Review of Devilman: Crybaby

Now that I had officially finished the series and I'm not totally sleep deprived, I'd like to revise my review. My standing on the anime still stands, but I would like to go into a little more depth about my rating for this anime. Please note that this review WILL contain spoilers. This story is best experience spoiler-free, so I recommend you watch this for yourself before you decide to read further. That being said, I would like to give a brief warning. This anime does contain a lot of sexual and violent themes. Even someone like me, who is usually tolerant of sexual content, was putoff and uncomfortable by the blatant sex scenes, close up of breasts, and the genital monsters. I STRONGLY recommend you follow the 3-episode-rule for this anime, because if you can barely stomach the content within the first three episodes, you won't make it the rest of the way.

Now, let me get started.

Story: 7/10

Much like many people who watched this, I went into this without prior knowledge of the source material. I was attracted by all of the fanart I've seen of the series, the character designs, and bizarre story about a demon. Anyone who knows me knows that stories about demons and Christian lore is completely right up my alley, so naturally, I was attracted to this story the moment I saw people talking about it.

The story is not bad at all. It does get confusing at times, hell, there are plenty of parts that aren't clearly communicated, so it becomes very jarring and confusing. I was often left with many questions, like "Why is he killing demons if he's a demon himself?" "Why does he suddenly want to help demons AND humans?" "Why does he want to help devilmen if he's a devilman, too, and was killing demons this whole time?" "Why does he continue to trust Ryo even after seeing all of the horrible things Ryo did before him?" "Why did Taro suddenly become a demon despite showing absolutely no signs of being one before?" "Why is it that Ryo suddenly loves Akira, despite showing absolutely no sign of it before and being horrible and even driving Akira to his death?"

Basically, the story has a lot of inconsistencies that are not clearly explained, and may leave heads scratching. While that is true, the story is still impressive and has decent writing.

What it DOES communicate clearly is done very well, and grips the emotions like a vicegrip. The relationship with Miko and Miki, even if you remove the romantic implications, was realistic and easy to get into. Even nameless side characters were given, well, character, and a reason to like them. What the story lacks in plot it makes up for with symbolism and gripping dialogue that makes the audience wonder what's going to happen to the characters next.

Art: 7/10

Sometimes, the art is fantastic and fluid, while other times, the art is questionable at best. However, the animation quality most often drops during more mundane scenes, like eating at a dinner table or just conversations between two characters, while it is fluid and eccentric in more action-packed scenes. Even with its quality drop, it has a certain charm to it that works with the tone the story is going for.

Sound: 9/10

The soundtrack, especially the opening, has pretty much become a meme at this point, and for a good reason. It's fantastic, engaging, and memorable. The music fits the tone each scene is going for, which is always a plus.

Character: 8/10

As I said before, what Devilman Crybaby lacks in story it makes up for with character development. Even characters that were meant to be side characters were given personality, which makes it even more devastating when they are killed.

Akira is likeable. He's more than just an edgy crybaby-- his motivations are realistic, his reactions are realistic to an extent. His crybaby personality helps drive the emotional scenes, and it becomes more than just a one-off personality trait. It paves the way for the most investing scenes.

Enjoyment: 8/10

If you can stomach the mature themes that are present, then it's an enjoyable series through and through. There is rarely a dull moment, since the pace is rather quick, so it's hard to find a time where I was bored or wondering when it would get to the next scene.

Overall: 8/10

I say "eh, go for it". It has its problems with pacing (which is kind of a given with an anime that's only 10 episodes), but it's easy to invest in. It's definitely NOT a story that's for everyone, though.