With DEVILMAN crybaby taking a lot of liberties from the source material, this is inevitable.
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Ryo Asuka
- Ryo failing to notice that Akira has been blown in half, and only his body above the waist still remains is curious. Did Ryo really not notice something that glaring? Or was the trauma of realizing Akira was dead too overwhelming and Ryo was initially in denial? For what it's worth in the manga, Akira was conscious enough to admire the moon, and his eyes were open for most of Satan's speech, only closing them until near the end of Satan's musings. Maybe Akira was still alive enough for Ryo to justify his ranting, only to die midway through?
- The nature of Satan's murder of Akira raises questions about Ryo's character in this adaptation.
- In the manga, Satan reluctantly fought the war with Akira, knowing full well that he was too stubborn about his sense of justice that devolved into Revenge Before Reason to let go of what he did to humanity and to Miki. Even then other adaptations show that Satan killed Akira by accident, showcasing shock at that attack being enough to kill Akira.
- However, in Crybaby Satan fought Akira seriously, and the killing blow is struck with a very insane grin on his face. Was Ryo going through a full-blown Blood Knight daze and was unable to hold himself back against Akira in the moment? Furthermore, was Satan essentially punishing Akira for refusing to join him, basically amounting to a lover's squabble; with Satan's actions stating "if I can't have you then perish for defying me" only for the consequences to hit him hard soon afterward? The fact that Ryo spends the aftermath of this scene musing about his life with Akira acting like the apocalypse didn't literally just happen, and laying down next to the dying/dead Akira like they just had a friendly brawl that they can now laugh off makes it all the more ambiguous.
- While this can also apply to the franchise as a whole, it still has interesting implications if how said plot thread in Crybaby is compared to the manga's version. Given that Ryo is actually a reincarnated/amnesiac Satan, this raises questions about how much of his personality is a result of him being Ryo and him being Satan.
- In the manga, it should be noted that Ryo was a kind person overall, even if he was capable of being cruel and pragmatic when the situation called for it. He was capable of having fun with Akira, and unlike in Crybaby, was capable of crying, often while sharing in Akira's personal distress. note
- Therefore, did the manga Ryo's relationship with his father allow for these warm emotions? Does Crybaby!Ryo's dark upbringing prevent him from being as warm to people as he might have otherwise been? Or does Satan's insane influences fester inside Ryo's soul and he's unable to counteract his true nature? Even more interesting to consider is this: insofar as Ryo has positive personality traits, are those a reflection of Lucifer's angel traits back when he was still a holy being? It's not like Satan started out as an evil being, and you could argue that eons of trauma have significantly shut him off to notions of empathy and love. Is Ryo himself a microcosm of Satan's struggle with the evil being he has become, and the good nature he used to have but has emotionally shut himself off to? What makes things even more complicated is the influences that Akira has on Ryo, and how much of the good seen in Ryo is a result of his friendship with him.
- One big showcasing of Ryo's empathy between versions is how he reacts to Miki's death. In the manga Satan shows remorse over what happened to Miki, and fully understands why Akira is angry about her death. This raises questions about whether Satan was beginning to doubt his crusade on humans. Or perhaps it was meant to show that Satan was willing to make exceptions for good humans, with Miki being such a candidate. In Crybaby Satan doesn't even spare a second thought to Miki's death, even when Akira literally has her severed head in his hands Satan doesn't even bother to mention her name or inquire about her existence. The notion that Akira would be capable of sorrow for her death utterly escapes Ryo's cognition. Is this a reflection of Ryo's denial of love? Or is Satan secretly glad that his greatest romantic rival is dead, and is just too cold to show his inward glee?
- The final speech Ryo gives to Akira has some curious implications for his character. In the manga, Ryo goes on about his eons long struggle with God and the consequences he has had to suffer for choosing to side with the demons. Upon discovering Akira is dead Satan weeps silently, taking Akira's death with solemn acceptance. note
- However, in Crybaby Ryo pays no such mind to those issues, focusing totally on his relationship to Akira; immersed in fond memories of their childhood together. He makes what amounts to a Love Confession, acknowledging that he was wrong about love not existing since Akira proved to him otherwise. Does this Ryo focus on a different personal issue because he's showcasing that signature Satanic pride and is too egotistical to admit that he's wrong about his crusade? Is he focusing on Akira because he feels it's all he has left to cling to now that his army is in ruin? Or is his focusing on Akira a form of deflection, allowing him to not touch on such uncomfortable topics as there being negative consequences to his crusade against God?
- Though to note, Crybaby's version of Ryo takes Akira's death with far less grace, begging him to come back and suffers a Despair Event Horizon until the last moments of his life. So at the very least the affection shown towards Akira wasn't insincere.
- Also worth noting is the initial mood of the speech before the reveal that Akira is dead happens:
- In the manga Satan is far more grim and determined to tell Akira the truth about his motives. Because Satan is struggling with self-doubt, he only cracks one smile during the whole speech, and that comes from Satan admiring the moon. However, there is a sense of relief, that because the fighting is now over Satan can now seek Akira's approval and everything will be alright once he gets it. Unfortunately for him Satan has already lost that chance.
- In Crybaby Satan spends a good portion of his musings with a satisfied smirk on his face, clearly in a jovial mood. Is this meant to reflect that Satan feels a deep sense of satisfaction knowing that it's just him and Akira now, as there's no one else left on Earth to object to his love for Akira? Additionally, Satan doesn't seem too concerned here about getting Akira's approval for anything. Satan seems to treat Akira's struggles for his virtues to be a child fighting in defense of a broken toy; that once the child is tired out they'll get over it and just want another toy. Satan might view himself as the adult, overpowering Akira so he can get the fight out of his system and then Akira will see things his way. Only Satan fails to realize that humanity was not a "broken toy" that Akira was willing to replace; making things worse, assuming you believe Satan was seeking to disable Akira, his attempts at overpowering the "rowdy child" ended up killing him instead.
- What does Ryo giving Akira free reign to have sex with prostitutes say about his love for him? Is Ryo still in too much denial about the existence of love to acknowledge this bothers him? Does Ryo view it as a necessary distraction for Akira, otherwise he'll be too high strung to focus on his missions? Or does Ryo on some level acknowledge this as "just sex" and ultimately Akira belongs to him no matter what?
- By contrast, in the various manga adaptations Ryo's intense jealousy of Miki is obvious enough that you could see the signs from a mile away. There's an amusing bonus chapter in the manga where Ryo is glaring intensely at Miki and Akira going out to swim, while he stays behind on the beach. It's hard to imagine manga!Ryo being okay with Akira sleeping with random prostitutes given his obsessive behavior towards Akira.
- Zeitgeist may play into that in a way. In a way CB!Ryo can be seen an expression of our time's obsession with rationality and pragmatism and how emotional traditions, values and rituals are becoming more and more a shadow of what they once were. Ryo is likely only seeing Akira having sex with someone else as a means to justify matters, much like how he thought everyone at the Sabbath was scum anyway which made it rationally okay for him to kill them in order to help Akira. To him, love, hate, sex, lust doesn't really mean anything as they are man-made constructs to describe bio-chemical occurences, and therefore, are by default not real to him. He fails to realize that the belief in them is what makes them real, and that his view of reality isn't the only and objective one.
God
- In the opening, a group of hands all reach up to some unknown force. Those hands seem to belong to humans grasping for salvation, but perhaps they're the demons in disguise reaching similarly for salvation, or even the other Devilmen reaching out to Akira for guidance. It could also signify Satan's attempt to find his own salvation, since the scenes of him reaching out in the empty darkness and light plays both in the first and final episode, and the light scene is followed by a single ball of light descending onto Earth — which clearly alludes to him finding the earth and viewing it as salvation.
- Why did God directly intervene and stop the demons from starting a nuclear holocaust at the end of Episode 7? Some viewers take a more cynical approach and say that God was simply trying to prolong Satan's suffering by dragging things out, as the USA and Russia firing nukes at each other would likely end the world very quickly. On the other hand, other viewers see God's actions in a more benign and helpful light, and believe that God was trying to save humanity by directly revealing Himself and wiping out a part of the world that had become overrun by demons. By doing so, He may have been trying to get humanity to get their acts together and stop being so wantonly destructive. The latter view seems to be supported by canon, as the aforementioned scene in Episode 7 is accompanied by a pastor reading the passage about Sodom and Gomorrah. note
- If the events of the anime are indeed set on an Eternal Recurrence like in the manga, God's motives behind trapping the Earth in a time loop are left ambiguous. Does God really intend to spite Satan by having him suffer endlessly? Or is it His harsh but well-meaning way of teaching Satan a lesson, and he'll only keep on resetting the timeline as long as Satan refuses to realize the error of his ways?
- Moreover wouldn't it be far simpler for God simply to overpower Satan and torture him? Or just kill him and send him to hell? Even a vindictive God would probably get bored of seeing the same outcome for His victim over and over again, even if what happens to Satan through his torment as Ryo is a strong punishment. It seems far more likely that someone that vindictive would want their victim to remember the scars they've inflicted, and yet God erases Satan's memory of past loops.
- Concerning the overall morality or apparent lack thereof in God letting the world get destroyed is an issue in which your mileage most certainly will vary. Is God really an awful evil being who just wants to see ants get crushed? For what it's worth Christians are firm in the notion that God is a righteous moral authority and has the right to decide who lives or dies. God isn't obligated to explain His motives to mortals, even if it may seem cruel to us. Moreover it should be noted that the only direct deaths caused by God are from His prevention of the nuclear war by destroying vast portions of Satan's devil army, and only a few unfortunate military humans were killed in the crossfire. Every other death in the series is caused by demons, Satan, or other humans. You could very much argue that the inhabitants of Earth did far more to destroy themselves than anything God did.
- Devilman heavily alludes to Revelation imagery and that the events of the story are supposedly fulfillment of Bible prophecy. In that case of course God would let the world get destroyed, what else did people expect? It's the apocalypse, it isn't supposed to have a non-violent ending. Anyone who has read Revelation knows that God's judgements are poured out upon the Earth by angels, and if you wanna get technical Satan is an angel so he is fulfilling the prophecy whether he wants to or not. Making things even more interesting in this regard is that Revelation does eventually have a happy ending since God sets up His kingdom on Earth, and yet for some reason God never gets past the violent stages of Revelation in Devilman. Why is this? Is God waiting for some condition to be satisfied before the Earth is ready for Him to do that?
- Parts of the Bible heavily imply that a rapture of God's righteous would occur during the end times (though this is still a hotly debated issue in Christianity). As far as we can tell this doesn't happen in Devilman. Is this meant to be a sign that Christians in-universe misinterpreted the scriptures? Or more cynically that as awful as humanity has become in Devilman that no one is righteous enough in His eyes to deserve to be caught up in a rapture?
- Does God have some sort of relationship to Psycho Jenny? It's curious that Psycho Jenny seems vaguely aware that some sort of time loop has occurred, as she comments on how Ryo should already have awakened as Satan by now; almost like she's reading off a script and knows when certain things are supposed to happen. Did God empower Psycho Jenny with this knowledge and has tasked her with monitoring Satan's progress as Ryo? Curiously in some adaptions Psycho Jenny has directly told Satan that a time loop exists, and has even stated that this is God's will. Is Psycho Jenny doing this willingly? Or is she under duress from God? Or perhaps Psycho Jenny just got lucky and remembered past lives by accident?
- One big one is this: What is God exactly? Is this "God" meant to be the Biblical God that Jews and Christians encountered and wrote about? The religious imagery in the series could be used to support this. Or is God an unrelated otherworldly being that is powerful enough to be considered godlike but has no relation to the Bible or any world religion for that matter. Is He the Earth's creator and arbiter of evolution? note Did God do things in front of humans that inspired the Judaeo-Christian writings about Him, but they're misinterpretations or even outright falsehoods surrounding what He actually is? Or is it a situation where the Bible is mostly right about God but the humans got a few details wrong?
- Why does God's energy wave vaporize anyone it touches, even the humans who are supposedly in good moral standing (at least compared to demons)? Is this an inevitable crossfire situation where the energy wave is just too powerful to discriminate between targets? Was God capable of discriminating between targets but chose not to? One popular tradition in Christianity would explain that as a holy being God's very existence is antithetical to evil, and sinful beings are destroyed just by being around him. There are verses in the Bible where it's mentioned mortals should not look at God's true form directly, leading credence to this idea. Also worth noting is the story of Sodom where Lot and his family was protected so long as they looked away from God's judgement, but when Lot's wife looked back she was turned into a pillar of salt — something that happens in Devilman, with a military officer lampshading the reference in the manga.
- How powerful is God supposed to be in this adaption? Is He meant to be seen as omnipotent like Christian theology claims? Is it a power level along the lines of "one hundred times more powerful than Satan," and to an outside observer might as well be functionally equivalent to omnipotent? If God is so powerful then why does Satan and his demon army think they stand a chance against Him? Is this simple arrogance? Or perhaps God does have a fixed power level that Satan thinks he could potentially match? For what it's worth, it's incredibly telling that Satan and his devil army have what amounts to shell shock when they see God in action.
- For some perspective, in the Amon Dark Side of Devilman manga Satan makes the cryptic and dubious claim that Amon and him were cut from the same cloth. God apparently made Amon from some primordial darkness, and He was supposedly afraid that Amon had the potential to become more powerful than Him; as a precaution against this happening, God sealed Amon away. Satan goes on to claim that part of his essence is derived from Amon, but he in turn is the embodiment of light to contrast Amon's darkness. Amon, for his part, is understandably skeptical of these claims. Assuming any of this is true, perhaps Satan feels with Amon's power on his side, he actually stands something resembling a chance against God.
Other
- When Miko's living on her own post-transformation, there's a brief shot of her dead and decaying grandmother. Did Miko kill her grandmother or did she simply die and Miko did nothing?
- While Miki's sexuality is a popular topic of debate in the fandom, with one side stating she's straight, another that she's gay, and so on... a select few point out that Miki may be polyamoric, which can tie well with her All-Loving Hero status, since she states that she loves Akira and Miko on separate occasions.
- While one of the most prominent tropes of the manga is that God and Satan Are Both Jerks, fans should keep in mind that Satan hardly has an unbiased opinion on the nature of God's personality and motives. Many fans base their opinion on God's supposed indifference to humanity's suffering and his hatred of demons purely on the word of an evil character with his own set of dubious morals and motivations. We also need to keep in mind that the demons as a whole are almost completely Always Chaotic Evil (with some exceptions), with Satan being completely in line with their hatred of humanity and desire for their destruction making it dubious if God should come off as the bad guy in this situation; at the very least, he could be the lesser of the two evils.
- Also worth noting is how many Bible passages are applicable to the story, and act as a passive criticism of the moral standards of the key characters, demons, and humanity as a whole. It would be fair to say that if the various characters lived up to the moral standards in the Bible they would be far better off. Is this meant to reflect that God was right all along, and the answers were staring them in the face the entire time? Even the Bible's criticisms of Satan are fairly accurate and applicable to Devilman's version of the character. Or should some of the criticisms angled at Satan be seen as slander in-universe? Is God the Big Good and His criticisms of Satan's Evil Cannot Comprehend Good personality traits are a warning to humanity not to follow in his example? Or is it an example where despite how accurate these criticisms are, God Himself is not without flaws? Is God just an excessive case of Good Is Not Nice (and the Bible has plenty of passages to support that) and His refusal to justify His actions just make Him come off as excessively cruel, when there might be some justified angle to His actions we're not seeing?
- Looking at the Bible, a big deal is made out of how some of its prophecies are immutable; in particular the Book of Revelation, which is very clear about how Satan and God will have a climatic final battle (with God obviously winning, as the book is written in His favor). Akira and his Devilmen army change this seemingly set-in-stone prophecy by completely wiping out Satan's army. While Satan himself survives, Akira's sacrifice utterly ruined Satan's army, and without that he certainly can't have that climatic final battle with God. One wonders if God is keeping the loop going because of what a Spanner in the Works Akira is: If he could change one of his prophecies this dramatically, then what else could Akira change? Maybe God is keeping the loops going in hopes that Akira will be the change Satan and the Earth needs.
- Xenon's actions in this adaptation are interesting in comparison to his manga counterpart. In the manga Xenon sent one of his generals to inform the demons that Akira was not to be touched. At first they resist what appears to be Xenon's direct orders, but when they learn that it is Satan's desire that Akira survives, they finally respect the order. In Crybaby, it's Psycho Jenny who tells the demons about this, and Xenon is unfazed by the order and still tries to kill Akira. What's more curious is Xenon's opinions on his master depending on the adaptation.
- In the manga, Xenon complained to Satan that his love of Akira cost them the lives of many demons, and more importantly their champion Amon. Xenon still supported Satan despite his frustrations, but mocked him for being too much like the humans he has sought to destroy. Is Crybaby's version of Xenon just a situation where he takes these losses far more personally and uses them as justifications for why Satan is no longer fit to lead? Or was this Xenon just naturally far less loyal than his manga counterpart and would have attempted to kill Satan regardless?
- Akira's reaction to Miki's death by mob violence, and how it changes his perspective on fighting for humanity's sake differs between adaptions. In Crybaby, Akira takes Miki's affirmation of humanity's goodness, and her ability to see it even in the Devilmen, to heart and uses this to motivate him in his final battle. In the manga, Akira already had his perspective on humanity's goodness shaken by Ryo. The torture and death of Miki's parents, as well as Miki's subsequent death, are just the final nails in the coffin and drive him to the point of losing any hope for humanity's goodness; let alone the humanity in his own heart. Unlike in Crybaby, Akira's final battle against Satan is not motivated by altruism for humanity, and purely out of a desire to seek revenge on Satan for his role in Miki's death.
- However, in both versions Akira suffers defeat at Satan's hands. In the manga, was Akira's defeat an inevitable result of playing by Satan's Social Darwinist rules, and boasting that his Devilmen would inherit the Earth? Was becoming a monster that Miki would have hated detrimental to Akira's success in that war? Does Akira care about what he has become, or like Satan is he just too stubborn to turn back now? In Crybaby, you could argue that Akira made the mistake of only meeting Miki half way. It is admirable to hold onto humanity's virtues, because without hope those virtues are doomed to die off completely, but what about Akira's heart? Despite affirming Miki's lesson on humanity, Akira has lost the tears that used to flow freely for others; a fundamental part of him that represented his empathy, and why Miki loved him. Akira has given up on the value of his own life and no longer cares if he lives or dies, so long as he can save others; which is a mistake on his part, there is no ending in which Miki would have desired Akira's death. Unless Akira could carry the love Miki had for him, and not just humanity, his crusade against Satan was doomed from the start.
- Also worth asking is this: Would Miki have wanted Akira to fight his best friend Ryo? It is admirable to stand up for humanity (it can be argued that Akira did still have some lingering sense of justice on humanity's behalf in the manga), and for Miki's memory, but at what cost? Akira has sacrificed everything he ever valued, and essentially become a monster, in order to wage this war against Satan. Everything Miki ever loved in Akira dies with him as he aims to wage this final war. What is Akira giving back to Miki, if not more sorrow? Does Akira realize this? Is Akira so broken up by what he has become that this battle is all he has left to live for? Is Akira seeking to punish himself, and maybe on some level was suicidal? All of these factors could be argued for why Akira's defeat was inevitable; an incomplete man that cannot even conquer the pain in his own heart never stood a chance of winning against Satan.
- The Amon OVA gives an interesting insight into this perspective. In the OVA, we see Amon take over Akira's body, and Satan comes to Akira's aid by awakening Akira inside Amon's consciousness. At first, Akira is driven by demonic blood lust and fights Amon with savage intensity; essentially playing by Amon's rules. For Akira's soul to be saved however, it takes Miki's spirit forgiving him for not being able to save her; this reconnects Akira to his humanity, and he learns to cry again. Amon laughs at these tears, only for this reactivated empathy to give Akira the strength he needs to throttle Amon and reattain control over his body. Curiously, despite learning a lesson that neither the Crybaby or manga Akira learned, this Akira chooses to walk away from Satan, and does not engage him in a final battle. Was Akira respecting Miki's memory by not devolving into the Social Darwinist violence Satan lived by? Was Akira aware that even if he won against Satan, it wouldn't solve anything, and would arguably be giving Satan what he wants? Arguably, ignoring Satan's mind games is the ultimate victory he could attain, regardless of whether he could win the physical war with Satan. By winning the psychological war Akira attains a far more permanent victory, and affirms that Miki has a stronger hold over his heart than any Satan could claim.
