DVD Fight: Devilman vs. Sukeban Deka 2
By Lisa Fary
For a moment, I thought Devilman broke my DVD player. On closer inspection, however, it appeared that the plug had simply come loose. Since that was the last DVD I’d watched, I’m going to go ahead and blame the loose plug on the movie rather than on my cat (who is probably the responsible party) anyway. Devilman deserves to take the blame for as much as possible.
It’s promising at the beginning, though. An alternative energy expedition drilled too far into the Earth and released a horde of demons. Those demons then fuse with humans and wreak havoc. The demon Amon fuses with Akira, but because his human heart remains he’s a force for good.
Or something. Akira and Amon fused and that’s where everything fell apart. Unfortunately, there were still almost two hours left. Two hours of convoluted plot, too much plot, and meandering plot. Throw in emo posing every five seconds and you’ve got yourself a movie that could cause your DVD player to unplug itself.
Devilman himself looks awesome when he’s in full demon mode, but he’s not in full demon mode nearly enough. He spends most of the time either as his human counter-part, Akira Fado, or as a human-demon hybrid. A human-demon hybrid also sounds like it could be cool - it’s not. In his hybrid form, Devilman is a skinny kid wearing leather pants, some bad rubber prosthetics, and an emo pout.
Devilman is only a good movie selection if you’re in the mood to mutilate your eyes. It’s just as effective as slashing your retinas. More so, actually, because retinal damage is only physical. Devilman will slash your brain with its emo talons of insipidness.
Meanwhile, Sukeban Deka will blow up a tank with a yo-yo.
You don’t need to see Sukeban Deka: The Movie or the Sukeban Deka TV series to enjoy Sukeban Deka 2: Counter-Attack of the Kazama Sisters.  All you need to know is that Yui Kazama is a student cop armed with a yo-yo.
But, Yui is a yo-yo girl cop with ethics. When her Juvenile Security Bureau buddies go bad and start engaging in acts of fatal police brutality, she resigns and heads for the countryside to ride horses. But there’s a devious and deadly plot afoot and the Juvenile Security Bureau is behind it. It’s up to Yui and her sisters, Yuma and Yuka, to stop it.
Go ahead. Accept the ridiculousness of it and then let it go. Sit back, have some soy ice cream, and watch 1980s era Japanese schoolgirls beat the crap out of everything in sight. Watch people fall from punches that only come within a foot of their faces. Watch Yui propel herself out of the water with only a powerful kick of her scrawny legs and not only land on her feet on the deck of a moving speedboat, but also land totally dry.
I love Sukeban Deka. I can’t help it. There’s just something endearing about bad ass girl dispensing justice with a yo-yo (and in one scene, an origami boomerang crane). Sukeban Deka 2 knows exactly what it is - an unabashedly silly girl-power movie. Sukeban Deka 2 wins. Devilman can go pout in the corner and maybe write some poetry.
The winners’ circle so far. . .
![To Kill A King [Blu-ray]](http://www.pinkraygun.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/5102z1kibcl_sl75_.jpg)
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Lisa Fary’s early exposure to classic Battlestar Galactica in 1979 is largely responsible for her lifelong interest in science fiction and her childhood ambition of being an intergalactic space cowgirl. She thinks diagramming sentences is a fun alternative to Sudoku.
