Devilman Crybaby: Crying Demons and Gods

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This article contains spoilers, please read carefully before watching the work.


In 1972, 27-year-old cartoonist Nagai Hao took his new work from "Juvenile JUMP" to "Weekly Magazine" Teen Magazine.
This comic is the "Devil Man" that has far-reaching influence and opened up a road that has never been before for the latecomers.



After a lapse of 45 years, under the leadership of Netflix and the ghost animation director Masaaki Yuasa, this legendary work was adapted into a new OVA animation, which is called "Devilman Crybaby" (hereinafter referred to as Crybaby). ).
This new version of "Devil Man" is personally directed by Masaaki Yuasa. The director's works have always been highly recognizable, with bright colors, simple and even rudimentary character lines, as well as exquisite mirroring and brain holes. The story is well known in the industry. The highly personal painting features and redesigned character modeling make Crybaby's first look and feel especially special compared to ordinary animation works, not to mention the retro original works.
However, the rebirth of the painting style has not affected the essence of this work. Sex and violence have been more explicit under the new generation of picture technology. The naked flesh and endless blood fill almost every episode of Crybaby.



I have to say that the old wine like the devil is put into the unique bottle of Yuasa Masaaki, and it really has a completely different style from the animation of the older generation of devils. Several famous shots in the original work are in his hands. The mirror became very tense.




But if there is only a unique style of pictures, Crybaby is at best a work that can leave a little impression on people. In the end, any film and television work must be won by an excellent story.
Before the broadcast, I was actually a little worried about how the first floor of Da Hanoi (the screenwriter of this play), whose level has been rising and falling in recent years, would adapt a story created in the 1970s to a story that was already well versed in various plots and routines. Works that modern audiences can appreciate.
In fact, it is not new in the industry to say that old works are refurbished. More successful examples such as Hirano Kota's "Hellsing" OVA, and Anno Hideaki's "EVA" new theatrical series, the former has attracted a large number of fans with its super high degree of comic reduction, and the latter has mixed praise and criticism, but also different. Since the story of the original work (and the extremely long production cycle) is the selling point, it can be seen that under the condition of ensuring that the basic settings are not too different, the old work can be refurbished with a little bit of strength to play a good card.
Of course, it is not an example without failure. For example, the CG movie "Saint Seiya: Legend of the Sanctuary" released in 2014 is a typical example of boldly developing new carriers and then using too much force.

So the matter of "adaptation" is like the internal skills of old martial arts. One point less is not enough, and too much is insane.

But fortunately, Yuasa Masaki is a genius in the industry, and the new script discussed with the two people on the first floor of Lao Jianghu Dahanai is not only more in line with the background of modernization, but also breaks through some of the bottlenecks of the original work and the dissatisfaction caused by the age.
The story of the original work is actually very simple. It tells the story of an ordinary high school student, Fumei, who obtained the "power of the devil" and then turned into a "devil", and joined forces with his friend Asuka to fight against the ancient earth creatures "devils".
In the framework of this story, and the original work is only 5 volumes (these 5 volumes cover the story of Fudo Akira's transformation from being a demon to the world-destroying war between the two enemies, the descendant "Parasitic Beast" with a similar plot will light a city. The story is drawn in 10 volumes), in all supporting roles, including the portrayal of the heroine, Nagai Hao can be said to have taken it all in one stroke.
Although it is not fair to judge the works of that era with the eyes of modern aesthetics, I still feel that this is a relatively big flaw of the original work.
Crybaby is different. Under the protection of the original two male protagonists, the presence of the heroine Miki Maki has been greatly strengthened.
From the careless and somewhat frivolous image in the original work, she has completely transformed into a calm, strong, kind and courageous girl in this work.



In the film, she is a person who is not good at rejecting others and always thinks the good side of others. Even if she faces some rude reminders from her childhood sweetheart Fuming, she will scold him for being rude.



When Fu Ming gained the power of the devil and became different day by day, although she noticed the clue, she always believed that Ming was secretly protecting her.
And when the existence of the devil was exposed, her family died because of it, and her true identity was revealed, so she became an enemy to the whole world, she still chose to open her hands to embrace the man who once stood in front of her, and for the sake of The boy whose family was crying.



When Fudashi was deeply misunderstood by everyone, he was willing to risk his life to speak out to the world for his maliciousness on the Internet.
Because she believed him.

In the animation, there is a story in which Fu Ming, after his identity was exposed, blocked in front of the perpetrators who were also human in order to rescue the innocent human beings who were framed as demons. As Miki narrated the words she wrote for Ming at home, among the perpetrators present, a child walked out of the crowd first and hugged the demon who stood there, crying and did not resist, and then hugged. People who do not know are also a group of children.
Children are synonymous with innocence in this animation. Innocence means simplicity and kindness, but also means being used by others and being guided by the mistakes around you. But the role of Miki Maki can be said to be the ultimate, uncontaminated innocence. It is precisely because of this that she has become the last bottom line of Fudaki as a "person".
Fudaki once said to himself, "I am a demon, and I will never kill." But when he faced the tragic death of Miki, he shouted sadly: "You are the devil", killing all the murderers present, but Fu Ming and these atrocities, who are the devils?



Many of Nagai Hao's works have tried to discuss the boundaries between people, gods and demons in the past, but he is also deliberately downplaying this distinction. In "Devil Man", he designed the final villain Satan as the diametrically opposite image of the devil, that is, the appearance of Satan before his fall - an angel with 5 pairs of wings. This is undoubtedly a setting with great irony. The one who fought for the survival of mankind was a demon, but the one who wanted to destroy all mankind was an angel. This seemingly contradictory incongruity has been the keynote of the Devilman series from beginning to end.
In this world, the standards of good and evil are very vague, but Miki's character is pure good.
I see Miki Maki as the vehicle for the concept of human "idealization" in Crybaby. I think the first floor of Da Hanoi devoted all the ideals to the beauty of human beings when creating this character. Whether it is the appearance of beauty or the inner kindness, many positive elements have been integrated into this character, making her existence in this cruel The world has become so rare and shining, and her death symbolizes the final fall of the world's last beauty, and human beings no longer have the value of saving.
When human beings lose goodness and beauty, they will only end up being destroyed by demons or by themselves.
This is also the most important factor that moved me by Crybaby. Through this work, Masaaki Yuasa and the first floor of Okawachi have created an idealized yet so real beauty for all audiences in this modern society where invisible or visible violence is rife. .



Let's talk about the two male protagonists, Fu Ming and Asuka.
Fudo Akira has many characteristics of Western superheroes. The weak boy has gained power comparable to gods and demons, but at the same time he has to face the pressure of morality and human nature. In the face of the power he possesses, it is not that he has never been confused. The three characteristics of demons, people, and gods are entangled in him like the id, ego, and superego. In the original work, Miki's death made him completely abandon humans, and the reason he fought for it changed from "for humans" to "for demons".
And Crybaby created a brand-new beauty tree, and naturally created a brand-new Fudaki. As an "idealized" personality, Meishu entrusted all the remaining human nature of Fudoming. She always believed in human beings, and her trust led to Even if Ming is completely disappointed with human beings, he cannot betray human beings, because behind him is Miki Makimura, the aggregation of human beings' beautiful imagination.
Even in the face of the almost invincible Satan, he still shouted "I am human" and "Humans will not lose to you demons".



And Asuka, this male No. 2 who has bisexual characteristics after recovering his true body, he is similar to Fudo Akira, but there is a huge difference in reality. They have all been lonely since childhood and have not felt enough family affection. One is sensitive and fragile, full of love for all living beings, and the other does not know what tears are and cannot understand the emotions of all living beings.
The beginning and end of the fate of the two people finally stayed in Chapter 10. In the final decisive battle, Yuasa Masaaki interspersed a memory of the two people practicing relay.



Miki, who was running, handed the baton to Ming, but Ryo was unable to take over the baton and understood the meaning of this action.
In Liao's eyes, the order of this world should be cruel, the strong dominate the survival, and the weak lie on the ground and wait for death.
Why take the stick in his hand?
Why run?
Why have happiness, friendship, and love?

The action of "running" has always been emphasized as a theme in Crybaby. Masaaki Yuasa mentioned in an interview that the reason why he chose the relay race in track and field as the theme to express, "it symbolizes that at the end, no matter what Whoever dies will pass on this will."
At the end of her life, Miko chose to stop the thugs for Miki. She questioned them "what is justice?" and "what is kindness?", hoping that they can finally let Miki live



"Crying for others, thinking about others, maybe this is a fool's dream, but if you have such a heart, no matter whether the other party is a
demon or a human, I am willing to accept it, and I am willing to love him

unconditionally ." His beliefs are conveyed to the world, and I hope they can embrace Fuming.
They all used their lives to convey their hearts to this world where power has been supreme since ancient times, and finally handed it into the hands of Fudura.
From that moment on, Fudake stopped wandering, and from the combination of man and demon, he truly returned to "human".

The title of the last episode of the animation is called Crybaby, and the official subtitle translation is Crybaby.
"Tears", like "running", is another theme of this animation.

Tears are the product of grief, and Bu Mo Ming is a soft-hearted man. When he was the tender child, he would cry for dead cats, and for strangers he never knew. He could see hidden in every Sadness behind a life. Even though he has demonic powers, he still weeps for the grief of others. This is something the devil cannot change for him, he takes it as "human".





In Asuka's confession, "Love does not exist, there is no love at all, so there will be no sorrow."
My roommate and I discussed a hypothesis when I was in college. Human wisdom is reflected in the use of tools, but The more complete a creature evolves itself, the stronger the power it has. When the power of an individual life without external force is stronger, its emotions and intelligence will also decline one after another, because the purer the power, the more powerful it is to achieve its purpose. Fewer tools means less thought.
Just like a person who can turn stones into gold, why should they know how to smelt gold?
The same is true for the flying bird. He is the closest existence to the gods on this planet. Obviously, as long as he has the power, he can survive. Then, what is the meaning of "love"?
He should never grieve, never cry, until Fudaki handed the baton to him.
Man derives his strength from love, and love frees man from the hands of the devil.
The devil's body contains human hearts, so he sheds human tears, and once a god is contaminated with human nature, he also falls to the altar and sheds tears.
Tears in the end, became the proof of "humanity" indomitable.
After the final battle, the tears of the gods proved the victory of the mortals. Although no one has witnessed it with their own eyes, it has been handed over to the young man named Fu Ming, and passed on to the heart of another ordinary person.




Conclusion:
Crybaby the Devil has re-sublimated this old work that has been born for more than 40 years with two new themes of "running" and "tears". The stories of the other supporting characters in the story are actually very moving, even I think I can dedicate a chapter to the music of this work, but I'll stop there because of space limitations.
Some people may think that Crybaby is too frivolous compared to the original, and it does not discuss life and species as seriously as the original. The theme of this work is more inclined to the "love" in people's hearts. In this regard, I think Crybaby has achieved a Refurbished OVA can do the extreme.
Although limited by the length of 10 episodes, some plots are a bit rushed, and some supporting characters have not been able to dig a little more, but the flaws are not concealed, Crybaby is still a rare masterpiece, and I hope more viewers can spend the weekend carefully Check out this work.
After all, this is a story about "love".



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