Devilman: Crybaby

Devils cannot take form without a living host. However, if the will of an individual is strong enough, they can overcome the demon and make its power their own, becoming a Devilman.

Weak and unassuming, Akira Fudou has always had a bleeding heart. So when his childhood friend Ryou Asuka asks for his help in uncovering devils, Akira accepts without hesitation. However, to Akira's surprise, the place they go to is Sabbath: an immoral party of debauchery and degeneracy. Amidst bloodshed and death, demons possess the partiers, turning their bodies into grotesque monsters, and begin wreaking havoc. In a reckless attempt to save his best friend, Akira unwittingly merges with the devil Amon and becomes a Devilman, gaining the power to defeat the remaining demons.

Though it grants him great power, this new partnership awakens an insatiable and primeval part of Akira. Having the body of a devil but the same crybaby heart, Akira works alongside Ryou, destroying those that harm humanity and his loved ones.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Asuka, Ryou Main

Murase, Ayumu Japanese

Fudou, Akira Main

Uchiyama, Kouki Japanese

Devilman Main

Uchiyama, Kouki Japanese

Satan ing

Murase, Ayumu Japanese

Makimura, Miki ing

Han, Megumi Japanese

Kuroda, Miki ing

Koshimizu, Ami Japanese

Kukun ing

Young Dais Japanese

Wamu ing

KEN THE 390 Japanese

Silene ing

Tanaka, Atsuko Japanese

Amon ing

Choi, Eun-Young Producer

Shintaku, Youhei Producer

Yuasa, Masaaki Director, Episode Director, Storyboard, Key Animation

Kimura, Eriko Sound Director

Reviews

May 31, 2025

Supersonic_Pain

Recommended

When I first saw this in July of 2024, I thought it was really good, good enough to be in my top 10 and for me to give it a strong 8/10, an already very good and generous score from me.

Seeing it now 11 months later, somehow I UNDERRATED this show.

This is a generational anime the likes of which we might not see for decades.

I think the art style is a little goofy-looking when you first start watching it. In particular, the running scenes can look a little unnatural, but I think it really works with this anime. Seeing the body horror and gory violence ... and stylish animation, I think it's something to be expected from Science Saru to have weird-looking shows that end up justifying the animation style and more.

Devilman the manga started in 1972 so Crybaby was adapting a manga that was around 4 and a half decades old at the time. I ittedly haven't read the manga cover to cover and won't be talking about how Crybaby adapts Devilman as a result but one thing I will note is as a result, the original manga designs are kind of... old fashioned. Not BAD by any means but I do think redeg the characters a little was a smart choice.

The sound design is pretty good too. I think the OP is kind of... understated, but I think it'd look kind of goofy if Crybaby had some MHA-ass OP in it, even if that OP is good. After watching this anime twice, I can't imagine a different OP, even with a remixed version of Devilman no Uta in it (performed by Queen Bee of all bands, very based). In general, I think the word(s) of the day is/are "thumping beats". That's not to say they're all beat-focused, D.V.M.N. is a very prominent theme in the show and it's not beat-oriented (and is also a very good song).

One of my main gripes when I first saw it was how much it felt like the sex and violence pervaded the show and felt like jingling car keys to paper over a weaker first half (which is one of the things I disagree with now, the first half is a banger in its own right). This is probably my own biases but I do feel like the sex/naked bodies is a little distracting and over the top for me but overall, this was less of an issue for me.

Considering how hard Akira has to try to keep his humanity and not crash out and go Devilman on people's asses, I do think the hyperviolence and sexual imagery is somewhat warranted, especially when it leads to cool body horror like in the first episode where the two mix.

Although I think a couple production choices are my other biggest flaws.

1. There are a lot of scenes at night which is fine but it's pretty dark in those scenes. I don't know if you're supposed to see barely anything but my monitor is pretty bright and even then, it was a little troublesome/annoying to make stuff out.

2. Ryo speaks in English a lot (Idk how much you'd define to be "a lot" but he does it several times in extended scenes over the course of 10 episodes) in this show and the VA's accent is pretty thick so it's kind of hard and/or annoying to make out what he's saying. I got the gist of it but I really had to tune in to hear what he was saying. Part of this is also on the subtitles for considering English to be the time where they can skimp out on the subtitles which is pretty shitty not only because of the thick accent but because if you're watching with someone who is deaf... uh... get fucked, I guess?

I think the main characters of the show are all pretty strong.

We've got our titular Devilman and our titular Crybaby, Akira Fudo. I think the main theme of the show for me was the power of love and that shows in how Akira and his love interest Miki Makimura were raised. We can see that Akira and Miki have a very solid foundation and are raised in a peaceful, loving, stable family and that shows in how kind-hearted and good-natured they are as people. Even in the chaotic, shitty world of Crybaby, Akira and Miki choose to be good people who would even help people who are chastised as demons.

This also reflects in how Miki treats the rapper crew who are treated as street urchins who'd rob, tote guns, basically your average street thuggery. Miki's willing to stick up for them even with how they treated Akira earlier in the show. And this is paid in kind when one of the rappers turns out to be a pretty cool dude who'd stick up for Akira and Miki later on.

Speaking of rappers, Miki Kuroda (aka Miko/the red haired one). Showing how being "the other Miki" beats down on her and having her develop a relationship with one of the other rappers just because he took the time to see Kuroda for KURODA was really cute. It was even one of the things I appreciated about the first half on the first go around. I do wish we could see more highlights of MikixMiki instead of just Kuroda being bitter about being the other Miki for the majority of the show but I do think she's a good character for the time she gets.

My favorite character, however, is Akira's counterpart, Ryo Asuka. I think he's a man of contradictions because he represents the absence of love. After all, if there's no love, there can be no sorrow, right? While Kuroda's been "othered" for a lot of her life, I think Ryo's very interesting because he clearly has someone in his heart but he just CAN'T understand love. RyoxAkira is such a fascinating relationship that's at the core of why I love this show.

The white-clad man of light who can't understand love and the black-clad devil who could cry for anyone.

Even in the very first scene, he opens fire on a group of ruffians and he never really thaws out. He never gets to hang out with Miki or eat dinner surrounded by a family that adores him. His apartment is big but it's cold and clinical. He has a giant pool that he never bothers swimming in until Akira forces him into it. Even his secretary just does her job with an unnatural smile and leaves him alone. Even the way they fight is fundamentally different. Akira gets up and close with people, fighting with his fists and feet. Ryo uses guns and heavy machinery. Akira runs and flies places. Ryo uses his fancy car.

There's a baton scene near the end showing Kuroda ing it to Makimura who es it to Akira who tries to it to Ryo but he just drops it. There's just a fundamental disconnect there and he doesn't understand until it is forced upon him to understand. No wonder he is a cold-blooded sociopath, he doesn't value human life in the same way we do.

The show is about love, sadness, "otherness" (see: the presence of the rapping poor street hoodlums, a lot of them who have good hearts. Also how Devilmen are treated despite having human hearts, Miki Makimura vs. Kuroda, Makimura's heritage, etc.) but overall, it's just an emotionally devastating and resonant show.

The second half also touches on mass hysteria, societal breakdown, and how quickly "the others" can be turned into public enemy number one, to be killed and scorned and I thought it worked really well, it's like night and day with the first half.

I'm trying to avoid spoilers as much as I can because I think this show is best going in unspoiled.

It's a masterpiece that is every bit as relevant as it was 7 years ago. Emotionally powerful and resonant while being pulse-pounding and exciting at the same time, it's a show that can only be made when a visionary director in his prime works with iconic source material and remakes it for a modern time that could use the morals more than ever.

If you've never seen it, please do yourself a favor and watch this 10/10 masterpiece.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Dec 13, 2024

LotteGiants

Mixed Feelings

I can see how this would've been mindbending and a cult classic back in the 70s and even this version might've been something special if I had less perspective when I saw it but at this point in my life it just feels like a rather cheap bunch of nonsense. I respect that it was able to absolutely go 100% for a nihilistic message but as a well-adjusted adult I fundamentally find that messaging laughable on a core level. Horrible things do actually happen in history but when fictional media portrays it seriously without any balance I find it to be a waste of time. ... If you actually think this portrayal of humanity is really really true then there is no point in living and if there's no point in living then there's an easy remedy to that. Which is why its a waste of time to take that seriously and anyone that stays alive to argue that is a maladjusted poser.

As for the quality of the storytelling in this show...it isn't good. Aside from a few beats about who the characters are (in the literal sense, not their personalities) you could cut out like half the episodes and miss nothing. Nobody really changes during the course of the show and everything basically turns on why Ryo is such a piece of shit. I figured it out around episode 6 or 7 and then the show goes for a bunch of unearned emotional moments by overloading how shocking the deaths of these paper-thin nobodies are. The rappers are really the only characters that have any sort of arc, honestly. Like, the first three episodes where Miki has that stupid photographer trying to molest her are so insanely pointless in retrospect. Not that it felt like a well-told plotline at the time but by the end it feels like literal filler.

I also think this show is very ugly. Ping Pong is one of my favourite anime and its art is also quite ugly in stills. The difference is that Ping Pong uses that to show extreme deformation of characters while they play and it can integrate fantastical stuff quite easily and it creates its own unique look that is fantastic. Devilman Crybaby does a bit of psychedelic stuff early on and then it gives up on doing anything interesting with its art and hides its obligatory action behind darkness and bad editing. It wants to look like Shingeki no Kyojin but it doesn't have the chops and it just suffers for it. I have no idea what the budget was for this show but the end result makes it seem like it was done cheaply by a studio without enough experience to pull off the kind of action scenes needed.

I'm honestly not entirely sure how I feel about the sound design for this show. I do like the music and it feels like it nods to the 70s show while being modern but I'm not sure if it actually blends well with the show itself. A good OST is fine but it doesn't feel like it enhances the show just by being good. As for sound effects and the like, I don't think this show does anything special. I have this same complaint about Dandadan. Not every studio can make sounds as instantly iconic as David Production or do what Sunrise does with its Gundams but I can't think of any particularly amazing sounds from this show. Its all just fine.

Honestly, this show was good enough to get me to finish without forcing myself so I can't say its bad but even though I went in with no expectations I'm still somehow disappointed. I think Masaaki Yuasa just doesn't make things I think are genuinely good other than Ping Pong (which is a legacy cementing masterpiece). I don't like phrasing criticism this way but he truly does make stuff that people love to think is very smart but is actually just directionless crap. Not that Devilman doesn't try and say anything at all but I think its substance is very slight and people that haven't ever seen anything trying to say what it gestures toward will think it is very smart and deep despite it being some cheap gut punches and silly nihilism and nothing more.

I think I wrote a review here that sounds like a 3/10 but I feel comfortable with a 6/10 ("Fine" as MAL rates that). It was somewhat entertaining and it at least takes a shot at some big themes even if they are all muddled and trip over each other. This show will be a catalyst for some people to think more about anime and story-telling in general and maybe bigger things than those. I do hope that those people eventually rewatch this years later and see that it isn't the pinnacle of anything though.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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May 30, 2025

HF1385

Not Recommended

Im quite sad that I was introduced to this franchise by this version of the media. Devilman crybaby is unnecessarily confusing with little to no explanations and it only rides on emotional scenes. The pacing was awful, I the only reason I finished this show was because of the plot and vibes but mid way everything just changed all of the sudden and without needing to read the manga afterwards I could have never guessed what actually went on.

Another big problem I have is with the art style and the hyper fixation on the amount of nudity and sex. The original devilman did have ... gore and nudity but was used for character designs and it was not pointless and in your face. The animation was creative but an art style with no shading was not right for a show full of detailed demons.

Lastly I must say I did enjoy the music and will give it a 6/10 because I really like the original story, but if I had to give a score for it’s story telling it would be 4/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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