#2018 release

DEVILMAN crybaby is a Netflix original anime series directed by Masaaki Yuasa and stars the voice talents of Koki Uchiyama, Ayumu Murase, Megumi Han, and many others. The series revolves around Akira Fudo, a shy teenager who is processed by a devil, who uses his powers to fight the epidemic spread of devils around the world. The series is reportedly more mature from its original incarceration, making this anime hard R.Now I’m going to admit, anime isn’t my thing, but the entire look of this series, from the poster to the trailer to the story interested me enough to press play. So I’m looking at this from the view of a television lover and not a hardcore anime fan.

DEVILMAN crybaby is maybe the craziest show I’ve ever watched. The show is dark, grotesque, sexual, beautiful, haunting, and honestly wrong in all the mostly right ways. Its hard to explain this show because it really just exists. For someone not immediately prepared, it could be quite shocking and seen as disturbing. From the first episode there’s a level of violence and sexual imagery that I’ve never seen on the big, or small, screen. DEVILMAN is a visceral experience, both in ways that entertained and ones that made me uncomfortable. The action is great and the look of both transformed Akira and Devilman is fantastic. There’s something beyond interesting to be about The Iron Giant, a character that Devilman embodies, though a little more bloody in nature. Friendly giant that exists for the good of the people, but is still destructive in nature. The show also has a decent amount of drama, which is the standout specifically episode nine, which had both a great message and wonderful story telling. 

Where DEVILMAN has problems is in its storytelling. The show, at ten episode, about twenty minutes each, doesn’t work completely. Some plot points are disregarded or never explained, and other elements don’t make sense. DEVILMAN feels rushed, especially in the middle, but mostly picks back up towards the end. Things appear to jump from zero to sixty episode to episode, which doesn’t work personally considering how short the show is. Also, the show’s ambitions sometimes stretch the production budget, as some of the character designs and story elements feel flat on screen. The insanity of the show does off set quite a lot of these production problems though. 

DEVILMAN crybaby is truly unlike anything I’ve ever committed myself to, going from muted confusion to over the top violence, losing the story but maintaining a sense of intrigue. Elements of this show are beautiful and the pretty great action keep this show on the ground, even when things stretch too far. As a non anime fan, I feel anime fans should check this out. I think even a few non fans like me could have a deal of enjoyment in this.

:Alice In Chains

: Rainier Fog

The Royal Delivery by Melanie Summers (Review)

Title: The Royal Delivery Author: Melanie Summers Type: Fiction Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance Publisher: Gretz Corp Date published: March 10, 2018 A complimentary physical copy of this book was kindly provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. After one year of marriage, Crown Prince Arthur and his lovely, albeit accident-prone wife, Princess Tessa, are preparing to bring an…