Life can be so very disappointing at times. Especially when we eagerly await something for which we have high expectations and then have those expectations dashed to the ground and rubbed away like grass stains in the laundry. That’s what watching the Devil May Cry anime was like; feelings of jittery fangirl glee which faded into stark disappointment.
plot summary
Dante is a man who makes a living doing all manner of odd jobs. But where his real talent lies is devil hunting. Dante is himself half-devil; his father being the demonic, legendary Dark Knight, Sparda. Spanda’s son has inherited all the powers of his father.
Dante now makes it his goal in life to send all demons who dare step foot into our world back to hell, but only if there’s a check waiting for him at the end of his missions. The devil hunter has made devil hunting a business and even has an agent, Morrison, who finds jobs for the frequently indebted Dante.
One day, Morrison offers Dante a high paying job involving escorting an orphan girl to a mansion. The orphan is Patty Lowell, and she stands to inherit a large sum of money. Devils, however, have been consigned to kill Patty before she can claim her inheritance.
After dealing with the demons, Dante is saddled with the orphan who decides she wants to live with Dante. Patty patiently cooks and cleans for Dante as he goes out into the world to hunt down devils with the help of former allies, Lady and Trish.
review
There really was no concrete plot for Devil May Cry, aka, DMC. Nothing drove the short, 12 episode series forward; it was more about Dante doing what does he best, which is being cool and fighting demons. The three video games from which this anime is derived, each individually had more plot than the entire anime.
Character Development
Instead of getting a well-plotted, intelligently paced anime, which could have fleshed out everyone’s fave devil hunter, fans were handed, well, fanservice. We not only get to see Dante kicking demon ass, but we also get to see Trish and Lady in action as well. But there’s no other reason for these two DMC leading ladies to make an appearance in the anime apart from being there as fanservice. No background is given for them, nor is their connection with Dante explained.
It’s all for certain fans of the games and not really for anyone else. And even for me, a die-hard fan of the games, it was too gratuitous. The Devil May Cry anime was made for fans of how the games looked and not necessarily for fans of how the games played. Patty, the orphan girl who lives with Dante, was obnoxious and just as unnecessary and gratuitous as her female co-stars, but what would fanservice driven anime be without a cute, moe, lolita?
Only in the last three episodes was there anything resembling “story” or “plot”. Even then, it was all mashed together in a hurried, “Oh crap, I knew I forgot something!” manner.
Character Design
The character designs were a bit blah, considering that they could go have gone crazy with the demons’ designs since there’s so much precedent for it in previous games. Dante looked fantastic, however, as did Trish and Lady, thereby helping fulfill one more criteria of fanservice- hot characters.
I would say the fight scenes were fanservice as well, but for which fans? Dante didn’t do half the awesome moves he’s famous for in the games; he just gets a ton of face time when he’s hacking and slashing. Fans of the game play in the DMC games will be disappointed with the fight scenes, but fans of Dante, as bishishounen, will be satisfied with the mediocre nature of the fight choreography since it makes Dante look good.
Animation
Madhouse gets much cred for doing a brilliant job with the animation. The animation was smooth and detailed in many places. The studio did a great job adhering to the vision of the games. The colors, the lines, the tone, all kept in line with the original concept for Devil May Cry. It felt wasted, however.
Music
I’ve decide that while “D.M.C“, the OP by Rungran, is an annoying tune stuck in my head, it’s a great opening theme for the anime. The guitar heavy song perfectly matches Dante’s rock n’ roll, bad ass demeanor. “I’ll Be Your Home” by Rin Oikawa is actually a fantastic song, but is out of place with the anime. It’s a soft ballad which doesn’t quite fit in with the high tension of the series.
Voice Acting
Haven’t heard the English voice cast yet, but the Japanese voice cast was excellent.
The DMC anime was the latest chance for the Devil May Cry franchise to offer something more than fanservice to their extra-video game offerings, but it fell far short of that goal; that is, if they were shooting for it in the first place. There’ll be other chances for the franchise to step up to the plate with the upcoming release of Devil May Cry 4, slated for sometime early next year. It was so disappointing to have waited so long and so eagerly for a DMC anime only to have it be what it turned out to be; fanservice.
Rating
Devil May Cry gets two out of a possible four Hammies.
Hey… I kinda Know what you mean about it failing as a GREAT Anime, But at the end of the day – nearly EVERY anime based on a game isn’t very good, it’s just made to increase popularity of the series, in this case… apparently it didn’t.
However – I thought the anime was actually pretty enjoyable, The Music, By Rungran – I thought were all extremley well composed ((wasn’t sure about the ending theme)) – but they mainly suited the episodes and scenes.
I also agree that there will be no more anime episodes of DMC and it definatly would NOT involve Vergil, I persume due to all the plot lines etc. and characters involved – This is set JUST after DMC 1 ((in the games)) – However the way it is cannon with the games, isn’t really that important. Anyway – It wouldn’t involve Vergil because…
It’s just a promotional Anime, It’s not like a full on 400 episode series like the Dragonball Franchise. So, to include a big villain ((Vergil)) would intoduce a huge story line etc. Which i’m sure they wouldn’t be allowed too do, because whatever happens between them would have had to be used in the games =/.
(Hence why they made The weird Crosseye’d Guy and ABIGAILLLLL, they kill him off without ever having to involve him in the games)
Sorry i’ve typed a lot, and some of you may just think i’m talking out my arse but ya’ know =]
PERSONALLY, i like the anime, it’s got quite a bit of emotion during the a few episodes, nice tension in a couple of them too. – Animation is GREAT, however, I feel some of the characters mouth’s are over-sized and too far down their faces. (In certain clips, in the first episode, this applied to Dante aswell, but his detail got progressivly better lol) =]
The plot is stand alone – nothing to do with the series otherwise it would create a dilema in having to refer to it in the games, it’s just a promo anime, like i said – it’s not like the DMC movie would be =]
Anyway, Sorry i wrote so much xD
Peace x
That is true.
But, this anime was the first thing that acually got me into the DMC games. I still thought the anime was pretty darn good. The music, the animation, etc. And this IS a promo anime it doesn’t have to be good, but look good.
@Zethorlu, I think why DMC fell short was that it was a promo anime, which is sad in its own way. The story has lots of potential, but instead of making good on its promise of a kick-ass series, it just looked pretty. But I agree that the plot was stand-alone- it leaves room for another shot at a DMC anime in the future.
wow.. very interesting comments and i now shall comment on comments so long ago that the comments shall be forgotten the ones between Rachel and Jerry i mean, WTF were u 2 thinking xD?!?!?!
hmmm… i agree with rachel on the anime i mean it was good in all the animation and the effort they spent on it was well worth it but it just didnt have a strong story line to carry it….apart from that devil may cry rules!!!! i have played on the 1st 3rd and 4th game they are awesome!!!!:3 (didnt play on the second because i just didnt buy it i guess…well that was before i found out that it was crap…) but yeah its really cool!!!:D:Dthe devil may cry games:D
Devil May Cry is like one of the best anime that l like watching, it’s cool, hot, and great. But my favorite character is always and forever Dante.
WHAT, NO DEVIL TRIGGER!!!! I am a huge fan of the games, and the anime while not a bad one, left me feeling cheated. I mean they did make Dante look and act like a badass, but his fights where all jokes, and not once did he change into his all powerfull demon form. Cant wait for a better effort from an anime based on this stellar game.
@usman, no storyline=weak anime adaptation of killer game.
@bigrob1, Yes, no devil trigger. No storyline, no cool moves from the game. I also hope for a bteer adaptation of the game. I feel we may be waiting until the next DMC game comes out.
coooooooooooooooool
So yet again i agree with you all this was a nice attempt but only an attempt it was
making ya wait for it wait for it here it comes wait for it aaaaaaannnnnnnnnddddd wait where is it . ?> Kick Ass Effort But Looking for A show of DMC thats worth the title ya know Needs more imagination, radther then walkin down the street oh theres a demon quick fight scene over strawberry sunday im bored bullshit fuck off and give us the legend of fuckin SPARDA!
I see this must have been disappointing for those who’ve played the games. While I haven’t I got no expectation and when you got none – I always try to have no or few expectations good or bad cuz then I can more easy enjoy what I’m watching. I’ve seen the first two episodes. THE FIRST ONE WAS BADASS! the second one was ok. Hope more episodes is like the first one.