Is the Devilman Manga Finished? Status & Reading Guide

Yes, the Devilman Manga Is Finished

Devilman is a completed manga. It’s been finished for over fifty years.

Created by Go Nagai, Devilman was originally published chapter by chapter — a process called serialization — in Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine from June 1972 to June 1973. (“Shonen” is a Japanese term meaning “young boy” and refers to the target audience of the magazine.) The original series ran for 53 chapters across 5 Japanese volumes. There’s no ongoing serialization, no hiatus, no “will they ever finish it” anxiety. The story has a definitive beginning, middle, and end.

One important thing to note: this refers specifically to the original Devilman manga. Over the decades, various spinoff and sequel titles have been published — works like Devilman Grimoire, Amon: The Darkside of the Devilman, and Devilman vs. Hades. These are separate projects by different creative teams. They expand on the Devilman universe, but they aren’t required to experience the original story. If someone told you “Devilman is still going,” they’re likely confusing one of these spinoffs with the original series.

The core manga that started it all? Done. Complete. Wrapped up in 1973.

How Devilman Ends — And Why It Still Shocks Readers

Devilman’s ending is one of the most talked-about conclusions in manga history. Decades after publication, it still generates discussion among readers encountering it for the first time. There’s a reason this series keeps getting recommended in horror circles — the finale is a huge part of that.

Without going into heavy spoiler territory: the ending is devastating. It doesn’t pull punches. It doesn’t offer comfort. Go Nagai wrote a conclusion that was shocking for its era and remains genuinely bleak by modern standards. The tone shifts dramatically in the final stretch of the story, and the narrative arrives at a place that few readers expect — especially if they’re coming in only familiar with the earlier, more action-oriented chapters.

Why It Matters Beyond Devilman

The influence of this ending on later manga is enormous. If you’ve read darker series like Berserk (a long-running dark fantasy manga), Parasyte (a horror manga about alien body-snatchers), or other bleak, apocalyptic stories, you’re seeing the long shadow that Devilman cast. Go Nagai essentially established a template: the idea that a manga could end in total, uncompromising tragedy, that a protagonist’s story didn’t have to resolve happily, and that horror could be philosophical rather than just visceral.

Readers coming to Devilman for the first time sometimes find the ending polarizing. Some feel it arrives too abruptly. Others consider it one of the greatest endings in the entire medium — a perfect conclusion to a story about the worst impulses of humanity. Where you land will depend on your tolerance for bleakness and your expectations going in. But almost everyone agrees: it’s unforgettable.

Was the Ending Rushed or Satisfying?

This is the most common debate around Devilman, and it’s worth addressing head-on.

The entire manga ran for roughly one year. That’s an incredibly short serialization by manga standards — most popular series run for years. The compressed timeline gives Devilman a relentless, almost suffocating pace. Events escalate quickly. Characters are introduced and swept away. The world falls apart fast.

Some readers, particularly those accustomed to longer modern series, feel the final chapters accelerate too abruptly. Major plot developments happen within just a few chapters, and there isn’t a lot of room to breathe. If you’re used to manga that spend dozens of chapters building toward a climax, Devilman’s sprint to the finish line can feel jarring.

On the other hand, many readers — especially horror fans — see this pacing as one of the manga’s greatest strengths. The speed is the point. The story isn’t interested in giving you time to process; it wants to overwhelm you the same way the characters are overwhelmed. The breakneck pacing creates a sense of escalating dread that a slower story couldn’t replicate.

Thematically, the ending is complete. Whatever you think about the pacing, the story delivers a clear, uncompromising message about human nature, crowd-driven cruelty, and the cost of violence. It doesn’t leave loose threads or unanswered questions about its core themes. It says exactly what it means to say, and then it stops.

For horror fans specifically: the ending is among the bleakest and most unforgiving in the genre. If that’s what you’re looking for — a story that commits fully to its dark vision without flinching — Devilman delivers.

Series Details at a Glance

Here’s a quick reference for the original Devilman manga:

The English edition is published as the Devilman Classic Collection by Seven Seas Entertainment. An omnibus is a single book that collects multiple original volumes into one, so this edition compiles the original 5-volume series into 2 omnibus volumes. This means you only need two books to own the entire story — making it one of the most affordable complete horror manga series you can buy. At typical retail pricing, the two-omnibus set comes in well under what you’d spend on most multi-volume manga series.

A Note on Related Works

The Devilman franchise is sprawling, but you don’t need to engage with any of it to read the original. Here’s a quick breakdown:

• Devilman Grimoire — A modern retelling of the original story by Go Nagai (the original creator) and artist Rui Takato, set in a new version of the same world. Not a sequel.
• Amon: The Darkside of the Devilman — A spinoff exploring a specific character. Supplementary, not essential. (No English-language US edition appears to be currently licensed — verify availability before seeking it out.)
• Devilman vs. Hades — A story that brings Devilman together with characters from a different series. Optional.

None of these are required to understand or appreciate the original 53-chapter manga. Read them if you’re hungry for more after finishing the main story, but don’t feel pressured to track them all down.

Where to Buy the Complete Series

The easiest way to read Devilman in English is through the Devilman Classic Collection omnibus edition from Seven Seas Entertainment. Two volumes. That’s the whole story.

The Classic Collection is a solid physical edition that presents Go Nagai’s original artwork in a larger format than the standard Japanese collected volumes. For a manga from the early 1970s, the reproduction quality is good, and the translation captures the intensity of the original.

Volume 1 of the Classic Collection covers the first half of the series, and Volume 2 covers the second half, including the famous ending discussed above. You’ll want both volumes to own the complete story.

Physical copies can be found at major retailers and bookstores that carry manga. Digital editions may also be available through platforms like Kindle and other e-book storefronts — though Seven Seas notes that licensing restrictions can apply to some titles, so confirm current availability if you prefer reading on a tablet or phone.

Since the entire series is only two omnibus volumes, the total cost of ownership is very reasonable compared to longer-running horror manga. You’re not committing to dozens of books — just two.

Who Should Still Read Devilman Today

Devilman was published over fifty years ago. The art style is vintage. The pacing is fast. The storytelling conventions are different from modern manga. So is it still worth reading?

For horror manga fans: absolutely. Devilman is one of the genre’s founding texts. So many horror manga tropes, themes, and storytelling approaches trace back to this series that reading it feels like discovering where many of those ideas first appeared in manga. If you’ve enjoyed darker manga and want to understand those origins, Devilman is essential context.

Best for readers who:

• Appreciate vintage manga art and don’t need modern polish
• Want a complete story they can finish in a single weekend
• Enjoy brutal, unapologetic horror that doesn’t soften its message
• Are curious about the historical roots of dark manga and anime (Japanese animation)

Maybe not the best fit if you:

• Need long, slow-burn character development — Devilman moves fast and doesn’t linger
• Are uncomfortable with graphic violence or sexual content (the manga depicts war, body horror, mob cruelty, and includes explicit nudity)
• Expect a hopeful or redemptive ending

If you watched Devilman Crybaby on Netflix — the 2018 anime adaptation directed by Masaaki Yuasa — and are curious about the source material, the manga is well worth picking up. That adaptation drew heavily from the original manga’s story and themes, but the print version has its own distinct power. Go Nagai’s raw, aggressive art style on the page creates an experience that animation can’t quite replicate — there’s an immediacy to the drawings that rewards reading in physical form.

At two omnibus volumes for the complete story, Devilman asks very little of your time and budget. What it gives back — one of horror manga’s most important and devastating stories — is more than worth it.