''Defense Devil'' (stylized as ''DEFENSE DEVIL'') is a Japanese

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series written by

Youn In-Wan Youn In-wan (, born July 27, 1976) is a South Korean ''manhwa'' writer. In Japan, he is known for his work ''Blade of the Phantom Master''. Prior to that, he worked on the manhwa ''Island'' (아일랜드) with illustrator Yang Kyung-il. After th ...

and illustrated by

Yang Kyung-il Yang Kyung-il (born March 26, 1970) is a South Korean ''manhwa'' artist from Incheon, South Korea. In 2009 he and frequent collaborator Youn In-wan began serializing their manga Defense Devil in '' Shonen Sunday''. Works * '' Area D: Inō Ry� ...

. It was serialized by

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics (manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hit ...

in ''

Weekly Shōnen Sunday is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga magazine published in Japan by Shogakukan since March 1959. Contrary to its title, ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' issues are released on Wednesdays. ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' has sold over 1.8billion copies since 1986, ...

'' from April 2009 to June 2011. The story is about a banished demon named Kucabara who decides to become a Defense Devil in order to gather up dark matter which he needs to regain his devil powers again.

Story

Kucabara was recently banished and stripped of his powers. In order to regain his powers, he needs which is found from human

sin In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...

ners. He decides to become a Defense Devil in order to get dark matter. A Defense Devil's duty is to prove the innocence of human sinner of his or her crime; once that is done, a Defense Devil shall be allowed to take the sinner's dark matter. Kucabara then must prove the sinner's innocence before a takes the sinner to hell. One day, Kucabara's friend Funi arrives and tells him the demon world is in dishevel and Kucabara must return to save it. Kucabara, with the aid of his friends, Bichula the dragon demon and a female exorcist named Idamaria, infiltrates the demon world; they discover the source of the chaos to be Kucabara's younger brother, Legato, and set out to confront him. Eventually, they realize Legato was gathering energy to destroy the angels who reign control over Hell. After confronting Elimona and the angels, Kucabara is called by God and is taken to heaven. Kucabara returns to his friends and the series ends with him recruiting his friends to defend God who has been betrayed by his angels.

Production

Yang Kyung-Il and Youn In-Wan first created a one-shot of ''Defense Devil'' titled for a 2008 issue of ''

Sunday GX , often abbreviated as , is a ''seinen'' manga magazine published by Shogakukan. Like many other manga magazines, it is an "anthology magazine", with each issue featuring new chapters of several manga series. The series are also published in ''t ...

''. After the release of the first

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

volume, the authors began a blog on the ''Shōnen Sunday'' website about their progress with the series. A contest was held in celebration of the second tankōbon volume where 100 winners are given autographed artwork by the authors.

Characters

;: Kucabara is the protagonist of ''Defense Devil'' and the third son of the great demon king. After being stripped of his powers, Kucabara becomes a lawyer in order to make a living. His duty as hell's lawyer is to prove an unknown soul's innocence to prevent them from going to hell. Before he was stripped of his powers Kucabara was said to have the strongest dark matter in the demon world. Also Kucabara has openly expressed his feelings for Idamaria by proclaiming his love to her. ;: Bichula is the formerly strongest warrior of the famous dragon family, which was massacred by the kingdom of the underworld. He was stripped of his powers and banished from the demon world along with Kucabara. ;: Elimona is a fallen angel from heaven who runs a store in Event Horizon, a land between the real and demon worlds. She frequently cosplays and tries to seduce Bchuler and Kucabara, much to their chagrin. However, she is often turned to for help or advice by the protagonists. In chapter 85 she revealed to Idamaria that she is an angel and wanted to destroy the demon world by releasing the goddess

Lilith Lilith ( ; he, Wiktionary:לילית, לִילִית, Līlīṯ) is a female figure in Mesopotamian Mythology, Mesopotamian and Jewish mythology, Judaic mythology, alternatively the first wife of Adam and supposedly the primordial she-demon. ...

. ;: Idamaria is a

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

who specializes in demon

exorcism Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...

and is romantically interested in Kucabara. It is later revealed that Idamaria is able to produce dark matter from her body. In chapter 72 it is said that her name before entering the church was Catherine. ;: Selma is a priest in charge of the institution where Idamaria lives. He is the one who trained Idamaria and Kucabara to cooperate with each other in order for them to open a portal to the demon world. A powerful exorcist, he is acquainted with Elimona and obtains information about the demon world through her. His name before dying was Kanto. ;: A proud, apathetic, and analytic shinigami-ranked demon whose attacks are based on

mathematical Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

formula In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship betwee ...

s. He hates underlying schemes and would even revolt against Legato for his ethics. During his stay in the orphanage, he grew fond of a young girl named Jupiter and seeks to free her parents from hell. ;: Legato is the primary antagonist of the series and the fourth son of the great demon king, Kucabara's younger brother. After plotting Kucabara's banishment, he received all of Kucabara's power. ;: The newest member of Kucabara and the others. She was betrayed so many times that she despised relationships and settled out to destroy them. Her original plan was to ruin Kucabara's and Bchuler's relationship and kill them, but she ends up joining their cause. She wields a rifle. ;: A little girl taken in by the institution run by Father Seruma when her parents were killed in an accident. She was abducted by the many shinigami who were working for Legato in order to lure Kucabara into going to the demon world. She becomes attached to Sugal after he saves her.

Publication

''Defense Devil'', written by

and illustrated by

Yang Kyung-Il Yang Kyung-il (born March 26, 1970) is a South Korean ''manhwa'' artist from Incheon, South Korea. In 2009 he and frequent collaborator Youn In-wan began serializing their manga Defense Devil in '' Shonen Sunday''. Works * '' Area D: Inō Ry� ...

, was serialized in

's ''

'' from April 8, 2009, to June 8, 2011. Shogakukan collected its chapters in ten ''

'' volumes, released from August 18, 2009, to September 16, 2011.

Volume list

Reception

''Defense Devil'' has been reviewed in French by staff of Manga Sanctuary, and by Planetebd, and by Manga-News. It has also been reviewed in German by SplashComics.

References

External links

''Defense Devil'' official website at ''Web Sunday''
* {{Weekly Shōnen Sunday - 2000–2009 2009 manga Demons in anime and manga Shogakukan manga Shōnen manga