Devil May Cry is a very strange series. It does its thing nicely for a bit but then goes and ruins it with some silly nonsense. I have no idea why or how that happened. I mean, the games are pretty consistently decent—so why isn't this show the same?
Let's begin with this totally alien concept called the story. Of which you won't be getting any for about 9 episodes in a row (yes, out of 12 total). No joke—this is essentially a slice-of-life series about Dante showing off. And before you ask the obvious question—yes, it has less of a story than the action games
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the setting is taken from. Furthermore—just to tease you—at several points you get an impression that some general plot is about to emerge (it eventually does, but already after you have lost all hope for it), but the very next moment you have your expectations casually ruined once again. You could probably even watch episodes 2–9 in any order without disturbing the narrative. For that exact reason you shouldn't worry about spoilers when discussing this series, as it's virtually impossible to spoil anything of substance. Rating the story with 3 is me being generous here, owing it mostly to the universe created by the DMC game series.
Oh yeah, Dante. As I mentioned earlier, everything in this series is about showing Dante in the process of, uh... being cool? He tries so hard he transcends the meaning of the word "cool", being the living embodiment of coolness never seen since the cool came to cool town. He always has that swag going, and his sense of fashion oozes style—as imagined by a 14-year-old. Obviously, he only eats the most badass food in existence... you guessed it, as imagined by a 14-year-old: pizza, strawberry sundae, beer—none of your chump gourmet garbage. He has the craziest, totally overpowered weapons—because dramatic stakes are for pussies. Even his name has that aristocratic feel to it. Unsurprisingly, every time he's up for a job, he always does it single-handedly—be it a bike race, gambling, or butchering a several-stories-tall demon in mere seconds—always with that detached facial expression that serves to underline his towering superiority. Yet somehow he always fails to complete his primary objective because he's just too damn righteous or whatever. Ermagherd, what an impossibly cool dude! And even during all that action, he appears to be bored out of his mind, almost depressed by doing something so utterly mundane. One-Punch Man too popular for you? Take a look at this gem then: DMC did the "overpowered MC bored by flaccid antagonists" shtick some 8 years before everyone's favorite egghead came into being. Hellsing Ultimate has too much of that annoying character development? DMC should be right up your alley—it doesn't have any of that. Ladies and gentlemen, we have officially reached peak shallow. If you aren't sure what "peak shallow" looks like, imagine a zit on the ground; that should work.
On the topic of characters, the entire cast is mainly there to support Dante by... yes, being glorified foils, looking deliberately uncool in comparison. First, we have Morrison, who is old-fashioned, intelligent, and an exemplary gentleman, almost a polar opposite of Dante. Then there's Patty, the token loli moe-blob comic relief character whose presence is never justified despite screenwriter's best efforts (which fail spectacularly, of course). A notable character is the creatively-named Lady, who is also quite a cool, uh, lady—but... still not quite there, you know? This, however, doesn't prevent her from being far more capable at her job. But hey, if Dante doesn't bother doing the thing, it must not be very cool after all, right? There's also Trish, who is somewhere between Lady and Dante on the scale on coolness and never gets any screen time. The distribution of screen time in general seems to be decided by a coin toss, befitting the interchangeable, meandering nature of the support cast. (That said, I gotta give some credit to designs and the fact that they're occasionally entertaining (if only because they try so hard) and evoke memories of better-written characters from the action anime of the days past; really makes you wish they were put in capable hands.) Lastly, there is that typical cartoony small fry antagonist who, despite being an obnoxious eyesore, behaves like a plot-significant character and—in a great plot twist (gasp!)—actually ends up being one. At that point you'll just have to be a man and brace yourself for the trainwreck. Even if you're a woman, become a man and then brace yourself; there is no sweeter imagery than a man bracing himself for a trainwreck.
There isn't much to say about the show's sound and visuals. They're generally competently made and adequate for the subject matter, though some scenes could have definitely been animated better (as in *actually animated* rather than panned across the screen), and the music somewhat lacks variety—almost all of it is mere variations on the three dominant themes.
All in all, DMC is the kind of show you'd want for some simple braindead entertainment when you've run out of the more entertaining content to watch. Don't expect anything beyond that, as you'll be met with nothing but disappointment. Just get your beverage of choice, a pack of favorite snacks, press play, and tune out. Alternatively, go play the original games and forget the anime adaptation ever existed.
Alternative Titles
Synonyms: Devil May Cry: The Animated Series, DmC
Japanese: デビル メイ クライ
More titlesInformation
Type:
TV
Episodes:
12
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Jun 14, 2007 to Sep 6, 2007
Premiered:
Summer 2007
Broadcast:
Thursdays at 23:00 (JST)
Licensors:
Funimation
Studios:
Madhouse
Source:
Game
Duration:
24 min. per ep.
Rating:
R - 17+ (violence & profanity)
Statistics
Ranked:
#45592
2
based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity:
#771
Members:
309,269
Favorites:
1,673
Available AtResourcesStreaming Platforms | Reviews
Filtered Results: 90 / 93
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Your Feelings Categories Sep 13, 2007
Devil May Cry is a very strange series. It does its thing nicely for a bit but then goes and ruins it with some silly nonsense. I have no idea why or how that happened. I mean, the games are pretty consistently decent—so why isn't this show the same?
Let's begin with this totally alien concept called the story. Of which you won't be getting any for about 9 episodes in a row (yes, out of 12 total). No joke—this is essentially a slice-of-life series about Dante showing off. And before you ask the obvious question—yes, it has less of a story than the action games ... Apr 10, 2009
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 ... Feb 29, 2008
Can you name a single video game that was turned into a movie that wasn't an extremely terrible film that failed in all regards? Now can you name a good videogame that was turned into an anime that wasn't terrible? Alright...you can probably name a whole bunch, alot from the choose-your-own-adventure genres. However Devil May Cry is more like a terrible video game movie. If you've ever played, or seen someone play, Devil May Cry then you know the style of the game quite well. The quality and feel of the anime is nothing like that of the original videogame.
Story: ... Jan 13, 2008
Story (6) - Well, to avaluate devil may cry in this aspect is a bit hard..if we look at the anime it has almost no relation between episodes, and thats a negative point. Well, there are some connections, but the way the story goes is not directly connected, it is like each episode has is own story. By the story of all anime i give a 3. But i think each episode story is well made, so i give a 8 as an average of each episode story.
(3+8)/2=5,5=6. If you like anime with good story, from the first episode to the last one, this is ... Jan 15, 2008
Story - The overall story left me wanting a bit more depth. It is borderline slice-of-life action, A wired combination and it doesn't work all that well in my opinion. There seems to be no plot going on throughout the first few episodes however the plot slowly develops a very tiny bit per episode until it reaches its climax in episode 11/12. the overall story had me a little bored however the last few episodes were some of the best anime I have ever seen. They were tense on the edge action and it is a great reward for sticking through the slow storyline.
Art - ... Aug 4, 2015
Devil May Cry
I saw a lot of reviews hating this anime knowing nothing about the games and not knowing this was to promote DMC4 so one should keep in mind that, and also this was made by one of the writers of the game, so his personality is the same like in the games; The anime is set chronologically between DMC1 and DMC4, showing what heppened between the gap of the two and also how Lady and Trish met; This anime was refreshing and it's different from the games, less action than what the games offer but i enjoyed it, Dante doesn't even use all ... Jul 8, 2008
Overall the Devil May Cry anime was pretty good. It's 12 episodes long. The animation and sound are good and it has action and humor. Many of the episodes look like one shots but everything is linked in the end. It won't confuse people who have not played the game and it won't bore those who have.
My criticism is that some of the action scenes are little cut. Dante starts fighting and a few seconds later fast forward, he's at home after winning the battle. Another thing isn't really a critic as much as an observation, but I noticed after watching some game videos that ... Dec 23, 2007
MUSIC:
The OP theme is fantabulous! (READ: Fantastic and Fabulous) It really suits the anime, the theme of the anime. Somehow, I feel nostalgic every time I hear that instrumental song. But yeah, it's really nice. The ED theme is a mellow"Engrish" song, but I don't get its meaning. Anyhow, it's a nice slowing down song for an action-packed anime. ART/DRAWING/ANIMATION: The art is superb! Even though it's based from a game, the animation/art of the characters is very nice, unlike other animes that are nice but fails in art, this one's great! ... May 7, 2008
This 12-episode anime was produced by Mad House, who had a hand in shows like Death Note, Hellsing, Chobits, etc.
So what went so @#%& WRONG?! Come on, people, you have 3 games, 2 books, and 2 manga volumes worth of background to draw on and you give us Dante playing... death poker?? Are you @#%& kidding me?? The series has one story per episode for the first 10 episodes, and only develops a coherent plot in 11 and 12. The stories are boring, the action is practically nonexistent, and Dante is more of a cameo than the main character. Who the hell is the ... Jun 11, 2008
At the time of my writing this review, I have attempted to watch past the first episode of the Devil May Cry anime four times. After I completerd the first episode I decided to leave it for a while, hoping that one day I would be in the mood for a stylish but brainless anime. Months later... I have realised this will not happen.
The story - or lack thereof - is disgusting. Fair enough, the DMC series never was known for its plot lines, but there is a huge difference between playing and watching (which is highlighted particularly by this anime). I actually had ... Jan 22, 2008
I finished watching the whole series last night. DMC was simply awesome!
I was looking for an anime that is shonen or seinen with a genre of action and with top priority on cool graphics - so I picked Devil May Cry with a lot of hesitations. I also thought I would never watched this kind of anime because I was tired with so detailed-like graphics and animation TV series I used to watch back then. But then again I thought, I'll give it a try. Man, I was wrong! I was hooked up right after I watched the first episode. I'll break down my ... Apr 4, 2015
I'm not surprised one bit. No, really I'm not. It's a video game to anime/movie translation. Normally, these types of projects are horrible anyway. I'm sure many people know that this is based on the game of the same name, as it followed Dante completing missions by exterminating demons in some very stylish ways. Unfortunately, although the demon killing is present in the series. The greatness that was found in the games is completely lost. Those out there who sat through the Street Fighter Alpha series, Fatal Fury movies, or heaven forbid Art of Fighting. More than likely shouldn't be surprised and already have an
...
May 5, 2009
Basically, Devil May Cry is about a half demon half human who takes on a job as a Demon Hunter. If you love shiny guns, motorcycles, blood and shiny swords, this may be the anime for you.
Story: (6/10) The story isn't really bad. It has the right materials which are pretty substantial. In other words, the background of the story was great! It's very interesting; European setting, demons, Demon Hunter and so on. But then, the materials weren't used properly. So the story flow became really dull. The story development wasn't really visible. It was only until the 11th episode that the climax was drawn. ... Feb 20, 2013
Devil May Cry is something I desperately hoped would turn out great. Most things based off a video game- whether it be a movie, a book, or even an anime- are damned to fail. So for Devil May Cry, based on the video games of the same title, my hopes were that this work might succeed in its attempt to become a great anime. They might have been foolish, selfish wishes, but I wished that it at least would at least try.
Was this anime as good as it could have been? The general consensus is no, as it seems. Why? To illustrate how an anime ... Nov 9, 2009
Have you guys ever heard that video game base on movie are just merely a product? Well, i remember some crappy video game base on movie game like Transformers, or ET. But maybe some game like Lord of the Ring or maybe the recent Wolverine game for the PC is good. Speaking of game, now i going comment a anime that was base from one of the best game from Capcom call 'Devil May Cry' (wahhhhh.....), and how that i think about it; well, let's find out!
DMC, when it say it going to become an anime; i like any other DMC player are jump for ... Sep 20, 2015
This anime was recommended to me by a friend who absolutely adores it! I realized when I was finished watching it, she meant the video game and not this. Oh well...too late.
Story: No plot. Seriously. There is no plot in this anime. Now I don't know what the video game is like so I won't dwell into it, but I was very disappointed in the fact this this anime, as good as it looks, lacked a simple plot. It was only 'filler' and 'subplot' episodes until at least the last two episodes. I just wished it came close to what my friend told me about ... Sep 8, 2007
Devil May Cry is an excellent action anime! This anime follows Dante who owns a cafe called Devil may cry. There he is hired To kill demons. Theres many fights and heaps of blood. And its just so cool the way he uses his sword. everyone with a thrust for blood will love this.
Sep 18, 2007
A brilliant series but it lacked some of the games essence. The main being that you never see Dante in his devil form, which to me was a real let down. Another being that there was never any cameo appearances of enermys from the games except for the lava spider in the intro (thats the only one i spotted, if others were im sorry for not noticing).
Jan 10, 2018
A lot of gamers are, at least, familiar with Capcom's Devil May Cry. The franchise is pretty beloved, except for that reboot one where Dante had dark hair and was, objectively, a piece of shit. In 2007, after the third instalment but before the fourth, our old friends at Madhouse started releasing an anime based off of the games. That's right, the studio that brought us such adaptations as X-men, Metropolis, and FF Legend of the Crystals was behind this. Well, maybe this one isn't a pile of garbage like those were. Well, except Metropolis. It was just sub-par.
Story: We open with Morrison bringing Dante ... Mar 27, 2015
I played the games, and I figured that I would watch the anime. The characters were well portrayed, and the fight scenes were cool (when we actually got to see them), but it was overall a pretty average anime. Storyline definitely lacked lustre, and became pretty monotonous. For those looking to kill time? Go for it. Looking for something with a good storyline and content? Not exactly my first pick for you. One of the major strong points, however, was the art, which I truly enjoyed.
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