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 and illustrated by

Akira Hiramoto is a Japanese manga artist. He made his debut with ''Sono Tomodachi ni Gimon Ari'' story in 1995 in Weekly Young Magazine. He is best known as the creator of ''Prison School'', which won the General Manga Category award at the 2013 Kodansha A ...

about the

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

legend

Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generati ...

. It was originally serialized in

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...

's ''

Monthly Afternoon is a Japanese monthly ''seinen'' manga anthology published by Kodansha under the ''Afternoon'' line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of January 25, 1986. ''Afternoon'' has spawned many successful manga series such as ...

'' and later in ''Young Magazine the 3rd''. The manga was licensed in North America by

Del Rey Manga Del Rey Manga was the manga-publishing imprint of Del Rey Books, a branch of Ballantine Books, which in turn is part of Random House, the publishing division of Bertelsmann. History Del Rey Manga was formed as part of a cross-publishing rela ...

and in France by

Kana The term may refer to a number of syllabaries used to write Japanese phonological units, morae. Such syllabaries include (1) the original kana, or , which were Chinese characters (kanji) used phonetically to transcribe Japanese, the most pr ...

. ''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with ...

'' named ''Me and the Devil Blues'' as one of the best adult books for high school students in 2008. ''Me and the Devil Blues'' won the 2009

Glyph Comics Awards The Glyph Comics Awards is for the best comics made by people of color from the last calendar year. The goal is to award the People of Color for their awesome work in the comics industry and also to inspire young writers from diverse backgrounds t ...

in the Best Reprint Publication category.

Publication

The manga takes its name from the title of the Robert Johnson song, "

Me and the Devil Blues "Me and the Devil Blues" is a blues song by Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar ski ...

". It is written and illustrated by

. It was published in

's ''

'' and was put on indefinite hiatus in 2008. The manga was transferred to ''Young Magazine the 3rd Magazine'' in 2014. The series' latest chapter in the magazine was published in March 2017. ''Young Magazine the 3rd Magazines last issue was released in April 2021. Kodansha has published the first five volumes between January 21, 2005, and July 6, 2015. In North America,

released the first four volumes in a two-volumes-in-one format. The first volume (containing volumes 1 and 2 of the Japanese editions) was published on July 29, 2008 and the second volume (containing volumes 2 and 4 of the Japanese editions) was published on December 30, 2008. The manga is licensed in France by

Volume list

Chapters not yet in ''tankōbon'' format

*35. "From Four Until Late ③" *36. "From Four Until Late ④" *37. "From Four Until Late ⑤" *38. "From Four Until Late ⑥"

Reception

'' named ''Me and the Devil Blues'' as one of the best adult books for high school students in 2008. The 2009

was awarded to ''Me and the Devil Blues'' for the Best Reprint Publication.

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...

's Deb Aoki lists ''Me and the Devil Blues'' as the best "underappreciated gem" of 2008 along with ''Shoulder-A-Coffin Kuro''.

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...

's Casey Brienza commends the manga for its "superb, historically accurate artwork and an intriguing, original story premise" but criticises the manga for its "painfully slow narrative pacing, silly plot points, and a whiff of unintentional bigotry".

's Deb Aoki criticises the manga for its "lots of strong language, sex and graphic violence

hich Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...

makes this mostly an adult pleasure". Mania.com's Nadia Oxford commends the manga for its "surreal mix of fantasy and reality" that portray what could have happened to

. Comic Book Bin's Leroy Douresseaux commends the manga for its "stunning visuals, which Hiramoto composes using a variety of styles, techniques, and media". Peter Gutiérrez from Graphic Novel Reporter comments on the manga's use of its "

Faustian Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroa ...

premise to work squarely in the Southern Gothic mode of the horror genre, Hiramoto then shifts the tempo and tone quite radically". John Thomas from Comics Village commends Hiramoto for "his valiant attempt to bring a long-gone Southern bluesman's story to a modern Japanese audience". Jason Thompson, in the online appendix to '' Manga: The Complete Guide'', wrote "The passive protagonist and depressing narrative, coupled with a weak non-ending ... , make for a disappointing narrative, although the art is chilling and lovely and it has many fine page-turner sequences."

References

External links

* {{Young Magazine the 3rd 2003 manga Anime and manga set in the United States Comics set in the 1930s Comics based on real people Cultural depictions of Robert Johnson Del Rey Manga Historical anime and manga Kodansha manga Music in anime and manga Psychological horror anime and manga Seinen manga Supernatural anime and manga