It makes a kid's shoulders the place the apocalypse gets decided, then refuses to make him cute about it. Dr. Faust doesn't get a triumphant last stand, he gets a deathbed, a birthmark on Shingo Yamada's forehead, and a handoff of responsibility no ten-year-old asked for. Then the show's masterstroke: your only ally is Mephisto, a devil dragged out of hell who would rather be anywhere else, and that grudging partnership carries more weight than any friendship speech ever could. This is Shigeru Mizuki's world, so the demons look genuinely wrong, folkloric and clammy rather than sleekly designed, and the 1989 Toei palette leaves them lurking in browns and shadow. Forty-two episodes of a boy calling monsters up on Solomon's flute and hoping they answer. Nobody in this show is having a good time, least of all the hero, and that's exactly why it sticks.

Demons are on the rise, and Dr Faust has seen it coming. Too close to death to face the danger himself, he turns to a young boy, Shingo Yamada, whose forehead bears a birthmark identifying him as the destined demon fighter. Faust calls up a helper from hell: Mephisto, a devil with little enthusiasm for the job. Once Shingo and Mephisto seal a blood pact to protect humanity, the pair head out to confront the forces of the supernatural world. A 1989 TV series of 42 episodes, it mixes adventure with horror and supernatural action.