I wanted to enjoy Devilman Crybaby. Masaaki Yuasa seems to me a talented guy. I like his style and I really enjoyed Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei. And yes it's true, I haven't seen all his works, I still have to watch his other two acclaimed series, Kaiba and Ping-Pong the Animation, but I feel that he knows what he's doing and his skills don't go unnoticed. And still, I feel that with Devilman Crybaby, Yuasa's potential was wasted.

In its visual and musical sections, Crybaby is successful; none of them may reach an exceptional level and I would even dare to say that the former feels less inspired compared to what was achieved with Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei, but they work. Both aspects feel like a more than necessary breath of fresh air and I'm thankful for being able to experience something different. What happens is that, from my perspective, the anime is not entertaining enough when it tries to be or sufficiently transcendental when its narrative changes its focus to a more serious one. It doesn't find a correct tone and, in the end, its development doesn't feel satisfactory. And it's true, the main theme addressed, related to good and evil, the possible decline of humanity to chaos and its capacity for redemption is cannon fodder for a more nihilistic, cynical, and tragic approach. Therefore one could assign that "bitter taste" to this style, but even there I feel that Devilman stumbles. And yes, I can say that the first episodes are genuinely entertaining, but I can't find anything of value beyond, well, that. The characters don't help much when it comes to praising the quality of the anime. When the chaos runs loose and the blood starts shedding, the events that should elicit an emotional response feel like one more death or one more problem. Another piece that goes off the board, but that is not the King or the Queen, not even a Rook. There is a possible exception to this rule with a member of the cast I deem likeable. But this one is "built" to be lovable and that doesn't stop it from being a one-dimensional character like the rest of the ensemble and no story in retrospect was enough to convince me otherwise. Moreover, those backstories didn't help the last episodes of the anime which were already damaged by the inconsistent rhythm, lack of sobriety and numerous tonal changes. I have no problem with excessive violence or the constant sex scenes that the series shows, because I understand that they are inherent to its narrative and the idea of ​​"demons arise from human baseness". What I do consider a problem is its lack of focus, inconsistent rhythm, bland characters and its nihilistic approach which, in my opinion, doesn't have enough impact to make me reflect on his message. Devilman Crybaby stumbles in several ways, but that is simply my perspective. There is genuine talent behind its construction and therefore, I understand the people who really appreciate this anime, because it means that they found something here that maybe I couldn't. Who knows, its message may strike you deeply or you may find it thouroghly enjoyable. Thanks for reading and allow me to apologize for my English. I'll try to get better at it.