Accidental Aesop: The fact that Miki gets doxxed (a.k.a. having her personal info leaked), which leads to a mob finding her house and eventually killing her, seems like a pretty good case study for online security. If Miki had the right technology to cover her tracks that probably wouldn't have happened. Either that or if you're gonna say something very incendiary to your reputation online then it's probably better to do it while you're already on the move.
Adaptation Displacement: While Devilman is very well known in Japan and a Cult Classic outside of it among the manga/anime fandom, Crybaby burst into the mainstream thanks to being a "Netflix Original" and getting plenty of buzz, leading to a Newbie Boom of people who had never heard of Go Nagai before. Thus it has become the most prominent version as far as most people are concerned. Tellingly, Crybaby's Miko is a completely different character from the original Miko — the girl Devilman with acid-spraying breasts who is reduced to a cameo here — but guess who dominates the Internet.
Adorkable: Kukun's awkwardness around Miko makes him endearing. Wam can be this as well, but to a lesser extent because his soft-side carries less uncertainty.
Angel/Devil Shipping: Akira/Ryo, though Akira's the angel in the relationship since while he's a Devilman and looks demonic in said form, his personality and goals are nothing short of heroic, whereas Ryo is literally an angel, though his lack of morality and his status as the Big Bad makes him the devil instead.
Crybaby's version of Ryo leaves the entire fanbase divided — and this includes both the fans who haven't read the manga and those who were already familiar with the source material. The latter type of fans see the portrayal of Ryo in Crybaby as either an interesting and equally fleshed-out take on the character or a complete disservice instead due to the many personality changes involved (particularly on him being a lot more cruel and unsympathetic); and the former type of fans either love Ryo, hate him, or Love to Hate him. Yep, it's that complicated.
On a lighter note, Miki also counts.
Either her characterization in Crybaby is superior to that of the manga, or it's actually a downgrade. The detractors argue that despite the primary trait of the manga's version of Miki is her fangirling over how Akira changed after turning into a Devilman, she's still able to pull her own weight when needed and is flawed enough to be a human character; and in contrast the anime's version of Miki made her too "perfect and kind" to be believable or relatable, since even in Crybaby, kindhearted Akira still has his flaws.
In addition to the above, Miki is actually not as perfect as she seems, which is something the fanbase likes to not see. We see that despite being popular, the way she gained her popularity was partly from hard work, but also shady photoshoots that Akira points out "take advantage of her innocence". One major part of her life is also her very kind and supportive family and that she has Akira to keep her company too. She just has luck on that regard, but from her exchange with Miki Kuroda we also see that she isn't as naive as she first lets on, since she says she always knew that Miki loved and hated her. Miki Makimura just learned to wear a mask better than others, but that doesn't mean she isn't insecure about herself, which can also be seen from shots where she reads through hateful twitter messages.
Akira's wet dream and its spectacular consequences are never brought up after they happen (which some people actually are glad about; see Squick below), and it's never explained how Akira even managed to clean up the mess.
Depending on who you're asking, Akira roughing up Sirene (yes, in that way) while they're fighting may also be seen as this. While their fight plays out much like in the original manga and OVA (albeit doesn't take as long), there is no such instance where Akira rapes Sirene, which makes the whole scene feel disconcerting. (It seems to have stemmed from a scrapped idea from the manga.)
The teacher on a wheelchair who extends his tongue to catch and eat an insect at the beginning of the series seems like one, but the final episode reveals him as a dragon-like Devilman, so it's more of a Brick Joke.
While most Devilman fans celebrated finally receiving a complete anime adaptation after so many years (the 1987 and 1990 OVAs only got up to Sirene, and the 2000 Amon: Apocalypse of Devilman OVA by a different team jumps ahead to the final, climactic chapters with plenty of Adaptation Expansion, meaning a decent chunk got skipped), its nature and quality have become pretty divisive. Is Devilman Crybaby a nicely modernized yet still reasonably faithful take on the story, or a shallow adaptation with too many liberties and none of the spirit of the original? Additionally, some fans also dislike that the atmosphere in Crybaby feels a bit too colorful and upbeat and that it doesn't do a good job at recapturing the otherwise more Gothic atmosphere from the manga and the previous installments.
The series's animation style, although generally viewed as quite artistic, is another point of division. Is it a beautiful touch that reflects the style of the series, or an ugly production eccentricity that hinders the entire show? It doesn't help for the latter camp that the style is deeply different from Nagai's usual artwork, unlike the one used in the original OVAs and even the toned-down TV series.
Due to having all of its episodes released at once in Netflix, many viewers are unsure on whether Crybaby is officially part of the Winter 2018 anime lineup or not.
Cargo Ship: If not with Akira, Ryo tends to get shipped either with his guns or his camera.
Catharsis Factor: Babu and Hie getting incinerated by Akira for their gleeful treachery is very satisfying considering what they had done to their friends.
Crosses the Line Twice: A man holds Miko at gunpoint to rape her? Disturbing. Miko smashes his head off while they're doing it? Disturbing, but satisfying. Miko continuing to screw the man she just killed? Disturbingly hilarious.
Cry for the Devil: No matter what you think of Ryo by the end of the series, it's hard to not feel sorry for him when he grieves Akira's death, even though (or because) he's the one who killed him in the first place.
While the changes made to his character resulted in him being a Base-Breaking Character (see above), Ryo is still popular among fans in spite of being quite the diabolical prick and having a slightly questionable fashion sense. To be fair to the fans, they never justify his actions, are perfectly aware of his flaws and love him because he's such a twisted character and is undeniably good-looking, especially as Satan.
The show as a Gateway Series, has unsurprisingly left newer fans with the impression that God is a benevolent deity who is trying to make Satan see the error of their ways. Elsewhere in the franchise, God is treated as a malevolent entity, and at best indifferent to the suffering his plans cause. However, one caveat is that God is a largely off-screen character, and multiple characters give varied theories on what they think his plan is; with no clear answers coming from God's own mouth. Satan has been close enough to God to have some understanding, but they are hardly an unbiased source. Akira's less biased opinion on God was even if heaven is a nice place to live, God's servants are living in comfortable slavery. The biggest takeaway from the Devilman characterization of God is less that he's the good guy to Satan's bad guy, or vice versa, but that God and Satan Are Both Jerks.
Wam and Kukun get a lot of love, the former for his True Companions mentality and the latter for his memorable rap love confession. It also helps they were based off of Dosu-Roku and Masa from the original manga, who were dark horses in their own right.
Miko as well, for being an Amazonian Beauty when it comes being a Devilman and her Love Confession to Miki despite her jealousy of being better than her.
Epileptic Trees: Putting aside the Setting Update and some other changes, a few fans have theorized that the events of Crybaby is the very first timeline of the "Groundhog Day" Loop that God has forced Satan to relive, since it could explain the vast difference between Ryo's personality in both the anime and the manga, as further elaborated in this post.
Fanon Discontinuity:Fans would like to pretend that the whole part where Akira sexually assaulted Sirene while they were fighting never happened. It also doesn't help that it was originally going to be in the original manga too.
Fan-Preferred Couple: Unsurprisingly, Akira/Ryo, in spite of Akira's heavily implied affections for Miki, and the fact that he ends up deeply hating Ryo specifically for getting Miki killed. And on the Yuri end, Miki/Miko.
Fashion-Victim Villain: Downplayed, but a lot of people like to poke fun at Ryo's white overcoat and drop-crotch trousers.
Genius Bonus: In the opening, there's a segment where Akira is embracing Miki before completely wrapping both her and himself with his wings, forming a vertical almond shape. In religion, this is known as the mandorla, which is normally associated with Christ, and Akira himself is a Messianic Archetypenote Normally, the mandorla is white in color, but in Akira's case the color is black due to him being a demon (even if in form only).
Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Crybaby has a much larger fanbase in the West than in the East. This is in contrast to the original manga, which was extremely popular in Japan but was very obscure among Western audiences.
Harsher in Hindsight: Satanic Panic is making a comeback. Ryo's tactics in the anime of accusing dissidents, outcasts and political adversaries to be literal demons as to create chaos and panic are nothing new, Demonization of the enemy has always existed; however what is happening in the early 2020s in the United States and around the world thanks to social networks, propagandists, influencers and actors like the Qanon conspiracy theorists is eerily similar to what was depicted in the show, with entire groups of people (actors, politicians, royal families, pizzeria employees, etc.) accused of being literal baby-eating, demon-worshipping freaks.
This isn't the first time Kōki Uchiyama voiced a character who's violent, temperamental, or both (e.g. Meruem, TomuraShigaraki, Soul EaterEvans, YuriPlisetsky). While he played those roles very well, he manages to outshine them with his role as Akira as it's his gutsiest role to date, with the topper of his performance being his enraged cry at the end of Episode 9.
Ayumu Murase has already shown that despite his younger-sounding voice he has quite the range, and has voiced other sinister characters like Joseph and Yuuto Ijika, but the voice he uses for them makes them veer on the Cute But Psycho territory. He uses a far more masculine voice in Crybaby, and his performance leaves a lot of fans both amazed and in disbelief that he can also play this type of character.
Almost every fan who watched the English dub immediately singled out Griffin Burns' performance as Akira, praising how he perfectly portrayed the character's wide range of emotions, especially at the scene where he confronts Ryo in the finale.
In a case of "He Really Can Sing", we have the English language rap performed by Keith Silverstein, who demonstrates exceptional talent when performing Kukun's freestyle rap.
Both Ami Koshimizu and Cherami Leigh in their roles as Miko managed to blow audiences with their performances; being able to give Miko two distinctive voices to distinguish the difference in her personality before and after becoming a Devilman. There is also the fact alone that Cherami shows she can do a contralto that Miko has after becoming a Devilman, which was something Cherami has never done before in her prolific voice acting career to a point some thought it was a different voice actress with a deep voice, but it was really Cherami all along who could drop some octaves to sound like a totally different person unrecognizable from her usual voice.
Kyle McCarley already showed he's got voice acting chops in NieR: Automata. While 9S continues to be his best role yet, he proved that he's still got it in Crybaby with a more subdued but equally nuanced performance.
LGBT Fanbase: While a bit more subtle than most examples, there's quite a lot of LGBT representation in the anime, and this has not gone unnoticed by the LGBT community itself.
Magnificent Bastard: Ryo Asuka is, initially unbeknownst to himself, the fallen angel Satan. Deliberately arranging events to recruit his best friend Akira Fudo into fusing with the demon Amon and becoming the dangerous Devilman, Ryo then aids Akira in hunting down demons, slowly but surely planning out the revelation of demons to mankind, and arranging it so that humanity descends into chaos despite not even knowing his own identity. Taking advantage of humanity's hatred to destroy civilization and reclaim Earth for his people no matter the cost, Ryo recovers from every setback and ensures his victory is achieved through people's natural willingness to persecute and destroy each other. After successfully achieving his goals and annihilating society, Ryo wins his final clash against Akira and his Devilman army. As Akira dies, Ryo admits he truly loved Akira, pontificating on the nature of love and mourning the only man he ever cared about as he is forced into a time loop, having finally come to understand the empathy and love he once despised in humans.
The way some of the Devilmen run when on track-and-field is already getting as famous as the Naruto run and the Scooby-Doo run.
Comparing the show to Devil May Cry due to the series' similar names. It got to the point where many would refer to the show as Devil May Crybaby instead.
Revelations that the viewer and/or Ryo was the actual crybaby all along (hence the show's title).
The series' version of “Devilman no Uta” being edited to clips of people dancing either in real life or from other forms of media, and somehow fitting the scene in question.
Ryo's "Why are you crying? You knew it was gonna die," line as a reaction image to the emotional devastation of Devilman fans who already knewwhat the ending was going to be.
"Ryo did nothing wrong," — a phrase that alludes to how Griffith from Berserk is greatly inspired from Ryo, and Griffith loyalists tend to defend him with the phrase "Griffith did nothing wrong". In Ryo's case however, the phrase is used mainly as a joke since unlike with Griffith, everyone acknowledges Ryo's villainy whether they like him or not.
Comparing Ryo to a marshmallow due to his overcoat being rather puffy.
It's common to switch up the words in the series' title, like "Devilcry Manbaby".
Memetic Psychopath: There are dozens of posts that have Ryo pulling a gun on Akira for hanging out with Miki, or him just generally being psychopathic, which isn't exactly inaccurate.
Many see Ryo's fate at the end as an Alas, Poor Villain moment. Though his fate was more Karmic than anything else, because prior to that, Ryo had done some truly appalling things, such as killing animals as a kid, attacking people with a wine bottle at the sabbath, causing humanity to go extinct, and killing Akira. Overall, his brought his own fate upon himself, and deserves no sympathy. The sympathy is actually supposed to go to Akira, since he lost everything close to him, tried to save humanity and ultimately failed and got killed by Ryo.
On the other hand, however, most of the fans are completely aware of all the shit that he pulled and agree that he brought his loss onto himself and that objectively speaking, he doesn't deserve sympathy; but it's still up to the viewer to decide whether they want to feel sorry for him regardless.
Ryo's a complicated character with several possible crossings.
First was his actions at the first Sabbath rave when he gets impatient and starts killing random party-goers with a broken bottle to draw out the demons.
If not then, there were his actions at the televised meet where he set Koda loose on the athletes. Only after Koda had slaughtered most of the people did Ryo think to let him out.
And finally there was his final broadcast where he outs Akira as Devilman, thus painting a target on his friend's head, and sends the humanity on a paranoid spiral that ultimately leads to their extinction.
Hie and Babu cross this in Episode 9 when they turn on their friends; the former helping kill Miko and the latter helping kill Gabi.
One scene has Ryo and Akira enter somebody's house, and that somebody's mother stays downstairs wondering what the hell is going on. What makes it unintentionally hilarious is that nobody has a face — this scene also lasts about a minute.
The fact that the series colors Mikiko Kawamoto's acid spurts white in her cameo is suggestive as it is ridiculous, especially considering her unique body configuration means it looks more like breastmilk or semen than acid (which is probably an intentional decision by the production team, but not any less narmy itself).
To some fans, the Gratuitous English in the Japanese dub. There's no denying that the English you hear is far more fluent than in most other anime, but it's clear that there's a bit of trouble with the pronunciation at times, which can make the dialogue a little funny to hear.
The reused scene of Akira and the other Devilmen running on all fours can easily draw laughs for how choppy and weird it looks, appearing like out of a cheap animation instead of an elaborated adaptation of a beloved manga.
Episode 8 ends on a very intense scene when Ryo outs Akira as a Devilman in live television. What ruins an otherwise very impactful moment is Ryo's over-the-top antics towards the end when he suddenly climbs over his desk and starts shouting over to the camera... while surrounded by government officials who are completely blase about the way he acts. Though depending on the viewer, it can also come across as Narm Charm, given the genuinely creepy performances of Ryo's Japanese and English VAs and the fact that the other officials are nonchalant about the whole thing because they're demons in disguise.
The English dub has Akira repeatedly shouted "He's lying!" when Ryo exposes him to the public, which unfortunately isn't able to properly convey Akira's shock and panic like in the Japanese dub, where his lines aren't as loud but much more effective in portraying how unnerved he is. Additionally, when Akira shouts that he's not a demon at the rapper gang, it sounds kind of squawky in the dub.
Miko braying like a donkey during her masturbation scene, though this may have been intentional.
People really can't stand Emilio Treviño as Akira Fudo in the Latin-American Spanish dub, or more accurately can't take him seriously. While Emilio is 18, he still sounds really young; and while it sounds suitable for pre-transformation Akira, after the events of Episode 1 it just sounds outright jarring.
The title itself of the series. Come on, say it out loud. Or better yet, try telling someone non-initiated in manga and anime about it and see what they think of it.
The Devil Dash. As goofy as Akira's new run as after he gains his Devilman powers, it also perfectly encapsulates how animalistic his powers are. The fact that the run takes a darker turn in Episode 9 where Akira resorts to running on all fours in a mad dash to save Miki from being lynched adds on to that effect.
The scene in the last episode where Ryo finds out that he killed Akira should have been full-on Narm, since Ryo, somehow, completely failed to notice that Akira's Half the Man He Used to Be, even though it happened by his own hands no less. However, the direction, soundtrack, and the voice acting still managed to make the scene completely poignant and tragic. Most fans even reach the consensus that the scene is deep and emotional, but Ryo's obliviousness to the consequences of his actions help provide some Gallows Humor that keep the finale from being too depressing to watch.
Some fans tend to poke fun at either Akira's cleft chin or Ryo's wardrobe being all white... except that Akira was also portrayed with a cleft chin in Devilman Saga (though only whenever he's wearing Amon's armor), and Ryo was completely dressed in white in the Devilman pachinko game.
Jinmen eating Akira's mother to ignite his rage was done before in the OVA.
Devilman Crybaby also noticeably has a different art-style to Go Nagai's trademark art-style that most fans are familliar with. However, this is also nothing new, since Amon: The Darkside of The Devilman by Yuu Kitani also had a different art-style, along with Neo Devilman, which was a collection of short stories written by several different manga artists. And finally there is the anime adaptation of Violence Jack (The sequel to Devilman), which had something of an Osamu Dezaki-esque art style.
And Miki being Ambiguously Bi is nothing new either, since in the crossover between Devilman and Getter Robo, she is seen fondling Michiru's breasts in the hot springs.
Rooting for the Empire: Considering how disgusting humanity becomes throughout the series, it's not uncommon to see fans openly root for the demons to wipe them all out.
Ship-to-Ship Combat: The Devilman fandom has always had one or another discussion about the nature of Akira's feelings for Ryo and Miki, but Crybaby has brought them to the internet surface.
As mentioned, the biggest scuffle is between the Akira/Miki and Akira/Ryo fandom corners. Akira/Miki fans tend to dismiss Akira's canonical Homoerotic Subtext with Ryo and prop up solely his (admittedly powerful and just as canon as the subtext) feelings for Miki, often accusing Akira/Ryo shippers of fetishizing homosexuality (possibly as a reaction to the unhealthiness of their relationship). On the other hand, Akira/Ryo shippers might simplify Akira and Ryo's complex relationship and downplay Miki's importance to Akira, while ignoring Ryo's perennial evil, and the fact that his ultimate goals are completely incompatible with Akira's. Though there are fans who are aware of it, but love the pairing anyway as they believe that the various differences between Akira and Ryo provide greater depth to their relationship.
As a bonus... does anyone ship Miko with Kukun or with Miki? It doesn't get as heated as the example above though, likely due to Kukun being quite popular and Miki being too much of a Nice Girl to hate; meaning you can choose either ship and not get that much flak for it.
There's also the question of who you ship Miki with: Akira or Miko? While a bit more heated compared to the second example, this doesn't really turn into a full-blown war, especially since both of them have a different but equally deep and meaningful relationship with Miki. It helps that Akira is a highly sympathetic protagonist and Miko's really popular with fans.
Ship Mates: Many Ryo/Akira shippers also like Miki/Miko.
The Sabbath party-turned-demon orgy/massacre in Episode 1, both as a jaw-dropping animation showcase and a very strong indicator that the TV-MA rating isn't justfor show.
The Devilman no Uta montage.
Kukun's love confession rap as well as the rap scenes in general.
This is as close as we've gotten to a modern Shin Megami Tensei anime, with occult happenings, modern high schoolers getting into fights with demons, themes of rebelling against heaven, demons fusing, the characterization of God and Satan, and eventually an apocalyptic setting.
Squick: Mixed with Nausea Fuel, Akira's wet dream with Miki and its... consequences. On the ceiling.
Superlative Dubbing: Crybaby is one of the few series where both the Japanese and English dub are equally good, especially when it comes to the voices of Akira, Ryo, Miki, and Miko.
Some people think this of Akira and Ryo's new character designs. They're not particularly happy about both characters losing their signature sideburns, despite the style having fallen out of fashion some thirty-odd years ago, as it is considered one of Nagai's greatest trademarks.
While the ending plays out more or less like in the manga, some fans weren't pleased that the part where Ryo/Satan explains why he hates God and humankind before realizing he's no better than God was left out. Though most do appreciate the trade-off, which is Ryo's reaction to Akira's death being a lot more emotional than in the original story.
Most of the fans approve of the changes made to Akira's characterization. With Ryo however, it's a bit of a mixed bag.
Like with Ryo, Miki also gets this treatment, albeit to a lesser extent since no one denies that her role in the anime holds a lot more impact on the plot. Generally, she has more people who like her for being different from her manga incarnation even when they prefer the original — though the main criticism is how her Action Girl aspects were heavily diluted.
While Jinmen's fight with Akira is as heart-wrenching and nightmarish as it was in manga, Jinmen himself doesn't have much of a chance to show his creepy personality and twisted philosophy that made him so popular among manga fans.
Many fans were disappointed with how Xenon's role in the plot was heavily reduced, especially with his change from an imposing and threatening demon (who's also a bit of a Servile Snarker) to a one-note backstabbing villain. That said, he actually fights Akira here, unlike in the manga, where they never even meet face to face.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: There are a few who complain that while the anime didn't leave any plot point unresolved, there were some crucial parts of the plot that weren't explored enough — particularly with the world falling into destruction after the truth about demons is revealed and the final battle — and the series could have used another episode or two to expand on them.
Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: From the very first episode, the anime reveals just how much grittier it will be compared to the source material (which itself is already pretty dark to begin with), and with each episode it just gets darker and darker, which makes it hard for some viewers to completely get invested in the characters and the plot. On the other hand, one of the main draws of the series is the fact that the anime doesn't pull any punches.
Too Cool to Live: Kukun, Wam, Gabi, Miki, Miko and finally Akira himself, not to mentioned the Badass Army of Devilmen that came to his aid at the Grand Finale who perishes at the hands of Satan's demon army.
Unintentionally Sympathetic: Even though we're supposed to see Koda as an Asshole Victim after being killed by Akira for betraying his fellow Devilmen and siding with the demons, it's hard not to see Koda as a Jerkass Woobie and a Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds, since not only did he lose his lover, but it's also implied he felt rejected by society because of his homosexuality. While it may not excuse his betrayal, it's easy to pity him for everything he's gone through.
Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Some viewers, such as those new to Devilman, did not feel a shred a sympathy for Ryo, a.k.a. Satan, and did not appreciate the perspective swap from Akira to Ryo in the final episode, considering Ryo is directly responsible for the death of everyone Akira loves and the destruction of the human race. Even those who do pity him don't deny that he brought his suffering onto himself.
Visual Effects of Awesome: Whatever you may think of the adaptation, there's no denying that the animation is astonishingly vivid and colorful from start to finish, especially when you remember that the whole series makes use of a relatively basic system like Flash animation.
The growing Witch Hunt against demons eventually spreads to social dissidents thanks to lies and propaganda spread by Ryo that they have the potential to become demons as well, similar to how many real-life ideological and political Witch Hunts start out with a clear enemy to persecute, and then eventually spread to anyone who isn't part of the ideological collective.
During the second half of the series, the US government assumed that the existence of demons originated from various Russian biological weapons experiments, hinting at political distrust toward the Russian government. Then we remember that the original Devilman series was made during the Cold War era (during the last years of the Vietnam War, which influenced Go Nagai, Devilman's creator), which was marked by heavy political tensions between the US and the Soviet Union, and judging on how in many aspects both US and Russia still compete politically even to this day after the Cold War ended (and how the original Devilman series was an allegory for the Cold War), this allegory still stands.
Wam and his gang almost getting gunned down by a trigger-happy cop after being falsely accused of shoplifting. This came out a time where relations between the black community and law enforcement in the US is incredibly strained. The fact that Wam and his friends emulate hip-hop culture made the scene stand out more.
WTH, Costuming Department?: While most fans were forgiving of Ryo's new bowl-cut hairstyle, they weren't as accepting of Ryo's new outfit, as he now wears a furry hooded long-coat with low-crotch trousers and a white buttoned t-shirt that almost goes down to his knees. He looks more like an eccentric pop-star, and he looks pretty silly as a result. While the 70's style clothing he wore in the manga would be considered outdated by today's standards, it at-least made more sense.
Win Back the Crowd: Crybaby led fans to be more optimistic about Netflix being a proper platform for anime (especially after Neo Yokio), and not just simply a licenser.
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