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SPOILERS ALLOWED Get out your thoughts below.
I binged it all Tuesday night and came away curious about a second season, but had a bad aftertaste. Some things bothered me, mainly in the writing category. The big bullet points are jokes, how characters were translated, and world building. Spoilers beyond this point, go forth if you dare
I binged it all Tuesday night and came away curious about a second season, but had a bad aftertaste. Some things bothered me, mainly in the writing category. The big bullet points are jokes, how characters were translated, and world building. Spoilers beyond this point, go forth if you dare
But before I bitch about anything, I'll list off the positives. Animation was good across the board and character designs were clean and readable in the hectic action. Music was mostly stellar with the exception of 2 tracks. Voice acting was great, this is like the fifth "last role" of Kevin Conroy but it was good to hear him as Vice President Baines, Johnny Yong Bosch did well as Dante, and I'm curious to hear more of Robbie Daymond as Vergil.
Now we complain. I think my biggest problem in making this Devil May Cry anime is that it desperately wanted to do its own thing instead of leaning into the Devil May Cry wackiness. I take issue with making Demons sympathetic and trying to explain away the mysticism. I came to the DMC anime not for commentary on how Evangelism was weaponized in the war effort in the early 2000's, police brutality, or the plight of refugees. I came to it for action and charismatic characters. Also one little nitpick that I had was the Merc running up the stairs to catch Dante stopping dead in his track to compliment Adi Shankars music taste, my eyes nearly rolled out of my skull.
Lady and Dante are the leads and that is definitely how the show puts them. I love Lady, she is the best DMC girl. But this show didn't make me care about her because she was "shoot now, ask questions never" super cop. I didn't get the same pathos from her that I got from her DMC 3 counterpart, and before you mention it her flashy PTSD panic attack in the elevator doesn't count as PTSD. PTSD is to this generation of Hollywood writers what alcoholism was to Hollywood writers of the past, a quick affect to make characters seem deeper than they really are. Dante felt more like a side character in his own damn show, mainly because this plot doesn't feel tailored to him and what he can do. This web of political intrigue, double agents, and armies chomping at the bit to bring bloody revolution doesn't suit the Legendary Devil Hunter. Dante is super powerful, but he has no tact or guile. When taking on the case to dismantle The Order of the Sword he didn't work from within or take down vital infrastructure, he jumped through a stained glass window and shot the leader in the face. In broad daylight. In a very crowded room.
In a roundabout way, what I'm saying is that Dante doesn't do well with mysteries or conspiracies. And the games know that, all of the games make his struggles personal and family related. The show makes a half step at this by taking many cues from the prequel, but fails by adding too many plot threads. Plus Dante engages too much in meta humor, where you joke about how you're making a joke or the joke you're making "sounded better in my head" for my liking. Dante doesn't make jokes because he's trying to get a laugh or ease tensions, but because he doesn't take anything seriously. So he doesn't care if what he says is cool or funny, he's just fooling around, which is what ends up making him funny and cool.
All and all I'm curious to see what the second season will do but I have a feeling that my problems with the show will only get more screen time and attention in the following season. But enough about what I think. What are you guys thinking? Are you excited or are you all done with Adi Shankar?
Now we complain. I think my biggest problem in making this Devil May Cry anime is that it desperately wanted to do its own thing instead of leaning into the Devil May Cry wackiness. I take issue with making Demons sympathetic and trying to explain away the mysticism. I came to the DMC anime not for commentary on how Evangelism was weaponized in the war effort in the early 2000's, police brutality, or the plight of refugees. I came to it for action and charismatic characters. Also one little nitpick that I had was the Merc running up the stairs to catch Dante stopping dead in his track to compliment Adi Shankars music taste, my eyes nearly rolled out of my skull.
Lady and Dante are the leads and that is definitely how the show puts them. I love Lady, she is the best DMC girl. But this show didn't make me care about her because she was "shoot now, ask questions never" super cop. I didn't get the same pathos from her that I got from her DMC 3 counterpart, and before you mention it her flashy PTSD panic attack in the elevator doesn't count as PTSD. PTSD is to this generation of Hollywood writers what alcoholism was to Hollywood writers of the past, a quick affect to make characters seem deeper than they really are. Dante felt more like a side character in his own damn show, mainly because this plot doesn't feel tailored to him and what he can do. This web of political intrigue, double agents, and armies chomping at the bit to bring bloody revolution doesn't suit the Legendary Devil Hunter. Dante is super powerful, but he has no tact or guile. When taking on the case to dismantle The Order of the Sword he didn't work from within or take down vital infrastructure, he jumped through a stained glass window and shot the leader in the face. In broad daylight. In a very crowded room.
In a roundabout way, what I'm saying is that Dante doesn't do well with mysteries or conspiracies. And the games know that, all of the games make his struggles personal and family related. The show makes a half step at this by taking many cues from the prequel, but fails by adding too many plot threads. Plus Dante engages too much in meta humor, where you joke about how you're making a joke or the joke you're making "sounded better in my head" for my liking. Dante doesn't make jokes because he's trying to get a laugh or ease tensions, but because he doesn't take anything seriously. So he doesn't care if what he says is cool or funny, he's just fooling around, which is what ends up making him funny and cool.
All and all I'm curious to see what the second season will do but I have a feeling that my problems with the show will only get more screen time and attention in the following season. But enough about what I think. What are you guys thinking? Are you excited or are you all done with Adi Shankar?
