...But you know, in a good way. As in I’m not saying that because this is a review of a bad thing but because that well known saying actually originates from… oh you know what, forget it.
#The Divine Comedy#
The poet Dante becomes lost within a dark forest and soon finds himself on a journey that would take him through the realms of the dead. Hell, Purgatory, and finally, Heaven.
Personally, I had only ever read Inferno, but such a lasting impact it left on me that I wrote my own ~~admittedly terrible~~ self-published novel that involved someone undergoing a journey into Hell.
And just a year or so ago, I watched Devilman Crybaby and then read the original manga by Go Nagai.
So, when I discovered he had done his own adaptation of the entire Divine Comedy, I was over the moon.
As after I dipped my feet into the blood filled pools of Devilman, an adaptation of the Inferno with Go Nagai's art sounded like the best thing. And let's not kid ourselves here, Inferno is unquestionably the part of the Divine Comedy that Go Nagai wanted to do the most.
The longest chapters of the manga almost all belong to Inferno, as Go Nagai is just having a blast illustrating Dante's journey through Hell.
We get tons and tons of the naked souls of sinners lost to the various torments of Hell as Dante journeys through the Nine Circles. Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and Treachery.
Given that Dante started writing the Divine Comedy following his exile from Florence, he cheekily includes no shortage of people who were influential at the time as sinners populating the various Circles.
And of course at the very bottom of the Inferno lies Satan encased in the ice of Treachery.
For some reason, Go Nagai actually adds lore to Satan ripped straight from Paradise Lost. I suppose he couldn't resist but flesh out Satan a little bit, but it did slightly strike me as a bit odd.
The Mountain of Purgatory was an interesting read as again, I had never read past Inferno in the Divine Comedy. But I couldn't help but notice that the length of Purgatorio paled in comparison to Inferno.
Which to be honest isn't very surprising, as Purgatorio is merely about the sinners who have made their way out of Hell and now toil in their efforts to be made worthy to reach Heaven. Most reading this manga are probably drawn to the idea of Go Nagai illustrating Inferno.
It's Paradiso where things get... odd. Maybe not so much odd, but easily transparent that Go Nagai's interest in illustrating Heaven paled in comparison to Hell.
I can only but assume in the original Divine Comedy that the length of Purgatorio and Paradiso are probably comparable to Inferno. But two entire Spheres of Heaven are just two page spreads, and bam, those were the entire chapters.
Additionally, pushing the even shorter chapters of Paradiso aside, I couldn't help but want Virgil to be back as Dante's guide rather than his beloved Beatrice.
But alas, Virgil apparently doesn't go past Purgatorio in the original Divine Comedy as well...
It's sounding like I'm being real down on the Paradiso section, but I ~~and Go Nagai~~ just vastly prefer the hellish sights of Inferno.
Go Nagai's illustrations of Paradiso are just fine, but I still couldn't help emit a "oh, that's it?" at the ending. Granted, that's probably close to if not exactly how the original Divine Comedy ends.
#Conclusion#
The Divine Comedy, or rather Dante's Inferno specifically, remains probably one of the most personally important pieces of literature I've ever read. Go Nagai adapting it was purely just a win-win for me.
It’s not a complete adaptation as apart from the I'm assuming abridged Paradiso there are plenty of people of interest that Go Nagai did not include in Inferno as I remember there being just so many.
A 8 out of 10. An easy recommendation, just be aware that Go Nagai's interest strays to one part of the Divine Comedy in particular...
