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Devilman Crybaby - Review
Aug. 24th, 2018 10:55 pmJust finished watching the ten episode anime miniseries, Devilman Crybaby, which is directed by Masaaki Yuasa. It is a Netflix original adaptation of the 1970s manga Devilman.
In a word?
Wow.
Just...Wow.
This blew me away.
Found a good review of it on The Verge. The review is entitled:
Devilman Crybaby is Netflix’s horniest, most shockingly violent show yet and that’s exactly why you should watch it
Yep.
The series, as the Verge states, is not for the faint of stomach or heart -- it is shockingly violent, deliberately vulgar and offensive, and really drives home how cruel and horribly violent people can be to each other. It is horror, and delves deeply into Christian mythos.
But.
It is also breathtaking in places. And has some interesting things to say about our somewhat demonic culture, and the cracks within it.
It shows how violence and hate feeds on itself. There's no end to it, it becomes a snake eating its own tail. Ultimately ending in the destruction of everything. And how sex without love, just for one's own sex, turns us inside out. Objectification demonizes and destroys. But these messages are shown not told in an artistic style I've not seen done in anime, and that sort of takes established anime tropes and explodes them. Evil is blond, white, glowing and blue eyed. While good is dark skinned dark haired, and dark eyed. A woman who turns into a spider demon turns out to be good, if troubled, while a beautiful blond-haired blue eyed demon who turns into a winged bird demonic goddess is pure evil.
A boy turns into a demonic fish who eats his mother do to uncontrollable cravings...and he slowly becomes demonized from repeated viewings of pornography on the internet.
The animation shocking and troubling, but also breathtaking, with explosions of color and variations in lines. Blending various styles, some reminiscent of soft cell animation, others computerized, and still others making me think of cartoons like Beavis and Butthead or King of the Hill.
Here's the trailer, which is Japanese with English Subtitles. The anime on Netflix is actually available in English -- or I watched it dubbed in English.
( Trailer - example of the animation )
As the critic in the Verge review points out:
It does not go in a direction that one would expect. And it...what it states about love and friendship...
The story is in the end an odd sort of allegorical love story. Sort of a what if tale, which often are the best stories.
If you are a fan of anime, you really need to watch this. But it is not safe for work, and it is not for kids. I'd say NC-17 at least. But as the reviewer in the Verge notes -- it is also a compelling statement on our toxic oversexualized culture. Depicting how sex frightens and allures us, and obsesses us.
By far the best anime I've seen in a long time. Right up there with Spirited Away.
ETA: There's this fascinating exchange in the comments section that makes me want to applaud one of the commentators (and strangle the other one who clearly watched a completely different series than I did) and also underlines something I keep saying -- we all do not perceive the world and art the same way. We don't think the same. We each and every one of us process information and perceive it our own unique way and instead of celebrating that fact -- we're extremely judgemental of each other instead of appreciative of views that vary from our own and learning from them -- this is an interesting perspective, I never considered that. I think it's the fear that this new perspective or angle could blot out our own distinctive voice? IDK.
( Read more... )
In a word?
Wow.
Just...Wow.
This blew me away.
Found a good review of it on The Verge. The review is entitled:
Devilman Crybaby is Netflix’s horniest, most shockingly violent show yet and that’s exactly why you should watch it
Yep.
The series, as the Verge states, is not for the faint of stomach or heart -- it is shockingly violent, deliberately vulgar and offensive, and really drives home how cruel and horribly violent people can be to each other. It is horror, and delves deeply into Christian mythos.
But.
It is also breathtaking in places. And has some interesting things to say about our somewhat demonic culture, and the cracks within it.
It shows how violence and hate feeds on itself. There's no end to it, it becomes a snake eating its own tail. Ultimately ending in the destruction of everything. And how sex without love, just for one's own sex, turns us inside out. Objectification demonizes and destroys. But these messages are shown not told in an artistic style I've not seen done in anime, and that sort of takes established anime tropes and explodes them. Evil is blond, white, glowing and blue eyed. While good is dark skinned dark haired, and dark eyed. A woman who turns into a spider demon turns out to be good, if troubled, while a beautiful blond-haired blue eyed demon who turns into a winged bird demonic goddess is pure evil.
A boy turns into a demonic fish who eats his mother do to uncontrollable cravings...and he slowly becomes demonized from repeated viewings of pornography on the internet.
The animation shocking and troubling, but also breathtaking, with explosions of color and variations in lines. Blending various styles, some reminiscent of soft cell animation, others computerized, and still others making me think of cartoons like Beavis and Butthead or King of the Hill.
Here's the trailer, which is Japanese with English Subtitles. The anime on Netflix is actually available in English -- or I watched it dubbed in English.
( Trailer - example of the animation )
As the critic in the Verge review points out:
Devilman Crybaby is easy to scoff at, thanks to its wonky animation and extremely NSFW story. But it flies in the face of expectations of what a Netflix cartoon can be, whether it’s subverting toxic masculinity and traditional story arcs about how heroes will always triumph, or openly embracing queer stories, rather than leaving them as subtext. It moves from jawdropping to heartbreaking at a moment’s notice, but it never strays from being unforgettable.
It does not go in a direction that one would expect. And it...what it states about love and friendship...
Humankind begins to turn on those it believes to be devils or even devilmen, attacking anyone they perceive as different — a clear comparison to modern-day bigotry. It’s sometimes heavy-handed in its message to prove a broader story that humans might be the real devils, but its unwavering acceptance of storylines like queer romance is refreshing. A character mourning the death of his boyfriend, for example, is depicted as a traumatic, sympathetic event, rather than a reason to other him.
There’s also a gentleness in the love between Akira and Ryo, two long-time friends — or maybe more. Akira may be the soft one, and Ryo his ice-cold, suave counterpart, but their emotional need for each other makes their relationship compelling to watch. The show has room for many examples of how we not only crave love and friendship, but understanding. Akira’s friends, Miki and Miko, are given the same treatment to a lesser degree; what starts as a friendship stained by jealousy ends with professions of love from them both.
The story is in the end an odd sort of allegorical love story. Sort of a what if tale, which often are the best stories.
If you are a fan of anime, you really need to watch this. But it is not safe for work, and it is not for kids. I'd say NC-17 at least. But as the reviewer in the Verge notes -- it is also a compelling statement on our toxic oversexualized culture. Depicting how sex frightens and allures us, and obsesses us.
By far the best anime I've seen in a long time. Right up there with Spirited Away.
ETA: There's this fascinating exchange in the comments section that makes me want to applaud one of the commentators (and strangle the other one who clearly watched a completely different series than I did) and also underlines something I keep saying -- we all do not perceive the world and art the same way. We don't think the same. We each and every one of us process information and perceive it our own unique way and instead of celebrating that fact -- we're extremely judgemental of each other instead of appreciative of views that vary from our own and learning from them -- this is an interesting perspective, I never considered that. I think it's the fear that this new perspective or angle could blot out our own distinctive voice? IDK.
( Read more... )