After reading the manga Code 1 “Dante” and the first light novel - Devil May Cry, I understand the anime series a little better. My new found knowledge neither improves nor detracts from the anime, but acts more as a “Ohhhh, that’s why that’s the way it is.” Mind you, it’s not as if there’s too terribly much to be confused about in the anime but it’s nice to have a certain sense of, history I guess you’d call it, along with what I already know from the games.
The second light novel was written by the same author as the first: Shin-ya Goikeda. Devil May Cry 2 - the light novel - takes place immediately after the original game and ends at the intro to the Devil May Cry 2 game.
plot summary
In this volume, Dante has fully embraced his devil hunter persona; something he eschewed and hid away from himself in the previous novel. However, his flippant attitude and smart-mouth are still a firm part of Dante’s personality.
Enzo - Dante’s money-grubbing agent - has a job for the devil hunter in the ruins of what was once one of the city’s temples. Dante is attacked almost immediately upon his arrival there by demon possessed soldiers. Dispatching them quickly, Dante is then forced to go head to head with a powerful demoness.
After seriously wounding, but not killing, the demoness Dante meets the person who commissioned him for the job; Beryl.
Beryl is a self-styled devil hunter. She’s on the hunt for a small statuette in the shape of a three headed dog. The demoness that Dante had just battled was in possession of the figurine but it flew off before Dante could finish her. Beryl had wanted Dante to kill the demoness but her arrival interrupted Dante’s coup de grace.
Now, the Beastheads, as the statue is called, is in the hands of the petty thief Ducas. Ducas has no idea the power behind the demonic figurine. However, the city’s crime boss, Cold-blooded Chen, has a very good idea just what the Beastheads can impart to its holder.
Hiding Ducas away from Dante and Beryl, Chen sits back and lets Ducas discover for himself what it means to “know thine own potential.”
Dante and Beryl are thrown into a massive battle shortly after Ducas releases the full potential of the Beastheads. The two end up in a bizarre situation involving Chen, manufactured demons, and an alternate history in which Nelo Angelo is the hero!
review
The second DMC novel read much better than the first one. There weren’t as many awkward scenes or stilted dialog and the word usage has improved two fold. Because of this I finished the whole thing in two sittings (two hours total).
The story was an improvement as well. It was more original than DMC and didn’t get too caught up trying to define Dante; something DMC tried and failed to do. DMC 2 stuck to its video game roots and didn’t get too “deep” or distracted with “emotions”. It is a light novel about a video game, after all.
It’s as if Shin-ya Goikeda has gotten into the cadence of writing about Dante’s exploits after writing the first novel and knows his material and characters better. Some of the language is still a little high for a light novel about a popular video game (I would have preferred the language level to match the subject matter, but, meh, that’s my personal preference). But Goikeda has definitely improved.
DMC2 had the feel of “Hey, we all know and love Dante, and we all know and love what he does, let’s watch him do it!” And it did plow ahead as if Dante was heading into another incarnation of his popular video game series. I think the first novel made the mistake of trying to get everyone involved, even the people unfamiliar with Dante. That didn’t work out too well and made the novel seem deeper than it needed to be. I likes me my shallow, unrepentant action manga/games/anime/ novels! Not everything needs to be the End All, Be All Answer To Burning Questions.
Devil May Cry 2 still reads like a videogame and might not be satisfying for fans who want more depth and background for Dante. However, if you’re in the mood to read as Dante goes on another mission, DMC 2 is the perfect fix.
outta possible four gummies.
September 5th, 2007 at 8:18 am
[...] I did decide to catch up on all those DMC manga and light novels since I can’t seem to catch up with the new game’s upcoming release or game console [...]