Devilman Crybaby (2018)

Original title

DEVILMAN crybaby

Directed by

Masaaki Yuasa

Genre

tragedy, splatter film, supernatural fiction

Country

Japan

Length

1 season, 10 episodes

Rated

TV-MA

Rating

7.8 of 10 from 746 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A young boy named Akira Fudo merges with a demon to gain its power while keeping his human soul. He and his friend Ryo Asuka fight an ancient race of demons that are trying to destroy humanity.

visceralbleakfreneticphilosophicaltragicgrotesqueemotionalintense

What happens

Devilman Crybaby is a 2018 Japanese original net animation (ONA) series based on Go Nagai's manga series Devilman. The web anime is directed by Masaaki Yuasa, produced by Aniplex and Dynamic Planning, animated by Science Saru, and released by Netflix. Yuasa was offered the opportunity to create a Devilman project by Aniplex, and envisioned Devilman Crybaby. Announced in 2017 to mark Nagai's 50th anniversary as a creator, Crybaby was made available for worldwide streaming on January 5, 2018, as a Netflix original series. The series updates the original 1970s setting to the 21st century but retains the basic premise of Nagai's manga, following Akira Fudo and his friend Ryo Asuka as they face an ancient race of demons that seek to destroy humanity. Believing the only way to defeat the demons is to obtain their powers, Ryo proposes that Akira unite with a demon; in doing so Akira transforms into the titular Devilman, gaining the powers of a demon but retaining the soul of a human. The anti-war themes of the original Devilman are reinterpreted as a metaphor for bigotry, in which manipulation and paranoia are discussed using the allegory of the demons as "the other". The anime's themes of puberty, sexuality, sex, love, and LGBT identity were explored in critics' analysis of the work, along with a debate over whether the series' perspective and ending are nihilistic. Fans were divided in their response to Yuasa's take on Nagai's work, though the series' announcement and release were among the most widely discussed anime series released in 2018. Its viewership numbers are unknown as Netflix does not disclose these figures, though many journalists described the series as a hit. Critics assessed Crybaby favorably, with some calling it a "masterpiece", the best Netflix anime, and one of the best anime of the year overall and the decade. Although the response to its graphic content and ending was divided, its animation, soundtrack, characterization and faithfulness to the original manga were praised. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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