Review of Devilman: Crybaby

Devilman: Crybaby is an anime that looked incredibly interesting when I initially heard about it and saw the first trailer which looked great. I went into this without knowing anything about Devilman as I haven't read the manga or watched any previous adaptions. After hearing a lot of praise upon its release I went into this with elevated expectations as I really wanted something special and oh boy did I get that. The basic premise of Devilman: Crybaby is that Akira Fudo is told by his friend Ryou Asuka about the existence of demons. He ends up becoming a Devilman who is a cross ofhuman and demon and is tasked with fighting the demon hoards. This premise might not sound that special but oh boy the story is fantastic especially in the later half. The pacing of the story was also very good and masterfully told over the 10 episodes that it was told and I never once felt like it was being rushed or being dragged on. The only complaint I have is that the latter half happens very abruptly and the transition from the first part to the second could've been handled better but aside from that it's great.

The characters of Devilman: Crybaby turned out to be much better than what I was expecting from a 10 episode show and many have said they are way better here than in the manga and past adaptions. The whole cast felt important to the plot and none of them were unnecessary or even annoying to me.

One thing that surprised me from the end of the first episode was just how far this anime goes with its violence and nudity. This is because it was released for Netflix and therefore was not confined by the restrictions that come with airing on regular tv. This ultraviolence is handled very well and is one of the areas where the anime truly shines, and it never gets in the way of the more serious themes of the anime that come along later. The animation itself is incredibly unique and I loved the style and it went along excellently with the massive level of blood gore.

One thing that cannot be passed up when talking about Devilman Crybaby is the excellent soundtrack which is without a doubt one of the best and most unique I've heard in any anime. All the tracks go along perfectly with the scenes they accompany and enhance it immensely. There's some synth tracks here like Judgement and Buddy, Ryo and some normal tracks like D.V.M.N and Crybaby.

All in all, Devilman: Crybaby is one of the best and most unique new anime's I've seen in a long time and deserves all the love that it is getting. Do yourself a favor and check it out as the entire show is out currently.