Review of Devilman: Crybaby

I haven't read the original 5-volume manga that this anime adapts but it certainly feels like a very crammed adaptation that stretched production values. It's certainly ambitious and challenging and I applaud Netflix for taking a risk like this. However, this series feels like a long shonen manga that's been crammed into 10 episodes (with the violence and sex turned up to 11). We don't spend long enough with the characters to really empathize with their character moments, the plot advances so quickly that all the subtlety and consistent theming is lost, things just seem to happen on a whim so our good guys have somethingto do. The story/characters would have been better served with a 26-episode season. As it is, these 10-episodes feel more like a "best of" summary of Devilman rather than an actual story.

That being said, the first episode is worth watching for its challenging and beautiful art. Everyone should get to know this series and its director, Yuasa Masaaki, but not everyone needs to see this series.