***SPOILERS AHEAD***
--Story-- 18/20
Initially, Devilman Crybaby seems to be a story about puberty. The protagonist, Akira Fudou, becomes possessed by the Devil Amon before growing rapidly, gaining increased physical prowess, changing behaviorally, and becoming obscenely horny. However, as the story progresses, and the truth of devils is revealed, the devil power becomes less of an analogy for puberty and more of a symbol for the dark emotions that come with it. These dark emotions, anger, hatred, spite, jealousy are all what create and give devils (literally and figuratively) their incredible power.
However, what truly makes this show so incredible is how it accurately portrays the relationship between these dark emotions and emotions like love, happiness, and friendship. Love and good emotions are shown to be a much stronger force for change. In scenes like where Akira first becomes Devilman, the scene where Akira wants to rape Makimura but refuses, the scene where everyone hugs Devilman, and in the final scene especially, love is shown to be a much stronger internal force than hatred. However, this show portrays that hatred is a much stronger external force than love.
This dichotomy is, of course, very atypical for most anime, as friendship and love are often shown to be both stronger internal and external forces. Devilman Crybaby doesn't present this idealized idea. If anything, it presents the world in a derogatory and degenerative light. However, by showing such a hate filled world and the extreme impacts of love on it, the show proves that love is much stronger than hatred. Even despite the bleakness of the show, there is still definite hope.
Enough waxing philosophical, the presentation of this story is where the show loses points.
In terms of visual presentation, the show is incredible. Although the simplistic art style may be off-putting at first it gives the show a more manga feel than others. Some shots in particular look like colored manga panels. This also allows the animation to be more fluid because the characters have a visual flatness to them, allowing them to move in unnatural ways without it looking unnatural. This art style also makes the more detailed devils stand out more, emphasizing their inhumanity. Overall, there was never a scene where the animation felt janky or the art style suddenly shifted, it's always consistent.
When it comes to pacing, however, Devilman Crybaby starts to show cracks. Episodes 4, 5, and 6 all should have been one episode. The least amount of story relevant events happen in these episodes, and events relevant to the story are often broken up by completely irrelevant, often bloated scenes. This is made more confusing as some characters completely disappear or become devils without much fanfare. It's even more frustrating because the bloat in these episodes takes away from the developments at the end of the series, specifically, the other Devilmen.
The idea that other Devilmen exist is brought about in episode 6, and there's really no developments to this plot thread until late episode 9 (where it's a secondary development to the people accepting Akira). However, once episode ten starts, and all the Devilmen gather up, it's treated like a very big deal. It also ends up being the reason Akira can even hope to fight Ryo. That's not to say that the other Devilmen helping out and gathering is at odds with the themes of the story, in fact, it enhances them quite a bit. It's just that the Devilmen plotline isn't developed in favor of much less important side-plots.
This show also has far too many side characters that add nothing that isn't added elsewhere. Specifically, the rap gang and the track star, Koda. The rap gang is really only important to the plot two times, when they harass Makimura at the beginning, and when they protect her at the end. This exact same role is filled Kuroda, and to a much better extent, as Makimura is the reason for why Kuroda becomes a devil in the first place. Having it just be Kuroda protecting Makimura would honestly make Kuroda's arc more poignant. Koda's role is to show Akira that other Devilmen exist, which he fulfills quite nicely. After that, however, he does nothing until he decides to turn traitor, showing that even those with human hearts can be corrupted. This would be a fine role for him to fill if Humanity itself wasn't already doing so. Humans nearly wipe each other out out of fear towards the end, making Koda's role incredibly redundant. Honestly, I can't remember if he dies or not too.
Ultimately, with two or so more episodes, the show wouldn't have this pacing problem. All of the overdeveloped subplots would sting a lot less if the underdeveloped plotlines were given adequate time to be fleshed out. It does makes sense as to why the final episode isn't more of a final arc, because it's weird. However, it has by far the most to say out of any of the episodes, and it's truly a shame that it didn't get more time to say what it wanted.
The music in this show also fucking slaps. That is all.
--Experience-- 10/10
Shows like these only come by every one in a while. Shows like Neon Genesis, Serial Experiments Lain, and Madoka Magica that push the boundaries of animation, and deconstruct the tropes of Anime as a medium. Devilman Crybaby, although equal in terms of thematic depth and style, has much lower lows. For the three aforementioned shows, no single episode ranks below an 8/10, (except Jet Alone 7/10) but for Devilman Crybaby, at least 2 episodes rank at 7/10. Considering this series is at least 2 episodes shorter and much less focused than the aforementioned masterpieces, it can't stand with them.
Even still, this show is a beautifully unique experience. The confusing nature of the show, although not conducive to good story telling, adds to the experience a sense of reality. The overall bleakness of the show is just marvelously well done too, and it really will make you consider the world around you.
--FINAL SCORE-- 9/10 (28/30)
Even though Devilman Crybaby may be masterpiece of thematic and emotional storytelling, there are several preventable issues that could keep the viewer from getting that full experience.
