Demon Lord Dante is a 2002 anime adaptation of the manga with the same name. It is an almost faithful adaptation featuring mostly minor changes.
Story[]
A Satan cult, whose leaders are demons in human form, begin to hold a series of Black Masses in hopes of reviving an ancient demon known as Dante with a virgin sacrifice. Ryō Utsugi, a high school student, begins experiencing strange nightmares and premonitions. Soon after, Ryō's sister, Saori, is kidnapped by these cultists for use in one of their sacrificial ceremonies. Ryō's premonitions guide him to the ritual and he saves her right before it is disrupted by a group of militant Christians.
Believing that Ryō's new-found powers could ultimately awaken Dante, the cultists orchestrate a chain of events and end up luring Ryō high into the mountains, where he discovers a portal that takes him into the deepest parts of the Himalayas, the heart of Dante's prison. Using telekinetic powers, Dante uses Ryō to free himself from his ice prison before eating him alive. But it all goes too far when the cultists kill the captured princess by performing a second Black Mass to successfully summon Dante. However, due to unexplained reasons, Dante's consciousness has been taken over by Ryō who, upon seeing his new form, is blinded by rage and rampages through Nagoya.
Along the way, Ryo encounters many adversaries such as Xenon, The Four Demon Kings, and a religious organization, eventually discovering the true nature of God and the Devils.
Characters[]
- Dante/Ryo Utsugi
- Saori Utsugi
- Medusa
- Zenon
- God
- Professor Veil/Beelzebub
- Piccolos
- Ura
- Gusion
- Carne
- Satan
- Kosuke Utsugi
- Sosuke Oshiba
- The Four Demon Kings
Differences from the Manga[]
- In the manga Ryo‘s nightmare happened the night before the hiking trip, in the anime there seemed to be at least a few days between those events.
- In the manga there was only one black mass conducted using an unnamed girl as sacrifice, in the anime there were two black masses, the first one had Saori as the intended sacrifice and was thwarted by the God’s Association, the second had an unnamed foreign princess as the sacrifice.
- In the Manga the Satanist in the helicopter gets killed in the crossfire of the fight between Dante and the JSDF, in the Anime Piccolos survives the battle unscathed and wouldn't die until the final battle against Adam and Eve.
- In the manga Dante kills Zenon by ripping him in half bilaterally, in the anime Dante rips him in two at the waist.
- In the manga the mauling at the high school was caused by an actual demon, in the anime it was implied to have been SX-2. Likewise when Ryo goes out at night in the manga he kills a demon after it kills a young woman, in the anime he rescued the woman from SX-2.
- When God attacked Sodom the heads of his avatars are different animals between the manga and anime.
- In the manga only one of God‘s avatars had a weapon, in the anime each one is shown carrying some form of weapon.
- In the manga, after being shown his past as Dante, Ryo wakes up with Medusa in a cafe, in the anime he wakes up on a swing set in the park.
- In the manga Dante summons the army of demons to the Himalayas in preparation for the final battle against God, in the anime the army of was sealed in the Hell Dimension with Satan.
Reception[]
The anime had been criticized by both critics as well fans of the manga for its plot holes, animation budget, and English dubbing. Because of this, the anime was given a rating of 5.99 on MyAnimeList, considerably lower than the mean average.
Trivia[]
- In the anime series, mention of Lucifer (who is revealed to be Satan's sister in New Demon Lord Dante) is made by some of the council members within the God's Association, as well by Sosuke Oshiba in a later episode. However, beyond this, Lucifer interestingly never makes an appearance and is presumingly deceased by the events of the final episode.
- This anime series was released the same year as New Demon Lord Dante (2002), estimately six months after.
- This anime series's length (13 episodes) is about 1/3 in length to the 1972 Devilman series (39 episodes), an anime that was originally intended to also be an adaptation of Mao Dante which was released about thirty years prior.