Well, here we are. I have now watched all 8 episodes of a show the last time I spoke about it, I essentially said it was something I had barely an interest in. As it turns out, I'm somewhat of a liar. Watching Devil May Cry Season 1 I have realized some things about myself. Those being that 1. Devil May Cry means a lot more to me than I had previously realized and 2. Oh God.

Before we jump into the things I didn't like, of which there are many, I would first like to be fair and discuss the things I did enjoy. I think largely the work done by Studio Mir for the animation and art design of the show is pretty good. There is that "generic anime feel" to some designs and moments, but largely it's a very visually appealing show that looks and moves well. It never reaches the animation deficits that something like Amazon Prime's Invincible or Warner Bros' DC animated films fall into. The fight scenes are also great and full of energy, which is definitely to be expected of the studio that worked on shows like X-Men '97 and The Legend of Korra. 

I think the designs of our main characters are mostly very good, they went for a mix of Dante's Devil May Cry 3 and 5 outfits to make an interesting if basic amalgam of looks and Lady's...sorry "Mary's" design is unique to the show, not taking inspiration from how she looked in any of the games (sans for a minor flashback in Episode 6). I actually quite like the look of her design here, even if it isn't accurate to the games it still is visually appealing and interesting to look at. It does give off more Resident Evil vibes than Devil May Cry but I think it's still a great design.

The demon designs in the show are also...I actually hate the demon designs, and some of that we'll get into a little later, most of them that are not directly ripped from the games are very generic and basic monster designs and the other "innocent" demons we see later are....again we'll touch on that later. This is except for the White Rabbit, who is the main villain of Season 1, who has a very eye-catching and interesting design that takes a lot of inspiration from how he looked in the Devil May Cry 3 prequel manga. 

The character design outside of our three central figures is, however....kind of awful. Everyone looks like they could come out of any other anime on Netflix and doesn't give off the signature character and world design of the Devil May Cry games. The unique synthesis of European, gothic,  Japanese punk, and 2000s American fashion that inspired the games is nowhere to be found here with a lot of the characters looking more like they came out of a Sci-Fi anime than something that deals with Hell and the demonic. It's less Underworld and more Kaiju No. 8. This goes for the show as a whole as it goes to great lengths to separate itself from the supernatural and the spooky in favor of a more digestible and explainable Hell that's more in line with something like how the earlier MCU explained Asgard as an alien planet rather than a home for the Norse gods. It's trying to have its cake and eat it too.

"Trying to have its cake and eat it too." Yeah, that phrase right there is how I would describe Netflix's Devil May Cry as a whole. 

So in a decision that was completely out of left field and took me completely by surprise, Devil May Cry is a show about the War on Terror. This franchise has only ever been outwardly political in the much maligned DmC: Devil May Cry in which the demons had taken over the world posing as the institutions that keep us oppressed....a much more fiting allegory for a series in which the main character is a self titled "Devil Hunter". Instead in the Netflix anime, demons are a stand in for muslim people and "Hell" itself is no longer an extradimensional evil world that consumes human souls or wants to feed off human blood and misfortune. Hell is called "Makai" (literally just the japanese word for demon world, very creative) and is now just another dimension where humans wound up and evolved differently than they did here on earth. At least that's the explanation DARKCOM's (the DHS stand in) head scientist proposes as to what Makai is. I've seen some defense of the show saying that this is just speculation from the scientist and should not be taken as fact, but by the mere fact no one else proposes a counter argument to his theories in the show except for an ultra-religious evil Vice President who wants to colonize Makai, it is very much suggested by the writers that this is an accurate account of what Makai is supposed to be.

The War on Terror allegory of the show is further explored in the show by the addition of a seemingly implied majority innocent or good Makaian population...which visually is made to wear similar clothes to those of the Muslim faith. Eventually, we see the US and DARKCOM kill families of Makaians and colonize Makai in the season finale.

Beyond any other problems I have with the show, this is the biggest and most offensive one. I am not someone of Middle Eastern descent or a practitioner of the Muslim faith, but having the main antagonists of the video game series you're adapting be stand-ins for Muslim people and repainting the narrative in this way is extremely offensive and ill-conceived. Maybe if the show was a bit more riskier or self-aware, this would be a far more interesting and less problematic plot point. Having our main heroes rally against the US government to defend the people of Makai, maybe having Dante accept his Makaian heritage and fight for his people. Instead, the show wants to paint the Makaians in this light but ultimately it's nothing more than set dressing that adds a level of uncomfortability to our main heroes. The main villains of Season 1 are essentially Makaian terrorists and Mary (who is ostensibly our main character, despite Dante being the lead character of the game series and the most advertised character by Netflix for the show) ends of Season 1 still committed to the DARKCOM cause.

The final note the series ends with Dante himself is that he finds out his father, Sparda, sealed off the demon world from the human world and doomed the Makaians to be locked in Makai with the tyrant Mundus and have their air poisoned. Instead of realizing what his father did was wrong and maybe trying to make the legacy of Sparda brighter by fighting for coexistence...Dante raves about what a hero his father is while beating and styling a victim of DARKCOM's unjust violence and talks about how he will become a guardian of humanity and then seals off the portal to Makai. Of course, there's some hand waiving about how some animals from Makai are too dangerous for humans as some monsters are literally like the sandworms from Dune, but what even are they trying to convey with this ending? They just made the character we are supposed to think is cool and awesome into a border patrol agent who has a history as a serial killer. Remember he is a demon hunter right? Meaning he specifically went out seeking demons to kill, who in this adaptation are stand-ins for people of the Muslim faith. Our hero committed hate crimes, and there is no acknowledgment of that. Instead, we end with Dante reaffirming his position as a demon hunter...which like..why introduce this plot point then? 

They also kind of go back on the whole the demons are good angles, when Dante describes how his Devil Trigger makes him feel. Saying that he can feel the rage and hatred within him when he taps into that power...which implies the Makaians' power comes from negative emotions? What are the writers even trying to say here? It's so muddy and confusing.

I'm fine with politics being introduced into Devil May Cry but like this is just absurd and absolutely not well thought out in the slightest. 

This is even worse considering the focus the show places on Mary Arkham (or Lady from the games). Dante and Lady are my favorite characters from the Devil May Cry games and I have serious problems with how both are portrayed here. While Dante has his aforementioned issues essentially being a serial killer with a paycheck, he's also an utter idiot not understanding basic information being conveyed to him. Mary gets it infinitely worse however as the show makes her a xenophobic agent of DARKCOM with a deep hatred of demons/Makaians. While this eventually softens a bit and she works to save the innocent Makaians in an apartment complex she invades with her team...they show her gunning down a family of Makaians in Episode 6 alongside her team. I don't care what her sad backstory is, she's awful. She then betrays Dante in the finale and locks him up. Great, really love our two leads here.

You would also think from the way I'm describing the events of the show that the series would have a darker tone, nope wrong again. It treats these issues with the delicacy of a jackhammer crafting an ice sculpture and is completely unself-aware of how stupid it is. There are multiple pop culture references and needle drops that take you completely out of whatever world this series is trying to build and ridiculous crazy action sequences. Granted those action sequences are great and probably the highlight of the show, but it's a little hard getting excited for our characters to get into a brawl with demons with the demons being established to be allegories for a minority group. Add on top of that, songs like American Idiot by Green Day are being played over scenes of war crimes against Makaians and it's just absurd.

I'm ending this review with self-awareness on my part. As much as I try to run from it, Devil May Cry will probably always be a big part of my life and something that I'll always have a certain amount of fondness for. I ended my last article about the franchise debating with myself if I even really liked this anymore or if it meant anything to me if the show did anything for me..it made me realize that I do like Devil May Cry. It does mean something to me, otherwise, I wouldn't be this angry with this show and I wouldn't feel so disrespected. One day I might write an article on my history with the series and talk about why I tried to abandon it these last six years, but today I'd just like to end with a review of this show.

It's....a show. You can watch it on Netflix. It's not great, but I guess if you turn your brain off or operate on the same cognitive level as Alex Larsen and Adi Shankar maybe you'll find something of substance here. I didn't, but whatever. It's getting a Season 2 so like it or not we're getting more of this. Yay.