Ranked #2095

Devil May Cry

Devil May Cry is a strange anime. It does one thing rather nice but utterly fails in another. I have no idea why or how that happened.

Story? Well, you might as well forget it, since you won't get any for about 9 episodes in a row. Yes, it's almost a slice-of-life series about Dante being cool. That's right, it has pretty much less of a story than the series of video games the setting is actually based on! Furthermore, at several points, you get an impression that some general plot will emerge (it eventually does, but already after you lose all hope for it), but in the very next moment you have your expectations shattered without any back thought. You could probably even watch episodes 2—9 out of order and not notice any substantial difference. For that exact reason, you may not worry about spoilers when discussing this anime, it's impossible to spoil either what is already being obvious from the start, or something that doesn't exist. "4" is a generous mark here, much thanks to the universe created by the game series.

Oh yeah, Dante. As I said before, everything in this show is about Dante and the process of him being cool. He's so cool he transcends the meaning of the word "cool", like the epitome of coolness never seen since the cool came to cool town. He acts cool, he dresses cool, he eats only cool food (pizza, strawberry sundae, beer, nothing else), he has cool overpowered weapons, and even his name is cool. Unsurprisingly, every time he's up for the job, he always manages to do it, usually single-handedly — be it a bike race, gambling, or killing a several-stories-tall demon in a matter of seconds without even appearing to have taken effort in the process. Yet he always fails to complete his primary objective, usually because of some righteous reason. How impossibly cool! And even during that, he appears to be bored by stuff happening around him. Sounds like an excellent mascot for boys and girls raised on MTV and related lifestyle values, hmm? ;)

Even Alucard, who is about the closest character to Dante in both the setting and appearance, has deeper reasons for stuff he is doing (not to mention the existance of character development, which was simply thrown out of the window in DMC). Though I'm not sure, but I think the whole DMC TV series is done as a parody on the Hellsing TV series aired a few years ago. Even the episode names suggest some not-really-hidden self-irony (Showtime!, Stylish!, get the idea?).

The other characters are mainly there to support Dante by contrasting with him or showing how terribly they fail in comparison.
There is Morrison, who is old-fashioned, intelligent and an exemplary gentleman, almost fully opposite to Dante.
There is Patty, who is a cute loli girl whose only sensible role in the series is to provide brief sequences of comic relief, despite the screenplay writer struggling to show her significance. The writer inevitably fails — so hard that I want to pity them.
There is Lady, who is almost as cool as Dante, but still not so; which, however, doesn't prevent her from having more success at making money. But hey, if Dante doesn't do it, it must not be very cool, right?
Also, there is Trish, who is between Lady and Dante on the scale on coolness but is seen much rarely than either.
Lastly, there is that typical small fry demon who looks like a character significant for the plot, although you wouldn't want him to be. Well, he still is. You have to be a man and brace yourself. Or, if you're a woman, become a man and brace yourself too.

I can't say much about picture and sound. They both seem to be fitting and high quality in general, but as for animation, some scenes could have definitely be animated better (better as in actually animated — you'll see what I mean after you watch a few episodes), and the music lacks variety somewhat (almost all of it is mere variations on the three dominant themes). Oh, and if you decide to watch it, get the HD version if possible — it's worth it, if anything.

All in all, DMC is that kind of stuff you would want to watch when you have nothing else to, and you don't want to concern yourself with anything deep at the moment, either. And don't expect anything beyond that, otherwise you'll be disappointed in no time at all. Just get your beverage of choice, a pack of suitable snacks, and turn on your TV/software player. Alternatively, go play Quake 3 deathmatch, which has about the same amount of plot with ten times the amount of action and thrill. read more

If you’ve never heard of Devil May Cry before and are looking for a good action anime, this is not it. If you’re a fan of the video games and want to see more stylish ass-kickery, prepare to be disappointed.

Story: Dante is running his business, performing mundane tasks for clients like demon-slaying, saving the world, the usual. Almost every episode starts and concludes one of Dante’s assigned cases, involving nasty monsters that inevitably end up dead. There is some cheap drama that focuses on a young girl whom Dante saved and a loser demon who wants to become a god, but you’re not seriously here for the plot are you?

Art: The art style is able to create a dark, gothic atmosphere where Dante spills plenty of demon blood. However, it is not enough to keep you tense at all since fight scenes are way too short. Battles involve more talking than fighting and tend to be settled with one stroke (by guess who). There is a significant lack of spectacularly choreographed fight sequences as seen in the games, which will no doubt be a major letdown. Animation quality is only mediocre for when there is actually action. If you're hoping Dante will pull devil trigger, unleash some insane combos, or wield his other devil arms, guess what? He won't!
Oh and yes, Trish and Lady are in this, but they’re drawn rather unattractively. No eye candy here.

Sound: Some heavy rock, some gothic choir tracks, all very forgettable. Seems even the lowliest of demons can speak Japanese. Voice acting and sound effects are acceptable, but nothing noteworthy.

Characters: Here it is, the reason you may be considering this anime: to see Dante kick plenty of ass. And here is also the show’s main failure: Dante is simply overpowered. Yes we know he’s super cool and skilled, but he faces absolutely no challenging adversaries at all. This entire anime is a series of totally one sided fights like I've never seen. Dante spends some time cracking jokes, his opponent says something stupid like “I stand a chance!”, and then Dante proceeds with delivering the pain. Except not in a spectacular, SSSmoking SSSick fashion. More like finishing it with one bullet from Ebony/Ivory or a couple swings of Rebellion. For fans of the games, this is a major kick to the balls and won’t leave you satisfied at all.
Oh, and apparently Dante loves eating strawberry sundaes on sunny afternoons, while getting bossed around by a precocious little girl. Who would've thought.

Enjoyment: I loved the video games for their dramatic fight sequences, challenging bosses, cheesy humor and impossible physics. What the anime tries to duplicate, it does so without success. Dante is not so much kicking ass in this show as he is absentmindedly swatting flies. Your time would be better spent trying/ replaying the DMC video games. Except DMC2, let’s just forget that ever existed.

5/10
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