Part 27: EX Update 6 - TV Drama Intro + Episodes 1~5

The idea of a live-action adaption of a video game tends to bring to mind terrible acting and torturous butchering of the source material. How does the 90s television adaption of Devil Summoner fare? Well...



Some background to start with.
The drama ran from October 4, 1997 to March 28, 1988 on TV Tokyo. It had two seasons, with the second season starting January 10, 1988. The first season ran for 13 episodes while the second ran for 12 for a total of 25 episodes. All of the episodes came out on VHS and Laserdisc, and then were re-released on DVD in 2005.



The DVD set is notoriously expensive, with the official Atlus site giving it a cost of almost 300 dollars and most sellers now asking for around 500-600 bucks (this is why I'm using the subpar VHS tape rips).

The only person from Atlus who worked on the show was Kouji "Cozy" Okada, who worked as a producer (both Cozy and artist Kazuma Kaneko made a cameo in the first episode, though).

So, the most interesting part of the drama isn't what's in it, but what's not in it. The entire switching bodies plot? Completely gone. The protagonist doesn't exist in this at all. The series in its entirety is almost some bizarro, alternative universe kind of thing. Kyouji is just a normal detective who happens to have a GUMP because his father gave it to him. Rei and Marie are buddy-buddy and Marie actually does stuff. Kumiko is highly involved in the story.

It's got the highlights of a late 90s "adult" drama - unnecessary sex scenes, primitive CGI, overdramatic acting, etc. As one fan put it: "A triple threat of gloomy, gross, and erotic - what one would call a complete midnight drama." Due to the nature of the show, some stuff might be considered a little .

Each update will cover five episodes, for a total of five updates. For each episode I will give a summary and a list of "key points" - scenes that I thought were funny or strange enough to warrant special mention and inclusion in the best-of videos located at the end of the update. Now then, let's begin!

EPISODE 1 - OMEN



The episode starts with a scene inside the detective agency, which looks a lot more rundown than it did in the game. We cut to a shot of Rei following after somebody or something before hiding behind a pole and snapping a pic. Get used to this, because for the first half of the series Kyouji basically sits around in the detective agency doing nothing while Rei goes out and does all the work.



We go back to the office, Kyouji is lazing around and doesn't even bother picking up the agency's phone when it rings. Rei calls him on his cell, which he picks up but then doesn't say anything for the entirety of the conversation. Well, at the very least Kyouji's asshole-ish behavior from the game is retained in the drama. Rei hangs up on him, and continues to take pictures. We see the man she's been trailing. She writes something in her notebook, so we take it that she's been watching him for awhile.



We switch over to Marie's shop. She's just finished consulting two clients and, true to the game, smiles while counting her money.

We go to the bar where the man Rei is trailing is and HOLY SHIT



IT'S KANEKO KAZUMA AND OKADA KOUJI! They don't have any lines, just sitting there like "hell yeah we worked on this game."

Rei gets hit on by some guys and notices a man head to the bathroom with a woman.



We go back to Marie, where Kyouji appears. It should be noted that in this version, Marie basically raised Kyouji after his parents died, so their relationship is quite different than the one in-game.



A woman from the bar Rei was at, along with two men, go to the park. There, a crappy filter appears to let you know that something spooky is about to go down. One of the men turns around but it's too late! He's been possessed by a demon.



Rei pays and gets out of the bar, but the woman and the other man have already been killed.



At Marie's, Kyouji's radio goes off and he hears a report about what just happened. He hightails it out of there and to the scene of the crime, attempting to investigate before getting chased off because he's not part of the police.



The next day, Rei comes to the detective agency. She talks on the phone with Marie before heading into a sleeping Kyouji's room. After yelling at him to get up, she tears his sheets off and gets an eyeful of his naked ass. She's so surprised that she drops the newspaper she was holding and says "No way..." but Kyouji is basically like whatever and just covers himself back up.



Rei pays a visit to Marie to complain about Kyouji, and we get his whole dead parents back story while seeing shots of Kyouji just chilling and smoking on the roof.

The crappy filters return, signaling the presence of demons. The man who had killed the couple last night is now stalking out another pair of prey, but this time Rei is following as well because one of the pair is the man she's been following. Things are going haywire at Marie's, and Kyouji gets a call from Rei telling him that some shady stuff is going down. The man and women who were being followed park their car down at the docks.



An erotic(?) scene plays out when suddenly some scary music plays and the demon jumps into the woman, named Nami. Some terrible CGI appears beside her (Arioch?) and then a beam shoots out from her and into the man, splattering him all over the car.

Rei and Kyouji hope that they're not too late, but arrive at the scene only to find a bloody mess. Rei lets out a scream and the windshield wipers go back and forth in the ensuing silence.

End episode 1!

Key points:
- DEMON BEAAAAM!
- Some damn good windshield wipers

EPISODE 2 - RUMBLING



After a brief show of what happened last time, Kyouji tells Rei that this is his "chance to be a bounty hunter" before running off to get the police, leaving Rei alone with the body (what a nice guy). The police come over with the dead man's wife, Minako, who had been the one to request an investigation from Rei in the first place. Minako discusses things with Rei and the police, asking Rei if she still owes money since the man in question is now dead. Filters come out to play again, so the demon must still be lurking around.



Marie is getting some ominous feelings, and we see Kyouji having some crazy demonic nightmares. Rei walks in after he's woken up and they discuss the crime, but they don't have anything except that whatever it is is going after couples. They also return to the scene, and Kyouji believes there may be a supernatural element to what happened, so they may have to go about solving the case using supernatural means.



Kyouji actually gets off his ass and begins to investigate the matter by asking around about the woman. Rei goes to Marie to ask her to help with her shamanic abilities, though Marie asks Rei to stop the investigation because she's seeing signs of the devil's work.



Minako gets a visitor - Nami, who's looking particularly dead inside, is there to apply to be a housekeeper. After a bit, Minako's getting a strange and eerie feeling, so she calls up Rei, who comes over for some exorcism.



Minako had invited some people over, so Rei has to go - but not before Nami stares at her creepily from the window. We see Minako's company, including some kid who likes to roll around on the floor. She yells at Nami, who's in the kitchen stirring something, after she feels the demon's eyes on her. She calls up Rei again, since apparently Rei's little exorcism didn't work out.



Rei calls up Marie for help and invites her to the woman's house, as it continues to go crazy with flickering lights, windows opening, and clattering items.



Rei and Marie get to the house while the lights are going crazy and can't find Minako. They walk further in and - surprise, surprise - see Nami with her clothes covered in blood. The demonic presence knocks the two over.



It seems Rei had talked to Kyouji earlier, as he finally makes his appearance at the house. Marie begins to cry out some kind of chant as Nami walks towards them, and I guess it works because she disappears. Kyouji opens the door and asks what the heck's going on before noticing a woman in the corner in front of the piano. He grabs the nearby lamp as a makeshift weapon and begins to go towards her.



As they get closer, we see that the sheet music is covered in blood and the woman slowly turns around. Kyouji shines the light on her, revealing that she's covered in blood and has a hole ripped through her stomach.

Kyouji questions what could have done such a thing, which Marie replies to with "A demon" (akuma). Kyouji repeats the word, and a chant of "akuma akuma akumakumakumakuma" plays as the shot quickly switches between the four in the room. It's incredibly silly.

End episode 2!

Key points:
- They couldn't pick a better shot than some kid rolling around
- Kyouji finds a new weapon
- Akumakumakumakumakuma...

EPISODE 3 - AWAKENING



In the detective agency, Rei concludes that it must have been a demon who killed Minako. Kyouji replies "I don't believe in demons," and Rei chews him out because he himself has relied on supernatural powers in the past. Rei continues to talk as Kyouji gets up and walks over to the shelf. We get our first look at the GUMP, which was given to him by his father.



After the title screen, we get some rather gross close-up shots of some sweaty guy eating before switching back to Rei talking to somebody at the detective agency. We go back to the guy, and a woman steps out from behind the partition in the restaurant - it's Nami. Rei gets a fax from somebody looking for a lost dog before we switch to Kyouji.

In usual fashion, Kyouji is blowing off work and hanging by the docks talking to his GUMP before he hears somebody playing the recorder.



It's Kumiko, looking absolutely nothing like her in-game appearance. Kyouji strides on over to her, so she moves, sits down, and continues to play the recorder. Kyouji sits down beside her. She asks if he's alone, he answers that he is, and she asks why. He can't give an answer and trails off, so Kumiko says she's alone too and that's why she's playing the recorder.



Kumiko spots Kyouji's GUMP sticking out of his jacket, so she immediately grabs her stuff and runs off. Kyouji calls her after her, then looks behind him and sees that she dropped something.



Kumiko begins to play the recorder in a new location when she hears a dog whining - it turns out it's the dog that Rei's been looking for. Kumiko makes her way to the detective agency with the dog in hand. Rei gets on the phone with the owner and Kumiko continues to (badly) play the recorder. After Rei gets off the phone, Kumiko tells her that she met a strange man at the docks.

Kyouji is having visions of the deaths that have occurred so far before we get another uncomfortable scene with the man and Nami eating. They leave the restaurant and head out. Kyouji is somehow managing to follow their trail.



The two make it to a house, where Nami sets the table and begins to bring out food. The man starts devouring the food as Nami brings out more, and the entire scene goes on for far longer than it really should (like three whole minutes of this). At the end, Kyouji makes it to the house and Nami brings out the final platter - a large butcher's knife. Kyouji hears the man screaming and rushes inside, where Nami is laughing maically while threatening the man with the knife.



Nami lets her demon side show and Kyouji, in a panic, grabs hold of his GUMP. A light descends from the heavens onto Kyouji. Something speaks through Kyouji, saying "Do you wish to kill this lowly demon?" Kyouji gets some bad CGI of his own in the form of Vishnu. And not just any Vishnu - it's the Vishnu design from Megami Ibunroku Persona.



A cheesy battle ensues, where Kyouji absorbs or seals Arioch inside himself before passing out. He makes it back to the detective agency, but he doesn't say anything about what just happened to Rei.



Kumiko walks through the door, all buddy-buddy with Rei, and recognizes Kyouji. She pushes him around and tells him to get out, not realizing that he actually works there.

End episode 3!

Key points:
- Kumiko plays recorder like an elementary-schooler
- Nami goes crazy with the demonic laughs
- At least the battles in this drama go faster than in-game

EPISODE 4 - NOXIOUS




The episode begins with the filming of an interview with two girls, Naomi and Ako, as well as a sociology professor named Horita. We see Rei watching from the floor above, as she has been asked to shadow Horita and watch for any scandalous behavior.



The girls and the professor go back to his office, where it's very apparent that their relationships are a bit deeper than they might appear. Horita gets close with Naomi, causing Ako to stare at the two in jealousy. Rei appears at the door, but since she doesn't have an appointment she gets shooed away by Ako. Rei returns to the office and bickers with Kyouji about doing work.



We return to Horita's office, where he and Ako are alone and the scene soon devolves into some awkward erotica, complete with foot-licking. Suddenly, a boy comes into the room and asks what the heck Ako is doing. Horita quickly stops and stands up, and the boy starts to get in his face. Horita knocks him to the ground, but the boy stands back up and we're treated to a hilarious fight scene shown through shadows. Ako and Horita push their feet onto his crotch and ridicule him.



We see Kyouji starting at his GUMP for a bit before switching to Rei. With her camera in hand, she follows Horita and Ako to his apartment.



We're treated to even more bad erotica, but then the scene switches to the boy from earlier being followed by something sinister. It catches him, and he begins to convulse before turning into some kind of ghoul. He then walks off.



The next day, Kyouji returns to the office to find Kumiko already there. He tries to awkwardly make small talk with her to no avail.

Naomi comes into Horita's office and begins acting sexy, leading to yet another foot-fetish scene. They're interrupted by Rei, who hands Horita a business card and claims to be working for an idol agency. He lets her in, and Rei interviews him and the girls. Horita says that Naomi should be the one to model for Rei.



Afterwards, Rei calls up Kyouji, who's still at the office with Kumiko. While they're talking, Kumiko reaches for the GUMP. When she touches it, some crazy light flashes before the room goes dark and Kumiko has disappeared. Kyouji has absolutely no idea what just happened, and he tells Rei that he has to do something before hanging up.

Outside of Horita's office, Naomi runs into Ako, and they get into a little catfight about the whole modeling thing. Ako runs out and gets a phone call from the boy from earlier.



We find Kumiko, who's wandering the streets, when she stops and finds a man in a black trenchcoat. They seem to know each other, as he begins to follow after her.



Ako meets up with the boy, who's acting super creepy and demonic. They kiss, which seems to transfer the demon into Ako. The guy starts freaking out and the next thing we know, he's been killed.

End episode 4!

Key points:
- Sexy foot scenes
- READY? FIGHT! K.O.!

EPISODE 5 - DISCLOSURE



We start the episode with a poorly drawn chalk line, outlining the body of the boy from last night. The police don't know what's up. We see Kumiko walking down a dark alleyway before the title screen pops up.



Kyouji is back at the detective agency, and calls Rei, who's back outside of Horita's office. Inside, Horita is once again going to town with Naomi's legs. A demon-possessed Ako walks through the door, baring her naked legs at Horita, who gets super turned on. After Horita gets chastised by Naomi, Ako simply walks back out the door. Horita quickly pushes Naomi out and calls somebody.



The scene switches to some kind of underground prayer circle. The man in black from last episode is there, and the person they're chanting to is Kumiko. She's in pain, and begins to bleed from her leg.

We find Rei at the scene of the crime, and she gets a vision of what happened last night. A police detective strolls up to her, asking what she's doing around the scene of the crime. Rei calls up Marie to discuss the crime, and the most likely demonic influence.



We cut to Kyouji lounging around on the rooftop with GUMP in hand, pondering what happened with Kumiko the other day. While he's lost in thought, Kumiko appears from the doorway. It seems he's become friendlier with her, as he greets her with a smile. He spots a bandage wrapped around her leg - where she was bleeding from during the "ceremony." He makes her some coffee and the two quaintly sip from their cups in silence.



Marie appears on the roof as well, interrupting their tea time. She asks Kyouji if he can come with her back to the office. After talking a bit, she leaves and Kumiko comes in. After staring at her, Kyouji has another crazy flash of light.



At Horita's office, Ako walks in bare-legged again. Horita gets crazy horny eyes and we are once again shown some foot-lickin' action. Rei is at the door and looking inside through the door's small window while Ako makes some crazy demon eyes.



Rei runs into Naomi while walking down the stairs, and they go out for ramen to discuss Horita and Ako. We switch to a scene of Horita and Ako playing with a mini foosball table (?!) in a dimly-lit room. Kyouji's having some demon nightmares showing Rei getting killed. He jerks awake, and it seems he'd fallen asleep while Kumiko was there (what a great host). He immediately jumps up and runs out the door, yelling about how Rei is in trouble.



Rei is with Naomi, and the two head into Horita's apartment where more sexy shenanigans are going on. Naomi can't take it and yells at the two before heading downstairs and showing Horita her legs. Something demonic has possessed Horita as well, so he grabs onto Naomi and begins biting into her legs. Rei runs over and tries to push him off, but gets knocked out. Ako approaches the two as Kyouji and Kumiko rush in.



Kyouji descends the stairs and pulls his GUMP out. He faces off with Ako, their demonic presences showing up in the mirror. Kyouji unceremoniously seals the demon (Succubus, probably). He looks back at Rei and Kumiko, the latter of which has fainted.

End episode 5!

Key points:
- Coffee break
- A flash of Kumiko
- A demonic showdown

BEST OF EPISODES 1~5