Devil May Cry

Having just finished binging Netflix's adaptation of Capcom's Devil May Cry franchise, by Adi Shankar, I came away thinking it was... just alright. As a fan of the series, I was really looking forward to it and was willing to give it a fair shot despite the constant negativity from fans leading up to its release.

For non-fans, it can be enjoyable, and even for longtime fans, there are plenty of nice callbacks that I appreciated. The voice work I thought was well done, and the animation, for the most part, was solid especially in the action scenes. Hell, I even liked the choice of music for the soundtrack. Maybe a controversial take, but I thought it was a fun touch, considering that style of music was popular around the same time as the early games. Plus, I just so happen to like that type of music, so I didn't mind it in this adaptation.

What really turned me off, though, was the story and the handling of its characters. It started off strong but slowly spiraled into its own thing, and by the end, it felt like it had completely missed the point of what Devil May Cry is really about. The show's overt edginess gets excessive at times, featuring a level of brutality not seen in the games and feels more fitting for a Mortal Kombat adaptation than Devil May Cry. Also Lady constantly dropping F-bombs in nearly every sentence? I mean it was comical at first but quickly became real try-hard.

Despite the franchise's surface level aesthetics, demon-slaying with dual pistols and a long sword by a dude in a red coat. Devil May Cry isn't actually that edgy. If anything, it's surprisingly wholesome. This is a series built on themes of humanity, love, and compassion, with iconic lines like: "Maybe somewhere out there, even a Devil May Cry when he loses a loved one." "Humans possess something that demons don't."

The franchise emphasizes how human emotions, like love, compassion and their desire to protect is what makes humans and even demons strong once they "wake up" to it.

The anime, on the other hand, while having some good moments, focuses more on displaying the raw action the series is known for. It shifts its narrative toward the plight of demons, presenting it as an allegory for real-world struggles. While that's an interesting angle, it doesn't align with the games' core themes, which are more about exploring the beauty of humanity and why it's worth protecting especially from Dante's perspective as a half-demon. This shift didn't lead to much in the end, and it just felt disconnected from what makes Devil May Cry special.

By the time the season wrapped up, I was underwhelmed by how it handled key aspects of the games. Even if later seasons eventually introduce the deeper themes of humanity alongside all the stylish action, I fear it'll be too little, too late. Instead of waiting to see if it improves, I'd rather just replay the games.

That said, if you got something out of this adaptation, don't let me take that away from you. If you've never played the games before and enjoyed the show, I highly recommend giving them a shot. Hopefully, you'll come to love this series as much as I and so many other fans have.

I've played most of the DMC games and I remember playing mostly as Dante. Dante is maybe 40% of the shows focus, with the majority of the rest being on the Lady. She's terribly written and portrayed as more powerful and competent than Dante across the board. Then we have the demons; half misunderstood coming into the earth realm to find a better life, wonder what that's supposed to represent? With humans being painted as the bad guys. The other half of the demans, the evil ones, can barely keep up with a human, so what's the point of Dante.

The animation is ok and the soundtrack is fun, and when the show focuses on Dante it's enjoyable. This should have been a fun take on an iconic action game, but it only manages the live up to that for a small portion of the show.

Hi there, I was absolutely awaiting this new "devil may cry" with eyes transfixed...

Someone has mistaken Dante for some kind of clown with jokes, stupid smiles and selfie positions. It s unbearable. (kind of marvel style with Iron Man, Thor, Spiderman.human torch in Fantastic Four, etc..etc..) The animation is amazing, incredible and some twists of action, like Lady using a truck as a ramp to throw herself to a building are unique.- The fights are more than correct but SURPRISINGLY there s no THAT much different with de 2007 Devil May Cry fights. The argument was predicibly "original"; no mind bending twists.

At the end of the day....amazing animation and hmph....

The Good: 1. DMC is finally brought to a bigger audience.

2. Dante's character is almost game accurate (80%) 3. Ocassionally, good soundtracks.

4. The animation and specially episode 6 was brilliant.

The Bad: 1. Multiple missed opportunities to add a good soundtrack.

2. Dante's demon form was introduced horribly. There was hardly any power-up (Rudra took his punches easily). Demon Trigger deserves more respect in my opinion.

The Ugly: 1. Lady's / Mary's character is badly visualised. She extremely edgy and lacks the charisma. Her edginess and ignorance became annoyance too soon and for too long. She is a great character in the game lore though, completely unlike the one portrayed in the show.

2. Why the excessive cuss words. Lady rarely has a dialogue without the F word. I am sure there are other better ways to depict trauma. Let's not be lazy.

The series doesn't start or end with Dante, he is somewhere in the middle of more enjoyable characters with better back stories.

There are two main characters of the series being lady and the rabbit, and they get a separate episode explaining their back stories but Dante doesn't get the privilege of being the Dante from games, in the series yes easily outwitted and often defeated by the lead characters. Where these two lead characters get most of the screen time and meaty dialogues and scenes.

The series is enjoyable to watch, thought the episodes could be brought down to 20 minutes an episode, which most of the time exceed even 30 minutes, that doesn't make the episodes look chrisp. That takes away most of what was most enjoyable about the games, the series is not action driven or stunt driven. And really seems like its own thing but that is not what we usually expect with Devil May cry.

Action is okay and there was nothing new about it. It really doesn't feel like Devil May cry, is what is so off about the series.

The series introduces one of the most prominent characters of the games in the last scene, and again it wasn't about Dante at all.

The best part about the series is the antagonist.

Steal: the antagonist, his back story and his introductory scene is outstanding.