Review of Devilman: Crybaby

Devilman crybaby is amazing as it is abstract. One of the key components of the show and its success is the understanding of the younger generation and the problems that accrue. Drugs, women, money, violence etc. there are many things that ask for the attention of younger minds with most of the time it not being the healthiest chose. Take these topics and wrap it into a smoothly written show, you get devilman crybaby in a nutshell. The best part is it’s not pointing to just 1 idea, rather its like theshow is speaking its mind about what these topics look like in the bigger picture.
Story: Right off the bat I have to say that there is a massive amount of gore and sex in the show with an almost devilish way of making it a portrayal of growing up and all the experimentation that happens during that time. It's expertly crafted to be entertaining at the same time as being a commentary. It describes the idea of drugs giving superpowers and how sex seems to be on everyone’s mind whether we want to or not. I enjoyed this raunchy element to spice things up and really give a flare to the story at hold. It really grabs people’s attention to some of the underlying problems in society that we like to hide and try to forget about, which seems to be the only way to get attention these days. The use of switching the positions of the devils and the humans constantly also posed the question of who really the devil or human. This is only exaggerated my Akira’s back and forth stance towards humans himself but rather this being a flaw I found it more in line with it being realistic with how someone would think in such a stressful situation. There’s also raps throughout the show that portrays the situation that a lot of the new generation feels like in today's world. These nuanced messages in the show just beg to be noticed and help contrast the over the top nature of the show. Breaking down each individual part and their cultural relevance would take much longer than this review, so I will leave that to lengthy explanation videos on YouTube for better depth.
Animation: I couldn’t pick a better animation for this show. The free-form style really fit it and allowed the show to express itself however it needed to. Whether it needed to have intense action scenes or emotional deliverance it was there. It was both experimental in its design while still being sharp. Studio Science SARU is a brand-new studio and given what they have shown so far, I’m going to watch out for them in the future to see what they produce. I also really like the color pallet for the show with the vivid colors and matching it with the craziness of the anime, it makes it pop which is what I like to see. Of course, there are times where the use of contrasting white grey and black come in as result of the depiction of the scene, I really enjoyed the use of this style as well since it matches with the show's sense of dark vs light theme.
Music: The music was alright had some nice tracks occasionally and was diverse as well. It was soothing, sad, intense and dark all which fit the show at their proper moments making it smooth and likable. It adds to the moments and themes the show tried to present amplifying it, so you can truly feel what the characters were trying to get at. My favorites were Miki, Judgement, and Pathetique all which really had their moments to shine. I really recommend checking out the soundtrack if you do end up watching the show, a lot of these songs can be played on their own because they are so enjoyable.
Conclusion: Being only 10 episodes long while also being packed with a perfect pacing, it’s a must watch. It a very interesting watch to spot all the nuances in the show and having a lot of incredible talent working on it as well with Iwakami, Atsuhiro, and Yuasa, Masaaki being the more notable ones.