Back to Baskarite's Profile Baskarite's Profile

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is a show that succeeds in enough areas for it to be a worthwhile watch, but it fails in others so spectacularly that what should have been a masterpiece ultimately fumbles into mediocrity. That's not to say the show is bad, far from it, with some of the best visuals in all of anime, a banging soundtrack, and genuinely interesting themes, Cyberpunk gives a solid 7-8 episodes of pure excitement before it fizzles out. However, the conclusion is so bad that it pretty much ruins the last few episodes, it feels like the writers just gave up on the themes of the show ... in favor of waifu-bait.

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

--STORY-- (12/20)

The start of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners feels like the most standard typical start to pretty much any Nakama, SAO, Akame Ga Kill type anime, which, while potentially uncreative, works extremely well to set up the cyberpunk world and the character of David Martinez. The show also signals very early on that it won't be the typical nakama anime, with the death of David's mother, and the further realization that she was involved in illegal activities. Like how Chainsaw man starts off in the world of Jujustu Kaisen before going off the rails, Cyberpunk bills itself as a typical nakama anime, while not giving any of the characters "nakama powers" (Until the end). The result is, that David's obsession with friendship becomes a hinderance instead of a powerup. This is incredible setup for a mature story about how absolute devotion to people can result in poor outcomes for both the devoted person and the object of their devotion.

The theme that runs parallel to the one of devotion is addiction. Cyberpsychosis, as a concept, is obviously a balancing mechanic so a player can't become too powerful too quickly. However, it's so incredibly well integrated into the story, to the point where it's more or less the main story thread. So, here is David Martinez, a character who cares more about his nakama than anything (he flat out says so) in a world where the only way to become stronger is to get more cyberware tacked onto you. He also seems to have a high tolerance to cyberware, he's "built different," so obviously he gets as many implants as he can possibly afford so that he can protect his nakama.

Of course, his friends, and especially his girlfriend (I'll get to her later) are somewhat disturbed by David's rapid proliferation of cyberware. He insists on being "built different" and that everything he's doing is for them. He completely dismisses the idea of cyberpsychosis even after seeing the leader of his gang go cyberpsycho. David allows himself to be ignorant of truth because of his own self righteousness. Of course, this is incredible set up for a massively tragic end, and by the time David has his first cyberpsychotic episode, it feels like the best possible direction for the story to go. Even after this moment of cyberpsychosis, David insists he is ok, which feels like the show telling you that, yes, David will turn cyberpsycho by the end of the series.

Only he doesn't. No, David, after completely replacing just about every piece of organic tissue in his body, is stopped from becoming cyberpsycho because his girlfriend gives him a magic kiss. So, y'know how everything else in the show was saying that being completely devoted to someone doesn't make you special, and that it actually might be toxic to yourself and others? What the fuck happened? Why does the main theme become meaningless? Because of waifu-bait.

Lucy is by far the worst written character in this show, not because her character traits are incompatible with the story being told, (they very much are) but because she gets to be free of the punishments that Maine and David receive despite having the same problems. She becomes completely devoted to David for... some reason. Even though the foundation for the romance is that the two characters are hot, there's still a lot of chemistry, and it's very believable that the two like each other quite a lot. We may not know why they like each other, (aside from being hot) but we very much know and believe that they care about one another. However, both of them are pretty fucked up characters with serious mental issues, so they become worryingly codependent very quickly. Being the show that this is with the themes that it has, it's natural to expect a romance like this to crash and burn.

But it doesn't, no, rather than crash and burn, Cyberpunk elects to have the crash without the burn. It's like not following through on a punch, it looks pretty and COULD hit hard, but doesn't because it got scared. So, instead of their relationship following the logical and realistic through-line, it tries to be "tragically beautiful." Only, the relationship was never beautiful in the first place. Lucy hunts down and murders anyone and everyone that tries to find David because of her unwavering devotion to him even though netrunning is incredibly traumatic for her. Making loved ones suffer for your own selfish ambitions is not "beautiful" and the story fucking points that out with Maine and his entire arc. So why does it double back at the end? The only conclusion I can come to is they don't want their super marketable waifu to be anything less than the perfect woman for people to salivate over. So instead they make her kisses have the power of 20 liters of immunosuppressants so that David doesn't have to go cyberpsycho.

So, if David doesn't go cyberpsycho, what's the point of the show? This is a genuine question. Everything, literally everything, in the show pointed to David turning cyberpsycho then killing his nakama and girlfriend, therefore losing everything he worked so hard for. He even wears Maine's arm which shows how he's making all the same mistakes Maine did. Having David go full cyberpsycho would 100% complete the theme that devotion and addiction are toxic to yourself and those around you. Instead it ends on a sort of "love conquers all" type theme, which is made so much fucking worse by the actual events of the ending. See, the ending, rather than following through on the "you're not special" and "reality is cruel" messages by having David kill his nakama, which is the logical choice, it introduces a brand new character who's never appeared or been mentioned before (at least not significantly). This character, "Adam Smasher," (wtf is that name) absolutely wastes David and his nakama for no real reason other than to shock the audience. Of course, David killing his friends would be pretty shocking too, but instead he gets magic kisses that can heal a fucking mental illness before getting the shit kicked out of him by this fridge dude. It's realistic that there would be a person capable of defeating David and his nakama, but it's not good storytelling, especially when you have the wholly unrealistic antipsychotic kiss just minutes before.

So yea, the ending's a massive blemish on what should've been a godtier show. It's like the writers got cold feet at the last second and decided to throw away all of the incredible build up they did for no fucking reason. The rest of the show is great, and if you were to cut it off at episode 7, you'd probably imagine a better story than what the writers of this show came up with. However, with an ending that lazy and nonsensical, the overall package is soured pretty badly. Even though the storytelling itself is really fucking good, everything serves a purpose and a lot happens quickly, but it never feels unearned or cheap (except Adam Smasher); the show fails to use these good elements to tell a good story. This is the type of show where the ending is massively important, so, yea, the whole show falls flat with such a bad ending. Story: 12/20

--ENJOYMENT-- (8/10)

Despite just absolutely thrashing the ending, I really really enjoyed most of this show. Probably just because it didn't burn me until the very end, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. However, if I'm to ever rewatch this show, I know it'll be a much less enjoyable experience. The vast majority of my enjoyment came from "knowing" David would turn cyberpsycho and all of the fallout from that. Of course, that didn't happen, but even if the ending consisted of David realizing that he's naive, his relationship is toxic, and that he needs to get rid of his cyberware I would've been happy. Sure I probably wouldn't have liked that ending as much as a full cyberpsycho ending, but at least it would've made sense for the romantic theme the actual ending went for. It's like the ending tries to have its cake and eat it too, which is just so fucking annoying.

But that animation tho. GODDAMN that's silky. Trigger is still the undisputed master of making insane shit happening look so cool. I legitimately cannot think of a better studio for a production like this, and being an ONA too really let them go all out. I'm really glad that anime original productions (this technically doesn't count but still) are gaining prominence once again. The soundtrack goes really hard too, maybe too hard at times because nothing would be happening, and they'd be playing an absolute banger.

One annoying thing is fucking Netflix subtitles are shit. The voice acting is really good on the Japanese side of things (didn't try the dub) but sometimes the subtitles would just say completely different things to what I could literally hear the characters saying. Least egregious is the slang they've put in from the table and video game. Obviously, choom and nova don't translate super well into Japanese, so that's an acceptable difference. But there were times when a character would say, in Japanese "You're not about to go cyberpsycho, right?" (or something to that effect) but the sub would be "You better not be losing it." I (obviously) don't know Japanese, but I know enough to know when someone's asking a fucking question. Netflix also auto skips openings when you hit next episode, so that's pretty annoying too.

Honestly, though, I really loved watching this anime. It only took me two days where I watched 5 episodes each, and I never really wanted to stop. I loved that things actually happened, unlike in a lot of anime/manga where plot developments can be far too drawn out. By the time David has his first cyberpsychotic episode, around episode 7 or 8, I was so hyped for it to fully happen. Unfortunately, it doesn't, but like with other anime and manga that have really bad endings (I'm talking about you AOT) I can't bring myself to consider the entire show garbage even if having a good ending is really important for the story. Enjoyment: 8/10

--CONCLUSION--

So yeah, the ending sucks, but the ride to get to that ending is still really enjoyable, even if that ride being objectively good relies on the ending also being good. Really, with a good ending, this is a 9/10, and with a bit more, its a perfect 10, but it just fails to live up to it's potential and doesn't deliver on a lot of plotlines.

FINAL SCORE: (20/30) [7]

Even as the romance genre has expanded, Toradora still remains as one of the greatest. The character writing in this show is both mature and extremely effective at moving the plot forward, which keeps the show from middling in monotony like most anime of it's variety do. The show also avoids the typical harem formula by giving each of it's girls personalities that are at odds with the main character. Ryuji is also a breath of fresh air, being an actual character rather than just a generic self insert. The only main flaw with this show is the rushed nature of the ending not giving ... proper conclusions to some of the characters.

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

--STORY-- (17/20)

Toradora's story starts out with an obvious conclusion, Ryuji and Taiga will end the series together. All of the side characters can see it, and the two are often mistaken for a couple very early on. However, as the series progresses, this obvious conclusion no longer remains. The characters of Minori and Yuusaku obfuscate this conclusion by being legitimately good pairings for the two protagonists. The middle 11 or so episodes focus mainly on this point, and the series must go to great lengths to show exactly why Ryuji and Taiga are a better pairing than Minori and Ryuji or Taiga and Yuusaku.

Naturally, another character is introduced to show the precise reasons why Minori and Ryuji and Taiga and Yuusaku are unfit as final pairings. Kawashima Ami is both the most mature and most childish character in this entire show. She understands the more complex emotions of the other characters while not knowing how to deal with even her most basic feelings. She gives good advice but is unable to take any herself. Many people consider Ryuji and Ami to be a good match, and yes, they are a good match, but only for Ami. Throughout the show, Ryuji helps Ami accept who she truly is, while she drops hints as to why Minori and Ryuji won't work.

To Ryuji, Minori is an ideal. She works hard and is consistently energetic and friendly, and she never seems to give up. To Ami, Ryuji is an ideal because he is basically her opposite, selfless but unaware. To Taiga, Yuusaku is an ideal, he's well put together and isn't ashamed of who he truly is. All of these characters treat the person who they have feelings toward as if that person somehow better than they are, when, like in reality, everyone has flaws and strengths. However, Taiga and Ryuji are the two characters who can see one another's flaws without it ruining the illusion of perfection because that illusion was never there to begin with.

At the start of the series, Taiga treats Ryuji with absolute contempt. However, it is quite obvious that she is merely envious of his good nature and responsible traits. These are traits she wants for herself, and by the end of the series, she is successful in learning from Ryuji rather than just using his traits to fill the gaps in herself as she would have done with Yuusaku. Her attitude towards Ryuji also helps him to develop, although to a lesser extent. Ryuji, being raised without a father, puts family on a pedestal above all, and therefore Minori (who Ami calls the mother in the relationship between Minori, Taiga, and Ryuji) represents a sort of stable family life to Ryuji. Taiga, through her interactions with her father, shows to Ryuji that even if a family has seemingly everything, they can still be broken. He learns from Taiga that the ideal family life isn’t something that can just be obtained, but something that needs to be worked for.

All in all, these main themes of the story give it a maturity that most anime of this type lack. Many romance/romcom/waifu bait anime present these perfect female protagonists that have no flaws, or, if they do, those flaws are something the male protagonist has to accept, rather than the female protagonist having to change. However, Toradora shows that love and, more importantly, a healthy relationship isn’t something that just happens because two people like each other a lot. Rather, Toradora shows that love is more of dynamic between two people instead of a static state of being. Ultimately, this leads to Taiga realizing that she can’t just expect her family to love her without her putting in effort as well.

However, Taiga’s family is a somewhat underdeveloped plot, specifically her mother’s side. Her father is pretty thoroughly explored, and is shown to be practically irredeemable, so it makes sense as to why he’s not the one Taiga decides to patch things up with. However, when Taiga’s mother appears in episode 24, it’s the first time she’s in the show, and since Taiga going to live with her plays such an important role in the themes of the series, it’s definitely a plotline that should have been developed more.

The other, and more glaring flaw of this show, is how it treats the side characters Yuusaku and Ami. Yuusaku basically stops being important to the story after Taiga beats up the class president. Granted, he wasn’t the most important character in the first place, but it would’ve been good to see him have a bit more of a presence later on. However, even more egregious is what the show does with Ami. Ami is probably the most important character to the show, aside from the titular duo. She very easily highlights the flaws of the other characters in a way that makes it almost impossible for them not to develop, so naturally that same highlighting of flaws should happen to her, right? No. Instead, Ami is left as an unfinished character who just kinda pouts around for the last few episodes because Ryuji and Taiga realize they love each other, even though she was the one who pointed it out. It’s pretty frustrating to see her being annoyed at the two pretending not to like each other while also being sad at how the two get together. Again, she is a childish character, but it would’ve been really nice to see her grow from that after her large amounts of development in her initial arc.

Taken all together, these two main flaws keep the show from being a masterpiece. It makes the pacing of the ending feel a bit too fast, and really makes one consider if there were unnecessary parts in the previous arcs. Fortunately for this show’s score, the last arc is really the only one that suffers from these flaws.

Ultimately, Toradora just tells a great love story. It’s incredibly well written, and it balances humor, melodrama, and wholesome moments better than almost any other show of it’s class. It’s never boring and rarely cringy. The main pairing of Taiga and Ryuji is the only one that could’ve worked, which is really, really appreciated when so many other stories just seem to have one girl win because she’s the most popular among fans. It’s the innate attributes of Taiga and Ryuji, them being equal, that makes them such a good couple, and the entire show is dedicated to showing that.
Story: (17/20)

--ENJOYMENT-- (9/10)


I really loved watching this show. This review comes after a rewatch, so of course I liked the show, but this time it was even better. The first time I watched it, I really liked it, but I was pretty unsatisfied with the ending. On this watch, I found the show wholly more satisfying (doubly so because I’m simultaneously watching CLANNAD, a show where the characters are so codependent that it hurts) because of Ryuji and Taiga’s equal relationship. As someone who as seen and been a part of far too many unequal relationships, it’s a real breath of fresh air. Especially because of the overabundance of waifu bait shows where the female protagonist is basically the virgin Mary wrapped in the skin of a sexy anime girl.

The art style and character design are also incredibly good, especially for a LN adaptation, and the direction is really quite incredible. I really thought this anime was based directly off a manga for a long time. The artstyle turns kinda ghetto in the high genga scenes, but it really doesn’t matter. The animation in the fights and race scene is good regardless if the art takes a hit.

Really, my only complaint with the enjoyability of this show is kinda stupid. I wish we got to see Taiga and Ryuji as a couple more. I wouldn’t really expect them to be much different than how they are for the entirety of the show (a major testament to how well written the characters are) which is why the complaint is stupid, but still, it would’ve been nice to see. I also do wish Ami got a better ending. Especially, because of how much she pushes the story, but I don’t particularly like her, so I’m not too torn up about it.

Now that I think about it, Ami and Minori should fuck.
Enjoyment: (9/10)

--FINAL SCORE-- (26/30) [9]

Akira is an anime film that often tops must watch lists, and for good reason. The film truly is a beautiful work of animation that is rarely rivaled to this day. However, Akira has some very critical flaws that prevent it from being the masterpiece the animation would have you believe it is. The story severely suffers from a bloated plot, lacking characterization, and, most egregiously, an incomplete exploration of its themes. If you don't go into this movie expecting a satisfying resolution, then it's a very enjoyable ride.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

--Story-- (14/20)

At it's core, Akira is about power, and the immense proliferation of power that affects ... those without it. The film's protagonist, Tetsuo, starts out as a weak and ridiculed member of his biker gang. He's someone without power who desperately wishes to have it. However, once Tetsuo gains power beyond human comprehension, he's still the same pathetic kid with too much to prove.

Neo Tokyo is lauded by characters as a modern miracle. Despite the destruction of old Tokyo thirty years prior, Neo Tokyo stands taller and brighter, more powerful. Neo Tokyo is obviously an analogue for Japan during the 1970s and 80s when Japan's economy, therefore the country's power, grew exponentially. However, in spite of this, Neo Tokyo is overrun by degeneracy and rebellion by those forgotten by society, the powerless. In a lot of ways, Neo Tokyo represents how politicians and CEOs may claim to be benefitting everyone, but their primary beneficiary is always themselves.

This idea can be fully shown in the relationship between Kaneda and Tetsuo. Tetsuo is fed up with being helped by Kaneda. He feels controlled by him. Even when Kaneda saves Tetsuo and his girlfriend from being assaulted, Tetsuo expresses disdain for his help. This is directly analogous to how Neo Tokyo, and perhaps all of civilization, suppresses an individual's ability to become self actualized. However, once an individual gains power to overcome this suppression, they become hostile towards what suppressed them in the first place. The revolutionaries act in violence, Tetsuo kills everyone who tries to control him, the Colonel kills the bureaucrats who try and take his power.

All of these themes are portrayed in a very clear and coherent way, save for one aspect, the children. The psychic children are far and away the most frustrating and confounding part of the story. Without them, the story clearly states, "Unrestricted power will destroy itself." But the children, whose powers are very much restricted, also destroy themselves by tormenting Tetsuo (for what reason too?). The presence of these characters turns the theme from a cautionary one to a nihilistic one, "No human should have power." This theme is further shown by the analogy of Tetsuo to an Amoeba gaining the power of a human. The film somewhat presents the idea that power should be used to help people, as in the cases of Kaneda and Akira who use their power to help, but Kaneda using his power to help Tetsuo is what started this mess in the first place.

This brings us to the titular character, Akira. Akira had the chance to tie the entire story together, to give it a clear theme. Instead, he helps Tetsuo commit suicide. Akira's role doesn't do anything to differentiate the theme from "Unrestricted power will destroy itself" and is, therefore, a useless character. He doesn't add anything to the film, and maybe even takes something away from it. Tetsuo becoming a giant blob monster that covers the entire Earth would probably be much more interesting than him just killing himself. Maybe if there was more shown of the new universe Akira and Tetsuo created, there could be more thematic depth to Akira's character, but as it stands, there's really nothing of substance.

Far and away the best part about the story is the way it's presented. The animation is absolutely stunning, and is still talked about today as an example of what animation is capable of. There are some scenes with such detailed motion that it feels like really great CGI. The drab hand inked colors also add to the gross feeling of Neo Tokyo. The music is good, but it's like the story, incomplete. The theme of Tetsuo (DUUUN DUUUN DUN DUN) is great, but it's never allowed to full resolve.

Overall, the story is great for about 75-80% of the movie, but there's a severe lack of depth at the ending that impacts the overall story. There's no "aha!" moment, even though that's what the story feels like it's building up to. Some of the characters do well to enhance the story, (Tetsuo, Kaneda, and the Colonel) but the rest are pretty boring. Akira is rightly regarded as a masterpiece of Anime because, in truth, the animation is of an unrivaled quality, it's just a shame the story doesn't match that level of greatness and completeness.

--Experience-- (8/10)

This movie is a treat to watch just because of the animation alone. Six of those points come from that. The other two come from the depth the story tries to portray. It's a very intriguing story, and throughout I was wondering about what the story was trying to say, which is very engaging. It's just, that intrigue is never fully paid off, which is dissatisfying and almost feels like a punishment for being so invested. The ending of this movie really is quite terrible, and it's not because of it's abstract nature, I like abstract, it's just abstract for the sake of it rather than to portray a more abstract concept.

Another thing to be said about the enjoyability of this movie is its characters. They're all extremely unlikable, which is part of the point, but it definitely could affect someone's ability to enjoy it. There's no real character to cheer for. Maybe Kaneda, but he's still kind of scumbag. He steals his bike, harasses some girl, and goes to kill Tetsuo. The other characters have basically no redeeming qualities, especially the blue children. They are far and away the least enjoyable aspect of the movie, and it's really shame Tetsuo dies instead of them.

For the most part, this film just got me excited to read the manga. All of the problems I have with the film are probably addressed in the manga. However, after I finish the manga, I can't really see myself coming back to this film.

--FINAL SCORE-- 7/10 (22/30)

Akira is definitely worth watching if you're a fan of animation in any way. If you're a fan of deeply written stories, it will start to scratch that itch, but stop at the worst time, making the itch even more bothersome.

Devilman Crybaby is truly an Avant Garde masterpiece held back only by its lack of mass appeal and slight pacing issues. The worst part about this show is you have to watch it on Netflix. This anime is an exploration of the darkest sides of humanity and the borderline that pushes us to that point. For people who prefer to live in the light, this can be off-putting, but that off-putting nature is what makes the show so memorable and compelling. Even if it's not your cup of tea, you should still give it a watch in good faith.

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

--Story-- 18/20

Initially, Devilman Crybaby seems ... to be a story about puberty. The protagonist, Akira Fudou, becomes possessed by the Devil Amon before growing rapidly, gaining increased physical prowess, changing behaviorally, and becoming obscenely horny. However, as the story progresses, and the truth of devils is revealed, the devil power becomes less of an analogy for puberty and more of a symbol for the dark emotions that come with it. These dark emotions, anger, hatred, spite, jealousy are all what create and give devils (literally and figuratively) their incredible power.

However, what truly makes this show so incredible is how it accurately portrays the relationship between these dark emotions and emotions like love, happiness, and friendship. Love and good emotions are shown to be a much stronger force for change. In scenes like where Akira first becomes Devilman, the scene where Akira wants to rape Makimura but refuses, the scene where everyone hugs Devilman, and in the final scene especially, love is shown to be a much stronger internal force than hatred. However, this show portrays that hatred is a much stronger external force than love.

This dichotomy is, of course, very atypical for most anime, as friendship and love are often shown to be both stronger internal and external forces. Devilman Crybaby doesn't present this idealized idea. If anything, it presents the world in a derogatory and degenerative light. However, by showing such a hate filled world and the extreme impacts of love on it, the show proves that love is much stronger than hatred. Even despite the bleakness of the show, there is still definite hope.

Enough waxing philosophical, the presentation of this story is where the show loses points.

In terms of visual presentation, the show is incredible. Although the simplistic art style may be off-putting at first it gives the show a more manga feel than others. Some shots in particular look like colored manga panels. This also allows the animation to be more fluid because the characters have a visual flatness to them, allowing them to move in unnatural ways without it looking unnatural. This art style also makes the more detailed devils stand out more, emphasizing their inhumanity. Overall, there was never a scene where the animation felt janky or the art style suddenly shifted, it's always consistent.

When it comes to pacing, however, Devilman Crybaby starts to show cracks. Episodes 4, 5, and 6 all should have been one episode. The least amount of story relevant events happen in these episodes, and events relevant to the story are often broken up by completely irrelevant, often bloated scenes. This is made more confusing as some characters completely disappear or become devils without much fanfare. It's even more frustrating because the bloat in these episodes takes away from the developments at the end of the series, specifically, the other Devilmen.

The idea that other Devilmen exist is brought about in episode 6, and there's really no developments to this plot thread until late episode 9 (where it's a secondary development to the people accepting Akira). However, once episode ten starts, and all the Devilmen gather up, it's treated like a very big deal. It also ends up being the reason Akira can even hope to fight Ryo. That's not to say that the other Devilmen helping out and gathering is at odds with the themes of the story, in fact, it enhances them quite a bit. It's just that the Devilmen plotline isn't developed in favor of much less important side-plots.

This show also has far too many side characters that add nothing that isn't added elsewhere. Specifically, the rap gang and the track star, Koda. The rap gang is really only important to the plot two times, when they harass Makimura at the beginning, and when they protect her at the end. This exact same role is filled Kuroda, and to a much better extent, as Makimura is the reason for why Kuroda becomes a devil in the first place. Having it just be Kuroda protecting Makimura would honestly make Kuroda's arc more poignant. Koda's role is to show Akira that other Devilmen exist, which he fulfills quite nicely. After that, however, he does nothing until he decides to turn traitor, showing that even those with human hearts can be corrupted. This would be a fine role for him to fill if Humanity itself wasn't already doing so. Humans nearly wipe each other out out of fear towards the end, making Koda's role incredibly redundant. Honestly, I can't remember if he dies or not too.

Ultimately, with two or so more episodes, the show wouldn't have this pacing problem. All of the overdeveloped subplots would sting a lot less if the underdeveloped plotlines were given adequate time to be fleshed out. It does makes sense as to why the final episode isn't more of a final arc, because it's weird. However, it has by far the most to say out of any of the episodes, and it's truly a shame that it didn't get more time to say what it wanted.

The music in this show also fucking slaps. That is all.

--Experience-- 10/10

Shows like these only come by every one in a while. Shows like Neon Genesis, Serial Experiments Lain, and Madoka Magica that push the boundaries of animation, and deconstruct the tropes of Anime as a medium. Devilman Crybaby, although equal in terms of thematic depth and style, has much lower lows. For the three aforementioned shows, no single episode ranks below an 8/10, (except Jet Alone 7/10) but for Devilman Crybaby, at least 2 episodes rank at 7/10. Considering this series is at least 2 episodes shorter and much less focused than the aforementioned masterpieces, it can't stand with them.

Even still, this show is a beautifully unique experience. The confusing nature of the show, although not conducive to good story telling, adds to the experience a sense of reality. The overall bleakness of the show is just marvelously well done too, and it really will make you consider the world around you.

--FINAL SCORE-- 9/10 (28/30)

Even though Devilman Crybaby may be masterpiece of thematic and emotional storytelling, there are several preventable issues that could keep the viewer from getting that full experience.

What I thought about JJK before watching this film was that it was a pretty generic shounen battle series that's like a combination of Bleach and Naruto. I was pretty spot on, because that's basically what this movie is. That's not to say it's bad, but it certainly is derivative. The fights are great and the story is disappointing. Though it has good ideas, they're rarely executed well. So if you want to relax and watch some good fights, especially if, like me, you've never seen anything JJK, this is a good watch.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

STORY: 10/20

By far the most interesting thing about this film's ... story is the relationship between Yuuta and Rika. This is also where the film is most disappointing. The way Yuuta feels about having this demon hang around him isn't very well fleshed out. He seems sad that he can't really make friends because of the Curse, but he also somehow is still in love with Rika. This isn't unrealistic, as toxic, codependent relationships are very common. However, instead of giving this aspect the time it needs to fully come to it's resolution, the film instead throws flashy new characters and superpowers at you.

This is the biggest issue in the film, the characters. When I said it was like Bleach earlier, this is what I meant. Like Bleach, there are so many flat characters that bring nothing more than cool superpowers and catchphrases. This is especially bad with the main side characters (aside from Gojo, of course). The best one was the nagitana girl, Maki, because she at least had an interesting backstory. However, her main personality trait is being petty, which makes her pretty one note. Panda is carried entirely by his character design, and he has a few good jokes. The voice guy, Toge, would be an infinitely better character if he was fully mute because then he would actually have to emote instead of saying "seaweed" whenever he wants to be on screen.

The best characters are, by far, Gojo and the villain, Suguru. Gojo is a very deeply written character, and would be much better suited as the protagonist of this movie. However, in the scenes that do focus on Gojo's character, especially the one at the end when Suguru is dying, the story feels so much richer and more interesting. It's one of the few times when the characters have conflicting emotions about something. It's unfortunate that the movie gives its time to long winded battles with boring characters instead of exploring Gojo's character and relationship with Suguru. Suguru, fortunately, gets a bit more of his character depth explored. Suguru is someone who hates normal people because they're weak and rely on JuJutsu users. The film expects you to automatically disagree with him because it provides no countering philosophy from any of the other characters. The thing is, Suguru is correct, without normal humans, JuJutsu users would be able to have much freer and likely better, more fulfilling, lives. What the movie tries to present as the counter-point to this, as it's shounen, is friendship. The only problem is, there are no normal humans that are friends with the JuJutsu users. We don't even get a character like Ichigo's sister to drive this point home.

This is where the story disappoints the most. Yuuta doesn't fight Suguru because Suguru is wrong, he's fighting him because "he hurt muh friends." It's boring and trite, especially because the friends are uninteresting. It's especially maddening that there's a simple solution to the lack of a philosophical battle here, just have Yuuta say something like, "If normal humans didn't exist, I would have never met Rika-chan." Yes, it doesn't solve the overall problem of the philosophical battle being boring, but it's at least a lot better than Yuuta having absolutely no clue why anything is happening or why it matters.

This brings us to the film's conclusion. After thirty minutes of insanely good looking fights, Yuuta decides he'll merge with Rika to beat the bad guy. Somehow, this counts as him "letting go" of Rika, and therefore ending the curse he placed on her. I like the plot twist that Yuuta cursed her instead of vice versa. However, Yuuta cursing her isn't explored beyond showing that Yuuta is unable to let go. Rika is a textbook example of a yandere, someone unable to let go. Good yandere stories always show their obsessions with a person are the result of past trauma, as would be expected. There's nothing even remotely close to that here, and, it would have been very easy to implement. Yuuta realizing something along the lines of, "I created this Rika from a curse, she isn't real. The real Rika wouldn't hurt people even if I wanted her to. She only does so because I have issues and problems that I forced onto her." would go a VERY long way in giving this story a strong theme. However, instead, we're made to believe that this psychotic demon is the ACTUAL Rika and that her actions are out of genuine love. It's pretty inane, the story says, "Yuuta has let go of Rika, the curse is broken" while also saying "Yuuta and Rika will love one another forever and ever." It's two conflicting themes, and it causes the story to feel shallow and empty because it can't pick a side.

EXPERIENCE: 8/10

Overall, I had a great time watching this movie. The story only exists to tide you over between fights, and I expected that. All of the fights in this film are very well choreographed and animated. The CGI and special effects are absolutely incredible as well, everything is textured beautifully. Even in scenes where the CGI stands out from 2D, it enhances the feeling because it's mostly curses in CGI. The OST and and sound effects absolutely bang in this movie too. There's an uncanny feeling to the OST that adds to the uncanny feeling of the whole film. The cinematography stands out in lots of scenes too, specifically the opening scene and the entire last thirty minutes.

SCORE: 6/10 (18/30)

Even though the story of this film wasn't executed in a particularly compelling, it had really good ideas. Things like Yuuta being the cause of the curse, Gojo and Suguru's past, normal people relying on JuJustu users, and Rika and Yuuta's relationship, if given more focus, could've been the basis of an incredible story. These ideas, however, are only given a few scenes to be explored, and they're generally explored in the same ways in each scene. The story still feels complete, though, even if it's underdeveloped. There were no plotlines that I felt went unresolved, it's just that the resolutions were uninteresting.

Technically, this movie is spectacular, as expected from MAPPA. The insanely high budget didn't go to waste, and hopefully the massive success of this film will result in better stories being adapted to film.

I'll still watch JJK proper sometime before its next season, as I'm sure the characters and plotlines are much more fleshed out in the series. However, it's made me somewhat hesitant towards the series because this movie relied HEAVILY on "the power of friendship" trope. Also, if the manga version of this is better, as in the story is better fleshed out, let me know. It's only 1 volume so I can imagine that this is a pretty close adaptation.