Stray Little Devil


Stray Little Devil is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kotaro Mori. The manga was originally serialized in Dengeki Comic Gao!, and was later published into five bound volumes by MediaWorks from January 2005 to March 2007. DrMaster Publications Inc. licensed the manga series for English-language publication in North America and released the five volumes between June 2006 and November 2007. The story is a comedic fantasy, detailing the life of a girl named Pam Akumachi, who is unintentionally drawn into the "Spirit World". Her only hope of returning home is a mysterious individual named Remy, who promises to tell Pam the way back if she becomes a full-fledged devil by passing through the devil's educational system.

Plot

Stray Little Devil begins when a young Pam "Akuma Akumachi", entranced by a story her grandmother told about meeting a kind devil, tries to cast a spell in order to summon a similar entity. Much to the surprise of her classmates, Masao Kusaka and Rinka Amamiya, the spell works, and Pam finds herself unexpectedly transported to a mysterious realm, the Spirit World, due to the magical forces unleashed when her necklace is drawn through the portal opened in her classroom. This is a world where human existence is insignificant and invisible, overshadowed by supernatural forces such as Angels, Devils, and Spirits.
One of the first people Pam encounters in the spirit world is a duplicate of her classmate Rinka, however, this angel, named Linfa, quickly attacks her with a magical sword. Pam's rescue was completely unexpected and miraculous, for it was Remy who revealed her newfound identity as a devil, saving her from danger at the very last moment. Remi tells her that the only way she can go back to her home world is to take on the mantle of a devil, forsaking her humanity and accepting devilhood as a way of life.
After Remy leaves her, Pam is in a vulnerable state and is soon taken advantage of by Lizyerra, who provides Pam with a job as an intern at Pandemonium, the devils' HQ. Though she has not yet passed the spirits' entry exam to become a full-fledged devil, Lizyerra gives her the opportunity to stay as a stray devil. Because she has no familiar and is therefore unable to prove her credentials as a devil, she is initially classified as a probationary intern rather than being welcomed into the world of demons. Lizyerra brings Raim, Vine, and Pam together in a neutral area that serves as a bridge between the two separate worlds, devil land and angel land, providing them with an opportunity to collaborate in their pursuit of finding Pam's familiar. Eventually, Pam succeeds in claiming the powerful storm djinn En Zu and, with the confirmation of her internship, embarks on a devilish educational journey in order to learn how to navigate the Spirit World and survive in it.

Setting

The series has a rule book for its Spirit World:
  1. The Spirit World is divided into three areas:
  2. *Angelea, the land of the Angels. Their headquarters, the Church, is located here.
  3. *Daemonea, the land of the Devils. Their headquarters, government offices and educational institute, the Pandemonium, are located here.
  4. *The Cooperative Development Sector separates the two realms of Angelea and Daemonea and is considered neutral territory that anyone may enter. It is forbidden for angels and devils to enter the other side's own realms without permission, however. The city of Uruk is located in the Cooperative Development Sector.
  5. The entire Spirit World functions under the Law of Conservation of Luck; an angel's good luck is a devil's bad luck and vice versa. If a member of one race helps a member of the other, the one performing the aid will immediately receive bad luck in equal measure to the good luck of the receiver. It is as yet unknown what would happen if members of the two races strove to render equal service to one another. Since the two have engaged in at least one world war, it may be some time before such attempts would be made.
  6. There are two possible sources for angels and demons.
  7. #A spirit can choose to take an entry exam to become an angel or a devil at some point in its life. Alternatively, a spirit could decide to remain as it is indefinitely. It is also possible for a trainee to forsake demonic status, at least, and return to being a spirit.
  8. #Pure-breds. Devils - and presumably angels - can reproduce sexually with members of their own kind. It is as yet unknown whether angels and devils could reproduce together, with spirits or humans, although there seems to be some evidence of the latter. Pure-bred devils apparently have access to powers that devils spawned through the entry exam cannot touch.
  9. #Angels can 'fall', thereby becoming devils, if they are outcast from their people for acts of treason. Traditionally, the eyes of the fallen are branded with runes, leaving them blind. There is at least one case where an angel took a rune for a fallen lover, allowing them both to see with one eye, while the other was blinded.
  10. Economy. The devils of Daemonea are organized by the "Guild", a tail-end organization of the Pandemonium which unifies revenues by unionizing all devil business in the autonomous areas, like the city of Uruk. The angelic counterpart is known as the Chapel. The main difference between the two, other than the races that run them, is that the Chapel performs services for free while the Guild takes money. The Chapel runs on donations, given in gratitude for service.
  11. Morality. While angels in the Spirit World do apparently have a reputation for charity and kindness and devils have one for competitiveness, neither race seems to be purely good or purely evil. The Spirit World angels are capable of being overly aggressive, standoffish and can sometimes resort to in-fighting, while devils can be quite caring among each other and concerned about the welfare of others. Spirits seem to be unconstrained by preconceptions about their morality and may adopt any standpoint.
  12. Flight. Most creatures in the Spirit World seem to be capable of flight. Demonic flight - and probably the other forms - is not actually dependent on possessing wings and the wind, but rather on an ability to sense and navigate the flow of "ether", a very different kind of current. Wind and ether may at times flow against each other. Pam has managed to fly using ether without going against the wind, which is considered a credible feat, even an innovation. Alas, this style of flight can apparently cause dizziness and nausea because of the many strange maneuvers one has to perform to manage it.
  13. Religion. Although the sign of the cross is frequently shown in Stray Little Devil and the use of angels and devils seems to refer to the Christian religion, it is revealed in Volume 4 that the Spirit World adheres to the Sumerian religion, when a religious festival takes place and the creation myths are read to a crowd. Various characters' names and the names of assorted objects also refer to the Sumerian mythology.

    Characters

;Pam Akumachi
;Linfa
;Lizyerra
;Raim
;Vine
;En Zu
;Aregna
;Remy

Manga

Stray Little Devil was originally serialized in Dengeki Comic Gao! The thirty-two chapters were collected into five volumes published by MediaWorks. The series was Kotaro Mori's first original work, and was at first envisioned as a short-term series which then became a longer-term series. The English version was released by DrMaster.

Reception

The first volume of the manga was given mixed reviews, Hilary Goldstein from IGN gave first volume a Must Read rating. Goldstein goes on to write: "Whether artistically, thematically or plot-wise, you're not going to get what you're expected, and that's a very good thing in the growing manga market, where many titles tread the same ground." In a review at Anime News Network, Carlo Santos commented that "It could still use a lot of improvement in the story department, and it needs to stop resorting to clichés all the time, but what there is, is handled well". Alex Hoffman at Comics Village stated "An interesting premise and good character interaction make this fantasy manga worth reading, but production values hamper its ability to tell its story."