Devilman Crybaby Series Review

Akira Toriyama. Masashi Kishimoto. Hayao Miyazaki. You probably know who these people are as they are the men behind the anime and manga we all know today. What you may not know is before they made their names known to the anime and manga world, back in 1970's, one man did made a stamp in that world and he was second only to the God of Manga himself, Astro Boy creator Osamu Tezuka.

That man is Go Nagai. Back in the 70's, Nagai was one of the most famous people in the industry thanks to his many works. He is most well known as the creator of the series Mazinger Z - the very first Super Robot manga and anime series that featured a human being piloting a giant robot. This defined the mecha genre as we know today, with well-known entries like the Gundam franchise, Gurren Lagann, Voltron, and even American works like Sym-Bionic Titan, Megas XLR, and Pacific Rim.

But I'm not talking about Mazinger Z here. What I'll talking is Nagai's OTHER famous work, which he personally considers as his masterpiece. That's because the latest adaptation of Nagai's "Devilman" series is now available on Netflix under the title "Devilman Crybaby". This anime has created a lot of buzz among critics and anime fans, and even famous Youtuber PewDiePie sounded off on Devilman Crybaby and that he really liked it.

The story in Devilman is about Akira Fudo, a naive, wimpy teenager who gets picked on a lot due to his pure-hearted nature. Only his classmate and friend Miki Makimura comes to defend him, as he also happens to be living with her and her family.

One fateful day, Akira is reunited with his childhood friend Ryo Asuka, who comes out of the blue as the two have not seen each other in years. Ryo has discovered that the demons of hell are popping up on Earth, masquerading as humans and are on a killing spree. Ryo asks Akira for his help in defeating these demons, to which Akira unwittingly agrees.

Turns out that to defeat a demon, a human needs to become one as well. But not just any human, one with a pure-heart - just like Akira's. Possessed by the demon Amon, one of the most powerful and ruthless among its kind, Akira becomes the titular Devilman, a fusion of Amon's demonic powers and Akira's own humanity.

Devilman has a bizarre love-hate relationship among critics and viewers. This is because Devilman is, and dare I say it, THE most violent, shocking, vile, disturbing, unsettling work in any anime or manga. While there have been a lot of other works that contain the same kind of graphic content, like Attack on Titan, Berserk, Elfen Lied, Tokyo Ghoul, you name it. Devilman, by comparison, is in an entirely different level. Either you love what you see in Devilman, or you hate it with such conviction not seen or heard in other anime or manga.

What I believe as the reason for this bizarre relationship is that the narrative and the graphic depictions in Devilman serve a very specific purpose. Nagai was born just one month after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki near the end of World War II. Like many Japanese at that time, Nagai has witnessed the horrors of war even at a young age. As anime and manga can be used to show one's expressions through art, Nagai expressed himself through Devilman as a cautionary tale of Armageddon happening not by the divine or a prophecy or whatever. But by the human race killing each other to extinction because they refuse to settle their differences. It's a message that, if you do see it in Devilman, is extremely powerful and does hit the viewer pretty hard.

When you think about it, the current atmosphere we are experiencing today is heavily reflected upon in Devilman cranked up to beyond extremes. You get these strong emotional feels after watching works like Your Name, Spirited Away, Your Lie in April, and others. But to get that same kind of feeling in Devilman, a HORROR series of all things, is not only unique and extremely rare, but what makes Devilman, for good or ill, one of the greatest anime and manga classics of all time.

When Netflix decided to adapt the Devilman manga for their streaming service, Director Masaaki Yuasa was hired for the job. Yuasa is well known for his visual style of animation in Tatami Galaxy in 2010, and the Kickstarter short Kick-Heart in 2013. Westerners in particular recognize Yuasa's work from the Adventure Time episode "Food Chain" or the anime Space Dandy that aired on Adult Swim - both released in 2014. Some were skeptical on how Yuasa's style will blend with the horror themes of Devilman Crybaby, but the end result turned up way better than expected.

When horror is to be visualized, almost always it is done to shock the viewer. I'm not an art critic, but with the way Yuasa did with Devilman Crybaby, imagine if Van Gogh or Picasso do a horror painting in their own style. It may or may not be disturbing to you, and you may like it or hate it. But it's still a Van Gogh or Picasso painting, so it's still a win for the artist. The same case with Yuasa's Devilman. It's his style all right, and the graphic content is there. Yet it draws out the emotions out of you positively or negatively. Yuasa hits that mark really, really good.

I have seen numerous adaptations of Devilman, and yet even though I know what was going to happen in Devilman Crybaby, it still hits me deep when it did happen. Never can I recalll any fictional work where I know the spoilers ahead of time, and yet didn't ruin my experience at all. It's one of the many testaments to Devilman's legacy. I also enjoy how Yuasa tweaks the story a bit to set in the present day to suit today's audience. And for longtime fans of Devilman, there's even reference to the first animated series in the 70s by Toei (the same company behind Dragon Ball) where Devilman is depicted as a superhero of sorts.

Whether you love it or hate it, Devilman Crybaby is by far the closest and best adaptation of Go Nagai's original manga. Even if you probably know the entire plot from previous releases, it's presentation in this version still blows you away, making it a contender for this year's Anime of The Year, and also an instant classic. Director Yuasa does justice to the series and shows what makes Devilman a highly regarded horror series that others pale in comparison. Just remember that this is NOT something kids or those with weak constitutions should watch.

Fun Fact: despite its graphic content, the original Devilman manga was published in the 70s as a Shonen series, meaning its meant for pre-teen boys. Fun times. On a scale of 1 to 5. I give Devilman Crybaby, a 5 out of 5.

Infini-T Force Series Review

Isn't it cool how your favorite superheroes can come together under one roof and even form a superhero team? That is why we have the Justice League in DC Comics (or to a lesser extent, the Superfriends). And in Marvel, obviously, there's the Avengers. These two have a common theme in which each member has his or her own story and series that they all eventually crossover and form the famous superhero teams we know today. That concept, however, virtually doesn't exist when it comes to anime and manga.

See, the Justice League and the Avengers are possible because their roster came from their respective brands. But in the case of anime and manga, each is its own story and universe, and under so many entities that virtually never mingles with others. We will never see Goku, Saitama, and Inuyasha ever meeting and teaming up because they are from different series and universes that is entirely their own and are owned by different entities that see each other as competiton.

There have indeed been crossovers in anime and manga in the past, such as Lupin III vs Detective Conan, Tsubasa Chronicles, and Digimon Xros Wars.  But these crossovers are either just one-time specials, or characters given totally different roles. None of which ended with the characters becoming a team and staying as a team like we see in Justice League and the Avengers.

Even if we replace Saitama and Inuyasha with Naruto and Deku, making all three from the Shonen Jump line, a crossover of these three is still never going to happen. Would Todd McFarlane ever do an issue of The Walking Dead, or will Robert Kirkman on Spawn? Of course not! Just as you will never see Akira Toriyama do a Naruto story, or Masashi Kishimoto pen Dragon Ball. So, no. The only place you'll be seeing a Justice League/Avengers-style crossovers in anime and manga would most likely be in fan fiction - at least until most recently.

Enter "Infini-T Force", a crossover superhero team-up series based on the characters from the Tatsunoko line. If you don't know what Tatsunoko is, there are what you would call "the Hanna-Barbera of anime", as they've been around since the 1960s and still produces anime today. A number of their works have been released in English, including their most well-known one - Speed Racer. Unfortunately, Speed doesn't take part in Infini-T Force and you see other Tatsunoko characters instead. That said, you don't have to know these characters well enough to enjoy this series.

Emi Kaido is a 17-year old with a devil-may-care attitude, as she spends most of her time living by herself and hardly sees her father. She's pretty much done with the world and pushes herself over the edge just to fill the emptiness inside her. She got her wish as she encounters four heroes that came from different worlds - Ken "The Eagle" Washio, who fights under the code name 'Gatchaman G-01'; Takeshi Yoroi, a young detective that can transform into the hero known as 'Hurricane Polymar'; Joji Minami, an astronaut who battles aliens as the Space Knight 'Tekkaman'; and Testuya Azuma, a teenager who is in reality the combat cyborg 'Casshern'.

The four heroes are looking for the man known only as 'Z', who destroyed their worlds using an item known as the 'Case', which has the power of granting wishes to any person that possesses it. Ken was able to take the Case off of Z, and is now in the hands of Emi, under the guise of a large pencil. The heroes must band together to protect Emi and her world from Z, who will stop at nothing to reclaim the Case.

Infini-T Force takes the protagonists of the four Tatsunoko shows - Gatchaman (aka Battle of The Planets aka G-Force aka Eagle Riders in the US), Hurricane Polymar, Tekkaman, and Casshern, and put them into a single crossover story that brings them together. The great thing about this concept is that you do not need to know any of the Tatsunoko shows to get to the characters. The first few episodes allow a quick introduction to the foursome without diving too deep as to the lore of their respective series - just enough to know they are heroes who now have to band together for a common cause. In a nutshell, Infini-T Force introduces the characters in the most basic manner, yet it's so well executed I'd wish this would've applied to the DC Extended Universe films, which were criticized for the way they handle the introduction of the Justice League.

One thing you will notice with Infini-T Force is that the entire series is done in full CG. CG in anime has taken quite a bad reputation among fans (the Berserk series from 2016 being one example). In the case of Infini-T Force's CG animation, you'd get the impression you're looking at cutscenes from a PS4 game. This shouldn't come as a surprise as it is done by Digital Frontier, who HAVE produced CG animation for the PS4, such as the Yakuza series. They are also responsible for the animated Resident Evil movies "Degeneration" and "Damnation". While Infini-T Force doesn't have the same caliber as the rest of Digital Frontier's works, they're not much to complain about either except you'll be hardly seeing them in a variety of clothing or setting.

If you're familiar with the Kamen Rider franchise (if not, then at least Power Rangers), Infini-T Force follows the same formula, only in a continuous 12-episode arc: You get cool opening and ending themes with accompanying intro and outro; our heroes get the usual dose of character conflict; we get to see the baddie of the week; the hero or heroes resolve their personal conflict; transformation sequence; fight scene; heroes win, and we set up for the next episode. Some may not like this kind of formula and I, for one am one of those because it's quite predictable how each episode goes. After all, this is the staple in Power Rangers and other similar shows. That being said, the formula actually works well in Infini-T Force and gives each character their chance to show off before things get intense in the later episodes.

As someone who has watched shows from the Tatsunoko brand in the past, the nostalgia factor does play a role in my appreciation for Infini-T Force. After all, I did grew up watching the four shows, be it in their Japanese or their localized versions. I also get the memo that these characters are different from their actual anime counterparts in appearance and persona. Yet, they still surprise me with how they are portrayed. Ken "The Eagle", aka Gatchaman G-01 for example, is officially listed as being 24 years old, but his appearance and character is more like someone who is not only in his 30s for 40s, but his view of the world is so old-fashioned you'd think he's the anime version of Captain America. He doesn't have that kind of look or persona in the original Gatchaman anime series!

That just leaves Emi Kaido, who is the actual protagonist of this series. For the most part, her role is to be the one that holds the team together, and the center of everything that's going on in the series. For Emi, it is a coming-of-age story for her as the undergoes changes from her first appearance to the final episode. She starts off as being a distraction at first, but she does indeed grow and eventually is able to stand on her own two feet. My only lament is that she didn't become a superhero like the others, even though she is a hero in her own right. It would've been nice if she gets her own transformation sequence they all form a 5-man Power Ranger-like team. Maybe somewhere down the road if Tatsunoko plans to continue this crossover that Emi may be given that opportunity.

Infini-T Force does bring something for fans who grew up watching the Tatsunoko brand, or someone new to it. It is also one of the first true crossover series in modern anime, unlike those in the past that are often as one-time specials or movies. And despite the CG animation and formulaic structure, Infini-T Force is a well-made anime series you can sit back and watch on a regular basis. I am very much looking forward to the upcoming movie sequel and how the crossover series will move ahead. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give Tatsunoko's "Infini-T Force", a 4 out of 5.