| I have read many opinions on Devilman in here, and a lot of them are rather vapid to be honest. Everyone talks about the ending, and how "sad" it is that the characters die. If not the characters, it's about the pacing, the violence, the sexual acts etcetera. Yet, there's so little commentary on the downfall of human society. If people at this point still don't understand why Devilman was AOTY for many (And I don't mean the CR awards which are vapid) then you haven't been paying much attention to the world around you. For the past 10 years or so, you could argue that the western world was slowly readjusting to fit into a left-leaning libertarian world view. However, the coming of Brexit, the election of tv reality star Donald Trump, the increased tensions between world powers, Israel, Duterte in the Philippines, Xi Jinping in China, Bolsonaro in Brazil, the JIDF rearmament, the gilets jaunes riots, all challenge that view. 5-10 years ago, the path for humans to take seemed certain, but now, it's anything but that route. The liberal world order has failed a big portion of the world population and has caused people to turn to extremist solutions for their troubles. The fact that communism and fascism are considered viable options by your average person now is a scary thought. But that's hardly the scariest part. The scariest part is that the global news media has massively contributed to this situation, and they're now trying to cover it all up while trying to stick to the narrative they've been brainwashed their entire lives. The message is clear: people aren't happy with their current systems. What do you think happens when people get completely fed up of the system? They revolt, violently. And they bring about organised xenophobia, collectively. I may be wrong on this, but I haven't seen any manga or anime tackle xenophobia in this manner as real as Devilman. Sure there's discrimination in other anime and manga, but they're most often confined to sci fi / fantasy trappings. In South Africa, the South Africans are now literally burning Nigerian businesses and burning their owners alive. The white farmers are fleeing the country in droves. In the USA, terror attacks (white supremacist mainly) are on the rise. In the middle east and Africa, there are still Islamic terrorist attacks every fucking day. The constant gruesome violence in Devilman is very important. Because it makes such a fine point about how we're so extremely desensitised to it, which is not healthy for our modern society. Every week, another mass shooting, another day, people are chopping heads (no pun intended) or committing genocide (Saudi Arabia in Yemen). All the violence in Devilman didn't phase me one single bit, because that kind of violence is actually frighteningly normal for many societies around the world. The message of love in Devilman as cheesy as it sounds is really fucking important. People are glued to their social media and aren't interacting much with the outside world. This is how people start to develop xenophobic feelings towards others. But even worse, instead of addressing the issue face to face, the governments instead decide to restrict free speech and prevent people from saying certain things. If I'm to call someone a dirty fucking Muslim in public, I will be in trouble. The problem is that this authoritarian approach will just push the issue underground to an obscure corner of the internet. Eventually, people will harbour even more resentment towards that group and will lash out at some point, like the Australian shooter in New Zealand. When the 1972 Devilman manga came out, it was addressing the issues of its time, like the Vietnam War, the student riots, the oil crisis. Crybaby is addressing issues of our time. You could say that Devilman Crybaby came out at the right time and place, at a time when both economic and social anxieties aren't at their lowest and on a global platform like Netflix where people around the world can watch it easily. This is why it's AOTY. Its ability to relate to people alive and kicking in the 21st century is the show's greatest strength. People will definitely mock the LGBT fandom for their attachment to this series, but again, this shows why Crybaby is relevant for the time it came in, which is a time of growing LGBT acceptance worldwide. Koda in the series, for example, is clearly a homosexual. We are meant to empathize with him after he kills his boyfriend after transforming. His inner "demons" could be equated to his own sexuality. We empathize because his sexuality/demon is beyond his control. It is not his fault that he is gay or is a demon. What's even better is that later in the series, he gives up on his own humanity and decide to side with the demons. It goes to show that gay people can take evil decisions too. The left has this problem where they tend to paint minorities in a good light which is actually pretty dehumanising because they're essentially telling the minorities they're so good they can't do evil. These people just want to be treated as humans, both capable of good and evil. I can go on talking about Devilman for hours. I have so much to say about it. I hope I offered some insight into why Devilman was the choice. You can dislike it, but understand why Devilman resonates. Many people will point out to other works that did the same thing as Devilman like Berserk, but understand, Berserk is a dark fantasy. If you notice, works that often win awards are not works that you personally consider to be the best, but those with the most cultural impact. We're in a bit of a Black Panther situation. I actually fully agree Black Panther deserved to be nominated (but not necessarily win anything), because of its portrayal of African tradition and themes (beyond the westernised one, rap and drugs) which is rather rare in Hollywood. Many people on the right are probably still livid about it, and also because black people wouldn't shut up about it, making the situation even more toxic. But really overall, Black Panther regardless of what you think about it as a movie, good or bad, had a cultural impact on the black population, not only in the US but also worldwide. I can attest to that. So there you have it. I intended this take to be only a paragraph long, but my thoughts got the better of me. I'm not simply "just" a Devilman fan; the story has entered my subconscious especially because of personal experience with xenophobia. If you did not care for Devilman, that's OK, but understand when people really really like a piece of work, this often goes beyond petty fanboyish reasons. You don't need to ask people why they like it and you didn't, because you already know the answer to that. Taste validation is useless, so don't engage in it. Furthermore, if you wish to reply, I invite you to. Just put some effort into your thoughts before posting, for the sake of good discussion. |
DocJangarlySep 11, 2019 5:03 PM
ChrisdenArk said: I get your point and what you mean, and for the most part, you are wrong. The show is about how humans can be as evil as demons, showing that the difference between the two is minimal, if not nonexistent. It is actually about the inherent evil that is inside every human, and how easy it is to trigger humans to kill each other, as Ryo himself said: "Humans are fragile(...)". Maybe, just maybe, SOME people actually agree with you and think devilman was the AOTY for that reason. But for me, at least, that isn't the majority. To sum it up, most people enjoyed the anime due to the fact that it shows that humans are inherently evil, and how little facts can cause tremendous panic(Death Parade is another example of anime that does the same thing), rather than "xenophobia" and other themes. Except that nothing I said contradicts your other points. They're all part of the same ongoing theme. To say that humans can be as evil as demons is just a very surface-level analysis though. I'm getting this down to xenophobia, which is way more specific. It's not any kind of generic hate. It's racial, economic, historical hatred. The Gekiman manga which is Nagai's autobiography on how he wrote Devilman shows even more images of that kind of xenophobia. Devilman Crybaby didn't go that far, but you can easily see it was hinting at that. |
DocJangarlySep 12, 2019 1:53 AM
| Well, because it has extremely aggressive sex and gore fanservice. That's all that average fanboy needs to call a show a masterpiece |
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| I applaud this thread until my hands are nothing but bloody stumps. |
| Who are you and why do you show your hostility towards a complete stranger whom you've not once spoken with before. Are you seriously asking to get blocked? Well, if that's what your intent is; to tempt me into throwing hands with someone as lowly and insignificant as you, then i may grant your wish provided you articulate yourself a bit better when trying to spite a person of my wavelength. |
| What I really wanna know is why Crybaby is so hated on MAL. Maybe because it's so different from the usual pointless crap that gets popular. |
| I liked Devilman Crybaby, but I still liked Devilman Lady more when it did all the same things and more to a more coherent gothic style and a more genuinely adult tone back in 1998. And its not as if these themes weren't any less relevant then than they are now. Of course it's gonna get dismissed by most people now because its "old" and because stylistically it really goes against almost all the tropes that are typical of anime today. That's one of the main reasons I love it so much. I guess it's cool that Devilman Crybaby did well, I had my problems with it but it was still pretty sharp and still represented the source material quite well. BossiePixie said: It's AOTY for many people for the simple reason that the majority of people are superficial. Present a seemingly deep theme, no matter how awfully executed, and people will praise it. We're talking about Devilman here, not Neon Genesis Evangelion. |
hybridialFeb 8, 2020 6:39 AM
Nemo_Niemand said: Well, because it has extremely aggressive sex and gore fanservice. That's all that average fanboy needs to call a show a masterpiece That would be my answer as well lol Gore + sex = wow that's so cult and mature. 10/10 |
Imagine having such a shit opinion lol |
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