As discussed previously, when the Devilman manga originally started in 1972 Japanese television was not yet ready for it. GeGeGe no Kitaro just hit the airways only 4 years prior, and it was
a long road transferring that particular horror themed series from the pages of manga to the small screen--which was thought far too morbid for children until then. Devilman as a manga is renowned for its sexual themes,
grotesque violence, and hideous monsters, but as a manga it’s still not too out there. There was other more extreme stuff in print by that point in the early 70’s, and it was far from the only manga to touch on
incredibly mature themes. The point is, for a manga, while still shocking--especially for its younger boy to teenage audience--it was still right at home for a manga, where as the budding television anime market was far too
young to touch it.
That’s where the ever expanding anime market of the mid-to-late 80’s and early 90’s really came in. The growth of the anime market saw original video animation (OVA), or direct-to-video
film and shows that bypassed theatres and television alike instead going directly to the consumer. The waves of OVAs to follow in the years after Dallos would range wildly in quality--many productions, such as The Heroic Legend
of Arslan, were passion projects that animators poured all their imagination and talent into; as well as all their money--while other productions just seemed to really relish this new found freedom to work out of the restraints,
guidelines and censors, leading to a golden age (or maybe a dark age depending on whom you ask) of overly violent and sexual animation. All kinds of schlock would eventually fill video stores, and titles like Urotsukidoji and Demon City Shinjuku started to become the norm for anime shelves. Finally there was an animated market where Devilman would feel right at home.
For the longest time these two particular Devilman OVAs were easily the closest to the original material that any anime had ever got--a somewhat ironic statement when you realize these
2 OVAs were adaptations of the Devilman novelization written by Go Nagai’s brother, and not actually a straightforward adaptation of the manga itself; although it’s a pretty common misconception that it is amongst
fans. But all that aside, the franchise finally had an animated series that fit the visceral tone of the original manga: an anime with all the blood, violence and tiddies that the manga had, and maybe even more! For that alone
it’s easy to see why The Birth and The Demon Bird Sirene are still very fondly remembered today more than 20+ years later. Both OVAs were directed by the late Umanosuke Iida, who later went on to direct and storyboard part
of the Hellsing OVA, but has storyboarded, directed, and drawn key animation for many other works--touching everything from Cowboy Bebop, to Lupin the Third, to even Mobile Suit Gundam. It would not be unreasonable for newcomers
to worry over the quality of The Birth or The Demon Bird knowing the bad reputation OVAs from this era have--mostly that the majority of them are nothing but pure schlock--but thankfully both land overwhelmingly on the artistic
side instead. If anything, The Birth and The Demon Bird are those rare crossbreeds that go full batshit in the sex and violence not to shock the audience or to disguise a low budget, but to compliment the story they tell.
The 2 OVAs compliment each other, with each leaning heavily on different aspects. The Birth is just that, the birth of Akira Fudo becoming Devilman. This OVA relies heavily on suspense and
while it may be a bit too exposition heavy, it is actually my favorite of the two. The general atmosphere of The Birth is just handled so creepily and all the world building and set up is just so fascinating, that I don’t
mind if it’s essentially; Ryo explains demons to Akira: the movie. The small fights dispersed in-between conversations certainly helps too, and more interestingly, they are all Akira and Ryo desperately struggling with
just their wits and everyday weapons (mostly a lot of guns), instead of relying on superpowers. Of course that is until the ending bloodbath where Akira finally becomes Devilman and all hell gloriously breaks loose. The
Demon Bird is the polar opposite of The Birth, where very little is explained since pretty much all of that has been covered, and instead goes all in on action scenes. This is where the OVAs bring in some of their best animation,
as it essentially runs through back-to-back battles with all the biggest, baddest demons in the franchise, culminating with the final fight against Sirene. Together the two strike a very perfect balance of story and action,
and are really satisfying to marathon.
The Birth and The Demon Bird are such solid fun OVAs that have some of the best the late 80’s could really offer, but they are also kind of infamous on the internet too--but not for
what you might think. It isn't the actual content but the hilarious and genuinely gratuitous dub that that it received from Manga Entertainment. This practice was very common for Manga Entertainment back then, whom banked
on a lot of hyper violent, sexual, horror anime releases in rental stores. This lead to their dubbing adding a whole slew of swearing and F-bombs that wasn't ever present in the Japanese scripts in the hopes to raise
the age rating of the anime in order for it to have to be placed near the Rated R (or equivalent) movies in rental stores. That way when the average Joe is checking out Friday the 13th Part LXIX they might stumble onto Devilman in the store and want to check it out too. There are of course people who will tell you to steer clear of this ludicrous dub and just
stick with the much more appropriate Japanese audio and subtitles, but I honestly highly recommend it at least once. A dub this insane has to be experienced, and honestly how fitting is it that OVAs known for their shock value
and schlock ended up getting dubs that try so hard to be shocking and schlock-y! It’s in some ways the perfect dub for Devilman (okay maybe only in crazy town logic it is, but whatever).
No matter how you do watch the The Birth and The Demon Bird however, you are definitely in for a good time with what was one of the best Devilman adaptations for many, many years.
