Review of Devilman: Crybaby

Devilman Crybaby is one of the worst anime series I've ever seen. Well, that's not exactly true, but it *is* easily one of the most over-hyped anime I've seen. I remember when this anime premiered on Netflix early January of 2018 and people were*already* dubbing it "the best anime of 2018"?! A little misleading, don't you think? I've had run ins with the Devilman Crybaby fans (whom I am dubbing "Crybabies" from now on), and they are the type of people who cannot stand the idea that their perfect series has any flaws at all. The hype is definitely what killed this series for me,but even taking that out of the equation I just plain don't think it's a good anime anyway.

Let's start with what I like about this series. The soundtrack is objectively good (hence the only high score I gave). The OP is especially awesome and gets you pumped as you hear "MAN MAN MAN HUMAN HUMAN"! I like a lot of *designs* of the characters, especially Devilman, Sirene, and Psycho Jenny. I am interested in reading the manga just because I like how those characters look so much better in that version compared to this anime. I think Miki was my favorite character, even though there wasn't much special about her. She was just kind of a nice, plain girl who liked running track, but she was pretty much the only likable character for me. I also liked that rapper character played by Johnny Yong Bosch, just because of the BALLS on that guy! Seriously, do you remember that scene when Ryo blasts the hell out of a bridge with a shotgun, and then rapper dude is just like "Come at me, bro"?! Wow, the stones on that guy.

If I had to describe Devilman Crybaby with one word it'd be "unpleasant." This show not only looks terrible due to cheap animation and ugly artwork, but it also features tons of gratuitous violence and sexual imagery just for shock value. Any given scene in the series ranges from "decent artwork" to "holy hell are those stick figures?!" There were so many times something unpleasant would happen and I'd just ask "why did we see that?" Why did we get a scene of Miko masturbating in her room? Why did we have to see Akira scream and ejaculate a huge puddle on his ceiling? Why did we just see some random dude stab Miki's cat with a knife? For me what was unforgivable was when one of the sweetest characters on the show gets this disturbing death scene just to be dark. This show will just leave you with a bad taste in your mouth, and there's no deeper meaning behind it. What was the overall message here? "People are all assholes"? Thanks, I guess!

Sometimes I watch a show for pretty artwork and sometimes I watch for an interesting plot/characters, but Devilman Crybaby had none of these things. I can only assume they butchered the story from the manga, since they had to just breeze through the plot in the span of only 10 episodes. Characters such as Sirene who *seem* like they'll be a big deal are dealt with after only 1 episode. The twist involving Ryo came out of nowhere (at least to me), with zero foreshadowing or development. What was the plot of this show? OK,so Ryo needs Akira to be possessed by the demon Amon so he can fight other demons. Why? Why Akira? I thought maybe Akira was special because he was pure of heart or something, but then later in the series we see OTHER Devilmen appear, and those people don't appear to share any traits with Akira! Why couldn't Ryo use one of them? What exactly "qualifies" someone to become a Devilman? Because it seemed random to me which demons Akira could turn to his side and which he couldn't. Like remember when Miki's little brother became a demon? Why couldn't Akira turn him? For that matter, what qualifies someone to turn DEMON in the first place? Like in episode 1 I assumed all of those people turned demon because they were deviants and because of the drug that girl handed out. But then why did Miki's little brother turn? Is it random? Hey remember when that water demon possessed Miki and Akira just kinda sucked it out of her? Why couldn't he expel the demon from anyone else? Conveniently that only worked for her. Also what was up with Ryo's weird-looking assistant? I read some people saying that she was supposed to be Psycho Jenny in disguise and she was manipulating Ryo's mind or something? Dude, if that's what was going on, that was NOT explained well by the show! I was just laughing in that one episode where we get Ryo's backstory because it was so poorly written. Ryo literally is like "Hey, why am I doing any of this shit again?" Then he travels to a random ass village in Africa and is like "Oh yeah, I guess I'm Satan lolz"! WTF?! Also, if Ryo has the powers of Satan, couldn't he have just destroyed humanity by himself? Did he need a demon army at all? So, uh, if the plan was never to actually protect humans from demon attacks then it makes zero sense to have Akira fight those enemies in the early episodes. Like, Akira kills powerful demons like Sirene who could've HELPED Ryo in exterminating mankind. In retrospect it seems like a REALLY dumb decision to make Akira Devilman, as Akira was literally the only person who posed a threat to Ryo's plans. Akira's the one who started turning other Devilmen against Ryo! The dude created his own problem!

The most unforgivable sin this show makes is the emotional manipulation in the episode where Akira's parents are absorbed by this turtle demon and he has to fight it. We hear sad piano music playing and everyone is crying and I should feel sad, yet I'm actually laughing. Because it's not sad! We literally only met these parents at the start of the episode! How can I possibly feel any emotional connection to characters I don't know? Who cares if they die? Please watch an anime called Parasyte Maxim that handles a similar scene MUCH better without any emotional manipulation.

I watched Crybaby in English and a lot of the dialogue was pretty melodramatic and bad. The way Akira says, "I have the body of a demon but the sooooulll of a huuuuumaaaaan!" just made me cringe. I'll never forget the scene where Ryo is introduced and Akira says, "Here is my friend Ryo. He is the same age as me and is already a professor at a local university. OK, bye!" Why would he feel the need to mention that? Awkward and clumsy. There was a conversation between Akira and Miki that had me rolling my eyes where Akira is so blunt and says, "That photographer is only trying to take advantage of your innocence!" Miki says, "And just what is so wrong with being innocent?" People don't talk like this.

Why was Akira friends with Ryo at all when they were kids? Ryo seemed like a literal sociopath, like the first time he raises a boxcutter against a kitten I'd stay FAR away from him! Why did that one Devilman turn on Akira and join Ryo's side at the last minute (especially after Akira previously saved his life)?Why did that one member of the rapper group suddenly turn on everyone and sell out their location to the mobs? Is it that "everyone's an asshole" message again? Why would this show make running such an important theme when they clearly have no idea how to properly animate a human being running? A lot of other little things bothered me, but I think I've rambled on enough. There was very little I liked in Devilman Crybaby and it totally astounds me that so many people love this show. Is it just because it's got sex and violence? Because it's edgy and dark? The random "WTF did I just watch" factor? I don't get it.