Discotek Media is going back to “the beginning” in a way with some of the earliest anime releases in North America getting a new lease on life. The distributor has picked up the original Devilman OVA for release that will come later this summer. The two-episode piece is definitely going to be appealing as there was a new HD remaster of it, it’ll include the dub and all its vulgarity in addition to the original Japanese language track, and it’ll have a newly translated 28-minute audio drama that will be subtitled.
The 1987 OVA was directed by Tsutomu Iida and Umanosuke Iida based on the script by Go Nagai and Tsutomu Iida. Kazuo Komatsubara served as the character designer with O Production handling the animation.
The Japanese cast includes Sho Hayami as Akira Fudou / Devilman, Jun Kōnomaki as Miki Makimura, Mie Suzuki as Kensaku Makimura, Takeshi Aono as Jinmen, Yoshiko Sakakibara as
Shirenu, and Yū Mizushima as Ryou Asuka.
The English dub produced by the Manga Entertainment release was directed by Michael Bakewell and the cast includes Alan Marriott as Akira Fudou / Devilman, Larissa Murray as Miki Makimura, Adam Matalon as Ryou Asuka, David Collins as Jinmen, Laura Kelly as Miki, and Lucy Franks as Shirenu.
The OVA was originally released through the Dark Image Entertainment label with LA Hero and Manga Entertainment over the years. It saw release overseas through Manga Entertainment UK and Madman Entertainment.
Plot Concept: Demons exist and their power is beyond what humans can fathom. In fact they are so strong that humans do not stand a chance against them in a fight. The only thing strong enough to defeat a demon is another demon and it is trough this logic that Ryo Asuka hatches the plan to have his good-hearted friend Akira Fudo possessed by a demon. If a person is of pure of heart then he might be able to control the demon that posses him and thereby acquire power equal to a demon. After raising some hell in a club the plan works and Akira is possessed by the powerful demon known as Amon. Now Akira is humanities sole champion of justice against the hidden demon menace that has plagued humanity since the dawn of time.
