It’s a very odd thing, covering a series that much of the audience has already watched in its entirety. There doesn’t seem much point in talking about things like plot at all, really – but then, that’s totally different from the way I’ve approached just about every series (except for ReLIFE, and even that feels quite different than Devilman) since I started doing this. Ideally I suppose I’d just marathon the whole thing and do one long post based on that but… Frankly, I just don’t have the time, especially with an ongoing hosting change and all the headaches that go along with that.
I guess what that leaves me, really, is overall impressions – though at least I have quite strong ones. It wouldn’t be accurate to say that I like Devilman Crybaby at this stage, or even that I enjoy it. In fact, the experience of watching it is distinctly uncomfortable – but since that’s clearly by design, I guess whether that’s a good or bad thing is in the eye of the beholder. I think the struggle with any provocateur work is to try and decide whether there’s a purpose behind anything it does, or whether it’s simply an act of provocation for the sake of itself. I’ve seen it go both ways with Go Nagai.
Devilman Crybaby is good at provocation, I’ll certainly give it that. It’s full of unpleasant characters and graphic sex and violence. Ryou may be the worst of the lot – what’s he’s done to Akira is truly unconscionable – but there are plenty of others, like Tsuda Kenjirou’s Nagasaki-san, a photographer who makes his living taking lewd photos of (and banging) underage kids like Miki and longs to be a “serious” reporter. And then there are the devils themselves, who walk among us disguised as humans, and engage in orgies of sex and murder to satisfy their limitless appetites for both.
The real victim in all this is Akira, of course, who still retains enough of his humanity to cry when bad things happen but is already being consumed by the appetites which grow within him. He’s strong now, and fast, and the girls drool over him – but he’s no longer himself, and I think it’s pretty easy to guess this isn’t going to end well. There’s some pain in his past (abandonment by his parents, for starters) and I suspect someone like Amon can certainly use that to mold Akira into a suitable vessel for himself.
Devilman Crybaby has that thing going where you can’t look away from it at the same time you want to look away from it. Is it the best use of Yuasa Masaaki’s considerable talents? I don’t know yet – we’re only two episodes in – but on some level it feels as if he’s being dragged down into the ugliness of this story without really embracing it (though of course I have no way in the world of knowing that). I’m dragged down into it myself, more curious to see what happens than repulsed by seeing it do so, and I’m sure I’ll return to writing about it over the course of the next several weeks.
Simone
January 25, 2018 at 4:25 amI’ve finished the show and all I can say is – it’s worth it. It has two very distinct halves though, and even if you didn’t like at all the tone of the first one, I would be surprised if you didn’t feel that the second one really has something interesting to say. It was really… powerful. I don’t know how to call it because it’s not necessarily the most refined or well-crafted or traditionally “good” show – it’s a rugged and flawed thing but damn did it punch me repeatedly in both the gut and the heart.
Guardian Enzo
January 25, 2018 at 8:03 amYeah, I’ll almost surely stick with it. It’s a challenging show though, both in terms of distribution and content.
sonicsenryaku
January 27, 2018 at 4:39 pm“It’s a challenging show though, both in terms of distribution and content”
Damn, I kinda just realized how Netflix’s “interesting” release schedule is going to shake up your blogging structure. I mean you have both B: from the beginning and A.I.C.O incarnation (march 9) coming in less than 2 months, both of which will have all its episodes available upon release. That’s a lot to keep up with considering that the new anime season will be starting up in no less than a month afterwards and that you’d probably not have time the to watch and blog both series (assuming you happened to like them both).
Guardian Enzo
January 27, 2018 at 4:44 pmDon’t friggin’ remind me…
ssva
January 27, 2018 at 7:12 pm“I think the struggle with any provocateur work is to try and decide whether there’s a purpose behind anything it does, or whether it’s simply an act of provocation for the sake of itself. ”
This. This sums up my problem with Devilman Crybaby because I’ve finished the show and still can’t answer whether it’s the former or the latter, and I’d like to hear your thoughts on it if you finish the series, Enzo.
Overall I think it was a daring artistic venture – it was disturbing and yet very absorbing and the cliffhangers did their damn job. It’s just that I personally have a problem with pointless and repetitive glorification of blood gore violence evil sex etc. etc., because hell (h aha) I hear about those things happening in real life or in history all the time and I can’t laugh.
The rapping’s awesome though!
Guardian Enzo
January 27, 2018 at 9:39 pmI think it’s almost certain I will finish it, though I can’t speak to when that might be. Sooner rather than later, I hope.