Devilman Crybaby

Devilman Crybaby is a 10-episode anime that Netflix released all at once around the world on January 5, 2018. It was made by the studio Science SARU and directed by Masaaki Yuasa, with scripts by Ichiro Okouchi. The show is a new version of Devilman, a famous 1972 manga by Go Nagai, and it was made to mark 50 years of his career. Please note: it is meant only for adults. It has a lot of blood, violence and sexual content.

The team moved the old story into the present day. The teenagers use smartphones and social media, and news spreads online in seconds. Yuasa also added a group of street rappers who comment on what is happening in their songs. He said rappers are people who speak their minds today, so they act a bit like a chorus in an old play, telling the audience how normal people feel.

The hero is Akira Fudo, a gentle high school boy. He lives with the Makimura family while his parents work far away, and Miki Makimura, a star runner on the school track team, is his close friend. Akira is known as a crybaby, but not because he is weak. He cries because he feels other people's pain very strongly. He is kind to everyone, even to strangers who do not deserve it.

His childhood friend Ryo Asuka is the opposite. Ryo is cold, rich and very smart. He comes back from a research trip with a shocking claim: demons are real, they are waking up, and they can take over human bodies. Ryo believes that the only way to fight them is for a person to join with a demon and keep a human heart. He takes Akira to a wild underground party, called a Sabbath, where demons are sure to appear. There, Akira merges with a powerful demon named Amon. He becomes Devilman, a being with a demon's strength and a human's feelings.

From there, the show becomes a story about fear. As demon attacks spread, people start to panic and turn on each other. Anyone who seems different can become a target. Akira must fight monsters, but he also has to watch how cruel ordinary humans can be when they are scared. The series asks hard questions. What makes someone human? Is it the body, or the ability to care for others? And can love survive in a world full of hate?

The art style is loose and bold, with thin lines, strong colors and wild, bending movement that is typical of Yuasa's work. Scenes can shift quickly from quiet and sad to shocking and loud. The electronic music by Kensuke Ushio adds to the tense mood.

The show was a big critical success. It won Anime of the Year at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards, and Yuasa won Best Director. Many critics called it a masterpiece. It is a hard and upsetting watch, but for adult viewers who can handle it, it is one of the most talked-about anime of 2018.