Holy. Hell. If you haven't seen this show then bail out now and start it, otherwise you'll have some truly amazing shit spoiled for you.
**SPOILERS BELOW THIS POINT**
DO NOT TRUST THIS FUCKER DOING THE GENDO POSE.
This show is just fucking incredible! I just finished it last night and I want to spill my thoughts like so much demon guts. Where to start? For the most part the pacing is absolutely fantastic. This is right up there with FLCL for me in terms of not a single scene being wasted, the story beats hitting fast and hard enough to propel interest and keep you hooked, and there being a healthy budget squeezed into a limited episode series. I will say that I'm not at all familiar with the original manga and anime beyond reading small summaries on wikipedia, but in terms of this adaptation standing on its own merit I can only imagine it's maybe the most interesting take on the source material. From the very first episode you're made uneasy watching this, like there is some malevolent force perpetually lurking in every shadow. The vessels that previously held purpose and meaning for humanity are drained bit by bit by the vacuous and hopeless aspects of Crybaby's nihilistic and cruel nature. The essence of Earthly order unfolds and collapses in an exponential fashion until you're left breathless by the end.
Are humans worth crying for?
The soul of this anime is an exposé on the dark nature of mankind, but with strong notes of hope and optimism. Inside every soul is a demon waiting to burst forth, and it's up to our own nuanced character whether or not we can control it. Crybaby takes a rather elevated look at modern society's dire problems of bigotry towards cultural and lifestyle differences, mob mentality and the bullying of the marginalized and outcast, and toxic attitudes in regards to celebrity culture and social media outrage. It begins with honest and genuine perspectives on 21st century youth, family, and lifestyle, portraying the hopelessly nihilistic nightclub participants losing themselves in drugs and hormonal splurging, the school and home life of empathetic and thoughtful students, and the good-hearted but law-skirting teens living in the periphery between cultures. What follows is a creeping decline of the control that humanity exerts upon itself to keep our animal natures in check and our civilization from collapsing. These themes were extremely relevant in 2018 when this premiered but it hits even closer to home experiencing it right now.
So this was pretty brutal...
This by far one of the darker animes I've ever watched, hidden under a somewhat innocent veneer by its rather jaunty animation and playful art style. The violence and gore are casually untethered and the nudity and sexual content are raunchy as fuck! We're exposed to public, drug-fueled orgies, violent demon sex, and some rather uncouth shots of demonic... "endowments." But that doesn't even scratch the surface of the brutal happenings within these ten packed episodes. Crybaby is both relentless and unapologetic in how easily it kills off characters. Nobody is sacred because nobody is spared! The entire cast is wholesale slaughtered by the end of the show. By fellow humans, by devilmen, by demons, and then eventually by God himself. The final scene feels like a real homage to End of Evangelion, but completely appropriate and earned in its own right. A canopy of countless stars spread out over a calming red sea; a single soul remains in a cold and chaotic universe, awash with revelation and immense regret. You just feel damn hopeless and exhausted when the final credits roll. But that's not a bad thing at all, you gotta respect a story that's not afraid to end in abject and utter tragedy.
And can I just mention the stellar soundtrack?! There are some great and memorable tunes on here, splitting the difference between daunting choirs, epic orchestra, and some absolutely banging synthwave tracks. The opening is fucking awesome too, it's totally hypnotic. The entire soundtrack adds a lot to the foreboding and often terrifying feeling the show emits, it's really quite effective.
Monument to a future war.
My only complaint is that the final episode is waaay too short on time. It
begs to be a two parter. The pacing of the show(until this point) is
fantastic, but there is far too much going on here in episode ten to be shoved into a mere half hour. Between the origins of animals and demons, Satan's backstory, human extinction, and the final end of days battles between humans and demons, and Akira and Satan, it leaves you almost
starving for each of these scenes to be padded out at least 5 minutes extra per section.
Somebody get this kid a nutritionist.
My adrenaline is still coming down, but honestly, this could very well be my favorite anime of the last decade. I genuinely think it breaches the wall between mass media and art. It innovates with the platform its given, pushes the boundaries of its source material, and defies expectations to reveal and celebrate a core of nihilistic optimism. The fact that this subversive, sentimental, and unique anime exists is a testament to the increasing flex and diversity that streaming platforms and their funding of anime are injecting into the industry and medium.
I guess having not much exposure to the franchise over the years before this series, I am pretty curious about how long time fans of Devilman enjoyed this adaptation. Like, how loyal is it really? If anyone is knowledgeable on Crybaby's place and stature in the overall legacy of the franchise I'd love to know more.
