On April 3rd, Netflix released the animated series Devil May Cry, directed by Adi Shankar and written by Alex Larsen. It is based on the popular game series of the same name from the Japanese studio Capcom. This season consists of eight episodes in a style familiar to streaming service viewers, similar to “Castlevania,” “DOTA: Dragon`s Blood,” and “The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep.”
Devil May Cry is a beloved franchise for millions of fans, undeniably iconic. Many already have a defined stylistic vision, and expectations for the screen adaptation were high. One can only imagine the pressure on the creators during production. However, director Adi Shankar, according to his own words, had extremely positive views on the project as it developed.
The script for the entire first season is ready. I managed to work with a very talented writer, Alex Larsen, on the plot. The script is very cool, and I wanted the series` fans to be proud of it. The series is made by DMC fans for DMC fans.
The anime`s plot is partially based on the prequel manga (Devil May Cry 3 manga) but is also a spin-off to the series. Elements of the plot and characters are taken from the original material.
Here, a young and inexperienced Dante is still unaware of his brother Vergil`s situation. He hasn`t yet opened his demon-hunting agency and works as a mercenary for the shady Enzo.
A mysterious rabbit with a monocle, reminiscent of “Alice in Wonderland,” appears and steals a legendary sword from the Vatican Museum. According to the rabbit, this sword can finally unite the human and demon worlds. The sword is missing only an amulet, one half of which is kept by Dante, and the other by Vergil.
Thugs gather to capture Dante to obtain the coveted amulet and receive a hefty reward. Among them is Lady, who here is still Mary – a member of an elite demon hunter squad. The rabbit sets his cunning villainous plan into motion and hunts for the protagonist`s blood, while poor Dante simply resists everyone to prevent a global catastrophe and restore everything to the way it was, as his father – the demon Sparda – once did.
The result is a decent action series to pass the time. It will especially appeal to those who have never played the franchise games and only vaguely heard about the series. It has a reasonable plot with a relatively interesting, justified antagonist and a charismatic protagonist, some semblance of lore, and even (a stretched, like a ceiling in an apartment) drama.
There`s a very energetic soundtrack: Rage Against the Machine, Limp Bizkit in the opening credits, and generally a lot of unexpectedly good rock music. And even the famous “Bury the Light,” which includes “I am the storm that is approaching,” is a quite pleasant nod. Yes, the selection isn`t entirely in the style of the original game, but it`s still substantial.
There are some references to the original games, a very cool, vibrant opening sequence, and… that`s about it.
Unfortunately, the positives of the anime end there, and the problems begin. The main and most glaring issues can be described by a quote from the animated series: “You know what I felt when I killed your brother? Nothing,” says Dante, and how right he is. The protagonist hits the nail on the head regarding the entire series, which evokes absolutely no emotions. Neither towards the main characters, nor towards the mass and rather bloody killings on screen, nor towards the story itself. This is hard to accept when you realize that everything to achieve maximum empathy was already prepared by Capcom and its game series.
There is reason to believe that the appeal of the games lies in an incredible cocktail of coolness bordering on cringe, stylish combat, super-sexy protagonists, and deep, albeit maximally simple, drama. How almost all of this could be lost in the anime is anyone`s guess. It became clear that the fun was over when 90% of screen time was occupied by the most boring conversations and 10% – at best, amusing fighting techniques of the gray-haired protagonist.
The setting of the original games was also lost. All the elements of the Victorian era and small inclusions of modernity, the unified clothing of the main characters, monster designs – this carried a significant portion of the storytelling. The anime`s creators (which, in fact, is not anime at all, but a product of Korean outsourced animation production and American executives) exchanged the well-thought-out original for a strange mix of futuristic costumes, modern America and its values, as well as agenda-driven themes. To give you an idea, a deliberately accented American flag in the last episode of the first season appeared almost every frame. Phrases like “God bless America” and “ironic” jokes about “we live in a society” occasionally slip from the antagonist`s lips. There`s also an entire takeover of Hell by Americans, which is either an attempt to work through Vietnamese cultural PTSD (judging by the terrifying “photos” of American soldiers with demon children under tank treads or with horned “creatures`” skulls on car hoods), or a desire to squeeze drama out of thin air.
Obviously, fans of the old guard will not appreciate such a substitution, and fresh blood… Maybe someone will like that Devil May Cry suddenly became a center of political squabbles, but it`s doubtful.
Instead of a unique storytelling where each hero has fighting characteristics that define him as a personality, in the Netflix product, we got a hack-and-slash for the sake of hack-and-slash. There is no more of Dante`s chaotic combat, no more of Lady`s elegant and confident movements. Everyone somersaults more or less coolly, but they do it somehow identically (and, by the way, not always coolly). The fight choreography is nothing particularly memorable, the pseudo-dynamics (which, by the way, often consists of stills with flashes coming out of pistols) are truly bewildering when on screen, there seems to be real carnage happening, but you feel nothing. Not even childish joy from the seemingly adult content on screen.
I want my animated series to be as visually inventive as the original source material itself. I strive for a style that can depict `beautiful chaos` and at the same time become an ode to Capcom`s creation. In my vision, this style should be elegant and at the same time bombastic, and such a project can achieve such multi-layeredness only if its creator puts his soul into every stage of creation. This is exactly what I have done and intend to continue doing while working on the project.
If the game deliberately didn`t delve into details and gave information in extremely measured doses, so as not to spoil the coolness with boring reflections on the heroes` past, the series went all out in this regard. Incredibly long clip-like montages of dramatic moments, strange, sepia-tinted excerpts from Dante`s father`s past, and the like. There even appeared a huge silent flashback where the animation style changes for the sake of a story from the past. The problem is that none of these clips grab you, don`t connect you to the characters, although they try to fulfill their main function: to build up unreal drama.
Characters do not fulfill their role as characters, but remain in memory only as functions. Rabbit – a supervillain with initially good intentions, just destroyed by society. Mary, obviously, a love interest for the protagonist, a machine for producing curses and killings, whose dramatic storyline is connected not with her father, but with members of her squad. Enzo – a guy from whom you don`t expect heroism, but it happens. Dante – kind of a cool guy with a hint of awkwardness, but in the end, some kind of upstart-bumbler. There is a feeling that for a deeper understanding of the character, it will be enough for you to watch the opening cinematic of Devil May Cry 3, and not all eight episodes of the anime. The one where Dante coolly eats pizza.
There is a corporation head who seems to act for the good of the people, but is also the real main villain. A genius Indian scientist is present, unironically. Golden classics of cardboard characters that for some reason you want to shove into every average series. Mary`s family history generally seems to be copied from Batman: one to one, like in “Batman Begins,” where the Wayne family with little Bruce leaves the theater because the boy was frightened by bats.
In general, the creators clearly tried to make a somewhat classic product with recognizable franchise characters and style, but framed in a familiar serial format. And this, to great regret, did not work. It turned out to be an average, boring, and emotionless template something that completely lost the charm of its predecessor. Devil May Cry from Netflix is definitely not the series you`ll want to ponder over for a couple of hours or rewatch someday. If you really want to immerse yourself in the franchise not through games and get enjoyment, then it`s better to watch Devil May Cry from Madhouse 2007. There is really something to rejoice about there.
Finley Holt