Devilman Crybaby Review

Devilman is one of the foundational texts of dark manga and every previous adaptation had softened it. Yuasa's does not. The sex and violence are explicit, the animation is loose and expressive in the way only Science SARU manages, with bodies that stretch and run and a sense of speed that turns the action into something closer to dance, and the story's descent from monster fights into a genocidal panic and then the literal end of the world is delivered without a flinch.

Akira and Ryo's relationship is the spine and the final episodes give it a weight the manga only implied. The rap interludes and the modern setting are a real reinvention rather than a coat of paint. The supporting cast are thin, which is a flaw of the source, and the pace in the middle episodes sags before the collapse begins. The last two episodes are among the bleakest and most beautiful in the medium.