How many versions of the Devilman manga are there?
Three different texts hide inside the five volumes: the Original, the Deluxe, and the Revised.
Most manga exist in one text. Devilman exists in (at least) three. Nagai and Kodansha returned to the 1972–73 story twice with a pen in hand: the Deluxe Edition of 1987 expands and rearranges it, and the Revised Edition of 2012 quietly re-edits it again, restoring some cuts, removing others. Any two Devilman volumes from different decades may not contain quite the same manga. The edition census is in the gallery; this page is about the words and pages themselves.
THE DELUXE EDITION · 1987
The story, expandedA new doorway
The Deluxe adds a 32-page prelude, “Great War of the Gods,” before volume 1, divides the story into chapters, and gives each chapter a new frontispiece. Some passages were printed in color.
Pages added
Seven new pages open the Sirene chapter of volume 2; two pages expand the demon Nafiro’s spying; eight pages are added to volume 5’s “Fallen Angel”; and the final battle gains ten pages.
Pages moved, and one ending rewritten
Shin Devilman is incorporated wholesale, starting volume 3, and 29 pages leading into one attack are removed while other episodes change order. The spider-demon Zann’s climax is replaced by a new 17-page conclusion revealing the demon Rasber. This is a director’s cut, not a reprint.
THE REVISED EDITION · 2012
The quiet re-editWhat it undoes
Printed once, in four KCDX volumes (April–July 2012): the chapter divisions are removed, and some content cut in 1987 is reintegrated, the story breathes in its magazine shape again, digitally touched up.
What it removes
Two Shin Devilman episodes, the Nike story and the Battle of the Little Bighorn, are dropped, the Rasber story returns to its original position, and part of a Neo Devilman story is woven into the final battle instead. No other edition reads quite like it.
Which text is in English?
Both English landmarks descend from the Deluxe: Kodansha’s 2002–03 bilingual set was based on it, and so is Seven Seas’ 2018 Classic Collection. The Original text, page for page, remains a Japanese-only reading experience, one more reason the first edition matters.