Having recently reread my entire manga collection, which is huge, I have decided what my favorite theme is for manga. Unfortunately for me it isn't a very common one.
Alright here it is. I love "demon love" manga. Not "Oh, woe is me. I'm a misunderstood demon who would never actually hurt anyone." but "I AM SATAN, LORD OF DARKNESS PHEAR ME!" I love seeing men who squish souls for a living get all lovvey-dovvey and syrupy.
The typical demon man just doesn't get it. "I love you. I want you. I would do anything for you, but I'm still gonna destroy your town and kill all your friends and anyone else you ever loved." Then he doesn't understand when the girl of his dreams is horrified, terrified and now hates him. "But I did it for you..?" just doesn't seem to cut it.
I have two such series in my collection, three if you count "The Forbidden Game" a trilogy of young adult books by LJ Smith that I've sworn to keep forever. "Seimaden" by Higuri You and "Bride of Deimos" by Etsuko Ikeda and Yuuho Ashibe.
"Seimaden" features Laures and Hilda. In a past life Laures sacrificed himself to the demons to save his love Elis, but the only way to save her from evil was for her to die. Now years later he has found Elis reborn in Hilda, and he loves her as much as he ever did, but he is now a monster that has spent the last few hundred years at war with other demons in order to claim the throne of hell. Unfortunately, by the time Laures found her, Hilda had fallen in love with Rodderick, the last of the Azeilles. So Laures seals Hilda's memories and takes advantage of her amnesia to earn her love.
"Bride of Deimos" is an older manga originally published in 1975, so the art is of an older style. It is about Deimos a young god who fell in love with his twin sister Venus. In punishment for their sins the king of all gods, Jupiter, turns Deimos into a demon and gives him the title God of Fear while Venus is consigned to rot in the land of the dead. The only chance has Venus is for Deimos to find her reincarnation. Enter Minako. Only problem is Deimos starts to fall in love with Minako and refuses to forcefully take her to hell. Instead he sets out to make her accept that she is his destined bride.
I highly recommend both manga, but out of the two I prefer "Seimaden". It is more modern and less of a horror manga. "Seimaden" is a lot less gory than "Bride of Deimos." It has genuinely cute parts, whereas "Bride of Deimos" is most definitely a horror manga and by no means cute. Laures spends his time showing his softer side, but Deimos chooses to convince Minako by threatening her and showing her all the horrors of the world. "Bride of Deimos" reads like a graphic novel of "Are You Afraid of the Dark" crossed with "The Twilight Zone." It is much more of an episodic manga where "Seimaden" has story flow from one chapter to the next.
"Bride of Deimos" is published by ComicsONE and has 17 volumes. I don't believe it has been entirely published in English yet, although the series has been completed.
"Seimaden" is published by CMX Manga, the manga section of DC Comics. Seven volumes have been published as of right now, but the series isn't finished yet.
Alright here it is. I love "demon love" manga. Not "Oh, woe is me. I'm a misunderstood demon who would never actually hurt anyone." but "I AM SATAN, LORD OF DARKNESS PHEAR ME!" I love seeing men who squish souls for a living get all lovvey-dovvey and syrupy. The typical demon man just doesn't get it. "I love you. I want you. I would do anything for you, but I'm still gonna destroy your town and kill all your friends and anyone else you ever loved." Then he doesn't understand when the girl of his dreams is horrified, terrified and now hates him. "But I did it for you..?" just doesn't seem to cut it.
I have two such series in my collection, three if you count "The Forbidden Game" a trilogy of young adult books by LJ Smith that I've sworn to keep forever. "Seimaden" by Higuri You and "Bride of Deimos" by Etsuko Ikeda and Yuuho Ashibe.
"Seimaden" features Laures and Hilda. In a past life Laures sacrificed himself to the demons to save his love Elis, but the only way to save her from evil was for her to die. Now years later he has found Elis reborn in Hilda, and he loves her as much as he ever did, but he is now a monster that has spent the last few hundred years at war with other demons in order to claim the throne of hell. Unfortunately, by the time Laures found her, Hilda had fallen in love with Rodderick, the last of the Azeilles. So Laures seals Hilda's memories and takes advantage of her amnesia to earn her love. "Bride of Deimos" is an older manga originally published in 1975, so the art is of an older style. It is about Deimos a young god who fell in love with his twin sister Venus. In punishment for their sins the king of all gods, Jupiter, turns Deimos into a demon and gives him the title God of Fear while Venus is consigned to rot in the land of the dead. The only chance has Venus is for Deimos to find her reincarnation. Enter Minako. Only problem is Deimos starts to fall in love with Minako and refuses to forcefully take her to hell. Instead he sets out to make her accept that she is his destined bride.
I highly recommend both manga, but out of the two I prefer "Seimaden". It is more modern and less of a horror manga. "Seimaden" is a lot less gory than "Bride of Deimos." It has genuinely cute parts, whereas "Bride of Deimos" is most definitely a horror manga and by no means cute. Laures spends his time showing his softer side, but Deimos chooses to convince Minako by threatening her and showing her all the horrors of the world. "Bride of Deimos" reads like a graphic novel of "Are You Afraid of the Dark" crossed with "The Twilight Zone." It is much more of an episodic manga where "Seimaden" has story flow from one chapter to the next. "Bride of Deimos" is published by ComicsONE and has 17 volumes. I don't believe it has been entirely published in English yet, although the series has been completed.
"Seimaden" is published by CMX Manga, the manga section of DC Comics. Seven volumes have been published as of right now, but the series isn't finished yet.
Labels: MagicMysticGrl, Manga
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