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Warning: Contains spoilers for Devil May Cry.For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been a huge fan ofDevil May Cry. The stylish action that only got better with each installment, combined with a story that struck a great balance between being cheesy and having general heart, always resonated with me on some level, and barring a few examples, I’ve always had fun with the franchise.
Devil May Cryhas always held a special place in my heart, so imagine my surprise when it was announced that it was getting a new anime. The series would be made by the same team behindCastlevania, and the marketing made it out to have the same level of quality, so I was plenty excited for what looked to be a great time. That didn’t come to pass, however, asNetflix’sDevil May Cry, while not being without merit, was ultimately a disappointment for me, and there are plenty of reasons as to why I felt that way.
Devil May Cry Just Looks Like Every Action Anime, And That’s Disappointing
Why I Wasn’t Impressed With Devil May Cry’s Animation
The first major issue I had withtheDevil May Cryanimewas, surprisingly, with its visuals. The art and animation are largely great, there’s no denying that, but at the same time, it never does anything particularly spectacular, with it always having a sort of generic goodness to its presentation. That normally wouldn’t be an issue, butDevil May Cryis famous for its stylish gameplay and cutscenes, so with that in mind,Devil May Cry’s animation feels largely bland because of how poorly it adapts the games’ aesthetic beyond the bare minimum.
The basic visual style ofDevil May Cryis especially bad when taking into account the staff’s previous work onCastlevania.Castlevaniaalways pushed the boundaries of what could be done with 2D animation, withCastlevania: Nocturneseason 2’s animation being some of the best I’ve ever seen, soDevil May Cryhaving such basic, albeit good, animation feels even more disappointing when I know it could have been more likeCastlevania. I have no idea why it ended up like that, but overall, it’s nothing but disappointing to watch.
Devil May Cry’s World & Story Might As Well Be Its Own IP
Why The Devil May Cry Anime Fails As An Adaptation
The larger issue I had with theDevil May Cryanime, however, was with its writing. The story is mostly a reinterpretation of theDevil May Cry 3manga with some elements from the game, but not only are they interpreted wildly differently, but they’re also bogged down with things like government conspiracies and a paramilitary group of demon hunters. None of that is really in line withDevil May Cry’s story, though, sothe story for theDevil May Cryanime feels weird because of how different it is from canon while still trying to largely adhere to it.
All of that leads to the larger issue of how the characters are handled. While the anime’s interpretation of the White Rabbit is a great villain, Dante has his goofiness exaggerated while forgetting he’s supposed to be highly competent underneath it all, and Lady is far more aggressive than she was in her debut, with none of her humanity or growth to balance it out. Add in all the extra vulgarity permeating every episode, with Lady now swearing in almost every scene, andDevil May Crydoesn’t work because of how poorly it portrays old and new characters alike.
An adaptation doesn’t have to be completely accurate to the source material to be good;Castlevaniais wildly different from the games, but it’s still a great series from start to finish. The key factor lies in the execution, andDevil May Cryfalls flat because of how boring and repetitive the story gets and how many contrivances happen to make it work.Devil May Cry’s poor execution is why it fails as an adaptation, and with how different it made things while only paying lip service to canon, I genuinely question why this wasn’t an original IP.
Devil May Cry’s Political Elements Would Be Out Of Place Even If They Were Written Well
Devil May Cry’s New Story Just Doesn’t Work
All of my issues withDevil May Cry’s writing are further compounded by what became the biggest sticking point: the political elements. Not only is the American government blatantly evil, but when they invade Makai and declare war, it’s framed as an objectively bad thing because the majority of demons are good people being unjustly persecuted by humans.Devil May Cryhas a clear political bent to it by using the conflict between humans and demons as a metaphor for the war on terror, all of which, of course, was something that never came up in the games.
Criticizing the war on terror and the Iraq invasion isn’t wrong, but it doesn’t fit a story likeDevil May Cry. Not only does the new depiction of demons make Sparda look incompetent at best, but it’s completely out of place for a largely schlocky and goofy action story likeDevil May Crywhich drew most of its drama from personal conflicts.Devil May Cry’s political subject matter fails because it’s completely out of place for this type of story, and the anime’s attempts at having both types of stories just lead to constant tonal dissonance at best.
The worst part is that that sort of writing has been done well in the past.Netflix’sPluto, for example, went a similar route toDevil May Cryby injecting commentary on the Iraq War into an adaptation ofAstro Boy, but it worked there because it was handled with an incredible sense of maturity and overall craft. By comparison,Devil May Cryjust puts out the same talking points surrounding the issue with no subtlety or effort to make them interesting, so overall,the biggest issue withDevil May Cry’s political elements is that their execution is boring.
I Couldn’t Be Less Excited For Devil May Cry Season 2
Devil May Cry’s Anime Is Already A Failure
Devil May Cryhas plenty of faults to it, even more than what I’ve listed here, and it leaves me utterly disinterested in a second season; the series would just be continuing with all the same poor writing shown in season 1, and it would even add an undoubtedly questionable take on Vergil into the mix. The writing could certainly improve, butDevil May Cry’s first season ended in a way that left me with little confidence that it will improve, and as much as I would love to be wrong about that, I don’t see it happening anytime soon.
Devil May Cry
Cast
Devil May Cry, released in 2025, follows a demon hunter as he battles to prevent a formidable adversary from unleashing Hell on Earth. This action-packed series delves into the supernatural, featuring an intriguing hero who must overcome otherworldly challenges to save humanity.
