Review of Devilman: Crybaby

I like the animation. It's a simple art style that allows for a lot of easy and expressive movement, particularly in the last episode. Fight scenes are full of blood and viscera, often coming in literal fountains, and I love it for that. It's not always perfect, since scenes that are still don't benefit from that expressiveness and everything is so damn dark at times that it's hard to make anything out, but for the most part, the animation is a big win. As for the sex and nudity, I thought it was gratuitous. There's a sense throughout, and this is true of the violence (atleast for the last several episodes) that the goal is just to show that humanity is too far gone. I wouldn't say I have an optimistic view of humanity myself, but this just seemed like too much. I get that this is a world infested with demons and that they affect behavior, but regular humans were among the worst participants and there was just a sense that nearly everyone is awful. As a take-home message, it's pretty basic.

The characters are interesting in places. I grew to like Miko as one of the more interesting characters. Miki is a shining beacon throughout the series. Having a minor character like Kukun and Gabi be so endearing is a substantial feat as well. I found myself appreciating Akira and Ryo as a study of contrasts rather than as individuals, though Akira certainly had his moments and Ryo at least had one.

Most of the other characters, particularly the demons or those in the Miki's or Akira's family, just didn't get enough depth to really work. There are some exceptional scenes for them, particularly one with Miki's father that was just heartrending, but most of these characters lack enough time or just general character exploration to be all that interesting.

As for the story, I may have given it away with my thoughts on Ryo since he drives much of the plot, but since we were following Akira through much of the plot, it just felt... reactive. He didn't direct much until the last couple of episodes, largely just responding to what came his way. There are some exceptional moments where he bucks that trend, but the series as a whole can feel a bit defeatist. I think there's some nice stuff that happens along the way, enough to elevate the series a bit, but it's hard to enjoy a series that has a take-away this dark. And, to be clear, I like tragedy. When a story really makes me feel for its characters, their loss or harm becomes a really great focal point for me. But so many of the characters die in this that the series just makes me numb to their outcomes with only a couple of exceptions. When there's a real clash between Akira's and Ryo's worldviews, this series soars. When it's more of an examination of the world and the people in it, not so much.

Overall, it's not a negative experience by any means, but not quite the one I was hoping for, either. If the gratuitous nature of this show's sex and violence don't get to you and you're good with the dark themes and mass character deaths, this may be more for you than it was for me.