Director Iida uses color masterfully. The first OVA had a gothic, blue-and-black palette. Amon is drenched in rusty reds, sickly yellows, and deep, void-like blacks, creating an atmosphere of a world already dead. Upon release, Amon was controversial even among Devilman fans. Some praised its unflinching loyalty to the manga’s darkest tones. Others found it too nihilistic, even by Nagai’s standards. The abrupt, hopeless ending left many frustrated. There was no catharsis, no final battle for humanity—just the death of hope.
For fans of psychological horror, body horror, and animation that pushes boundaries, Amon is essential viewing. It is a masterpiece of despair—a howling, bloody scream into the void, reminding us that sometimes, the hero doesn’t just lose. He becomes the apocalypse. amon - the apocalypse of devilman
The demon Amon —the original, unbroken personality of the demon Akira hosts—begins to reawaken. Akira’s body mutates, not into the controlled Devilman, but into the hulking, bestial form of the ancient warrior Amon. His eyes lose all human recognition. His friends, Miki and Miko, look on in horror as the monster that once served Akira becomes the master. Director Iida uses color masterfully
In the vast, bloody tapestry of dark fantasy and horror anime, few works have cast as long a shadow as Go Nagai’s 1972 manga, Devilman . Its exploration of a reluctant demon-human hybrid, the nature of evil, and an apocalyptic ending where Satan himself wins remains shocking even today. However, the original 1972 TV anime was a neutered, children’s version of the source material. It wasn’t until the 1987 OVA Devilman: The Birth and its 1990 sequel, Amon: The Apocalypse of Devilman , that Nagai’s violent, nihilistic vision was finally rendered in animated form. Upon release, Amon was controversial even among Devilman
Umakoshi’s character animation is the star. Amon’s transformation is a multi-stage process of painful-looking mutations. His final form is a hulking, veined, red-and-black brute with hollow white eyes—a far cry from the more humanoid Devilman of The Birth . The fight with Kaim is a masterpiece of chaotic choreography, abandoning standard anime “rules” for a raw, scrappy, desperate brawl.