is a

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series written and illustrated by

Shigeru Mizuki , also known as , was a Japanese manga artist and historian. He was known for his ''yōkai'' manga such as ''GeGeGe no Kitarō'' and '' Akuma-kun'', as well as for his war stories based on his own war manga such as '' Shōwa-shi''. He was born i ...

. Several versions of the manga exist, one of which was adapted into a

live-action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games or ...

television series, and another into an

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series. In addition, two movies were spawned from the anime television series: ''Akuma-kun: The Movie'' released in 1989 and ''Akuma-kun: Yōkoso Akuma Land e!!'' released in 1990. An

original net animation An original net animation (ONA), known in Japan as , is an anime that is directly released onto the Internet. ONAs may also have been aired on television if they were first directly released on the Internet. The name mirrors original video animat ...

(ONA) series was released in November 2023 on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

Basic setting

In this series, the contents vary from version to version. The common plot points of every adaptation are listed below. * The protagonist is a child prodigy who appears once every 10,000 years. The protagonist is always nicknamed “Akuma-kun”. The works are roughly divided into three series with different protagonists: Ichiro Matsushita in the rental version, Shingo Yamada in the Shonen Magazine version, and Shingo Umoregi in the Comic Bonbon version * Akuma-kun wants to create a world where all human beings can live happily, and he believes that harnessing the power of demons is necessary for him to achieve that goal. Additionally, the entities referred to as demons in the series are not limited to that of Christian origins, rather the series features various monsters described in myths and folk stories from all around the world. * At the beginning of the story, Akuma-kun has not yet succeeded in the summoning of demons, and has repeatedly conducted magical research and experiments. However Dr.

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

appears and teaches the secrets of summoning demons to Akuma-kun, and as a result he finally succeeds in invoking demons. * In addition, Dr. Faust gives Akuma-kun the Solomon Flute. This flute gives Akuma-kun the power to bend demons to his will. The flute was used by

King Solomon King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by f ...

. * Akuma-kun has multiple subordinates who follow him. They are often referred to as the “twelve apostles”. The twelve apostles also differ from series to series. * To summon demons, Shingo, standing in front of a magic circle casts a spell, ”エロイムエッサイム、我は求め訴えたり”. (Eloim, Essaim, frugativi et appelavi.) This is a spell written in a

grimoire A grimoire () (also known as a book of spells, magic book, or a spellbook) is a textbook of magic, typically including instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms, and divin ...

spread in France during the 18th and 19th century.

1989 anime series

Characters

Shingo Umoregi (埋れ木真吾) is a boy in fifth grade. He was nicknamed “Akuma-kun” by his friends due to his immense knowledge of demons and the occult. His father Shigeru Umoregi is a manga artist who struggles to sell his work. According to Faust, Shingo is said to be the Messiah, who appears once every ten thousand years to bring peace to the world.

Episodes

2023 anime series

(ONA) series was announced in March 2021, with director

Junichi Sato is a Japanese anime director. After working for Toei Dōga (currently Toei Animation) and then TYO Animations (formerly Hal Film Maker), he joined Twin Engine in 2017. Sato has been active since the 1980s and is a hit maker who, as serie ...

returning from the previous anime series. It can be considered a sequel to the original series. Sato served as the chief director, with

Fumitoshi Oizaki is a Japanese animator, character designer, storyboard artist and director. He is primarily associated with Gonzo (company), Gonzo, which animated his series directorial debut, ''Romeo × Juliet'', and with Sunrise (company), Sunrise, where he ser ...

serving as the series director and

Encourage Films , previously known as is a Japanese animation studio founded by ex-Gonzo producer Tōyō Ikeda and anime director Fumitoshi Oizaki on August 5, 2008. The studio is based in Nerima, Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capit ...

animating the series with

Toei Animation is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including '' Sally the Witch'', '' GeGeGe no Kitarō'', '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...

handling production duties.

Hiroshi Ōnogi is a Japanese screenwriter and novelist focusing on anime productions. Ōnogi attended Keio University in the same years as ''Macross'' character designer Haruhiko Mikimoto and creator Shōji Kawamori, both of whom he would first collaborate wi ...

oversaw the scripts. The series was released worldwide on

on November 9, 2023.

Episodes

Video game

is a

role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing ...

video game for the

Famicom The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

that was released on February 24, 1990, and is based on the anime. It was developed by

Tose (also called Tose Software) is a Japanese video game developer based in Kyoto. It is mostly known for developing Nintendo's ''Game & Watch Gallery'' series, various ''Dragon Ball'' games, as well as contract work or assistance to other develo ...

and published by

Bandai is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered ...

. The game follows Shingo Umoregi (Akuma-kun), who the player controls, through three different types of areas. The

world map A world map is a map of most or all of the surface of Earth. World maps, because of their scale, must deal with the problem of projection. Maps rendered in two dimensions by necessity distort the display of the three-dimensional surface of t ...

allows Akuma-kun to visit different towns and dungeons. The world map is in an

overhead perspective A variety of Computer graphics, computer graphic techniques have been used to display video game content throughout the history of video games. The predominance of individual techniques have evolved over time, primarily due to Graphics hardware ...

and features

random encounter A random encounter is a feature commonly used in various role-playing games whereby combat encounters with non-player character (NPC) enemies or other dangers occur sporadically and at random, usually without the enemy being physically detected ...

s, which pit Akuma-kun against randomly appearing enemies. During battles, the perspective switches to first-person and the player selects different types of attacks from a menu. During battle, the player can summon demons to aid Akuma-kun with fighting. The player's party and the enemies then take turns attacking each other, similar to most other turn-based RPGs. When Akuma-kun enters a town, the view switches to that of a

side-scrolling video game A side-scrolling video game (alternatively side-scroller) is a video game viewed from a side-view camera angle where the screen follows the player as they move left or right. The jump from single-screen or flip-screen graphics to scrolling grap ...

. By moving up at certain areas, Akuma-kun can enter buildings and shops. The game begins as a wizard explains to Akuma-kun that the world will be a better place if demons and humans establish contact. Akuma-kun then sets out to establish this connection.

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{Netflix original animated series and films 1989 anime television series debuts 2023 anime ONAs Anime series based on manga Bandai games Encourage Films Demons in anime and manga Japanese children's animated fantasy television series Japanese drama television series Japan-exclusive video games Japanese-language television shows Japanese role-playing video games Kodansha manga Manga series Netflix original anime Nintendo Entertainment System games Nintendo Entertainment System-only games Manga adapted into television series Shigeru Mizuki Shōnen manga Shueisha manga Toei Animation television Tose (company) games TV Asahi original programming Video games based on anime and manga Video games developed in Japan

Basic setting

1989 anime series

Characters

Episodes

2023 anime series

Episodes

Video game

See also

Notes

References

External links