Review of Devilman: Crybaby

As a fan of the original manga, I was not expecting this to be a good adaptation, and after being disappointed by the 2000 OVA Amon: Devilman Mokushiroku, I had lost hope that there would ever be an adaptation that retains the manga's brilliant ending. However, Crybaby delivered. While Crybaby takes many liberties with the original story, everything important is here. The characters, the message, the ending, it is all ultimately faithful to Go Nagai's original story and gave me the same emotional response upon finishing it. The new characters and complete overhaul of Mikiko/Miko was not unwelcome and fit naturally into the story without takinganything away from what made the manga so good. The rather "unique" art style can be jarring at times but is generally interesting to look at, especially in motion.

I have a couple minor complaints. First, the minimalist art style does a disservice to the demon designs, which retain their nightmarish qualities but lose those delightfully grotesque details that made them so interesting to look at in the manga and other adaptations. Second, too much of the beginning (everything before the Sabbath) was changed for the worse. If you want to see how it happens in the manga, watch the 1987 OVA Devilman: Tanjou-hen. It's a very faithful adaptation of the manga's first act and a much better introduction to Ryo and the demons than the one we get in Crybaby. Third, Akira did not scream "JINMEN!!!" and that's a damn shame.

All in all, I'm satisfied if Crybaby is the best adaptation Devilman ever gets. Maybe Yuasa can take a crack at Berserk next? Pretty please?