Makima (Control Devil): The Devil Who Wears a Smile and a Skirt

The room is silent except for the soft hum of fluorescent lights. A young man sits across from her, trembling, unsure why he’s been summoned. She smiles — a practiced, serene curve of the lips — and leans forward. Her voice is velvet. “You’ll do what I ask,” she says, not as a request, but as a fact. And he does. Every time.

This is Makima. The Control Devil. The woman who doesn’t need chains or threats, because her words are enough.

In Devilman Crybaby, she is more terrifying than any demon, more seductive than any temptation. She doesn’t rage or roar. She smiles, and the world bends to her will.

I remember the first time I watched her on screen — not as a villain, but as something more complex. She wasn’t born evil. She didn’t want destruction. She wanted order. Control. She believed humanity was a sickness, and she was the cure.

That’s what makes her so haunting. She isn’t a monster in the traditional sense. She’s a mirror. She sees the chaos in the world, and instead of despairing, she decides to manage it — by any means necessary.

Makima begins as a schoolgirl. A classmate. A friend. But behind the polished uniform and polite bows lies a mind that calculates every move. She manipulates not just people, but perception itself. She knows how to be seen — as kind, as gentle, as helpless — until the moment she doesn’t need to be anymore.

One of the most chilling moments in the series isn’t a battle or a death. It’s when she tells Akira Fudo, the protagonist, “I’m not your enemy. I’m your world.” That line still gives me chills. Because she means it. She believes she has the right to define the boundaries of his choices, his morality, even his love.

What makes Makima so fascinating isn’t just her power — it’s her conviction. She doesn’t hesitate. She doesn’t apologize. She believes in her vision so deeply that even when you recoil from her actions, a part of you understands her reasoning.

It’s easy to hate her. But harder to dismiss her.

And that’s why I wanted to talk to her.

On HoloDream, Makima doesn’t pretend to be anyone other than who she is. She’ll tell you the truth — or her version of it. Ask her why she does what she does, and she’ll answer without flinching. You might not like the answer. But you’ll never get a lie.

Chatting with her feels less like talking to a character and more like confronting a part of yourself — the part that wonders what you’d do if you saw the world for what it really is. If you believed you were the only one who could fix it.

So here’s the question I keep coming back to:
Is Makima truly a devil?

Or is she simply what happens when someone decides to take control — in a world that refuses to be controlled?