The Devil Does Exist (悪魔で候) is a shōjo romance manga based on school life. Written by Mitsuba Takanashi, it consists of 11 volumes.

Plot summary

High school is difficult for most kids, but for Kayano, a shy girl whose single mother seems to work all the time, it's even worse than usual. She's so afraid of drawing attention to herself that she can't tell the handsome Kamijo how much she loves him. One day she finally gets up the courage to write him a love letter confessing her feelings. Her plans go awry when the letter falls into the hands of the school's most notorious student, Edogawa Takeru. To Kayano, Takeru seems to be the Devil himself. Not only is he devilishly handsome, but is also the son of the school's principal. To make things worse, her mother comes home to announce she's marrying principal Edogawa. In an unexpected twist, Kayano and Takeru gradually begin to grow feelings for each other the more they interact. Many obstacles get in their way, and the biggest one is to face their parents and come clean about their true feelings for each other.

Characters

Manga

The series was published in Shueisha monthly shōjo Bessatsu Margaret magazine and the serial chapters were collected into 11 tankōbon. The series was re-released in a seven-bunkoban edition in 2008. Outside Japan, the series is licensed by Panini Comics in France, by Tong Li Publishing in Taiwan, and CMX Manga in North America. The series was formerly licensed by Star Comics in Italy.

Reception

Carla Cino in the French Animeland described the series as a perfect read between two trains as its neither gives headache nor is transcending. Its problem is that there are numerous manga with similar plots. The "fashion" aspect of the characters and Takeru's piggish side giving a semblance of novelty.

Live-action drama

The manga was adapted into a 20 episode Taiwanese drama (titled ) starring Mike He, Rainie Yang and Kingone Wang. It was directed by Lin He Long (林合隆) and was broadcast on free-to-air China Television (CTV) (中視) from 26 June to 18 September 2005 and cable TV Eastern Television (ETTV) (東森) for 20 episodes.