Shin Megami Tensei Devil Children: Light & Dark (partially lost anime series based on role-playing game series; 2002-2003)
Official TV TOKYO poster for the series.
Status: Partially Lost
Megami Tensei is a beloved Japanese franchise that has spawned over several video games and various notable spin-offs that range most notably on the role-playing genre with very notable franchises titles such as the Devil Summoner series and the very popular spin-off Persona franchise. The franchise has received a massive cult following around the world which finds itself critically and commercially successful in other countries. Other than its games maintaining a high status in Japan, it has also received various adaptations in the form of manga, playing cards, and anime.
One of Megami Tensei's spin-off games titled Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children (localized as DemiKids) was first released on the GameBoy Color back in the year 2000 and has spawned multiple video game sequels in the following years, one of which is entitled Shin Megami Tensei Devil Children: Light & Dark (localized as DemiKids: Light Version & Dark Version) that was released in 2002.
Aside from the video games, the spin-off series also received two anime series adaptations that only aired exclusively in Japan. One of which is loosely based around the original DemiKids video game, spanning 50 episodes, and the other one was its sequel based loosely around the DemiKids: Light & Dark video game[1][2], spanning 52 episodes, which few episodes from the sequel series are entirely lost.[3]
Background
Shin Megami Tensei Devil Children: Light & Dark, is an anime series based on the video game of the same name that aired from October 5th, 2002, up until September 27th, 2003[4][5][6], and aired at around 9:00-9:30 a.m. on the TV TOKYO channel in Japan[4][7] and spans around 52 episodes[4][2]. The series was animated by two studios, studio Actas[2], who animated the first 26 episodes of the series[2], and studio Comet[2], who animated episodes 27-52[2]. In addition, the series was also directed by two directors, director Tetsuya Kobayashi for the first half at studio Actas[2], and director Shin Misawa for the second half of the series at studio Comet[2].
A synopsis for the series, that came from AnimeNewsNetwork[2], goes as follows:
The year is 200X. Jin, Akira and Lena are three childhood friends who like mysterious things. One day in the library, along with the mysterious transfer student Ami, they find the "Akuma Compendium". They chanted an incantation in the book and, to their surprise, devils appeared. Ami then told Jin and Akira that they are the Devil Children that will decide the fate of the world. She hands them their Devil Risers. The group then pass through the "Door of Time" to the land of Valhalla where they fight an evil ruler known as Imperius who plans on conquering all of the world. The Nakama of Jin is Rand, a Sol Lion, and Akira's is Gale, a Hylon[2].
Availability
The series never received a home media release after it ended.
The former series, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children/DemiKids, eventually received home media releases in the years of 2007 and 2019 in DVD and remastered Blu-Ray formats respectively. A rip of 2007's DVD set was widely available on anime piracy torrent websites before being uploaded to the Internet Archive on September 22, 2020 by user PeacØck. Likewise, a rip of the 2019 Blu-Ray release is also available online.
As for Light & Dark, episodes were first uploaded to Japanese video-hosting website NicoNico Douga circa 2009 by user ぬーどる (Nuudoru) but most of them were eventually taken down for copyright infringement. The only surviving video is the latter half of episode 23, uploaded on November 13, 2009 and linked here. Comments on the video redirect viewers to the Dailymotion account of user kakukaku000shikajika, which contains reuploads of episodes 1-8 and 21-52. On March 17th, 2022, Internet Archive user MKCAM uploaded those Dailymotion videos to the archive, with the description acknowledging the missing episodes[3]. With 35 out of 52 episodes of the series available, only 12 episodes from the series appear to be missing.
According to a comment on ぬーどる's video on NicoNico, the entire series is available on YouTube, but the videos are private.
All Missing Episodes
| # | Episode Title | Air Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Rangda, the Female Phantom Thief Appears! | Nov 30th, 2002 | Lost |
| 10 | Maybe the Third | Dec 7th, 2002 | Lost |
| 11 | Revive! The Bond Between Father and Son | Dec 14th, 2002 | Lost |
| 12 | Village of Flor | Dec 21st, 2002 | Lost |
| 13 | Shun and the Liberation Army | Dec 28th, 2002 | Lost |
| 14 | Rangda Again! | Jan 4th, 2003 | Lost |
| 15 | Ami's Secret | Jan 11th, 2003 | Lost |
| 16 | Skuld, Goddess of Time | Jan 18th, 2003 | Lost |
| 17 | Isn't it!? | Jan 25th, 2003 | Lost |
| 18 | Reunion With Shun | Feb 1st, 2003 | Lost |
| 19 | Bifrons' Trap | Feb 8th, 2003 | Lost |
| 20 | Hurry! For Friends | Feb 15th, 2003 | Lost |
Gallery
External Links
Links
- Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children Wikipedia page.
- aniDB page for Shin Megami Tensei Devil Children: Light & Dark anime series.
- MegamiTensei FANDOM Page for the series.
Available Episodes
- Link for all found episodes of Shin Megami Tensei Devil Children: Light & Dark (episodes 1-8; 21-52)
- Link for all episodes of the prequel series, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children
References
- ↑ MAL Page for Shin Megami Tensei Devil Children: Light & Dark anime series. Retrieved 19 Feb '23
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 ANN Page for Shin Megami Tensei Devil Children: Light & Dark anime series. Retrieved 19 Feb '23
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Archive.org upload of all found episodes of the series, that notes episodes 9-20 as lost. Archived 17 Mar '22
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Schedule and episode listing for the series. Retrieved 19 Feb '23
- ↑ Nasinc info on the series. Retrieved 19 Feb '23
- ↑ AT-X information on the series.
- ↑ AllCinema page on the series.