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Devilman vs Hades ch.1-15 by Go Nagai & Team Moon
So, cross overs between different properties by Go Nagai are pretty much a given, and the idea of Devilman and Mazinger crossing paths has existed before. While the title says Devilman vs Hades, there might as well be a "vs Great Mazinger" bolted onto the end because this manga, from the fifteen chapters currently translated, is very much leading up to that. Even so, this crossover is one that has been fairly entertaining, as the story is both primarily focused on Devilman himself and puts some thought into the set up for why these two universes would collide. Turns out, Hades or the Emperor of Darkness is literally a god of death that presides over multiple dimensions and armies, the Mycanae being one of them.
The story is set right after the events of Devilman (the war between the Demons and Devilman ended), and right before the final battle of Great Mazinger (Dr. Hell leading the Mycanae Empire). The first chapter wastes no time in showing that Akira Fudo has not become any less violent or reckless since Miki's death as he goes on a war path through the underworld in search of Miki's soul so he can be with her again. The result is Hades' palace, minions, and wife Persephone getting destroyed, which prompts Hades himself to leave his army with Dr Hell to deal with Devilman's rampage, and the souls of humanity that had been killed by demons are brought back to life in a horrifically broken state. This is pretty much the focus for the first two volumes as a lot of crazy shit goes down, including what is possibly the biggest and most awesome version of the Jinmen yet (the conclusion to the fight also being quite spectacular). Brief glimpses of the Mazinger universe are given, but the third volume starts the actual crossover part of the story in earnest as Akira must now destroy Great Mazinger and Tetsuya Tsurugi if he wants the opportunity to have Miki brought back to life.
Really, the thing that had me hooked more than anything on this manga was the art. It has a different feel from what Kinutani Yuu did for Amon and Strange Days, where the art on the characters in particular I felt had some similarities to classic Shin Megami Tensei visuals while still resembling the designs Nagai had come up with before. With this, Team Moon injected a near lethal amount of hot blooded action into the visual style to make near every page look metal as fuck. There are plenty of moments to be had where there's no dialogue for 2-3 pages and just painstakingly detailed scenes of hellish destruction. It's largely fitting for what the source material was about, but it gets somewhat weird when the Mazinger characters are thrown in as it highlights the difference in tone and style both series actually have despite originating from the same writer and illustrator in the '70s. Like I almost had a double take when I saw what Kouji looked like due to the design of his hair.
Overall, anxious to see where this continues, especially as at the time of this write up the fight between Devilman and Great Mazinger's almost about to start. As a manga designed as a 40th anniversary celebration of mangaka's best work, Devilman vs Hades remains exciting to read and doubles as probably my favorite Go Nagai cross over series.
So, cross overs between different properties by Go Nagai are pretty much a given, and the idea of Devilman and Mazinger crossing paths has existed before. While the title says Devilman vs Hades, there might as well be a "vs Great Mazinger" bolted onto the end because this manga, from the fifteen chapters currently translated, is very much leading up to that. Even so, this crossover is one that has been fairly entertaining, as the story is both primarily focused on Devilman himself and puts some thought into the set up for why these two universes would collide. Turns out, Hades or the Emperor of Darkness is literally a god of death that presides over multiple dimensions and armies, the Mycanae being one of them.
The story is set right after the events of Devilman (the war between the Demons and Devilman ended), and right before the final battle of Great Mazinger (Dr. Hell leading the Mycanae Empire). The first chapter wastes no time in showing that Akira Fudo has not become any less violent or reckless since Miki's death as he goes on a war path through the underworld in search of Miki's soul so he can be with her again. The result is Hades' palace, minions, and wife Persephone getting destroyed, which prompts Hades himself to leave his army with Dr Hell to deal with Devilman's rampage, and the souls of humanity that had been killed by demons are brought back to life in a horrifically broken state. This is pretty much the focus for the first two volumes as a lot of crazy shit goes down, including what is possibly the biggest and most awesome version of the Jinmen yet (the conclusion to the fight also being quite spectacular). Brief glimpses of the Mazinger universe are given, but the third volume starts the actual crossover part of the story in earnest as Akira must now destroy Great Mazinger and Tetsuya Tsurugi if he wants the opportunity to have Miki brought back to life.
Really, the thing that had me hooked more than anything on this manga was the art. It has a different feel from what Kinutani Yuu did for Amon and Strange Days, where the art on the characters in particular I felt had some similarities to classic Shin Megami Tensei visuals while still resembling the designs Nagai had come up with before. With this, Team Moon injected a near lethal amount of hot blooded action into the visual style to make near every page look metal as fuck. There are plenty of moments to be had where there's no dialogue for 2-3 pages and just painstakingly detailed scenes of hellish destruction. It's largely fitting for what the source material was about, but it gets somewhat weird when the Mazinger characters are thrown in as it highlights the difference in tone and style both series actually have despite originating from the same writer and illustrator in the '70s. Like I almost had a double take when I saw what Kouji looked like due to the design of his hair.
Overall, anxious to see where this continues, especially as at the time of this write up the fight between Devilman and Great Mazinger's almost about to start. As a manga designed as a 40th anniversary celebration of mangaka's best work, Devilman vs Hades remains exciting to read and doubles as probably my favorite Go Nagai cross over series.
