So, Let’s talk about Devilman Crybaby.
What does it mean to be human?
Is it our body that is the result of billions of years of evolution?
Is it our intelligence that is far more superior than any other being on the planet?
or is it our hearts and humanity that separate us from the most vicious of animals?
Devilman Crybaby is a show that constantly remind us that to be a human, you must own the virtue of humanity
Devilman Crybaby starts off with our protagonist, Akira Fudo competing with his friends, Miki and Miko. Akira is bad at running and also is a crybaby. But he never cries for
...
himself. It is always for someone else’s sadness. The same day after retaliating some street freestylers who were trying to have their way with Miki, Akira meets his childhood friend, Ryo Asuka, who is an American professor. He tells Akira to come with him and Akira agrees. Inside the car,Ryo tells Akira about the tragedy of his Mentor,Fikira. Ryo said that Fikira had committed suicide by burning himself. Ryo found out that Fikira’s body was 2 times heavier than the body’s original weight. Ryo deduced that it was a demon who had merged with Fikira’s body and the extra weight was the demon. After driving for a few minutes, Ryo takes Akira to an Underground Satanist Sabbath party saying that this was the place where the demons would merge with the humans. After waiting for a few seconds, Ryo takes up a bottle, breaks it and uses the broken bottle to slice up the people so that blood comes out and demons merge with them. It works and the people start turning into demons. When Ryo is suddenly overwhelmed with demons attacking him, Akira dashes towards Ryo to save him. But before he could do that, A powerful demon merges with Akira,therefore turning him into a Devilman, a demon with a human heart. He kills all of the demons yada yada yada and so the tale starts
On surface this show may seem clichéd due to it’s simplistic nature but this show brilliantly executes it’s themes and portrays the devilish nature of humans realistically. Akira basically turns into this human-demon hybrid that wants to save the humans from the threat of the demons. But as he ventures down his path, he realizes that demons are nothing but humans in their extreme wild nature.
The Original Devilman manga created by GO Nagai was extremely controversial and had seemingly more violent and horrific depictions of human nature and its extent. But The 2018 adaptation really adhered to the manga’s story and nailed pretty much everything about the world Go Nagai had created. I also loved the modernizing trick by adding freestyle raps, wars etc. Parasyte did the same thing when it was adapted from the original manga. This one trick alone heightened the elements of the original story and it makes the show stand out from other different shows. So an excellent adaptation overall.
Speaking of the adaptation, Lets talk about the characters, which is another thing that is great about this adaptation. The characters in this adaptation were, in many instances, far better than the characters in the original manga. From Akira’s serious and empathetic but goofy nature, Ryo’s hard and stoic attitude and Miki’s sweet but strong sense of self-respect. Hell even the characters themselves take some liberties and act out of their nature which are still at heart with the original manga. The side characters themselves feel like they have just as much importance as the main characters and while they aren’t heavily developed characters, it feels like these aren’t just throwaway side characters made to progress the story as plot devices but rather more self-contained and fleshed out. While every character doesn’t get that much development, it does go to the ones where it’s needed. So, the characters are a solid 10/10
Let’s talk about the animation and art. Nothing much to say here, All of us here know that Yuasa directed films and shows have very graphic and violent scenes in them. He goes out of the box to present us with very very VERY gruesome and realistic scenes and this show wasn’t an exception. Everything from the nudity to the violent sex scenes added to the tension of the show and made it impactful. Moments fly off the screen and stand out. The fight scenes are well choreographed and have visceral sense of impact.
Even in the dialogue scenes which have very good pacing and have just enough to make the dialogues seem interesting.
Finally let’s talk about the soundtracks. MY FUCKING GOD. I have never loved a show’s OSTs this much and the OSTs was the one thing that made me a fan of show. Every single soundtrack in the show sounded like it was made for that particular scene. High octane OSTs like “Akira the wild” and “D.V.M.N” amped up the fight scenes to the point where it would make your eyes and ears cum.
More slow paced tracks like “Behind the scene” or “Buddy,Ryo” added more tension and weight to the dialogue heavy scenes. Everytime there is something bad going on in the scene an OST play perfectly and it never seems out-of-place.
The OST’s gave the atmosphere more ambience and a horror feel that is very much similar to a brilliantly executed horror story that could haunt you for days. It was a sad thing that they didn’t use the original “Devilman No Uta” as the opening but I think the actual opening of 2018’s Devilman Crybaby adhered more to the serious narrative and gave the show a dark tone. Each scene utilized its music, silence and other sound effects brilliantly.
Devilman Crybaby is a brilliant seinen that explores its themes excellently while not coming off as pretentious and edgy. The whole show was an emotional roller coaster and it had me on my nerves.
Every element in this show felt like it was necessary and never felt like it was wrong. The pacing is great and the overall narrative perfect as well.
Is this The Anime of the Year?
Yes and no.
the problem with this show is that it came out very early in 2018 and the year hasn’t even started yet but I’ve got a gut feeling that this will be the anime of the year.
Devilman Crybaby inspired a lot shows including my most favorite show of all time, Neon Genesis Evangelion. This show is a GOAT and if you loved this adaptation, go watch The OG Devilaman(1972) for a more gruesome and violent story about demons and humans
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Jan 30, 2018
Devilman: Crybaby
(Anime)
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So, Let’s talk about Devilman Crybaby.
What does it mean to be human? Is it our body that is the result of billions of years of evolution? Is it our intelligence that is far more superior than any other being on the planet? or is it our hearts and humanity that separate us from the most vicious of animals? Devilman Crybaby is a show that constantly remind us that to be a human, you must own the virtue of humanity Devilman Crybaby starts off with our protagonist, Akira Fudo competing with his friends, Miki and Miko. Akira is bad at running and also is a crybaby. But he never cries for ... |
