Director Masaaki Yuasa’s 2018 Netflix series Devilman Crybaby endures as a benchmark for anime horror by making the breakdown of human empathy more terrifying than its demonic monsters, Polygon noted in a retrospective on the production.
The 10-episode series adapts Go Nagai’s 1972 dark fantasy manga Devilman, centering on Akira Fudo, a young man who bonds with a demon to counter an apocalyptic threat while managing to retain his profound capacity to grieve. While Nagai’s original manga examined the devastation of war and mutual destruction, Yuasa updated the narrative’s tension for contemporary audiences by examining how digital witch hunts, social media outrage, and tabloid sensationalism fuel public hysteria.
As demonic manifestations spread across the globe, the story depicts society splintering under xenophobic paranoia. Characters such as the tabloid blogger Nagasaki weaponize shock-value recordings to ignite viral fear, while track star Koda’s public exposure by Ryo turns personal trauma into an uncontrolled spectacle. Ordinary citizens descend into armed vigilantism, executing neighbors suspected of harboring demonic traits and demonstrating that mob cruelty easily eclipses predatory monster attacks.
Nagai’s original work served as a foundational influence for subsequent dark fantasy landmarks such as Berserk and Neon Genesis Evangelion, following earlier animated adaptations including the 1987 OVA Devilman: The Birth and 1990’s The Demon Bird. In Devilman Crybaby, the climactic battle against the demon Sirene—elevated by Kensuke Ushio’s electronic score—highlights demonic loyalty when her ally Kaim sacrifices himself on her behalf, blurring the divide between humanity and monstrous beasts.
Source: polygon.com
