Devilman: The Birth

デビルマン誕生編 (Devilman: Tanjou-hen)

7.2(18,877)

MAL Score

Ranked #3784

Popularity #4361

Horror
Sci-Fi
Supernatural
Gore
Mythology

Episodes: 1
Duration: 50 min
Aired: Nov 1, 1987
Status: Finished Airing

Synopsis

Akira Fudou is an ordinary high schooler whose quiet routine is interrupted when a run-in with bullies leads him to reconnect with his childhood friend, Ryou Asuka. The two spend the day catching up, only for the night to veer into danger when they follow Ryou into a nightclub party that quickly turns unsettling.

As violence erupts, Akira witnesses partygoers transform into demonic creatures. In the chaos, the mighty demon Amon intervenes and ultimately merges with Akira, creating Devilman. With Amon’s power tempered by Akira’s deep empathy, Devilman chooses to stand between humanity and the growing threat of demonkind.

Otaku Consensus

Devilman: The Birth earns its cult reputation on Oh! Production's muscular 1987 hand-drawn direction: fluid demon animation, lurid color choices, and flashback-driven exposition turn a manga-faithful origin chapter into animated pulp horror. Fans and critics most often praise how closely it channels Go Nagai's early volume and the party-set horror-action escalation, while the recurring knock is that its one-episode structure leaves heavy lore dumps and abrupt writing exposed.

Why You Should Watch

Watch Devilman: The Birth if you want Devilman as grimy late-80s OVA horror rather than the neon social apocalypse of Devilman Crybaby. This is the version for viewers who value ink-heavy monster design, unsafe nightclub sleaze, and manga-panel intensity over long-form character remodeling. Its appeal is tactile: bodies warp, colors flare, and Oh! Production uses motion and stylized flashbacks to make exposition feel like occult nightmare logic. It scratches the same collector-brain itch as vintage adult-oriented anime horror: compact, lurid, violent, and clearly made before franchise self-consciousness sanded the edges down. If Crybaby made you curious about Go Nagai's original flavor, this OVA is a sharper historical artifact than a substitute, prized because it preserves the blunt pulp rhythm of the early material.

Key Characters

R
Ryou Asuka(VA: Yuu Mizushima)
Ryou functions as the OVA's cold-blooded engine of revelation, with Yuu Mizushima giving the exposition-heavy material a nervy urgency that fans either latch onto or find abrasive.
A
Akira Fudou(VA: Show Hayami)
Show Hayami's Akira is interesting because the performance has to bridge soft-spoken vulnerability and the OVA's sudden plunge into body-horror extremity.
D
Devilman(VA: Show Hayami)
Listed separately from Akira but voiced by the same actor, Devilman becomes less a creature feature mascot than a vocal contrast in Hayami's performance.

What Makes It Stand Out

1
Oh! Production's animation is repeatedly singled out as a major reason the OVA endures, especially its fluid demon motion and close visual approximation of Go Nagai's manga art.
2
The OVA uses stylized flashbacks during its densest lore passages, a structural choice critics have noted as a way to keep the exposition from becoming visually static.
3
Its adaptation reputation rests on manga fidelity: fan reviews highlight how many images and lines feel lifted from the first volume of Go Nagai's Devilman, even with some additions and omissions.
4
The party-set horror escalation is the OVA's defining set piece, remembered less for suspense buildup than for its sudden collision of nightclub sleaze, gore, and supernatural violence.
5
Modern discussion often frames it against Devilman Crybaby, but The Birth occupies a different lane: shorter, pulpier, less psychologically expansive, and closer to the older OVA horror tradition.

Fun Facts & Trivia

Fun fact 1: Devilman: The Birth aired on November 1, 1987 as a single finished OVA from Oh! Production.
Fun fact 2: Show Hayami voices both Akira Fudou and Devilman, making the transformation read through one actor's shift in register rather than a change of performer.
Fun fact 3: Yuu Mizushima, credited as the Japanese voice of Ryou Asuka, carries much of the OVA's mythology delivery, which is one reason reviews often focus on its exposition style.
Fun fact 4: Fan reviews commonly identify The Birth as the first entry in the late-80s/90s Devilman OVA cycle, usually discussed alongside Devilman: The Demon Bird.
Fun fact 5: Its English dub has its own cult afterlife: viewers frequently reference its eccentric dialogue online, separate from the Japanese cast listed for the original release.