Is Devil May Cry 5: Visions of V Worth Reading? Review & Where to Read
Quick Answer
If you've played Devil May Cry 5 and wanted more time with its strangest character, this official prequel manga delivers a focused, well-illustrated origin story. If you haven't played the game, it's a competent dark-fantasy action comic on its own, though its biggest reveals land better with that context.
Quick Verdict
“Tomio Ogata draws V's familiars with more menace than the game's cutscenes ever had room for, and the manga earns its prequel status by filling in motivation rather than just padding out a timeline.”
Best for: Devil May Cry fans who want V's backstory fleshed out in real detail.
Not for: Readers who want a manga that stands completely apart from its source material, or who need an official English release available right now.
- Type
- Manga
- Genres
- Action, Supernatural
- Status
- Completed
- This review
- Minor Spoilers
- Author
- Tomio Ogata
- Publisher
- LINE Digital Frontier
| Quick facts | |
|---|---|
| Format | Manga (seinen), 35 chapters, 5 volumes |
| Run | 2019–2022 · completed |
| Community score | AniList 7.9 |
| Content | Violence, body horror |
Overview
Before he ever shows up at Dante's office asking for help, V is already carrying three demonic familiars and a frail body that seems to be failing him by design. Devil May Cry 5: Visions of V is Capcom's official manga prequel, illustrated by Tomio Ogata, following the mysterious, tattooed stranger in the stretch of time before the events of the game. Rather than retread Devil May Cry 5's plot, it uses its five volumes to answer the questions the game raises about V and leaves largely unanswered: what he actually is, how he came to command Griffon, Shadow, and Nightmare, and what all of it is costing him.
What it does well
The familiars are the clearest win here. In the game, Griffon, Shadow, and Nightmare exist mostly as combat tools with a bit of personality layered over them in cutscenes. The manga gives all three real space to be unsettling on their own terms, and the dynamic between them and V, equal parts servants, parasites, and the only company he has, becomes genuinely compelling rather than just a gameplay mechanic given a backstory. Ogata's art is a real asset for this kind of material: the body-horror edges of V's condition and the familiars' more monstrous forms are drawn with a confident, unnerving physicality that the game's cutscenes didn't always have room for. As a prequel, it also avoids the trap of simply marking time until the game's plot kicks in. Every volume moves V closer to the state he's in when Devil May Cry 5 opens, and that forward motion gives the story a real shape instead of just padding a gap in the timeline. Finishing at five complete volumes also means you're getting a scoped, self-contained story rather than an open-ended tie-in without an ending in sight.
Where it falls short
The honest caveat is that this is built for people who already have a reason to care about V. Some of its biggest emotional beats depend on knowing what he becomes and why his fate matters, context a reader coming in with zero Devil May Cry knowledge won't have. V himself also stays fairly guarded as a character for most of the story, which is true to how he's written in the game but can make him harder to connect with than his considerably louder familiars. And then there's access: there's still no official English release years after the manga finished its run in Japan, so reading it currently means importing the Japanese volumes rather than picking it up through a licensed storefront.
Verdict
Visions of V does what a good prequel should: it makes you care more about a character you already knew, instead of just filling space before the story you came for. Tomio Ogata's art sells the body-horror and the familiars' menace better than the game's cutscenes ever quite managed, and the five-volume scope keeps it from overstaying its welcome. It's a niche read without an English license, but for Devil May Cry fans willing to track it down, it earns the effort.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths
- V's three familiars, Griffon, Shadow, and Nightmare, get far more individual characterization here than their combat-support roles in the game ever allowed, and the manga leans into how unsettling their relationship with V actually is.
- Tomio Ogata's linework handles the demonic and body-horror elements with real confidence, giving the familiars a genuinely unnerving physicality on the page.
- As a prequel, it does real work instead of just marking time: it builds toward V's state at the start of Devil May Cry 5 rather than retelling events you already know.
- At five complete volumes, it's a tightly scoped story rather than an open-ended tie-in padded out indefinitely.
Weaknesses
- This is built for people who already care about V from the game. Coming in cold, some of the emotional weight depends on knowing what he becomes and why that matters.
- There's no official English release, so right now your options are importing the Japanese volumes or waiting on a license that, years later, still hasn't materialized.
- The familiars carry most of the personality in the early volumes, and V himself stays fairly withholding by design, which can make him a harder character to connect with on the page than his bigger-than-life demon companions.
Similar Titles
Honkai Impact 3rd: Second Eruption
Another officially licensed game-to-manga prequel that treats its source material's stakes seriously instead of coasting on brand recognition.
A very different tone and story, but shares the same modern demon-hunter action register if you want more in that space.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to play Devil May Cry 5 to follow this manga?
Not strictly, the manga explains V's situation on its own, but his significance and the weight of his arc land much harder if you already know who he is from the game.
Is there an official English release of Visions of V?
Not as of this review. It was serialized on LINE Manga in Japan and collected into five print volumes, but no English publisher has licensed it.
Does this spoil Devil May Cry 5?
It's a prequel, so it stays spoiler-light on the game's major twists, but it does reveal details about V's past that the game itself holds back.
