Review of Devilman: Crybaby

Minor spoilers ahead: I think this show has gotten a bad rep on this site. I've seen a lot of reviews putting it down for various reasons but for me it has been the only show that can even come close to the pure emotion I felt after finishing Banana Fish. Let's start with the story. The framework is very well done and it's paced well for a ten episode show. It's something you can binge in a single night if you really want and although that's not what I did, I can see how that may have been how it was meant to be watched.The themes of the story are presented spectacularly. The way it shows the turn of the world after the demons are first revealed is done in such a horrific, depressing way that it makes Lord of the Flies look like a happy novel. I'll talk about the ending and the true impact of the story at the end of the review but I want to get the non spoiler things out of the way first. That means next is the art, which was extremely well done. You can tell they didn't have the biggest budget, which shows how much Netflix cares about their actually good shows, but they took what they had and made a unique looking show with a lot of really cool styles during the fight scenes. It makes every time something awful happens that much more effective. Next is sound, which I don't have much to say about. It's well done. The main things that stood out were the two songs used at the ends of episodes 9 and 10. These were placed perfectly to show the emotion that this show conveys and they were probably like 10 percent of the reason I was crying. Next is character, which is where this show was most likely to fail in my opinion. A ten episode show that relies on getting you EXTREMELY attached to its characters, it would be a death sentence to most shows, but character is one of the places where Devilman shines the most. Each character is masterfully crafted to make them truly relatable in their own way. Every main character felt well flushed out over the course of the show and that was so important because the whole ending relies on it. Akira was an interesting lead who was put in many situations to challenge the way his character thinks, being kind above all else, Miki was so likable and nice, Ryo was a strange guy who's true goals were concealed, but he always wanted Akira to be happy, even at the very end of the show, which I'll get into shortly, and Miko is where I get into spoilers so SPOILER WARNING FROM THIS POINT ON: Miko felt like a side character until the very end where all the development she'd went through during the course of the series came out in a spectacular way that reminded me of Bruce and Mickey from Spiritfarer. I only liked them at the very end where I had to say goodbye. The ending of Devilman is the saddest part, and also the most powerful. The twist of Ryo being literal Satan caught me so off guard that I was yelling at a fictional character through my computer screen because I felt... betrayed, I guess. As the third to last episode ended I knew that bad things were going to happen, but I never expected them to show the deaths of each character I had come to love one by one. And the real kicker is, nearly all of them weren't even killed by devils. They were killed by people they knew just because they tried to help. All the build up of Akira assembling the other Devilmen and using the deaths of Miki and everyone else to fuel the final fight against Ryo. My second line of the show comes from just a bit before this fight. Akira says to Ryo after he finds him and sees him for what he truly is "I would cry for you but I have no tears left." It's the moment where you really realize how long they've known each other and how connected they are. The final fight is fast and intense with the other Devilmen sacrificing themselves to keep Akira in the fight, and then right as he's doing well and it seems like he might be winning Ryo dashes into him at lightning speed and knocks him out of the sky. Landing and lying down next to him he begins to talk about the past. As parts of their childhood play that motherfucking piano song plays and it hits like a truck. These flashbacks show how out of touch Ryo was with everyone else, but how he was always at Akira's side. The child actors do surprisingly well here, especially the one for Akira. Ryo's feels off, like there's no emotion but I think that's the point. Through Akira Ryo slowly learned to live. It then goes back to present day Ryo talks a bit more before asking one simple question. "Akira, why am I the only one talking?" Akira had died the moment Ryo touched him and this realization comes to Ryo and the viewer at the same time. The one thing Ryo loved had been taken from him by none other than himself. At that point God decides this is a fitting punishment for Satan and kills him along with all the other devils leaving no more sentient life on the planet. This is such a powerful, emotional ending that I can't see how anybody could have an issue with this series. Every element is masterfully done and I have next to no issues. In conclusion, this show has the best preview on Netflix don't even try and argue with me.