Akira Fudo is the titular character of the Devilman franchise and one of the main characters of the Cyborg 009 vs. Devilman OVA movie. He is voiced by Shintarō Asanuma in the original Japanese version and by Bryce Papenbrook in the English Dub.
Appearance[]
Akira is a Japanese teenager of average height with a lean physique, brown hair worn in a medium length with some slight curls and sideburns, and brown eyes. He mainly wears his school uniform in an unconventional fashion, wearing a red shirt covered by a black jacket with grey lining, black pants, and brown shoes.
His Devilman form in this OVA is a hybrid of his 1972 anime appearance and the more modern incarnations. Devilman has bluish green skin, large wings colored black on the outside with a red interior, a muscular physique with spiked protrusions on his elbows and shoulders, black fur covering his legs and genitalia and a prehensile tail with a pointed tip. His head features black fur that covers the back of his head, a red forehead, a pair of antenna extended from the top, and two pairs of small wings extending from the sides of his head with the top pair being larger. Devilman has a notably deeper voice than Akira.
Personality[]
Prior to his transformation, Miki described him as kind but weak of will, particularly with the loss of his parents. Official material states after his first transformation Akira gained a hard, dry, yet cool personality. He normally acts rather sarcastically and uninterested in most things unless his loved ones are involved, acting protective with Miki and Ryo. As Devilman, Akira is vicious towards any demons and perceived threats.
Abilities[]
Akira's physique after his first transformation into Devilman gave him heightened physical abilities allowing him to leap across rooftops and pick up a moped in his human form alone.
As Devilman, Akira has access to more abilities besides greater strength and durability. His wings allow him to fly and glide long distances after they sprout from his upper back. His antennae can act as a sonar to locate targets and can extend, strike, and ensnare opponents. Devilman can manipulate energy with his antenna and channel the energy through his antenna like a wire to attack enemies or into a beam attack that cause whatever it hits to disintegrate. His forearms sprout blades called the Devil Cutter that are sharp enough to cut through hard keratin and a demon's body for close combat. A less used power is powerful blasts of fire breath that can burn or incinerate opponents. Devilman's reflexes are powerful enough to catch and react fast enough to throw away a cyborg moving at mach speed (except for newer and more enhanced models as shown in his fight with Atun). Finally, he has a high healing factor that can heal and regenerate a severed arm that was surgically reattached after a night of rest.
History[]
Prior to the events of the OVA, Akira was once a timid and shy boy who was always bullied. Eventually his parents had died when they were away and Akira was sent to live with family friends in the Makimura family. One day when demons started to appear around Japan, Akira became fused with the demon hero Amon. Ever since, Akira as the newly timed Devilman and his best friend Ryo Asuka hunted down trouble making demons including the demon Sirene who nearly succeeded in killing him after fusing with another demon called Kaim.
One of his most haunting battles came from the demon Jinmen, who absorbed Akira's young friend Sa-chan. During the fight, Devilman struggles as it would mean harming the faces on Jinmen's shell. Sa-chan however convinces him to fight, starting by killing her face. With this, Devilman finished off Jinmen tearing off his shell while mourning the dead.
The next day, Akira helped Miki deal with a couple delinquents who tried to steal a purse. Later, Miki berates him for skipping class while introducing him to the transfer student Eva Maria Parallels. Later Akira tracks down demon activity while jumping over buildings. He faces against demons created by Lilith and Pazuzu. Fighting against Pazuzu, Devilman manages to defeat him by cutting him in half. Devilman later encounters the cyborg 009 and fights against him, grappling with his supersonic speed. At the end of the fight both of them lose an arm.
With Akira injured, Ryo takes Akira to his house to recover while reattaching his arm. After Akira recovers, he is eager to get into the fight against the cyborg threat. He rushes to the school building to learn that Miki was captured. To find her, he goes with Ryo to the Black Ghost base. As they approached, Akira became Devilman to go to the island but encounters Atun as the Cyborg Daemon and starts the fight with him.
The fight however is difficult due to Atun possessing an enhanced accelerator. Even help from 009 proves to do little because of Atun's recovery rate. 0015 with help from the Proto-Numbers' however disables all of the High-Teen Number's self-repair functions but this causes Atun and his host 0018 to become the heightened form Azazel. Devilman personally felt the power of Azazel until Set was removed from the gestalt. With Atun no longer having his enhancements, Devilman fought him in a brawl managing to badly wound. 009 delivers a powerful blow before Devilman finishes Atun off with a blast of fire. Reverting back to Akira, he bids the cyborgs farewell as he and Ryo drive off with a sleeping Miki. Back at school, Akira overlooks Miki as she instinctively recalls her time with Eva and could not remember her with Akira thinking that was for the best.
Trivia[]
- In the OVAs, Akira is often referred to as "the demon traitor, Amon" with Akira often responding "I'm Devilman!". This a reference to the Devilman (1972) anime where Akira Fudo is actually a disguise used by the (actual) demon traitor Devilman.
- It should be noted that in the 2nd episode of the OVA, Ryo Asuka also refers to Akira as traitor which the latter responds "You do know that I never intended to betray them" continuing on with "But for some reason, they just believe that I'm Amon".
- However, in the 3rd part, Akira Fudo (as Devilman) admits that despite of his appearance, he is "still human" which confuses the matter.
- It should be noted that in the 2nd episode of the OVA, Ryo Asuka also refers to Akira as traitor which the latter responds "You do know that I never intended to betray them" continuing on with "But for some reason, they just believe that I'm Amon".