Manga Summaries

Bear in mind that alot of this is going to be my personal opinion of points in the series and unless you can prove that something i've said is actually factually wrong I don't want to hear any complaints. This is spoiler free (more or less nothing major is revealed). A spoiler version will come later, as I'm sure some people want to hears how the manga ends!

By Jerrin:
The manga is viewed by most as the best there is of Hameln, though I think thats a general opinion with most series. The origional story is almost always viewed as better than a TV or movie remake and though i'm sure there are those that feel differently, this just happens to be how I see it. I myself saw the TV series and Movie before the manga and I tend to love them all equally and for seperate reasons. The manga is a "just right" balance of Serious and Silly though, whenever a scene might start to get too serious something incredibly silly is thrown in to lighten the mood, but it's great because it's not completely devoid of those serious moments either. The manga story starts out with Hamel playing beautiful music on his Violin as birds gather around and a boy hiding behind a tree looks on and thinks Hamel must be a God, that is until Hamel suddenly bashes the birds with his Violin and proceeds to eat them. Through some circumstances Hamel ends up helping to boy to defeat a menacing ogre, but not before presenting a bill for his services.

by Ani:
The manga runs for a grand total of 37 volumes, and covers the character development of (primarily) Hamel, Flute, Raiel, Sizer, Trom, as well as Clari net, his little sister Coro net and other minor characters
If you've seen the anime only, some of the characters are quite different in their personalities, especially Hamel and Coronet (as well as Queen Horn) For a good summary of the differences in character, I would go to Rayas page and view her excellent character descriptions.

The manga also introduces other villains, chief among these is the demon clown Orgel, able to control the spirits of the dead with his harp as well as possess other bodies, and the totally twisted Vocal. Vocal challenged Chestra (the demon king) years ago and was imprisoned. However, once Orgel's mission fails, Vocal is released by Bass to wreak havoc. However, his is controlled by a giant ball Bass chained to him, and thus, the form seen most often is not is true form (This is actually true of all the general I believe).

Being much longer than the anime, the manga also covers several arcs. The first is the coming together arc and lasts roughly from volume 1 to volume 6. This is where you are introduced to most of the key players and get to know their personalities. Than, there is the Sfortzendo war arc, which lasts about volume 6 through volume 8. In this, the mazoku launch an all out attack on Sfortzendo and it is up to the key players along with Clari, to defend Sfortzendo.
These two arcs closely (but not exactly) are followed by the anime. However, the anime, after this arc goes on to basically make up it's own plot, and save for Raiel's bit of insanity which loosely parallels something he did in volume 3, the manga and anime do not relate at all.

The manga now start a small arc, which I will call the changing sides arc, which is about volume 8 through 11. Two major characters switch sides, which never happens in the anime (this bugs me). Also, Trom, at the beginning of Volume 8 as gone back to Del Sagno. The others also split up, but they find their way back together quickly, Clari and Coronet are prominent in this arc.

The next arc is my favorite, and key in the development of Hamel and Flute's relationship. It lasts from volume 12-16. You learn quite a bit about Hamel's past with his mother and Raiel. Trom re-enters and there is a major revelation here. The main villain of this arc is Orgel.
More info on volumes 15 and 16

16-23 is Vocal's arc. Vocal is the big mover of things here. Released from his prison he tracks town our heroes, slaughters a whole down for kicks, fights Sizer, Fights Trom, fights Hamel, all is very cool.
Major massive events happen here that are monumentus spoilers. This is perhaps the most pivotal arc of the storyline as it sets up the actions for the rest of the series.
Fun Vocal scans from 22 and 23

The main thrust ofvolumes 24-26 is a short break in the main storyline to travel back 15 years ago to the first Sfortzendo war. Here, we learn the history of Lute and how he came to be possessed by Bass (Lute is the boy who carries Bass's head. Bass is only the head). Lute is Flute's older brother (ok that's kind of a spoiler, but a minor one I think) Flute will not learn this until volume 34.
Almost page by page manga scans of Lute's fight and ultimate defeat by Bass

Volumes 27-29 is an arc hinging on what happened in volume 23. Lots of angst and a major character dies! Also, very pivotal for the relationship between Raiel and Sizer.

Volumes 30-32 is more back story, this time dealing with Oboe, Pandora and how Pandora came to merry Chestra, loose Sizer, and raise Hamel on her own. Extremely touching, and wonderful back-story! Besides that though, the Trom get new clothes, Flute talks with a dragon mazoku, Hamel and Trom attemtp to peep and Flute and Sizer in the bath, and the final showdown with Vocal takes place!
Page by page manga scans of Vocal's last stand

Volumes 34-37. The climax. All out war between humans and mazoku. Every character (and I mean that) shows up. There are deaths on both sides, and ultimately the story ends in a way that differs totally from the anime.
Page by page Manga scans the last chapter of the whole story