The unexpected savior.
Creative Staff
Manga: Satoru Matsuba
Original Characters: Suzuhito Yasuda
Created by: Atlus
Translation/Adaptation: Alethea Nibley and Athena Nibley
What They Say
After the loss of a friend, Kayzua and company are determined to put a stop to the madness. Risking life and limb, they make it to the Akasaka Tunnel to get answers from Izuna and the Special Forces. What they learn is the horrible truth about how the government plans to end the lockdown…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
An explanation about why the government went with the lockdown is provided and the truth is revealed that if all the demons are not eliminated in seven days, the entire lockdown area will be annihilated, including any humans in it. The extreme plan, though explained, is debated, but with no other option, there isn’t a choice and they must try to reach the seven-day deadline. But, it seems the angels may be just as big of a threat as the demons are.
They head to the Shomonkai, the group that started the demon summoning, whose goal is to resurrect Belberith. They find their friend Amane, who is a priestess of Belberith in her father’s group, Shomonkai. However, Amane’s body is actually inhabited by an angel, Remiel and a demon. Remiel tells Kazuya that he has the potential to conquer the demons and become the messiah.
Naoya shows up calling Kazuya his little brother instead of cousin. Kazuya demands answers from Naoya, but instead Naoya forces Kazuya and his friends to play a game and if he wins Naoya will answer them. Kazuya struggles, but summons Culebre, who helps him win Naoya’s game. Kazuya gets his answers, but they might not be the ones he wanted. Naoya wishes to put Kazuya on the throne of Bel, to rule over the demons, but not bow to the angels either.
Naoya leaves them with an encrypted flash drive regarding his programming he did for the Shomonkai. Atsuro tries to break into it, but with the news the next Bel will be reviving in a day there isn’t much time. A strange man confronts Kazuya filling in the gaps of Naoya’s answers. He challenges Kazuya to look deeper inside of himself to see what he wants and what is inside of him.
Meanwhile, a fellow friend, Haru, who can summon demons with her song, is considering ending her life. Gin and Azuma (from the Shomonkai) finally meet face to face. Each have a different objective when it come to Haru. A battle ensues and Kazuya, Atsuro and Yuzu end up joining on Gin’s side. They are victorious and it’s revealed that both Haru and Aya have the power to summon demons with their song. Azuma admits that Aya is dead, so thus reason looking for Haru to fill Aya’s place.
Before anyone could do anything, a demon tempts Haru to sing by disguising themselves as her beloved Aya. She uses her voice invoking the resurrection of Belial. Immediately, Belial sees that Kazuya has the power of Bel inside of him. The battle waxes and wanes in Kazuya’s favor, but it’s Belial that gets a direct attack in.
Haru is able to mental throw off the demon that looks like Aya. She decides to sing her own song and changes the flow of the battle. Everyone regroups and attacks Belial again. This time there is victory and power of Belial flows into Kazuya just like it did with Beldr.
In Summary
I’m jumping in to review this series quite a way in, so I can only fill in the gaps from the anime, Devil Survivor 2 The Animation. I have also not played any of the games; so again, I’m conjecturing a lot of what is going and my impression of it. There’s a lot of cool stuff in this manga. There are a lot of classic elements that are generally well loved in stories, such as: demons vs. angels, a unlikely human savior, technology used in interesting ways and of course, the age old good versus evil. All these combined elements make for a high action and yet emotional manga. I am also sucker for the scenario where who the good and bad guys aren’t really all that clear.
If I have any complaint it’s that Kazuya’s female friend, Yuzu, is kind of annoying. I’ve mentioned things like this in my reviews before, but it’s really unfortunate when women in manga are portrayed as weak. I don’t mean just physically, but mentally as well. Through this entire volume of manga, Yuzu is constantly crying and lamenting over why it is she that is caught in the lockdown. She actually has some power, yet that strength is overshadowed by her constant weepy and whining. I do want to note that I don’t see crying as a weakness, but in this case she was distraught and in tears or close to in just about every chapter. I also do know I am looking at this through a different cultural lens, so with that, I still recommend this series!
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: C+
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Kodansha
Release Date: July 2016
MSRP: $10.99
