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RE: OPINION | Devilman Crybaby, or the Apocalypse in which beauty almost trumped over plot
I wouldn't call Crybaby a verbatim adaptation of the manga. There are actually many changes that I really dislike that weren't present in the original. I also wonder if you actually read the manga, or just going by what other people say.
Other than that, good review.
Thank you for your input, @eaudebla, as well as your upvote! 🤗
I read the original manga years ago, but time has passed and I would definitively have to refresh some details. For the most part I thought the original story's essence remains there: nevertheless, as you said, there are a lot of changes, both in newly-added characters as in changes to the original ones (Jinmen's origin - and, therefore, Akira's parents -, Ryo Asuka's background, the rappers which were originally bikers, Taro's cause of demise... Too many to keep avoiding spoilers). That's why I edited the review to better reflect your opinion.
However, I wouldn't say I disliked said changes. I can get some of those were necessary to modernize the setting, and I would even say some of those have a better impact in the story. At the end of the day, though, we can always agree to disagree 😆
Indeed. To be fair, I don't hate all changes found in Crybaby and I don't mind the smartphone update, miko, the rappers, but the one that personally hit me the most was Jinmen. Having a kid getting eaten in a playground by Jinmen is a lot more horrifying than Akira's parents in a basement in Crybaby.
Furthermore, there were a few individual stories that were left out from this adaptation, which I think is a shame. Also Ryo's personality was very different and his reveal of being Satan just wasn't as well executed here.
Those are precisely the kind of things I think Netflix and Studio SARU went a little too far in Crybaby. When shock value has more worth to you as a storyteller than narrative coherence, then you're doing something wrong.
I can see they tried to pull a Snyder's Doctor Manhattan with Jinmen but, as you never really get in touch with Akira's parents, you never get to know what might have turned Akira's father into such an egotistical, cruel beast (by Crybaby's internal logic, at least). In Devilman you don't have to care about Jinmen's motivations because he's just there and Nagai quickly establishes he's one of the most sadistic, devious demons of Hell.
Netflix has been careful about doing 13-episode seasons, but I think Crybaby would have greatly benefited from this. I guess we'll have to wait and see how they adapt Devil Lady, if rumours are to be believed 🤔