© 2007 Capcom
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.
I disagree with your review very much. The first nine episodes I think were more just episodes to fully introduce all the Charecters. Of the last three episodes I’ve only seen episode 10 but they are probably just the begginning of what might turn into a big anime. They may end up making a movie to fill in most of the blanks aswell so I wouldn’t give up on it yet!
@Michael, I’ve seen all the episodes and it’s done, finis, over. The studio might make a movie, but I highly doubt it. If and when Devil May Cry 5, the game, comes out, I can see the studio making a movie.
DMC4 is coming out early next year, and the DMC novels, manga and anime have coincided with every game release. The extra-game media is used more as a publicity device than anything else.
I refuse to give up hope that the studios will eventually make a fantastic anime outta DMC, but they’ve failed this time around.
i disagree. I am not a diehard fan of DMC nor have i ever played the game but this anime was very good. The action scenes were superb and the animation was fantastic. Not only that, the seiyuus had done a wonderful job. The plot was a masterpiece. Only those who are able to tolerate blood and gore must watch this.( i find that Elfen Lied was too much was for me, DMC was okay.) I like it that they did not make Dante seem flawless as most of anime like to do that. Dante has flaws and he is NOT shy to admit it. The women were drawn like REAL women and NOT some skinny bimbos shrieking around. They’re the true tough cookies.Trish’s outfit was too trashy but i guess most men have no obligation.( i’m a dude) Overall, this anime is a masterpiece.
PS: Dante looks so husbandly when he smiles!!!! Mordeus, marry me!!!!!!
@radena, I am not a diehard fan of DMC nor have i ever played the game this might be why you think the anime is so good.
Fans are ticked because we love Dante and know that he was given a crappy part to play; that of hot fanservice.
This anime was very superficial and lacked the depth that could have given Dante more development. Dante has always been portrayed as a cocky smart-ass. That was well done on the part of the studio to keep Dante’s personality true to his original character.
However, I must strongly disagree that the plot was a masterpiece.
to be honest i actually enjoyed the anime alot, i just think it should have been longer and i agree with everyone that the animation was amazing, but fact remains i like the show i just wish there was more, or if they would have extended it to like 26 episodes and maybe added vergil dante’s brother, loved the anime despite what others may say
I’m not completely sure why so many people are saying that the anime was a “masterpiece” but for sure the fact that the first nine eps were to “develop characters” was a waste of well… five of those eps at least. If you don’t know who the characters are then go play the games or watch a run through of them.
The best part of the series for me was the development in the games with the combination of the characters histories and their reasons for kicking demon butts. Eitherway, I’m agreeing that although the animation rocked, it could have been taken MUCH FURTHER… I wasn’t a big fan of the japanese voice acting, but then again, IT’S FRIGGIN’ DANTE… :3
@allen, that would have been great if Vergil had been in the anime but I don’t think this series had the time to shove Vergil in.
@Kiroshimatsu, The best part of the series for me was the development in the games with the combination of the characters histories and their reasons for kicking demon butts. That’s a big reason for my love of the series as well.
Rachel, your review obviously sucks. Too many people disagree with you. So just shut up and suck a dick or something.
@Jerry, so does that you mean you really like Devil May Cry?
Jerry…grow up. If you want to disagree I suggest you do it in a mature and appropriate manner.
@Rachel, no it means I really would like you to suck my dick.
@Pat, go kill yourself.
@Jerry, Uh-oh, looks like someone can’t read the rules for posting. “Note: Feel free to interact, but please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Remember your manners, and please mark spoiler comments with “SPOILER”.”
It would seem you have no idea what DMC is, let alone anime. Yet, I appreciate your thoughtful, respectful, and utterly adult comments on the subject matter. Thank you for your well reasoned opinions on the topic.
I have only one comment of my own about those who type with their mouth instead of their brain: The internet can make “big men” out of the smallest of boys…
@Rachel, I know what DMC is, I’ve watched all 12 episodes of the anime, I’ve beaten all 3 games in DMD mode, and I’m anxiously waiting for DMC4. Just letting you know… it shows how much you don’t know me. But go ahead and continue with your baseless conjectures.
@Jerry,“it shows how much you don’t know me.”
You’re absolutely correct. I don’t know you. All I have to go on is inference from your previous comments, which were:
Rachel, your review obviously sucks. Too many people disagree with you. So just shut up and suck a dick or something.
And:
@Rachel, no it means I really would like you to suck my dick.
@Pat, go kill yourself.”
I would infer from said comments you’re a heckling troll with nothing better to do. If you had instead said “I enjoyed the anime and I disagree with your review because of X, Y Z.” I would have inferred you were a fan of the games and of the anime. Since you did NOT approach the matter thusly, I was forced to infer you had the IQ of a five year old. My bad. Forgive me for my “…baseless conjectures.”
I have an IQ of a 5 year old? What the hell makes you say that?? Girl you trippin.
And no, I did not enjoy the DMC anime that much. It wasn’t that great, and nor did I have any expectations for it to be that good because animes based on video games usually aren’t (ie Veautiful Joe, Xenosaga). I’m a fan of the games though, except for DMC2. Anyway I’m about to see Tekkon Kinkreet, I’ll tell you how it is after I’m done.
PS- Stop IP blocking me, if you really want me to leave forever, say it to me like a real woman. Love you.
i agree with rachel..i thought the anime was boring like hell…:P
rachel is rich jerry on both count the anime and your IQ
richel is right on both counts the anime and your IQ
Am I missing something? Some people honestly believe this was a “good” anime? Pleeeeease tell me you’re kidding. A “good anime” would be something like Hellsing, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Trigun, and etc…
Don’t get me wrong, the visual and audio aspects of it were nice, but it had no kind of plot or storyline except for the last couple of episodes, and even then it was something a 10-year-old at school would have come up with. Most of the episodes just seemed to be one random battle after another. There was no kind of character development at all and many things were left unexplained. Thus, this anime, regardless of it’s pleasing animation and audio, was quite boring and a big disappointment due to lack of a coherent plot. If I had to compare it to something, it’d be like opening a beautifully wrapped gift with nice designs all over it and a gorgeous ribbon tying it all together, only to find garbage from a dumpster.
@Alex, apparently we’re both missing something since I agree with you DMC sucked. In fact, I must be really missing out since some fans have declared this anime a “masterpiece”. A masterpiece…
I haven’t finished watching the series yet (Only watched the first 4 from my CE edition of DMC4) but I’d agree with that assessment from what I’ve heard of the anime. It’s not a terrible anime (far from a masterpiece) but I’ve seen better. Mostly I enjoy it because it’s something light to watch but for plot I’ll go with something else. I think the main problem came with the fact they waited too long to introduce the main plot and didn’t build things as much character wise in a short series. If it were longer, it’d be easier to forgive because there’s more they could have added/worked on. Darker than Black was very episodic and while a lot of it were one-shot stories they sprinkled hints and character stuff throughout the 24 (25?) episodes until they got to the end and focused on bringing the small things together.
Oh well, I’ll probably watch the rest as they come out but my expectations are pretty low.
OK, who can possibly describe this anime as “a masterpiece.” There are a lot of animes out there that are very debatable as to whether they can possibly be considered masterpieces – this isn’t one of them.
In all honesty, I think you were too easy on the anime Rachel (2/4 ain’t that bad). I think your closing line in the intro summed it up nicely, “fangirl glee fading into stark disappointment.” This isn’t Devil May Cry – it is some anime studio’s idea of what DMC should be.
I can’t really say I’m a “hardcore” fan of the game series, but I know enough to know that this anime misrepresents the game. It seems like all the writers were given as research was some cover art, and maybe saw a few cutscenes.
This anime really did what I considered was impossible: they made Dante seem like a bit of a loser. Instead of the edgy, cocksure, brash Dante we all know and love, we are given this sort of introverted “cool guy” who gets ripped on by his friends all the time. Instead of using the source material, they decide to invent characteristics for Dante. When has Dante been horrible at gambling (or anything for that manner)? When did he become addicted to strawberry sundaes? Who the hell is Morrison!? Some people liked the fact that Dante was given character flaws. Well in most cases I would agree with you, but not for somebody like Dante. Dante is cool BECAUSE he really has no weaknesses. He’s arrogant to the extreme, but in a way it’s alright because hes just that damn good.
And as Rachel pointed out, we are never really given much development to the characters we care about, meaning Dante, Trish, and Lady. Instead we are given a cavalcade of horribly developed side characters that you never really care about. Each episode we meet a new person with some sort of monster-of-the-week problem that Dante must solve. They all have some emo-esque issue (forbidden love, horrible past, etc.) that is tied to the demon, and at the end of the day the demon is dead and everybody is happy. The problem is that you don’t really care about these characters or their issues – they are shallow anime stereotypes that we have seen thousands of times before.
And don’t get me started on Patty. In a way this anime is all about her, as she is really the only one who has any sort of development. However, her stereotypical moe personality and absolute uselessness to the story made me so annoyed with her that I cared nothing about her plight.
So in that way I disagree with your review Rachel. I think it fails even as fan service. This may have looked like a DMC anime, but it was a second-rate action anime with a DMC styling.
I can’t believe I watched the entire thing. *SPOILER* I was hoping that the last episode would produce SOMETHING that would legitimize the time I spent watching it. But instead of some epic boss fight between Dante and Sid the majority of the finale was spent with more of the annoying and useless Patty than anything else. When Dante finally does confront Sid, the battle is over with one stroke (that we don’t even really see). It’s sad that some of the regular demon fights had more action than the final “boss” battle. */SPOILER*
Regardless of how loosely it stuck to the source material, the fact remains that this is a poor anime. There is zero plot, poor character development, and the action scenes are lacking at best.
Good? Maybe – depending on your tastes. Masterpiece? Don’t even think about it.
@J.R. I’m thrilled by your commentary! You make excellent points, all.
However, I don’t think DMC fails 100% as fanservice. The animation for the series is well done and the characters look great. Dante is drawn in a way that makes fangirls swoon, and he looks good in this anime, looks….
Hmm. A strong, silent Dante might actually be appealing. By and large I found his sarcastic quips to be quite annoying. This new guy in DMC4 seems to be even worse though…
But really, in the first DMC game, how much plot was there? Not to be combative, but I really don’t remember there being that much.
@Chris N. The overall story and concept for the first DMC was fantastic. Coupled with challenging game play, inventive enemies and interesting puzzles, the game was stunning departure from the blaise gaming world. Plot? It had plenty. But you had to work for it by beating the game ^^b.
Ahh. And was it an old school capcom thing where you had to beat it on a harder difficulty to get the whole story? I only played it through once, but I think I got knocked down to easy after dying a number of times
@Chris, no you didn’t have to beat the game at a higher level, but you still had to play it to appreciate the story. The environments and enemies added flavor to the story, and gave it a creepy and supernatural appeal. It’s a classic, is all I’m saying, and deserved better treatment than it’s gotten so far in the way of novels, manga, and anime, all of which have been bad to horrible. Dante can do better.
As a fan of DMC, I was disappointed with the anime as well. It can’t be stressed enough that while it was pretty (and ohhh GOD how pretty Dante was), it still lacked any depth. My original expectations was to see some more backstory for Dante. I kept waiting for Vergil to show up too, only to find that he wasn’t ever popping up.
I think in the anime they portrayed Dante as too powerful. He didn’t do enough struggling, and hell, the only time he really bled was in the last episode. I mean, the anime filled my Dante-quota, but nothing else.
It was a disservice to DMC fans, and a disservice to Dante. Woe.
@Kiatana, wasn’t Dante ever so pretty? Yes, he made me smile, and then cry when I realized how crappy the anime was.
i disagree, im a pretty big fan of the devil may cry series, and when i got dmc 4 collectors edition and saw the anime, it was really good. Yes, it couldve have more action, but i think the characters, and plot were perfect. i didnt really see any big flaws in it
@Zach, did the game have all the episodes with it? That’s a good deal, especially as seeing how ADV isn’t planning on releasing any more of the DVDs. What did you think of the game?
@Rachel: That’s inaccurate. ADV IS releasing the rest of the DVDs but the problem came from the whole site mess up.
@Acerbus Wings, ADV is still releasing Devil May Cry? I thought they were pulling a bunch of titles, DMC included.
@Rachel: If I remember right, basically, it stemmed from the web site screw up where a lot of their titles got removed. A few people got emails though saying that ADV is still working on it but because of the website screw up things got a little delayed/mixed up (which why I still don’t have a box for my first DVD…)
DMC SUCKS
No good matterial
Ah. When I first heard about this I wanted to see it…but then a friend said Dante loved strawberry sundaes and lost at gambling to a little girl… So I think I’ll just stick with the games ^^”
Eh…besides…Vergil was a favorite of mine, so it’s kind of a downer to hear he’s not in it at all.
Honestly, I sat down and watched all the episodes and i was quite intrigued, the storyline was good, it didnt follow any of the games, thankfully. It was independent, away from the games, while keeping the characters’ main qualities at the forefront, for the most part anyways. I must admit, the strawberry sundae thing threw me off for a sec. Currently having and beaten all 4 devil may cry games, i give the anime series a thumb and a half.
Hmmm, I haven’t watched it and, from what I’ve read so far, I’m not sure I want to. Then again I may just watch it for shits and giggles…having nothing better to do with my time. So I’ll most likely be back once I have.
@Daxy, the whole strawberry sundae fetish got it’s start in the light novels, or was it the manga? Either way, it was established in previous media. Doesn’t make it right, though, just makes the lameness a long standing faux pas.
@Stephen, glad you liked the anime, but you give it more props than me. Was the fourth game worth playing? I’ve been seriously disappointed with all the sequels thus far.
@David, I say see it anyway if you’re a fan of the games. I’ll probably keep buying the merchandise until I get totally frustrated with the franchise, which, after watching the anime, will be soon.
Nice review. I quite enjoyed the last few episodes but over all it was a little disappointing. I’ll carry on watching it for sure as I’m a DMC fan though.
I’m hoping Vergil comes into it!
Thanks for putting the time into the review.
@Russ, Thanks! I don’t think they’ll be making any more episodes of the anime, so holding out for a Vergil appearance may be futile. I figure they did a short run of a series in order to stir up attention on the new DMC game released and now they’re done. The franchise usually releases something around a new game launch and an anime series was it this time round. Before it was light novels and then manga.
wow i’m just a big fan for DMC i kind of liked the anime it wasn’t a waste of time for me. Must people out there r very critical and make a lot of judgements on things me i rather kick back and enjoy the show instead complaing how bad it is if its bad i just hmmm maybe next one b better so ya
I *WAS* about to start watching the series until I read the review. And then the posts. And then the reply to the posts. And now I’m disillusioned but thanks guys for saving me 12episodes of my life. =] keep reviewing other stuffs!
@goku2k5, I can usually enjoy anime just fine if it’s meant to be popcorn anime, but DMC was definitely striving to be something more- and failed.
@Jacques, Although I think DMC is an utter waste of time, if you have the capability to rent this, then rent the first volume and check it out. Netflix has the first volume if you subscribe to them. I personally wouldn’t recommend this, but someone else (like some of the posters) may get something from it. That said, it didn’t do squat for me.
wow i’m just a big fan for DMC i kind of liked the anime it wasn’t a waste of time for me. Must people out there r very critical and make a lot of judgements on things me i rather kick back and enjoy the show instead complaing how bad it is if its bad i just hmmm maybe next one b better so ya
@need_for_speed, I’m glad you got something from this anime. Yes, people are critical, but that’s so they can weed out what they like and don’t like, without forgoing their own anime needs. Why watch something you don’t like? But you liked DMC, so that’s all that matters, not what I or anyone else says. ^^
people should stop hateing on this anime and just get blazed before you watch it
Hmm well i do agree that the anime lacked some depth but again i agree with the view that the animation was simply great, and the fighting scenes were nice although in my opinion too short…also i dont have a nicely translated version hence i cant understand everything. like in episode 10 i cant really understand why the older brother is so eager to fight dante, something about not getting a chance to fight sparda, and then the younger brother whats his story?…either way the scene where the younger dark haired brother charges at dante with tears in his eyes is, in my opinion, very intense and full fo emotion.
@Nelo Angelo, I can’t remember the episode you describe- I watched this series so long ago. But Madhouse, the same peeps that did DMC and Death Note, did a fantastic job making this thing look good. Isn’t it just a beautiful anime? Pity they couldn’t make the plot match the animation.