Devilman: Crybaby

**Devilman:  Crybaby** is an anime series written by Ichiro Okouchi, directed by the famous Masaaki Yuasa, musically

    composed by Kensuke Ushio, and produced by Eunyoung Choi, Science Saru, and Netflix.  It ran for 10 episodes, all of which dropped at once on January 5, 2018 on Netflix's streaming service.  It's based on a manga of the same name from the 1970's by the legendary mangaka Go Nagai, and is actually a re-adaptation, as there was a short OVA created in the 1970's.

## Plot

In the series, Akira Fudo is informed by his best friend, Ryo Asuka, that an ancient race of demons has returned to take back the world from humans. Believing that the only way to defeat the demons is to incorporate their powers, Ryo suggests to Akira that he unite with a demon. Succeeding in doing so, Akira transforms into Devilman, possessing the powers of a demon but retaining the soul of a human.

The series is more of a direct anime adaptation of its source material than previous works, covering the entire span of the manga. However, many alterations were made to the plot, such as a modern setting and different characterizations.

## Why It Rocks

1. Great animation.
2. Excellent music, courtesy of Kensuke Ushio.
3. Incredibly inventive art style, color design, and camera angels, the trademark style of Masaaki Yuasa.
4. Good voice acting in both sub and dub.
5. Devilman:  Crybaby possesses interesting themes of nhilism and hopelessness that you don't often see in anime, especially in this day and age.
6. THE FINAL EPISODE!
7. Being on Netflix, the creators of the show didn't have to hold back when it comes to sex and violence; if they did have to hold back, then it would have harmed the quality of the series tremendously.

## Bad Qualities

1. The story might be too dark for some people, and others, at first glance, might even see it as being edgy just for the sake of being edgy.
2. The story is a little bit too short and seems kind of rushed, albeit not to it's absolute detriment, for the themes it's trying to present.

## Reception

Devilman Crybaby has received mostly positive reviews from critics and audiences. The series received 80% on Rotten Tomatoes from 5 critics.[6]

Allegra Frank of Polygon referred to the series as Netflix's first anime masterpiece, praising the visuals, tone and use of humor through the show writing " It’s a peak example of director Yuasa’s brand of balancing surrealist art and a real love for young people. The combination makes the show much easier to consume, and every tonal change stands out the more so for it. There’s something striking about an anime that can toe this fine line with such seeming ease."[7] Eric Thurm of Decider magazine gave the series a more lukewarm review, describing it as the "grossest show on TV", but still recommended that readers at least watch a couple of episodes for Yuasa's unique art style.[8]

The Japan Times contributing writer Matt Schley gave the series four stars out of a possible five writing, "The 10-episode “Crybaby” starts off strong and ends with a bang, but sags a bit in the middle, and the series’ ambition occasionally exceeds its production values — and there’s some pretty cringe-worthy English voice acting in the Japanese-language version. But if “Crybaby” presages what’s to come from Netflix’s investment in anime, it’s going to be an interesting year for the medium."[9]

Rob Salkowitz of Forbes wrote a very positive review of the anime stating, "If you can stomach the extreme visuals and neck-snapping tonal shifts, Devilman Crybaby will leave fans of contemporary adult-oriented animation wondering what the hell they just saw, mostly in a good way. If not, it’s a binge that will leave you wanting to purge."[10]

Mike Toole of Anime News Network reviewed the series giving both the sub and dubbed version a rating of B+ praising the animation style and the unique way the classic characters are presented, but criticized the series for losing much of its story structure in the middle of the series. In the review Toole writes, "DEVILMAN crybaby is both a thorough depiction of Go Nagai's dark, violent story and a fresh angle at the same time—purists might complain that the geniuses at Science SARU get too creative and goofy with the classic look of Nagai's blocky and muscular characters, but the remarkably creative visuals will keep your interest any time the story starts to waver."