Wait how many Devilmans (or Devilmen?) does Japan have?
Maou Dante / Demon Lord Dante (1971 manga created by Go Nagai which had a 13 episode OVA in 2002). Inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy.
Devilman (1972 39 episode Anime/Manga, originally requested by Toei Animation to be a toned down heroic version of Demon Lord Dante. Go Nagai made the anime, however, Nagai wrote a darker-toned manga in order to alert readers of the dangers of the wars based on how dark the narrative becomes with each of Akira's challenges.
A daker toned OVA more faithful to the manga was made in 1987 titled Devilman: The Birth, followed by another OVA titled
Devilman: Demon Bird Sirène in 1990.
The NES game as featured here, was based on the original anime and came out in 1989.
In 2000,
Amon: Apocalypse of Devilman was released as a pay-per-view event in Japan and was later released on video and DVD. Based on
Amon: The Darkside of The Devilman, it covers the period between the humans becoming aware of demons and the semi-final battle between Devilman and Amon, who was unleashed after Akira became demoralized by witnessing the death of Miki. In the final battle, Amon is subdued and remerges with Akira, but instead of Akira then proceeding to battle Satan, he rejects the latter's challenge, and walks away into the wreckage of Tokyo.
n 2015,
Cyborg 009 VS Devilman was released. The three-episode OVA features the
Devilman series crossing over with
Shotaro Ishinomori's
Cyborg 009, with the titular characters from each series becoming rivals before working together to bring down a joint threat.
A 10-episode
original net animation adaptation produced by
Science Saru and directed by
Masaaki Yuasa, titled
Devilman Crybaby, was released worldwide on January 5, 2018, exclusively on
Netflix.
Mazinger Z Vs. Devilman was a crossover animated film between
Devilman and
Mazinger Z produced by Toei and released in July 18, 1973. While the film stars the majority of the characters from each series, it features alternative versions of the events from both, and is therefore not canonical to either one.
In October 9, 2004, a live-action
tokusatsu film directed by
Hiroyuki Nasu was theatrically released in Japan.
The film starred Hisato Izaki as Devilman, Yūsuke Izaki as Ryo Asuka and Ayana Sakai as Miki Makimura. The cast also included
AV Idol Maria Yumeno and K-1 kickboxer Bob "The Beast" Sapp as a news reporter.
The film was criticized for its poor special effects and the casting of various popular celebrities with no prior acting experience.
Bandai also released a game based on
Devilman for the
Sony PlayStation on April 13, 2000. Along with several of Nagai's other creations, Devilman appeared in the Japanese
Super Famicom game
CB Chara Wars: Ushinawareta Gag which also simultaneously had a comedic OVA where the cast of Devilman also crossed over with characters from Mazinger Z and Violence Jack in the 1991 OVA CB Chara Nagai Go World. This release featured the familiar characters in comical and lighthearted antics in super deformed forms. In this series, it is revealed that Violence Jack is a future version of Akira Fudo. It is also revealed that Miki is an otaku and that she knew of Akira's identity as Devilman due to reading the manga offscreen.
Devilman and other characters from the series have shown up in cameo appearances numerous times in Go Nagai's other works. Miki is the first female protagonist of the 1974 manga Oira Sukeban, and Akira has appeared in various incarnations of Cutie Honey, most notably the 1994 OVA New Cutie Honey. Miki and Ryo Asuka also appear as dogs (with dog-like bodies and human heads) in the Violence Jack manga. In 1997, Nagai created Devil Lady, based on his idea of if the main character was a woman. The Devil Lady series contains its own original story that stands out from the Devilman series. Fudo's silhouette briefly appears in the opening credits of Devil Lady
A character designer from SNK admitted that Devilman was an influence in designing Kyo Kusanagi.
Manga writer Nanase Ohkawa claimed that Devilman was the manga that shocked her the most as a child.
Ohkawa was eventually influenced by Devilman to write X due to the themes employed in both manga, most notably the Armageddon.
Neon Genesis Evangelion director Hideaki Anno said the mecha Evangelion Unit 01 was influenced by Devilman.
Anno claims that Devilman's scary facial expressions were the basis for the mecha alongside Mazinger Z.
In the fighting game series, Tekken, Kazuya Mishima takes on a devil form clearly inspired by Devilman
For the film 2011 Tekken: Blood Vengeance, the fighter Jin Kazama achieves a demonic form designed by Takayuki Takeya, who is famous designing characters from Devilman and Kamen Rider
In the manga and anime Dragon Ball, there was a villain named Devilman (but had no relation to the manga; still most likely a parody)
There were also other anime inspired by Devilman like the 1990's OVA Guy as well as JJBA's Araki's 80's manga and anime OVA Baou.
