Devilman Crybaby, a Netflix original anime that was released on Jan. 5 2018. Though original is a bit of a stretch. It shares the same name as the Devilman anime from 1972 and the manga they’re based on created by Go Nagai. There are several homages the original and other popular animes throughout the series. It has a total of ten episodes that are around 23 mins long, making it easy to fall into the binge trap that I did (I watched all of them in one sitting because I have no self-control.) The series is available in 190 countries, seven different languages, and 23 subtitle languages. In my reviews, I try not to give away any spoilers, but this is a short anime (you could watch all of it in less than 3 hours) so it’s hard not to say anything that won’t spoil the plot. But I’ll try my best not to.

First, a warning; this anime is very violent, contains nudity and sexual content. This isn’t something you want to start watching with kids in the room, or something to Netflix & chill to. If you have a problem with gore and gratuitous nudity then I recommend not watching this series.

The story follows Akira Fudo who is commonly known as a crybaby (like the title!) and his childhood friend Ryo Asuka.

They're the best of friends

Ryo, who’s a genius of sorts, discovers that demons are not only real but are infiltrating our world. They have the ability to possess and merge with living things, so they can appear human until they show their true monstrous form. Ryo wants Akira’s help in combating them, as guns can kill only the weaker ones. He explains that a human can overpower a demon attempting to possess them and then gain that demon's powers. After a series of horrific events, Akira does merge with a demon. Not just any demon, but apparently it’s the most powerful demon in existence, by the name of Amon. He becomes a Devilman.

The main event.

The art style strikes me like a deconstructed Ghibli; fluid, rapid movements in action sequences. Rather than having incredibly details, it focuses on making the action easy to follow.

Apparently merging with a demon makes you run like this

Though it is an action show, it doesn’t have lengthy fight scenes. Mostly Akira just ripping demons to shreds with his claws and such, or one-hit fights as I call them. Instead, the series relies on emotional intensity behind the fights, and what else is going on. Such as Akira being distracted by several demons while his friends are in danger.

It weaves a story of people trying to do what the best they can during tough times, while Akira is the protagonist, we get the chance to see and become attached to characters around him. The characters are styled uniquely so there’s no mistaking them for one another (looking at you Sword Art Online) but in a realistic manner so there are no ridiculous hairstyles (looking at you Yu-Gi-Oh) except for the demons.

Not your typical school delinquents. Just nice young men who like to rap on the docks.

Which is refreshing since a lot of modern anime tries to make (female) characters overly cute and pretty to point where it’s kind of ugly. But that’s not an issue in this anime.

Along with diverse characters (cultural and racial wise), there are also several varying relationships. From unlikely friendships to romantic love of all kinds.

If you watch this show you'll see who goes beyond being just platonic friends. (Hint: there's a couple!)

All in all, it’s a great anime to binge watch, because it’ll hook you on the first episode and you’ll want to see where it go from there. Without giving anything away, I’ll just say don’t get too attached to some characters.

I highly recommend it if you have a couple of hours to kill, and you like getting a heavy case of the feels. It's fresh (or technically retro), slick, and teaches many important lessons along the way. I hope you give it a watch!