Devilman Crybaby is an anime series that will take you to the very depths of hell. Since I've already reviewed the manga here, I won't bother going into details summarising the whole thing, but essentially, Devilman Crybaby is the adaptation of the original 1972 manga by Go Nagai and directed by Masaaki Yuasa, famous for Ping Pong The Animation and Tatami Galaxy.
Straight up, you can notice that the director went to great lengths to modernise this work for the 21th century. The setting is no longer 70s Shouwa Japan, but the modern present day, meaning it brings all the technological avances of the past decades into consideration which include things like smart phones, high speed internet and social media etc. Those aren't simple changes, as you'll quickly find out that social media did indeed play a big role in the events that transpired within the series. Furthermore, the social mores of the country have changed drastically for the past 45 years since the manga's publication, and as a result, the ensemble cast has a more live and let live approach when it comes to sex and drugs that would have been considered taboo in those times. One striking addition is the change of characters who no longer regular tough bullies like in the manga, but now rappers who have a thing or two to say about the society they live in.
Social media plays a big role in this new iteration of Devilman.
They also act as narrators and help explain what's going on, which I think is an interesting choice. What's more fascinating is that Yuasa, the director didn't stop at Japan. Given that he knew in advance that the show was going to premiere worldwide, he made sure that the setting was ambiguous enough that the show's events could have happened anywhere else and this feels fresh, compared to one of Nagai's earlier anime adaptation, Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera, where if you didn't live in Shouwa Japan, you would miss out on a lot of the jokes. (Still a great comedy but for a specific informed Japanese audience). Another fascinating point regards changing the ethnicity of Miki's father with that of a foreigner with a strong Christian background. This helps viewers especially those of religious background to relate to his situation better.
Besides the modernisation, Yuasa has his own other list of changes that makes this adaptation his own. The stylish visuals aren't for everyone, but it's indeed his trademark, and it wouldn't feel like his work otherwise. In addition, he upped the symbolism for those who are looking for something deeper; the flowers, the passing of the baton all help to bring some meaning to the series, which were all absent in the original manga. Sure, the source material had some pretty cool looking imagery as well that evoked a lot of emotions from the reader, but nothing quite like what Yuasa showed.
The ultimate question is what did I think of this adaptation and all of its efforts to bring it to modern times? My answer is mixed. I'm a big Devilman fan and I know that the opinion between manga readers are split down right the middle. Some really embrace the changes, like me, and some of the purists which I feel are also me, wished for a more faithful adaptation of the manga, instead of a re-interpretation of the source material. Since I have experienced how the conversation about Devilman Crybaby has evolved over these past 10 days since its release, I can fully understand where both sides are coming from. I wish I could have made this easier on myself and just pick a side, but then I'd also be lying to myself.
So first off, as a manga fan, I try my hardest to set my bias aside and try to view the work on its own merits. Directors should adapt it they see fit and stifling their creative freedom is probably the last thing that one should advocate for. Changes are inevitable, and I get that. Regardless, I must say I have a few complaints regarding some of the scenes and characters since they were either changed or left out completely. I won't go into every detail that bothered me, but just the major one, and that's the characterisation of Ryo Asuka.
In the manga, Ryo Asuka was a bit of a sociopath, but at the same time, he could be just as empthatetic and yet horribly confused about his own identity. This made him one of the more complex, if not the most complex character of the whole manga. Yuasa said that Crybaby was going to be a story of love and that of Ryo Asuka way before the series had even aired yet. At the time I didn't understood what he meant, but after watching his adaptation, I really got it.
The whole story of Crybaby rests on Ryo's inability to express emotions such as love, sorrow and empathy. During the series last stretch, he finally understands what these are as a consequence of his world view getting absolutely demolished, and this is where Yuasa's major mistake in making it all about him and his love problem. This meant that for the entire series, we had to deal with a complete psychopath who at every turn wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone who got in his way, with the exception of our hero of the story, Akira. Can anyone actually sympathize with a character who acts in this manner? Hell no! This is why the famous ending couldn't be as poignant as it could have been going in with Crybaby's characterisation of Ryo. In the original manga, it sure was about love, but it was also mainly about how easily humans can turn on each other for the pettiest of reasons, and acted as a cautionary tale against human conflict.
This isn't to say that Crybaby didn't have that bit, it did, but the emphasis was a lot more on Yuasa's story of love. Furthermore, in the original manga ending, Ryo realises what he did was wrong, but not through realising that love exists, but through his rejection of social competitivism which reads that the strong has a right to rule the weakling. This means that the demons and Ryo by extension in their mind, had a justified reason to rule over humans.
How can anyone like Ryo?This put us humans into an even more ambiguous morality, which the turtle demon, Jinmen had no problem of pointing that out. Humans justify their rule over cattle, just as demons justify their rule over humans. It's the natural order of things. The turtle demon scene had to obviously change for Crybaby, given that his dialogue was more a social commentary on that philosophy rather than it was about love. In the anime, the scene with Jinmen was all about embracing his parents' love, which further puts Yuasa's love theme at the forefront.
Yuasa didn't completely forget about it, as you can see below, but he didn't really tie it up with the rest of the series and it just felt like exposition dump here taken from the manga.
To sum it up, I have to say that I fully appreciate the modernisation that Yuasa brought to this series but I have my misgivings about him ignoring one of the focal point of the series about social competitivism and replacing it with love. However, I guess when you take a step back and look at the whole picture, bringing the theme of love also implies that the strong should also feel empathy for the weak. Sure, but that's why the anime ending is less explicit, more vague and just not as interesting as the manga's ending from my point of view.
Honestly, that was my only major gripe with the series. I can deal with the rest of it, and appreciate Yuasa's monumental piece of work here. The music is fantastic, the scenes are well directed for the most part, and the animation and artstyle although different will catch your eye almost immediately, but just bear in mind that Devilman Crybaby is Yuasa's own interpretation of what he took from Devilman, and while his analysis of the story isn't all that differrent from Nagai's own vision, it was just a little more corny and cheesy than usual.
I'll end it here, because I could really spend hours on exploring the other themes of Devilman, but that would require additional hours and brain power to try and process the information I got and put it down in writing.
Ref: 
Devilman: Crybaby
story: Akira Fudo is informed by his best friend Ryou Asuka that the demons will revive and reclaim the world from the humans. As the humans do not stand a chance against the supernatural power of the demons, Ryou suggests fusing with a demon. Akira becomes Devilman, with the power of a demon and the heart of a human. the anime is a ONA. the anime will air on: Jan 5, 2018