Ichigo, and offers her a handkerchief to wipe off her face after Miki licked it. When Ichigo comments on how soft it is, Mint says that it’s silk and adds “What? Don’t you know what silk is?” She then says that she can have it before they drive away.
In the dub, due to the line from her grandma, Corina repeats the insult and adds that she’ll have to give Micky a bath because he played with Zoey, telling Zoey that she can keep the handkerchief because she’s ‘sullied it’ with her face and, because of that, she can’t possibly touch it. This coupled with her incredibly snotty voice acting and tone, there’s no underlying act at all. You know from the instant she gets on the scene that she’s a snobby bitch.
Masha originally tells Ichigo that he must’ve made a mistake by saying there was an alien presence when it was just the dog. In the dub, Mini-mew just repeats what Zoey says about Corina being a jerk.
Some of the scene between Aoyama and Ichigo is cut out. Just a small scene where Ichigo makes conversation before she brings up the bruise. The way it’s edited in the dub, it makes it seem like Mark couldn’t help but notice Zoey staring intently at his bruise.
In the original, after Ichigo drops her bag, she comes to the realization that Aoyama must’ve gotten the bruise from yesterday’s attack, not kendo like he stated. Then she blushes and thinks to herself that she’s sorry for what happened to him and that she loves him very much.
In the dub, Mark is talking over this whole scene about Zoey acting weird and saying that she can always come to him with anything. She never blushes or thinks anything to herself and never comes to the realization that Mark was hurt in yesterday’s attack.
I don’t really think I have to mention that Mark’s tangent about having a substitute teacher that looks just like a lizard is made up by 4Kids, right? In fact, that’s really against Aoyama’s nature to not only make fun of someone but to talk about others behind their backs. In the original scene, he’s quiet as he picks up Ichigo’s stuff.
When Aoyama lifts his head up in response to Ichigo screaming, his hair and eyes are different colors than what they’re supposed to be. He’s supposed to have black hair with brown eyes, but in this shot he has brown hair and gray eyes. This is prevalent in both versions, but it’s such a closeup that lasts for so long that it seems odd that it never got fixed.
In the original, Ichigo distracts Aoyama by telling him that there’s an alien in another direction. In the dub, this is changed to a spider. To be fair, 4Kids’ explanation seems more believable.
Text on Shirogane’s magazine is edited away in the dub. Also…..Noodle Magazine? What?
Subbed:
Dubbed:
In the original, Ichigo gets upset because she can’t find her companions and doesn’t want to fight alone. In the dub, she worries about what Mark would think about her cat tail and ears and asks what other stuff might happen to her.
A banner behind Mint at her recital is edited out.
Subbed:
Dubbed:
In the original, Ichigo finally names Masha as she’s sitting on a bench thinking. She names him Masha after Aoyama as his first name is Masaya, and she gushes about how she’s happy just saying his name.
In the dub, since Zoey already named Mini-mew when they first met, this scene is changed to her thinking that she should put a posting on the internet to look for her companions that says “freak girl who turns in animals” or something. As Mini-mew repeats what she says she gushes over him, likely not being able to understand her at all and says he’s cute. To be fair, Mark could’ve actually worked as being inspiration for the name Masha (MA-sha. MA-rk) but 4Kids decided to throw creativity out the window.
There’s no mention of needing to go to bed to get up early for a recital or being tired from the performance for the less fortunate in the original. Mint just states that it’s rude to come into someone’s house and run about everywhere and tells Ichigo that it’s better for her to leave.
Mint originally tells Miki to stay away from ‘that vulgar girl’ when Ichigo apologizes. In the dub, Corina tells Zoey to not pet her dog because she doesn’t want to wash Micky for a second time that night. You do realize that she pet him a minute ago and you said nothing then.
In the original, Ichigo asks how Masha detects a Chimera Animal if there was no signs of it in the house. Masha says the mutation was incomplete and thus was too difficult to detect. In the dub, there’s no mention of this. Just “Danger, Danger” (Danger, Will Robinson. Danger) and “Predasite alert”
Can I just say that it is glaringly apparent that Corina’s VA cannot mask that she’s an adult in her screams? Not only are the screams awful, but it’s very obvious that the screams are being made by someone in her thirties, not 13.
In the original, the Mew motto doesn’t happen until after Ichigo has stood in front of Mint and told the alien to release Miki. In the dub, it’s right after she transforms…..I honestly don’t know if I can hear about 20 or so “Mew Mew style, mew mew–” I can’t even complete that. It’s physically hurting me.
Mew Mark Alert: We need to see Mint’s mew mark on her back in order to know that she’s a Mew Mew.
Transformation Breakdown: This time we’re tackling Mint’s. Here are the subsequent edits.
Mint in front of the DNA strands is gone.
Most of her dance is gone.
Her putting her power pendant to her back to grow wings is gone.
Her signature pose, as Ichigo’s, is also edited away. I still don’t know why that is. What’s wrong with the poses?
Also, they don’t have Corina say anything as she transforms. She’s originally says “Mew Mew Mint, Metamorphosis!” Dub wise, this would still be “Power pendant, Mewtamorphosis” but she says nothing.
Weapon Name Change: Mint Arrow is changed to Heart Arrow. Something else I don’t understand. Zoey’s weapon is still the Strawberry Bell despite her not having a name that means ‘strawberry’ anymore. Why couldn’t they have kept her weapon as Mint Arrow for her mint blue colors or something? Heart Arrow. Yeah, you go get ’em, Cupid.
Attack Name Change: Ribbon Mint Echo is changed to…..nothing. Really. They say nothing in the dub. I guess Heart arrow is also the name of her attack.
In the original, Mint thanks Ichigo for saving Miki, and Ichigo thinks that she’s a nice girl after all. In the dub, she says she’s sorry for how she acted before and says there’s no excuse for it. Zoey doesn’t have any inner monologue in this scene. As Zoey tries to shake hands at finally becoming friends, Corina says she was sorry for hesitating in battle and has no intentions of being friends. Originally, she did say that she has no intentions on being friends with someone as vulgar as her, but she doesn’t apologize for anything.
The menu is edited to make the menu items into squiggles. I’ll have one order of scribble with a side of unnecessary editing, please.
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