The Devil Within, by Ryo Takagi, is the story of Rion, currently a high school student, who believes that all men are devils and that boys are angels, the only ones deserving of her attention. Volume 1 seems to be mostly setup for the rest of the series, and there are so many plot twists this early on that you'd think you would be confused, but they seem so obvious that it really isn't.
This story begins with Rion explaining her boy fetish. As a young girl, she accidentally saw a rather graphic adult video which involved demons coming to Earth and possessing angelic boys so they would grow up to be full-fledged devils that attacked women. This obviously had a huge impact on her, as she cannot stand men, and only likes boys. On her way home from school (after picking up groceries), she's assaulted by a guy (who was only after some food) and then rescued by another (who used some of her food to distract guy #1, and there's a third guy she doesn't see). When she gets to her apartment building, she meets a boy named Tenshi (which means Angel in Japanese... do you see where this is going?) who she immediately falls for, but doesn't get to talk to much before he leaves. When she gets to her apartment (she lives with her father, Satan-sama... like I said, see where this is going?), she is greeted by the three guys mentioned earlier. As it turns out, they are all fiance candidates for Rion.
From there, the plot twists keep coming. First we found out that all three guys are really Angels (white wings and all). Then Rion discovers that Tenshi is not what he seems. Then she finds out she is a devil (with black bat-like wings). Now, I don't necessarily like to put a lot of spoilers in my reviews, as it shouldn't be necessary. In this case, I don't feel that telling you will ruin any of the surprises, as they seem like they are pretty obvious to me.
Despite the obvious plot, I did enjoy the story. Rion's reactions to the various discoveries and to the guys in the manga are really great. It was pretty easy to follow, and the pace was quick, but not hectic.
I must say that I love the art! It looks very clean and crisp, and each character had unique elements that made them easily identifiable. Since this is a shojo manga, it had a lot of your typical shojo conventions. There are tall, skinny guys whose torso were as longer then their legs. You had your occasional flowery/starry/sparkly background. You also had your typical guy poses, trying to make them look really pretty.
I liked the manga, even though I'm not a teenage girl. It was funny, cute, and didn't require a ton of thought.
