Review of Devilman: Crybaby

Without a proper context, unintentionally, we would lean on to the side of the party with the lower risks and more relatable mostly due to our “human” nature, a bunch of dancing silhouettes in the distance screaming a bunch of sounds dancing on what looks like an abused hardly recognizable corps while they keep standing the helpless almost decomposed carcass in joy, now that's horrible group of barbaric savages coming one of their holy sacrifices. But what if the dead corpse was of a vicious witch, one that has haunted this poor village for decades, kidnapping little kids and sneaking in the villages late atnight snapping their necks for whatever dark-magic reason it is, they have finally hunted her after so much loss and are celebrating this great cleansing as both the end to a terrifying past and the beginning of a peaceful life at last.
But then again, there is no guarantee that the villages are just too blinded with the laughable beliefs that led them to kidnap a stranger out of their trib and performed all sorts of terrible doings on their corps after lengthy hours of torture for whatever fetish it was they were trying to satisfy. Who's the real demon now? Is appearance worthy to tell apart? That last statement couldn't be a fraction of the truth for how much hatred came from discriminating against a group of people that are the exact same as the abuser, only with a darker tone of skin. Anyone is willing to call everybody who doesn't agree to their beliefs a demon, a pill of walking bullshit that needs to meet its end, it's horrible even saying it, let alone witnessing it being done, and you know, stuff like this is somebody's daily routine out there.
Much of this and more is the meat of “Devilman: Crybaby” in a furious fest of blood, rape, treason and all kinds of taboo that mocks the real world and sets off some over-exaggerated imagery on how it's done that doesn't fall apart on delivering the same kind of trauma and shock. This show doesn't hold back on its nudity nor does it slow down the pace of similar NSFW imagery the same as real life (Shocking, I know), immediate caution mode should be switched ON all time, you never know when a sharp object might stop the throbbing heart of a beloved character nor an episode that starts off on hardcore gay sex, something that messed my head in a way I never expected.

- Story (9/10):
What started like a middle friendship contract between two innocent looking kids evolved into what nobody saw coming. Akira, a crybaby in the heart as people call him, a good-willed and a nice kid overall finally made contact with his long parted childhood friend that ended up dragging him into a world of paranormal activities as demon hunters, together, trying to eliminate them under a good intention.
Of course, tragic things happen, which only steered the wheel the wrong direction and ended up in a conflict between one's will and his/her body for a search about freedom and recognition while being tied up to the disgraceful trashy abomination that society makes him/her be.
Among the strongest logs that shape up this great adaptation was the pacing, so strong it boosts your blood while you're trying not to lose your balance and fall off to the ground without even noticing.
A lot of details is thrown like a minigun free spray every episode that it requires a mathematician's attention to keep up with and it's not necessarily a bad thing as it only contributes into the world building that resulted into a magnificent backstory that I want to discuss.
What really makes this plot easier to get into, maybe at times even relatable is that the core of it is a pretty well-known thesis that especially the religious of us can agree with. The whole good and evil deeds related to Anges and Demons fight, it feels like a revamped urban legend that your grandmother would repeatedly tell you every now and then.

- Art (7/10):
A lot of people would be complaining about how unappealing this show was, visually-wise. I would like to stop you right there, respectable sir or madam.
I can understand how the “art style” can be a bit off-putting looking how this is a contribution to an older series “Devilman”, they clearly wanted to keep the dated look like a show for appreciation (I like this approach better than Banana Fish's), however, animation wise, this was a blast to look at.
Fluidity is key, it's like impossible to notice a split in a frame somewhere.
It's also worth noting that CGI is completely absent, if not, it was very good you couldn't notice it, which is the greatest thing visually speaking this show has going for it.
One complaint I have was how overly dark most of the fight scenes are, maybe the demons can see perfectly due to their eyes, but not for most of us, I had to repeatedly increase the lighting and adjust the screen's hue to keep up with their silhouette.

- Sound (9/10):
My ears would like to personally thank the team that was after the vocals.
The voice acting was phenomenal, and as it involved some English spoken lines, the cast was up for the job, I didna have to cringe any bit as I was a completely normal hearing to solidly spoken English that you'd swear they substituted the voice actor for that portion just in the right time for you not to notice until the dialogue shifts back to Japanese in a seamless way that just had me accept how talented the voice actors and actresses were.
They also did the more emotional scenes perfectly to how the tone of the voice matched the expression of the character's faces, there was a middle resonance there that leads you to believe the cast was being exposed to some horrible things while recording just to make sure they right tone is led out.
The opening and ending songs were very simple, it didn't shift the focus of the episode either starting or ending, very quick and undistracting, neither loud ot quite, just in the right volume to keep your excited for what the content of the episode is going to be. Much like a jump scare warning.
The soundtrack is probably the best thing this show excels at doing the most, a bunch of messy noises that are magically juxtaposed just the right way to give you the extra eargasm at every action sequence and equally dread you to pieces on emotional moments. And obviously, I can't stop here and forget about the greatness of the rap tracks we got to hear from several characters on the run as they were speaking truer lines on the reality they were living than what's broadcasted on television, it makes you want an 8-miles like movie surrounding them.

- Character (7/10):
This is a really heated topic when it comes to this show as it's pretty much a hit or miss situation. Concerning the cast, it's rich and varying alright, I loved so many characters from different backgrounds and with different ideologies, but most of it comes from empathy, most of them weren't that likable at the start of the series, maybe not even noticeable, but then a great development happens and BOOM.
I'm going to have to spit off some MAJOR end-game spoilers from now and then, so if you want to keep it spoiler free, jump to the following section and skip over this upcoming paragraph.
A lot of sacrifices were made, you'd start the series cheering for somebody, almost sure they would survive until the death mark hits them harder than you can blink. But to what extent? Just to advance the development of the main character by a microscopic margin, it was not worth it considering the high stakes.

- Enjoyment (9/10):
I could barely make it out of the show, once you've seen it, it's hard to erase it from your mind, and I'm sure I'm hainvg thoughts about this show for the next couple of weeks for how deep and involving it got me one my two sessions binge watch, which is what probably gave me most of the satisfaction, I can't imagine how hard it was for people to wait a whole week after every cliffhanger episode, I laughed, I burnt in anger, I almost cried, it was one hell of a sabbath party on its own for me.

- Overall (8.2/10):
“Devilman: Crybaby” is one of those shows that we only get to see once or twice every lengthy period of time, it's not shy to address most embarrassing social problems that don't get talked about that too often.
Something that's very wanted from most of the battle shows is the involving pacing, here you'll feel home as it doesn't wast a split of a second of something non-plot boosting, full time non-stop action sequences, heartbreaking moments that keep you on the edge of your seat all of the episode. I can't recommend this hard enough as it has so much to it that I can list although the art style might be off-putting for some people, it's one experience that you won't get in most other shows. Just make sure you're all set for a 10 episode non-stop action, and keep into consideration the large scale of NSTW material that's get thrown into the screen like a lot, we're talking rape scenes passionate sex, gore, and graphic nudity.