Devil May Cry

I enjoyed the series though I think rearranging a key episode would have gave the series more punch. I have never been a fan of the character Lady so was annoyed with how much the show focused on her over Dante. Pretty much whenever Dante was on screen I was having fun, whenever Lady was I was wondering what anyone else was doing. Hopefully next season we will get Trish and they will cut back on Lady. Hell even the side characters on Lady's team seemed to be more interesting than her.

Overall I think Dante sounded a little off but otherwise not a huge issue. Kevin Conroy sounded great as expected.

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.

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.

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.

Netflix's Devil May Cry should've been an easy win. Take Dante, one of the most badass and effortlessly cool characters in fiction and throw him into an action anime with fun writing, then let the mayhem speak for itself. The first two episodes are mostly just this, outside of some lame marvel jokes but man this show quickly forgets what makes DMC work which is pure badass action where demons are monsters, not misunderstood victims, and where Dante sure as hell doesn't need backup to handle the job and is the most charismatic character possible every second he's on screen.

I'll give credit where it's due, they (mostly) nailed Dante. He has been my favorite character ever since I was a kid and to me, his personality here is intact outside of the few aforementioned cringey marvel jokes. The animation, while nothing mind-blowing is very good most of the time and the action sequences in the show are always good, though they would've been much better if they used some of the moves from the games, they are still plenty badass and entertaining. The voice cast is fine too. JYB as Dante grew on me quickly but I hope they recast Dan back as Vergil because he is simply irreplaceable. I like the rest of the cast, not much else to say here.

I should mention that there's also a lot of fanservice here, for Capcom fans in general, not just DMC fans and it's all implemented very well, and as a lifelong fan I can't help but like it.

So, Dante is fine, and the animation is appealing enough... and then there's Lady. She should be a highlight, she gets numerous awesome action scenes, just as many as Dante if I were to guess. But the second she opens her mouth it destroys everything. It's like the writers forgot how to make a woman sound tough without drowning her in gratuitous, edgy swearing. It doesn't make her cool. It makes her sound like an immature teenager's idea of a badass and it drags down every scene she's in.

Another glaring flaw is how they nerfed everybody, Dante is somehow even significantly weaker here than his teenage DMC3 self and the demons are no different. They should be a threat but they are so weak and rarely pose any real danger.

But the show's biggest misstep is how it tries to make the viewer sympathize with the demons. Giving them tragic backstories and pushing the dreadful "humans are the real monsters" narrative cliche completely misses what makes Devil May Cry work. These are supposed to be forces of evil that Dante mows down with flair, not misunderstood victims. Suddenly we're getting sob stories about how Sparda did the weaker demons injustice and how not all demons are bad, how they don't all serve Mundus or seek chaos, blah blah blah. We already knew from the games that some demons aren't evil but what's going on here is an embarrassingly failed attempt at depth and symbolism that ends up being very unfaithful to the original canon. This, no jokes, feels like tumblr or reddit tier writing.

Also, why the hell is this set in the USA instead of DMC's signature gothic-industrial locales? Why not a new city similar to Fortuna or Red grave? But no, we get Adi Shankar's trademark "let's force in half-baked political parallels" approach again, just like with Castlevania. This dude needs to get over his hate for christianity, it seeps into everything he touches. Suddenly, demons are less "apocalyptic forces of hell" and are more oppressed victims of Sparda and the selfish human, there's a plot "twist" that the awful sixth episode leads into that further pushes the braindead "humans are the real monsters" cliche. This strips away all the franchise's stylized identity and the result is a world that feels as bland as the forced "depth" in the writing.

Furthermore, they attempt to explain the demon world and its connection to the human one with quantum physics and they also add some lore involving DNA that I won't spoil but what I will say is, all of it is awful and falls completely flat.

Overall, it's fine. The action and Dante's personality were the standout highlights that saved the show for me. However, the awful changes to the lore and characters really detract from what makes DMC work so well. 7/10.