Director: Masaaki Yuasa
Studio: Science Saru
Completed viewing on 10/04/20
***SPOILERS***
If there's no consequence, you have no plot.
Devilman Crybaby (DC) is clever and interesting and creates an intriguing story for 9 out of 10 of its episodes. Then, as so many TV series do, it has all hell break lose at the end, killing everyone. What's so disappointing about this is that all of the characters you've been following, all the relationship they formed and all the questions you have as a viewer essentially just get chucked in the bin. Then spat on. If everybody dies, what was the point of any of the decsisions they made on screen?
Again, the first 9 episodes are interesting and got me anxious to find out what happens next. The way the story sets itself up though, it suggests it's all going to come together in some kind of clever climax. As mentioned, it doesn't and everybody dies. I understand that the Devilman comic was more about its message than writing the perfect story and the show wanted to honor the source material - I respect that. But If there are things that could be improved in the 46 years between releases, they should be addressed. Maybe the writers even thought there wasn't anything that needed improving but to me and my taste, it didn't really work. Beyond that, I also think it's possible to send through a strong message whilst still having a coherent, conclusive plot - 'Get Out' is the perfect example of this. Also using parts of the bible for your story is a bit of a cop-out and hypersexualisation as part of messaging is kinda wack.
The storytelling is quite strong in DC. This kinda has to be considered alongside the art style because the two are heavily linked. The art style is completely stripped back only the lines and shadows that are absolutely necessary are drawn. This completely echoes the directing: you are shown exactly what is needed to tell this story and very little else. It's very direct and makes no mistakes; if someone's crying, you're getting a close-up of the eye, seeing it fill up with tears, watching the tear run down their face, then getting a final confirmation by seeing the teardrops fall onto the floor. This was sometimes to the show's detriment though, with things being way too obvious. E.g. Ryo's lift having the number 666 in bold, dark font against a white background. That's too much. The same can be said for the art style. Some frames were legitly stunning, using simple, clean line work and soft, light colours. Like this one:
Although I prefer more realistic artwork, I really did appreciate that DC (and Yuasa in general as I understand) has a distinct art style and really sets itself apart with exaggerated proportions and character designs. However, in certain places, this led to straight-up bad art. There's probably some CalArts professor who says that all styles are valid and there's no such thing as bad art but just look at the body proportions and angles on Ryo in this shot:
The artwork is inconsitent and the animation follows suit. It's very simple in most places and that works just fine but it's weird, jittery and honestly incoherent in others. Again I appreciate this is a stylistic choice but that doesn't mean I have to like it. The few combat sequences DC does have are actually pretty great although some are in almost complete darkness, with quick jumps between frames and minimal inbetweening. Also, in ironic contrast to the film 'Akira', they opted out of drawing very detailed, gory demons. For a show all about disgusting demons eating people, that's a real letdown. One last point on art/animation, I have to mention my least favourite scene in the entire series. The below screenshots were taken around 10 seconds apart from each other in a very serious, emotional scene. That just shows how weird and inconsitent the art is and how it does actually ruin the storytelling in certain places.
Lastly, the characters. The main characters in DC are kinda interesting but everyone else is quite 2-dimensional. Akira and Miki really show their human sides but these aren't anythig outside of well-established tropes. The misfit rappers were the actual highlight for me, showing a great range of emotions and character development that was possibly better than any of the main characters'. You could argue that it's unfair to criticise these semi-flat characters, because the comic was written in 1972, before these character archetypes were so well established but again, this is a modern re-telling. Re-tell it.
Overall, 6/10 disappointingly.
Just remembered, the music is amazing. Atmospheric, emotional, exciting - really excellent.