Anime / DEVILMAN crybaby

"Now, history has been revived!"

"I've made Akira into a devil. And... I might have just created the most powerful, ruthless, and brutal devil in this world."

— Ryo Asuka

DEVILMAN crybaby is a 2018 animated adaptation of Devilman by Go Nagai. Directed by Masaaki Yuasa (The Tatami Galaxy, Mind Game, Ping Pong), produced by the studio Science Saru, and written by Ichiro Okouchi (Code Geass, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress), it was released internationally on Netflix in January 2018.

Akira Fudo is a kind-hearted young man who is known to cry for others. One fateful day, he is reunited with his childhood friend Ryo Asuka, who enlists his aid in finding demons. In the carnage that ensues, Akira finds himself fused with the wickedly-powerful demon warrior Amon. Rather than fall victim and become a host for Amon, however, Akira's kind heart gives him the strength to make Amon's power his own, and thus, Devilman is born. With his newfound demonic powers, Akira puts himself to the task of protecting those closest to him from the demonic hordes... and perhaps even protect humanity from itself.

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DEVILMAN crybaby contains examples of the following tropes:

A-E

• Adaptation Expansion:
  • Ghelmer and Silene still fulfill their roles of attacking Akira halfway through the story, but the way it's played out in Crybaby helps them appear as more than simply Monsters of the Week. In the original manga they attack Akira in his house out of nowhere, but in the anime, after they find out about Devilman, Ghelmer uses Miki to get to Akira and later Silene takes advantage of an emotionally-weakened Akira in an attempt to draw Amon out.
  • None of the characters played track-and-field in the manga.
  • The final war between Devilmen and demons is briefly shown in the manga, but in Crybaby there's a montage of the humans also engaging in an all-out nuclear war with the demons and laying waste to the planet.
  • Unlike in the manga, where any memories they have of the other were merely fabricated and implanted by Psycho Jenny, this time Akira and Ryo really knew each other when they were children — which would then give a proper explanation for Ryo's attachment to Akira.
• Adaptation Personality Change: A lot of the characters' personalities (and roles) are changed from the manga, especially with the three main characters.
  • Akira was originally far more boisterous and aggressive, as well as a bit more self-serving. In Crybaby, while he is still technically an Anti-Hero, Akira is a paragon of kindness and empathy, both before and after his transformation. And unlike his manga counterpart, Akira doesn't abandon humankind after Miki's death; in fact, it's her death that gives him the drive to hold nothing back and fight Satan to ensure that the remaining humans don't die in vain.
  • In the manga, Ryo was still flawed, but more well-intentioned and capable of feeling compassion. In the anime, Ryo thinks of the war between demons and humans as nothing more than an experiment, and even before he remembers who he really is, doesn't have an ounce of sympathy for anyone. By addition, Ryo's real identity (Satan) has more of a Blue-and-Orange Morality and despite his hatred for humans, had some noble traits. In the anime, he's outright villainous.
  • In the manga, Miki was more tomboyish and headstrong, but after falling for Akira's newly-gained strength, starts to act like a typical fangirl with shades of Damsel in Distress in hopes of winning his affection. Miki in Crybaby is much more kindhearted and feminine, believing in the best of everything and everyone no matter what; she's also unimpressed by Akira's new attitude and it's implied that she prefers his more sensitive side.
• Adaptation Title Change: From Devilman to DEVLMAN crybaby.
• Adapted Out:
  • The story arc about the Dosu-Roku gang and the spider demon Rasber.
  • The chapter about Taro's friend and his parents turning into (not possessed by) demons.
  • The entire scene where Ryo takes Akira to his house and has him wear the demon mask to get a glimpse of the demons' life back in the prehistoric ages.
  • General Xan, who is Silene's superior as well as Kaim and the early demons that are part of the Hundred-Demon Army faced by Amon.
  • The enviromentalist themes of the original manga are completely gone, including the demons being Eco-Terrorists.
  • The human scientist who intentionally spreads his research findings of humans evolving into demons leading to the persecution of minorities and those unsatisfied with society, with Ryo taking over the scientist's role.
  • The anti-demon corps that hunts demons but eventually solely hunt down other humans to purge them.
  • The suicide possession attacks instigated by demonkind and their open terrorizing of society after revealing themselves is replaced by Ryo using Koda at the stadium.
  • The origins of the demons themselves which showed a human man and woman, followed by a human woman activating the ability to fuse with a snake and tree to foreshadow what would only be revealed directly in Devilman Lady: demons are evolved humans.
  • Sachiko's role as someone close to Akira who ends up as one of Jinmen's victims is replaced by Akira's mother. Sachiko actually does still appear in this as one of Jinmen's victims, however she is Demoted to Extra and is a nameless character here. The only reason we know it's her is because her name is credited in the credits.
• Alas, Poor Yorick:
  • In Episode 10, Akira cradles Miki's head while confronting Ryo for his actions, then afterwards Akira buries her alongside her family.
  • While still more than just a head, this pretty much happens with Akira himself in the end when Ryo/Satan ends up holding what's left of him.
• Alien Blood: Demons and Devilmen have yellow blood.
• All for Nothing:
  • Akira gathered an army of Devilmen and led them directly against Satan and demonkind. Not only do many die pointlessly, but several of them sacrifice their lives to heal Akira and extend a fight that was clear from the beginning to be in Satan's favor.
  • Ryo decides to wipe out humanity with the demons he's gathered. But the battle wipes out his army, and in the process, he killed Akira. While he's crying, God decides to wipe the slate clean once again.
• All Love Is Unrequited:
  • Ryo cares for Akira without a doubt, but there are strong hints that it's more than just platonic love. However, Akira is already in love with Miki, and Ryo's later actions ensure that Akira will never reciprocate his feelings.
  • Wam seems to have a crush on Miki, though she's oblivious to it.
• All Myths Are True: In Episode 10, Satan reveals to Akira that demons weren't exterminated when God nearly wiped them out millions of years ago, surviving by taking form as shapeless entities that would come to possess any humans that drew them to merge with. Satan then goes on to reveal that demons that have appeared throughout human history served as the basis of all mythological monsters, gods and creatures, over the thousands of years that demonkind has remained hidden in society.
  Satan: (a montage of different still images during his monologue shows images of a Wolf-Man, Vlad III the Impaler, Ganesha, a Sphinx, a Minotaur, a Centaur, Hayagriva, and the prehistoric fossils of a chimeric monster with an avian head and lobster pincers and a manticore-like fossil) "The legends of werewolves, vampires and ogres are likely derivatives of demons who had merged with humans. Myths and stories throughout time show that there were people who were aware of our existence."
• Always Someone Better: Miki Kuroda has massive angst over her classmate Miki outshining her in track-and-field to the point where she is only ever known to her peers as "Miko" instead of "Miki". This causes her to become possessed by a demon and, eventually, become a Devilman.
• Ambiguously Bi: Miki holds a flame for Akira; and Miko is interested in both Akira and Miki, has a dark fantasy about an older man, and also grows to like Kukun after he confesses his feelings for her. In the penultimate episode, Miko even gives Miki what's either a romantic or a Platonic Declaration of Love.
• Ambiguously Gay: The fact that Ryo is very much in love with Akira is made subtler, in contrast with the manga where Xenon outright confirms it.
• And I Must Scream: The fates of the passengers massacred by Jinmen (who possessed Akira's father) since they're stuck with the demon while aware or half-aware of their situation, and can only cry for help. And one of the victims include Akira's mother. Luckily, and tragically, Akira makes sure they don't suffer for too long.
• Anyone Can Die: If you've read the manga, you know that not one character is spared from death or a Fate Worse than Death. In fact, in the end everyone dies.
• Apocalypse How: Twice: Class 3A in ancient times, ending the demons' domination of Earth, and another one progresses from Class 0 to Class 3A over the course of the series, each one resulting in creation of a moon from all the planetary debris.
• Apocalypse Wow: The fall of civilization and extinction of humanity in the final episode is quite the spectacle.
• Apocalyptic Montage: In the final episode where it shows the remaining countries trying and failing to go to all-out war with the demons as the colors get more and more muted due to what is implied to be nuclear fallout.
• Assimilation Backfire: Ghelmer is a demon who can change into liquid form and control the bodies of anyone he drowns. When Akira exorcises him out of Miki by sucking him into his own body, Ghelmer tries to take control of him. Akira then heats up his own body from the inside to the point that most of the liquid from Ghelmer's body is evaporated, leaving him weak enough for Akira to easily kill.
• Badass Army: Akira forms an army of Devilmen to fight Satan and his demon army in the series finale.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Not Ryo, he actually loses. But rather God, the Greater-Scope Villain of the story, who wipes out both Akira's devilman army and Ryo's demon army.
• Bad People Abuse Animals: Ryo in this series is more ruthless, abuses and tries to kill animals, and is also the Big Bad of the story.
• Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: As part of the Freeze-Frame Bonus in Episode 10 when Satan explains to Akira how long back the demons had it and how unconsciously woven they are into all human myths and legends, an image of Vlad III the Impaler comes up, signifying the legendary king of Wallacia was a devilman.
• Because You Were Nice to Me:
  • The primary reason why Akira is the only one Ryo cares for.
  • Though they didn't make a good first impression on Miki, the rapper gang later saves her since she defended them when they were falsely accused of robbery.
• Berserker Tears/Manly Tears: This version of Akira cries a lot more than his predecessors, both as a human and as Devilman.
• Biblical Motifs: This is pretty much a given, considering the original manga's many allusions to religion.
  • The scene where Noel struggles to kill Taro can be similar to Abraham's Dilemma — where Abraham was ordered to kill his son Isaac, albeit in different circumstances.
  • The plot where Ryo reawakens as Satan and brings about The End of the World as We Know It follows a passage in the Book of Revelations to the letter.
    And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. — Revelations 20:1
  • The seven-headed demon that Satan mounts in Episode 10 is similar to the Dragon of Revelation, though the other demons refer to it as Hydra (its name in the manga is actually Caliorruar).
  • In the finale, Akira has an Imagine Spot where he has a peaceful dinner with his friends and family. Said dinner can be likened to The Last Supper, and this is likely no coincidence, given that Akira is a Messianic Archetype, and eventually dies in his battle with Satan.
• Big Bad: Demon Lord Xenon/Zenon is the leader of the demonic forces out to conquer Earth and the main enemy of the titular hero, though he is doing it on behalf of the Greater-Scope Villain, Satan. However, once Ryo Asuka recovers his memories as Satan, he takes over as main villain for the rest of the series.
• Big Eater: After becoming a Devilman, Akira's appetite increases severalfold. Ryo postulates this is because his new body uses a lot of energy.
• Black-and-Grey Morality: Keeping true to its aesop that humans and demons have more in common than they realize, there are a lot of straight-up evil characters who tend to be contrasted with the few characters who are inherently good, but still quite flawed.
• Bland-Name Product: Akira is seen purchasing a "CalorieBuddy" at a convenience store in Episode 3.
• Bloodier and Gorier: As well as being Darker and Edgier, Crybaby is second only to the likes of Hellsing and Blood-C in the gore department.
• Body Horror: Oh, boy howdy! This applies both to most demonic transformations and the victims killed by the demons.
• Book Ends:
  • The first episode begins with Satan narrating about love as the Earth is showered with dark and white light and is incinerated into oblivion — which is exactly what happens in the ending. The only difference is that there's no dark light in the ending as all the demons were already killed.
  • Excluding the entire opening monologue, the first and last thing Ryo says in the series is: "Akira". Except that while the first time was a call of urgency, the final time was a Death Wail.
• Bring My Brown Pants: While looking for Akiko and Taro, Noel stumbles across a young girl's corpse, and it's made clear that she soiled herself in her final moments.
• Broken Masquerade: Ryo manages this by drugging Moyuru Koda to go on a demonic rampage with a cleverly-used Trauma Button as the trigger, and the recorded footage and broadcast shatters The Masquerade.
• Bullet Dodges You: When a group of soldiers attempts to shoot Ryo in Episode 8, a barrier immediately forms around him and stops the bullets in their tracks, before sending them right back at the soldiers.
• But Not Too Gay: Downplayed. The manga isn't filled with excessive homoerotic subtext and its plot isn't centered around any existing subtext; but it should be noted that in Crybaby, the true nature of Ryo's feelings for Akira are never made explicitly clear. The most transparent sign that the audience gets of Ryo being in love with Akira is his monologue on love, but even that is still too subtle to immediately pick up on.
• But Not Too Foreign: Miki and her brother are now part-Caucasian due to their father, Noel Makimura's, Race Lift.
  • An interesting example because this makes more sense for the Japanese audience than the American one — while the concept of God in the Abrahamic sense, and even Jesus to a certain extent, is ubiquitous in Japan (given that Japanese culture is both very secular and open to arc-welding on different aspects of different religions to their own), the direct practice of Christianity by ethnically Japanese people is exceedingly rare ^note Christianity was banned for almost the entire Edo period, and modern-day Japan has approximately 1 to 3 million Christians, which only makes up about one or two percent of Japan's population. Making Noel white, however, would easily explain to Japanese viewers why Miki's family are fairly devout Christians, rather than the standard Shinto-Buddhists most Japanese people are (which, in turn, helps add in even more overt Christian references into a show that's already makes heavy use of Christian mythology as an inspiration).
• The Cameo: Fellow Devilmen Mikiko Kawamoto and the Bonds of Hinduism are briefly seen in the anime; the former in captivity, the latter as a part of Akira's Devilman army.
• Canon Foreigner: Miko and the rapper gang are nowhere to be seen in the manga. Though Miko is most likely either a Decomposite Character of Mikiko Kawamoto from the original manga or is based on Aoi Kurosaki from Devilman Lady, and Word of God confirmed that the rapper gang is basically a modernized (and less violent and delinquent-like) version of the Dosu-Roku gang.
• Casting Gag: This is not the first time we hear Kōki Uchiyama voicing a shapeshifter, except the last time he did it, he used to shift into an American Dragon. He also voiced Nightcrawler in the Japanese dub of X-Men: Apocalypse, who is a mutant resembling a demon.
• Celebrity Paradox: The original Devilman show somehow exists in this world. Presumably it's a completely different show aside from the name and the character or things would get really weird.
• Central Theme: Both the author and the director confirmed that love is the main theme of the series, even if it's shown in much subtler ways.
• Chekhov's Gunman: The track club adviser, who is suggested to be a demon early on, joins Akira's Devilman army in the final episode.
• Chest Blaster: Akira shoots searing-hot flames out of his chest at the lynch mob that murdered Miki.
• Children Are Innocent: When an angry mob attacks a group of fellow humans they tied up and stone for suspicions of being demons, Akira stands before them, using his body to shield them, shedding tears the whole while. Eventually, one child begins to realize that the demon standing before them is not such a bad guy, and steps forward to hug the crying Devilman. Other children then step forward, and eventually, the crowd simmers down and all gather to hug him.
• The Complainer Is Always Wrong: Eventually taken to its logical extreme. Ryo eventually spreads propaganda that any human dissatisfied with society has the potential to become a demon, sparking a Witch Hunt against not just demons, but potential social dissidents.
• Cosmic Horror Story: By the end of the series, everything that happened is heavily hinted to be part of God's plan, and said events are set in an eternal loop as punishment for Satan.
• Cradling Your Kill: In comparison to the manga where he simply nestles beside Akira's bisected corpse, in the anime Ryo holds Akira's body to his chest while weeping for him.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • The final battle between Akira and Satan is completely in Satan's favor. Akira's only knocking Satan around but fails to land any real damage. Meanwhile, Akira is receiving numerous lethal injuries and constantly needs various Devilmen fusing with him just to last a little longer. The best part? Psycho Jenny reveals Satan is still weakened from his previous battle with God.
  • In turn, while Satan plans to fight God next once he's done with the humans, God already made sure that Satan does win the battle against humans, but would ultimately lose the war against Him, as it had happened before and will happen again.
• Curiosity Is a Crapshoot: After Akira and Ryo check Nagasaki's room for any evidence about Akira's secret identity, Ryo warns the journalist's mother to not go to the room and use the laptop, to which she replies that she wouldn't even if she wanted to. Of course, she ends up checking what they were up to, and dies due to Ryo planting an explosive bug in the laptop.
• Darker and Edgier: The original Devilman was no slouch when it came to violence, but Crybaby kicks the blood and gore up several notches, in addition to featuring scenes of a graphically sexual nature.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Akira has black hair, tanned skin, and transforms into a demon. Nonetheless, he is a soft-hearted young man who uses his dark powers for good.
• Dark Reprise: The first time we hear the "Devilman no Uta" remix, it's catchy and appropriate for the situation. The next time we hear it, it's used tragically as Taro eats his mother, unable to control his urges as a Devilman.
• Death of a Child: This anime pulls no punches when it comes to violence, and that means children aren't spared from it either. At one point Noel comes across a young girl's corpse while searching for his family, and Taro is gunned down by the military along with Noel when they discover he's a Devilman.
• Deconstructor Fleet: The anime tears apart a certain trope that are prevalent in most shonen (and even seinen) series: which is that The Good Guys Always Win. Crybaby also makes a point that while Love Redeems, said redemption can often happen too late.
• Deliberately Monochrome: Aside from a few splashes of color (specifically the death masks on Jinmen's shell and Psycho Jenny's eye), the anime's opening is entirely in monochrome.
• Demoted to Extra:
  • Xenon's role is drastically toned down as well as his own powerful nature, to the point that him being Co-Dragons with Psycho Jenny is only apparent in the manga. Xenon is the one who sent demons against Akira in the manga because he not only knew of the threat he would pose, but used his telepathy to inform the world about the nukes launching before God stops it. Xenon was likewise still alive when Ryo reveals himself as Satan, and chews him out for sacrificing Amon because he fell in love with a human.
  • Professor Rainuma is now a background character, who often appears on the news. He later gets possessed by a octopus demon.
  • Sachiko from the manga, while she is still one of Jinmen's victims, is also reduced to a background character, and Akira doesn't know her in this continuity. She's also nameless here, and we only know she's Sachiko because her name is in the credits.
  • Miko Kawamoto appears in the end, but only as a cameo.
• Desecrating the Dead: It's not enough for Babu, Hie, and an angry mob to kill Miko, Miki, and the rest of the gang. They felt the need to chop their bodies, piece-by-piece, and wave it at a fire as a form of celebration (while sporting glee on their faces). Akira is not impressed.
• Design Student's Orgasm: When you give an auteur like Masaaki Yuasa a large-ish budget and impunity in regards to censorship, you know you're in for a wild ride.
• Detonation Moon: The battle between Akira and Ryo leaves so much destruction that the moon is literally halved in the midst of it. When the Earth is restored in the finale, both halves aren't put back together but reformed to two whole moons instead.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?:
  • Akira's drastic appearance and personality change after he becomes a Devilman can be likened to going through puberty; he becomes taller and more muscular, his appetite and sex drive greatly increase, he becomes cockier and more self-assured, and all of these factors make him very attractive to girls. The very sudden way this all happens also falls in line with how puberty can seemingly happen overnight.
  • In Episode 7, Ryo's reaction when he witnesses God launching an attack on Earth is extremely similar to someone suffering from an episode of PTSD.
  • In the later episodes, the persecution of anyone who's suspected or confirmed to be a Devilman can mirror real-life oppression of members of the LGBTQ+ community. Additionally, some of the people's positive responses to Miki's Rousing Speech in Episode 9 — which discusses acceptance and love — is similar to closeted people being motivated enough to come out and express themselves.
  • The scene where Akira and Ryo lie side by side and gaze at the moon in the finale with Ryo giving Akira a rather subtle Love Confession — and both of them weren't wearing anything at the time, mind you — can be reminiscent of a post-coital scene... at least until, or even after Akira is revealed to be dead.
• Don't Make Me Destroy You: When Akira refuses to side with the demons and vows revenge against Ryo and all of demonkind, Ryo responds that he doesn't want to become his enemy. When Akira isn't fazed by that, Ryo then warns Akira that fighting him is tantamount to his death. Akira still doesn't waver, and declares that he'll kill him the next time they meet before walking away.
• Downer Ending: Following the ending of the original manga, the entirety of humankind and demonkind is wiped out, with Ryo/Satan as the Sole Survivor. But even he doesn't get a happy ending, since he breaks down when he belatedly realizes that Akira is dead... just as the Earth is completely obliterated. The after-credits scene may look hopeful as it shows the image of Earth being restored to its state pre-destruction, but if the anime follows the lore of the Devilman verse, then it's just a repeat of the same vicious Eternal Recurrence... that is until Akira and Ryo find a way to break this endless cycle.
• Due to the Dead: After arriving too late to save Miki's family, Akira takes their bodies and flies away to give them a proper burial. Later, he makes a shrine for Miki's severed head before fighting Satan.
• Dying as Yourself: Fikira immolates himself after getting possessed to make sure that he dies as a human.
• The Empath: Akira has the uncanny ability to sense if other people are feeling sad, which then immediately brings him into tears before he can help it; though this isn't an actual power he gained.
• Evil Makeover: Inverted with the transformation into Devilmen. They typically gain a darker skin complexion afterwards. Other features include a possible growth spurt, Guyliner, and green tongues. ^note  Though the latter trait varies between Devilmen, since Akira, Miko, and Moyuru still have a normal tongue color.
• Evil Versus Evil: Much like in the manga, the humans eventually become just as awful as demons at their worst. Leaving only Akira and his fellow Devilmen as the only thing resembling good in the story. Naturally lampshaded by Akira after the murder of Miki Makimura.
  Akira: You guys are the ones who are demons. You will go to to hell... you MORTALS!!!
• Expository Hairstyle Change:
  • Akira's hair was short and mostly neat before becoming Devilman. After, it becomes wild and spiky.
  • When Miko becomes a Devilmann, she starts wearing her long hair in a braided ponytail.
  • When Ryo transforms into Satan, his hair changes from a clean bowl cut to wild and feathered.

F-N

• Face Death with Dignity:
  • Akira's mother doesn't resist when Akira kills Jinmen, even when it means she'll die (again).
  • When Miko makes a last stand against the lynch mob, she doesn't flinch despite them firing continuously at her, and it's likely that she shot herself to die on her own terms.
• Face–Heel Turn: Two of Wamu's posse turn on the gang in the Episode 9.
• Fade to White: The final episode ends with the Earth being bombed with divine light, which eventually envelops the entire screen.
• Failure Is the Only Option: Akira loses and everyone dies, with Satan meeting his end at God's hands. Even if Akira was capable of beating Satan, all the humans and Devilmen would still die, with him following suit. Due to God's machinations, Akira and Ryo are doomed to fail no matter what.
• Fallen Angel: Ryo is the fallen angel Satan, who was cast from heaven for rebelling against God and wandered the universe until he came to a planet in the most distant parts of the universe: Earth.
• Fan Disservice: The anime is filled to the brim with nudity and sex scenes. Horrible things always follow or occur at the same time.
• Fantastic Nuke: While the show has very real nukes a fantastic example are God's bombardments of the earth, with the "nukes" being falling angels that explode into balls of light when they land.
• Fire And Water Juxtaposition: Akira and Ryo, respectively, which reflects the difference in their temperaments and personalities.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: In the aftermath of the final battle, Akira and Ryo are seen watching the stars, and though Ryo landed what is most likely a fatal blow, Akira appears to be only heavily wounded but still alive. But after the flashback sequence, he's seen again with parted and dried lips, cluing in the audience that he really was Dead All Along before Ryo figures it out himself. Though it's also possible that he didn't die immediately after Ryo offed him.
• Force Feeding: A Lighter and Softer version occurs in Episode 3. When Akira questions Ryo eating only nutrient supplements, he offers him a bite of his burger, then makes him take a bite when Ryo refuses.
• Forceful Kiss:
  • Akira gets one himself in the first episode from a girl at the Sabbath who uses it as an opportunity to force Akira to swallow a drug she had slipped into her mouth.
  • Akira gives one to Miki in Episode 3, but only because she was possessed at the time and he was trying to get the demon out of her.
• Foreshadowing:
  • In the first episode, when Ryo recounts his studies in South America with Dr. Fikira, Fikira mentions knowing exactly what Ryo was before committing suicide to prevent himself from becoming a demon, calling Ryo a devil in his dying moments. In the end, Ryo turns out to not just be any devil, but THE Devil, Satan, himself.
    • In addition, a much later scene where God's light hits Earth and takes down the entirety of the demon controlled US Navy, Ryo has a much larger Freak Out than anyone else, implying that subconsciously he knows it is his sworn enemy responsible.
    • There's also the not-so-subtle hint that is his apartment number being 666.
  • When Akira and Ryo argue about Miki's fate, Ryo tells Akira, "Choose. Live with me, or die with her." As the finale would show, Akira chooses the latter.
  • Most of Tako’s scenes involve them meowing and pawing at an empty food bowl. This turns out to be a hint that they are a Devilman, who are supposed to have a massive appetite.
  • When the whole world starts to fall into madness, one of the atrocities Miki sees on her smartphone is a post by a man who killed a cat with a knife, captioned "I stabbed a Devilcat!". This is exactly how Tako comes to reveal its Devilman form, after being stabbed by a crazed woman. Also, there's the fact that Taro dresses Tako as cartoon Devilman at one point.
• For the Evulz: The guy who the rappers mistook to be Kukun suddenly falsely accuses them of harming him, most likely just because they even bothered him to begin with.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus:
  • In the opening, there's a sequence of Rorschach-esque ink splashes forming different shapes. They seem random at first, but they're actually images of the various demons who appear in the series. ^note  In order: Kaim, Silene, Xenon, Miko, Jinmen, and lastly Psycho Jenny (her eye at least).
  • Several of the nasty messages appearing on-screen in response to Miki's long post on her social media accounts in defense of Devilman. For example, one accuses (in English) her family of using human flesh in their restaurant's vegetarian dishes.
  • In the final episode, Satan plainly explains to Akira during his monologue how demons and devilmen have become the basis of all human myths and legends, particularly showing a still images montage of a Wolf-Man, Vlad III the Impaler, Ganesha, a Sphinx, a Minotaur, a Centaur, Hayagriva, and the prehistoric fossils of a chimeric monster with an avian head and lobster pincers and a manticore-like fossil.
• From the Mouths of Babes: Taro likes to log into Akira's account on the PC when nobody's around. Akira being a red-blooded young man means that Taro gets to see all kinds of vulgar things, leading him to repeat nonsense he doesn't understand like "Doctors make a lot of money giving out illegal drugs!" and "It's because your body has filled out" at the breakfast table.
• Fusion Dance: One of the demons' common abilities. As Satan explains to Akira, demons do this as a survival mechanism, constantly fusing with each other to become stronger and stronger.
  • Silene and Kaim combine into one demon in order to kill Devilman and easily overpower him. Unfortunately, Silene's wounds prior to their fusion were too much that they die before they can land the killing blow.
  • Also in the final battle, Akira's Devilman army offer to fuse with Akira to restore his limbs, which repeatedly get blown off during his battle with Satan.
• Goldfish Poop Gang: Wam and his posse. When the world goes to hell, they side with Akira and Miki.
• Good Wings, Evil Wings: Inverted. Akira's Devilman form has him sprouting a pair of black bat-like wings and his overall appearance is monstrous and horrifying, but Akira is a hero through and through and seeks to protect humanity. On the other hand, Ryo's Satan form has several pairs of angelic wings and is practically bathed in white light, but Ryo is the Big Bad of the series and is plotting the humans' demise.
• Gorn: To call this anime violent would be a gross understatement.
• Gory Discretion Shot:
  • When a demon-possessed Reijiro kills Kaori, we don't get to see the act itself, but the aftermath is shown through their shadows from outside the bus.
  • Similarly, when Ryo halves Akira, the scene is shown purely through their silhouettes behind a fog.
• Gratuitous English: A lot of characters tend to speak English, with Ryo as the primary example. Most of it is spoken with great fluency, but there are times when it sounds quite Narmy.
• Gratuitous Rap: There's quite a lot of rapping in the first few episodes of the series, but it is performed well, especially since the characters who do the rapping are actually voiced by real-life rappers (and in one case in the English dub, by the frontman of a rock band).
• Grievous Bottley Harm: Similar to the manga, Ryo decides to make the Sabbath a truly demonic party by killing people with a broken bottle.
• "Groundhog Day" Loop: The ending heavily implies the entire series is one to Ryo/Satan and just another iteration of God's punishment to Satan by making him constantly relive losing Akira.
• Gun Nut: Ryo likes to carry guns on his person, using a machine gun in the first episode, then later, a sniper rifle and a shotgun.
• Guy Liner:
  • Akira gains noticeably thick outlines around his eyes after merging with Amon.
  • Taro gets these later on too, signifying that he became a Devilman.
• Half-Breed Discrimination: The Devilmen may have not lost themselves to the demons possessing them but they're still essentially half-demon, thus humans still label them as an enemy. This even leads Moyuru to join the demons.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Akira and all other Devilmen are this, since even though they've merged with demons, they're still able to fully retain their humanity and their sanity, and can use their newly-gained powers any time they wish.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: In the final battle, Akira tears Moyuru in half. This is also Akira's eventual fate.
• Heel–Face Turn: Miko gets over her vengeful nature against Miki that was exasperated after becoming a Devilman and tries her best to save her.
• He Knows Too Much: Ryo kills Nagasaki since he knows about Akira being a Devilman, and almost kills Miki out of suspicion that she also knows.
• Hidden Depths: Kukun is a member of Wam's posse, but is actually a very kind and empathetic young man. He demonstrates his depths to Miko with a very soulful poem he came up with on the spot.
• Hope Spot:
  • When Akira calls out to his father and begs him to overcome the demon possessing him, it looks like that his father might actually succeed. But then Jinmen takes over at the last minute and cuts off part of his head, essentially killing off Akira's father.
  • In Episode 9 Miki goes through several of these. Unlike the original manga she has a few allies on her side that are fighting their hardest to keep her safe but one by one they fall, punctuated by her having flashbacks of her running with them and passing the torch to Akira. Unfortunately, she gets headed off by the rest of the gang members who murder her before Akira can save her.
• Horror Hunger: As stated in the Big Eater section, anyone who becomes a Devilman develops a really large appetite, and this time human meat is an additional option in their menu. They can live without eating any humans, but if they starve and don't sate their hunger soon, they'll prioritize eating human meat above all else. This happens to Taro when he becomes a Devilman, and he can't stop himself from eating a dog, then later his own mother.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: A recurring theme in the second half of the series. The demons are anything but benevolent, but the anime repeatedly shows that a lot of humans aren't any different from them.
• I Can't Do This by Myself: Ryo taunts Akira by invoking this trope, stating that with the imminent war between humans and demons, Akira won't be able to change the big picture no matter what he does since in the end, he's just one Devilman. Of course, this gives Akira the idea to find the other Devilmen, which causes Ryo to panic.
• Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: The titles of the episodes are based on a quote any of the characters say (or contextually say, in the case of Episode 7) in every respective episode. The sole exception is Episode 10, which is, well... a bit more complicated.
• I'm a Humanitarian: Many demons enjoy eating humans. Taro, tragically, starts eating his own mother when his hunger for meat gets the better of him.
• I'm Crying, but I Don't Know Why/I'm Having Soul Pains: Ryo has this moment when Akira's death (at his hands, no less) finally sinks in.
• The Immodest Orgasm:
  • When Miko masturbates, practically the entire neighborhood can hear her howling like a cat in heat, though it sounds like a donkey to the audience due to her moans being digitally filtered.
  • When Silene masturbates while thinking of Amon, she climaxes so hard that she loses her human disguise.
  • Akira awakens from an Erotic Dream with a loud cry as he ejaculates all over his bedroom ceiling, much to his dismay when he sees it dripping.
• In the Style of: Devilman, but if adapted by David Fincher in vein of his works of similar aesthetic such as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) and including his Signature Style (dark neo-noirs with low Mood Lighting, a cold, claustrophobic feeling throughout and one or more gut-punch moments, plus music that resembles the work of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross).
• Inelegant Blubbering: When Akira has to break the news to Miki that her entire family is dead. Miki immediately goes to her room without a word. Akira, unable to say anymore, tilts his head back and begins to cry loudly. Miki, upon hearing Akira's sobs, is finally hit by what has happened and soon both of them are heard wailing.
• Instantly Proven Wrong: When Akira tries to assure Ryo in Episode 4 that Miki remembers nothing about being possessed, Ryo plays a recorded conversation that Akira had with Miki moments ago, showing that he knows otherwise.
• Interplay of Sex and Violence: Many examples are present throughout the series, from the Sabbath sex party where Devilman is born to Devilman's battle with Silene.
• Irony:
  • It's quite possible that Akira could have saved Miki had he flown to her town in Episode 9. But it's a Call-Back to what Ryo said in the first episode, that human abilities have limits. It's symbolic of Akira clinging on to his humanity. He casts it away in the last episode after he sees Miki dying.
  • In Episode 8, Ryo decides to fuel humanity's fear of demons by telling them that anyone who acts even a bit differently than usual is most likely a demon. And this is when he is starting to act completely unlike himself, starting the broadcast in a completely calm mood before acting more and more erratic near the end.
  • It never crosses Satan's mind that he's just as "icy cold" as the God he's rebelling against.
  • Akira, who is infamous in this adaption for letting his tears flow freely for others, has no more tears left to shed once he learns the truth about Ryo and his role in killing Miki. By contrast, Ryo as the reawakened Satan sheds tears for Akira upon discovering he killed him — totally unlike his cold persona for the duration of the series prior.
  • Ryo's obsession with Akira is amusing when you consider Akira embodies all the virtuous traits in humanity that Ryo supposedly hates, or at least views to be empty sentiment. It's even more amusing when you consider that Satan's hatred extends to wanting humanity dead, and yet he wants to have Akira's eternal companionship; assuming Akira did ever join Satan, he'd have to put up with these human sentiments for all eternity. Though you could argue that Ryo is lying about these sentiments not mattering to him.
  • The Bible holds the message to test the good nature of any being, and to not let things that seem beautiful sway you, when they might actually be out to destroy you — which reflects Akira's friendship with Satan, who appears as an angel of light. Part of Akira's downfall is that he was too trusting of his best friend, ignorant of or unwilling to see the signs of darkness in Ryo. This also extends to the fandom somewhat, because despite Satan's horrific actions his character has an enormous fanbase (though this doesn't necessarily mean that they condone his actions).
  • Ryo's dismissal of Miki is ironic when you consider his deep-seated affection for Akira, because she already has the answer to winning his heart. Ryo fails to realize that those human sentiments of love, loyalty, and basic human decency are far too important to Akira for him to ever let go, and Ryo's encouragement of Akira's demonic urges is antithetical to who he is. Miki understood this, fully embracing the fact that he still had a human heart despite having the body of a demon. Not killing people without good reason is the bare minimum for friendship, but unless Ryo understood Akira as Miki did, he would never stand a chance of gaining Akira's love.
  • A passage in the Bible points out that Satan is the father of lies, and sure enough, Ryo is not above lying in order to manipulate the situation to his benefit. Keeping that in mind, the biggest irony is that Ryo's biggest lie is the one he told to himself: namely that love isn't real, and therefore sorrow (which is caused by the loss of what/who you love) can't be real. By embracing this lie, Satan is able to deny that he loves Akira, even though this lie ends up being the most painful of all the lies he's ever told.
    You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. — John 8:44
• Jiggle Physics: Miko has a notably large bust that moves about in a realistic manner when she runs.
• Join or Die: In the final episode, Ryo reveals his true form and his origins to Akira, before inviting him to join the other demons. Naturally, Akira refuses and vows revenge for Miki's death. Ryo doesn't kill him then and there, but subtly warns him that the next time they meet, he will do so.
• Kick the Dog: More like Kill the Cat, which happens to the Makimuras' pet cat when the neighbors start to go out on a hunt for Miki's blood. Said cat then reveals itself to be a Devilman, but even then they only live long enough to die against Satan in the final battle.
• Killed Offscreen: What happens to Kukun. It isn't shown what exactly happened in the Sabbath party he and Miko were in, but a few images confirm that he was one of the casualties.
• Leave No Witnesses: Ryo is very adamant about keeping the existence of demons and Devilman a secret, dispatching anyone who may know about them and even threatening to kill Miki. Eventually, he pulls a 180 and exposes the existence of demons and Devilmen, as well as Akira's identity, to plunge the world into chaos.
• Light Is Not Good: Ryo is blonde, has pale skin, and is always dressed in white. But despite being one of the protagonists and having noble intentions (at least before his Face–Heel Turn), he's ruthless and suffers from a Lack of Empathy. This is played much straighter when he transforms into Satan.
• Like Brother and Sister: Akira and Miki straddles the line with this despite clearly having Unresolved Sexual Tension. They're decidedly not a couple in this adaptation, unlike in the original, and Akira even refers to Miki's father as being his uncle. Quite a few of the side characters see that there's more there however and Akira does have an erotic dream about Miki in Episode 5.
• Love Confession:
  • Kukun gives one to Miko in the form of a freestyle rap song.
  • Both Miko and Miki give one to each other in Episode 9, and twice to boot.
  • It's subtle, but Ryo's opening monologue in the first episode turns out to be one to Akira.
• Love Dodecahedron: Of the pentagon variety. Ryo has feelings for Akira, who has feelings for Miki, who also holds a flame for Akira, but Miki is loved/hated by Miko, who also expresses an interest in Akira, while Miko is crushed on by Kukun, who Miko may or may not like back. Phew.
• Love Hurts: The implied reason why Ryo refuses to acknowledge the existence of love and thus the fact that he's in love with Akira, who he will inevitably lose.
  Ryo: There is no such thing as love. Therefore, there is no sorrow.
• The Masquerade: This is the only reason why humanity doesn't know about the existence of demons and devilmen, both due to extensive government cover-up to prevent widespread panic, and a mixture of nobody believing anyone and everyone being too terrified to want to believe it. It's blown wide the fuck open once Ryo records irrefutable proof of Moyuru Koda going on a rampage as a devilman.
• Man Hug: Akira and Ryo share a few of these.
• Manipulative Editing: When Ryo broadcasts Akira's becoming Devilman, he uses footage filmed from the Sabbath party, but edits the footage to make Akira seem like a homicidal bloodthirsty monster when, in truth, the deaths had occurred before Akira's transformation. He even edits his own killings by blotting out his face.
• Meaningful Echo: Ryo's entire monologue about how love and sorrow doesn't exist takes a whole new meaning when he repeats it in the finale. At first, it sounds like he's simply reflecting, but it turns out that he's actually confessing his feelings to Akira.
• Meaningful Name: Crybaby refers to Akira's sensitivity and his tendency to cry easily. Even after getting his Devilman powers, Akira still has a habit of crying. Crying is meant to represent him still maintaining his humanity. When he declares he has no more tears to shed in the last episode is when he becomes doomed to lose against Satan. It also counts as Double Meaning since it's also in the last episode, where Akira is no longer able to cry, that Satan cries for the first and last time.
• Meet Your Early-Installment Weirdness: Invoked — the '70s Devilman exists as a Show Within a Show in-universe, serving as an inspiration for Ryo to make his own Devilman using Akira and naming him after the character. Akira himself is also revealed to have '70s Devilman merchandise in his room.
• Mirrored Confrontation Shot: The opening has one between Akira and Ryo.
• Monster of the Week: Akira spends the first few episodes fighting different demons. The story becomes more arc based after episode 6.
• Mood Whiplash: There are a few abrupt comical deaths during otherwise morbid slaughter scenes, such as that of a runner who was listening to his music during the whole scene and never noticed any of the deaths going on around him.
• Mythology Gag:
  • One of the female Devilmen shown in the final episode is depicted with a coral-like structure covering her breasts and groin, similar to Mikiko's appearance in the original manga.
  • At one point, Akira frets over taking off his shoes when entering somebody's house, just as he did in the OVA.
  • Like in the OVA, instead of targeting a young girl to get Akira's attention, Jinmen used his own mother. However, the twist goes further: he is using Akira's father as a host.
  • A Blink-and-You-Miss-It scene where Akira uses a lint roller on his bed to remove the fur plastered on the sheets — alluding to his tendency to transform in his sleep, which was also featured in the parody OVA series CB Chara Go Nagai World.
  • Ryo's hairstyle when he reverts to his original form is very similar to the wig he briefly wore in the spin-off Devilman Saga in a failed attempt to seduce Akira.
• Nipple and Dimed: Sometimes you don't see the nipples, but more often than not you will. However, despite giving permission to go all-out with the blood and nudity, Netflix still draws the line at explicitly showing any genitalia. Not that the animators didn't get around that...
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: The first public reveal of the existence of demons features a still of the extreme reaction within the Oval Office, and the President's resemblance to Donald Trump is obvious.
• Nocturnal Emission: Akira has a wet dream that, thanks to his demonic nature, leaves the ceiling of his room covered in his genetic material.
• Not Himself: Akira's personality and physique change drastically after merging with Amon; from a quiet softy who is suggested to watch porn to a cocky, devil-may-care badass who explicitly watches porn at school, and from the worst runner on the track team to so blazing fast that he could rival Olympic athletes.
• Not His Sled: Oh, no, Miki still dies, but her family dies differently in this iteration than in the original. Here, they die before the climatic attack in the Makimura household, where Taro becomes a Devilman and cannot control his appetite so he eats his mother. Oh, and their father finds them at this moment, AND the military happens to be there too, resulting in an "Everybody Dies" Ending scenario.

O-Y

• Oh, Crap!:
  • Ryo has a Freak Out when God wipes out an entire naval fleet of demons. And beforehand, Ryo briefly loses his composure when Akira states his plans to find the other Devilmen and gather them together, though he's confused at why he reacted that way.
  • Akira, initially thinking that Ryo intends to calm people's fears about the Devilmen and not give into bigotry when he addresses the world, has this reaction when Ryo tells the world's leaders to do the exact opposite and outs Akira as a Devilman, right in front of Akira's friends who are also watching the broadcast.
• Ominous Latin Chanting: The track "D.V.M.N.", which is played a lot in the series, has this playing after the long overture.
• Once More, with Clarity:
  • In Episode 1, the introduction has some scenes with Ryo and Akira as children. In Episode 10 this is revisited with more context, just to expound on the tragedy of the story.
  • There's also the entire scene before the above example, which is played again in the finale, but with Satan narrating along to explain the origins of both himself and the demons.
• One-Steve Limit: This time around, there are two characters named Miki: Miki Makimura and Miki Kuroda. To get around this, their classmates continue to call the former by her name while nicknaming the latter "Miko", much to her chagrin. In Japanese it's played with since while their given names sound the same, they're written differently (Miki's name is written in kanji while Miko's is written in katakana).
• Out with a Bang: A lot of the characters die this way, due to their partner getting possessed by a demon, or because their partner happens to be a Devilman.
• Paranoia Gambit: Ryo's plan of revealing the demons to the public turns out to be this, as he didn't do it to make them aware of the danger around them; it's so that they would be driven to madness by suspicion and fear and start killing each other. He takes it a step further when he makes a false propaganda about the origins of demons and exposes Akira's identity, which drives humanity into an world-scale nuclear war.
• A Party, Also Known as an Orgy: The Sabbath parties are rife with dancing, drugs, drinking, and other forms of debauchery. It ends up becoming a Nasty Party after a bit of blood is spilled...
• Perverted Sniffing: A demon-possessed Nagasaki does this with Miki's underwear. It's played entirely for unsettling effects.
• Please, Don't Leave Me: Ryo/Satan cries this to Akira's corpse in the finale.
• Power Incontinence: While most Devilmen immediately get the hang of their powers, there are a few who have trouble maintaining their human forms when in emotional distress. Or in Taro's case, when his hunger for meat becomes too much.
• Powerful Pick: When the angry mob's start forming, a few of them use pick-axes as weapons. Wam's body is found with one sticking out of his back, likely being the cause of his death.
• Pragmatic Adaptation: While Crybaby doesn't exactly adapt every part of the manga, with many characters and subplots getting Adapted Out (see above), it still adapts the major plot points, and said plot points are weaved together to form one cohesive story.
• Psycho Serum: Ryo concocts one in Episode 6, said serum making any Devilman who drinks it transform into their demon form and go berserk.
• Race Lift: Sort of. Miki and her brother are purely Japanese in the manga, but in Crybaby they're half-Caucasian and half-Japanese. Played for Drama latter on when her mixed ethnicity gives the paranoia stricken public another reason to lead a Witch Hunt on her.
• Raging Stiffie: Akira gets one in his tracksuit post-transformation.
• Recursive Canon: At several points, the original Devilman anime and merchandise related to it are shown to exist within the universe, and a few characters acknowledge the similar appearances of both Devilmen. That being said, at one point Akira does a web search for "Akira Fudo" and gets zero results so, presumably, their version of the Devilman franchise is different.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni:
  • Akira is empathic, Hot-Blooded, and the one who does the fighting whenever demons are concerned; whereas Ryo is borderline sociopathic, composed, and the strategist who provides Akira information about the demons and their whereabouts.
  • Miki is sociable and outgoing while Miko is more reticent and introverted. After Miko becomes a Devilman, this dynamic becomes reversed: Miki remains sociable and outgoing but becomes the Blue Oni to Miko's fiercely competitive and combative Red Oni.
• Sarcastic Confession: Akira rescues Miki from Ghelmer, but Miki doesn't remember anything prior to being possessed. She has the feeling that Akira "saved" her, even though she can't remember why she feels that way. When she questions him about it, he confirms in a playful tone that he did save her, before stating that she was just dreaming.
• Say My Name: The final line you hear in the ending is Ryo crying out Akira's name in anguish.
• Sekaikei Genre: The original Devilman functionally grandfathered the genre through its Spiritual Adaptation, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Crybaby leans even more into it, with the deterioration of the world around Akira and Ryo being a direct reflection of their own failing relationship.
• Self-Made Orphan: There are two tragic examples:
  • Akira kills his mother to save her from A Fate Worse Than Death of being forever trapped in Jinmen's shell, and said demon already killed his father beforehand.
  • Taro kills his own mother, and also inadvertently gets his father killed, due to his transformation into a Devilman.
• Senseless Sacrifice: In this show every sacrifice is ultimately pointless.
  • Kaim gives his body to Silene who was wounded in her fight against Akira, but the wounds were too severe and, even with the new body, she dies before she can finish Akira off.
  • In Episode 9, Miko tries to buy Miki more time in running by stalling the mob, though this doesn't ultimately work since Miki ends up dying anyway.
  • All the Devilmen that kill themselves during the final battle against Satan, to provide Akira with power-ups or replace his destroyed body parts, do so for nothing since Satan kills Akira anyway.
• Sequel Hook: After the Earth is destroyed and the timeline is reset a keen eye will notice that there are two moons.
• Setting Update: Given that the manga was written in the 1970s, it only makes sense that this adaptation is far more modernized. Instead of the 1970s-1980s, The story takes place around the late 2010s, with the upgraded technology to prove it.
• Seven Deadly Sins: Some of the characters represent a certain sin, and said sin ends up being their undoing.
  • Pride: Ryo/Satan. His Darwinian mindset, his contempt for humanity and their virtues, and his plans to overthrow God blinds him to what he truly desires. When he does finally get what he thought he wants, only then he realizes too late what his plans had cost him and all he can do is grieve about it.
  • Wrath: Akira. Akira's greatest strength lies in his empathy; however, Miki's death broke him so much that he's left unable to shed tears for the pain of others. While he doesn't turn his back on humanity, he now fights in the name of revenge and anger rather than love and understanding, and he ends up meeting his end at Satan's hands.
    • Hie also represents this. When he noticed Kukun's glasses in Miko's bag, he irrationally concludes her to be his killer and shortsightedly focuses on avenging his death no matter how misguided it is, especially since Miko was not Kukun's killer, even if it takes betraying Wamu and Gabi, whom Hie likely considered them traitors to Kukun's memory, and joining the mob to kill not just Miko, but Miki too. Hie eventually pays the fiddler when Akira catches him and his accomplices relishing in the bloodshed and incinerates them all.
  • Envy: Miko. Her resentment at Miki being better than her at everything led her to become a Devilman, which spurred on her ego and made her act purely out of self-interest. What differs her from the others is that while she still dies, she redeemed herself beforehand by confiding to Miki about her true feelings and reconciling with her.
  • Sloth: Moyuru. He has no interest in fighting for either demons or humans, with only his survival being his priority. Not long after, he receives a brutal death when he sides with the demons purely out of self-preservation.
  • Lust: Silene. Her seduction of Akira in an attempt to reunite with Amon is what does her in, since when she calls for Amon to awaken and take her, Akira responds by brutalizing her via Interplay of Sex and Violence to the point that her death is only a matter of minutes.
  • Gluttony: Taro. His excessive curiosity made him a Devilman, and as he lacks knowledge in how to deal with this change he couldn't contain his hunger, leading him to eat his mother... just as his father catches him in the act, and they all end up dead when the military spots them.
  • Greed: Nagasaki. The standard photographer character trying to get a big scoop by investigating dangerous events. How else are things going to end for him?
• Shameful Strip: Akira does this to a pair of athletes to make them spill the beans about Moyuru's backstory.
• Shout-Out:
  • Devilman precedes Neon Genesis Evangelion, but the way a few scenes are cinematically played out in Crybaby are similar to some of the scenes in The End of Evangelion, possibly as acknowledgement of how Devilman inspired the anime. Here's a comparison post if you want to see all the similarities.
  • The mid-credits scene in Episode 9 where Akira rides a bike with Miki lovingly embracing him is one to the ending of the Lighter and Softer 1972 adaptation.
• Shown Their Work: Despite the otherwise supernatural setting, light based attacks are shown to actually move at the speed of light. When Akira dodges Satan's energy beam which splits the moon in two the light from the attack realistically impacts the moon in just over a second. Light travels between the Earth and the Moon in about 1.3 seconds, meaning this is spot on. Also, given how fast light is the light would impact first, and the moon being split in two would render to the human eye in the next second. Seems there are some physics that even Satan can't defy.
• Slasher Smile:
  • Akira gives a good and memorable one when he first transforms into Devilman; he actually gives a lot of these whenever he's fighting demons.
  • Ryo/Satan lets out one right before he cleaves Akira in half.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: DEVILMAN crybaby is definitely not a happy series. Unlike most of Yuasa's other works which are idealistic stories with cynical undertones, Crybaby lies far more on the cynical end.
• Spoiler Opening: It is subtle but the opening contains many spoilers for the keen-eyed viewer. Including Akira's and Miki's deaths, the destroyed state of the world by the end of the series, and Ryo being Satan.
• Spotting the Thread: As Ryo points out, one way to know when demons or Devilmen are involved is when there's an athlete who suddenly gains incredible physical prowess.
• The Starscream: Xenon spends most of the series as a Dragon with an Agenda until Ryo steps up as the new leader of the demons. Xenon has his loyalists bomb Ryo's apartment in a vain attempt to usurp him. Interestingly, by the time this plan actually goes into effect, Xenon had already been killed by Akira.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: When Akira chases after a possessed Miki in Episode 3, Miki seems to be the one in the lead with Akira giving chase. But she turns around and sees Akira right in front of her, giving a Slasher Smile that clearly says "Caught you".
• Stock Footage:
  • One instance happens, where Akira's roaring in Episode 1 is repeated in the following episode when he fights another group of demons.
  • Footage of the characters running for track and field, especially with Miki, tends to be reused fairly often.
• Straight Gay: Koda seems to only sleep with men, but you wouldn't be able to guess that if it wasn't shown to you in explicit detail.
• Suddenly Shouting: When Akira realizes that Ryo can't be reasoned with regarding the humans' descent into war, he calmly declares his plans to find the other Devilmen and starts to leave. When Ryo attempts to stop him, Akira ferociously yells at him to get out of the way.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
  • What happens when someone starts spreading a particular moment on social media in a situation where privacy has become nonexistent? That person ends up getting doxxed, as Miki ends up learning it the hard way, and very hard.
  • Miki may be an extremely fast runner, but there's a significant difference in speed when you're running with shoes and when barefoot, which doesn't end well for her when she tries to run from a murderous mob who are chasing her on wheels.
  • As powerful and passionate as Akira is, he's still ultimately just one person fighting a hopelessly one-sided war against demonkind. At the end he ultimately loses to Ryo.
  • Once the existence of demons is revealed to the world and things start getting real, Akira and Miki's attempts to rally humankind and stop them from destroying one another out of paranoia fail spectacularly, as it is impossible to reason with a crowd of people who are too blinded by hatred and bloodlust. The former is lucky, because it took about a dozen of minors approaching him for the adults to finally stand down. The latter? Not so much....
• They Look Like Us Now: Demons can't exist without possessing something or someone. While they took the shape of various beasts in the past, they prefer possessing humans, and some are able to blend in perfectly with society. This is partly the reason why humans became insanely paranoid after learning about their existence.
• This Cannot Be!: Ryo says something to this effect in the beginning of Episode 8, which makes him question who he really is.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: In the Crapsack World the series takes place in, Miki is one of the very few characters whose personality doesn't change for the worse, and even after learning Akira's secret identity as Devilman, doesn't resent him and even encourages the world to support him. Of course, it's because she's unfailingly kind that she dies in the most gruesome fashion.
• Tragic Bromance: Akira and Ryo's relationship, in a nutshell. Though Ryo's feelings are more romantic in nature.
• Tragic Keepsake:
  • Kukun's sunglasses, which Miko keeps after his implied death.
  • Wam's earring, which he gave to Miki as a protection charm. After both of their deaths, Akira wears the earring throughout the finale.
• Tragic Monster: Many of the Devilmen count as this, since they keep their memories and at least a modicum amount of their prior personality when they were still human.
  • Of note is Taro who is forced to lose his humanity when he eats his own mother out of instinctual hunger, cries when his father points a gun on him, and soon after he and his father gets gunned down by the army.
  • Another is Miko, who in Episode 9 remembers that despite her jealousy towards Miki, she also loves her and tries to save her from the lynch mob. Unfortunately, her compassion ends up getting herself killed and her sacrifice ends up being a pointless one as Miki dies anyway.
• Trailers Always Spoil: While none of the trailers show the ending, a few previews briefly show Satan, whose identity is supposed to remain a mystery until the finale.
• Transformation Horror: True to how possessions are depicted in the manga, when someone is taken over by a demon, the process of their bodies shaping into a monstrous form is either horrifying, disgusting, or both.
• Troubled Fetal Position: Ryo sat in this manner during his time as a worshiped god, and the demon-worshiping natives carved a figure of him in the exact same position.
• Truer to the Text: In spite of the changes to artstyle and soundtrack, Crybaby is actually a very faithful retelling of the story of the Devilman manga in comparison to the original TV series, which took many liberties with the source material to make it safe for broadcast to children.
• Twirl of Love: In Episode 1, when Akira sees Ryo for the first time in years.
• The Unmasqued World: Ryo drugs Moyuru before a track meet and triggers a Trauma Button to cause him to go on a demonic rampage, for him to record and broadcast live. It blows up The Masquerade, and irreversibly starts the countdown to the annihilation of human civilization.
• Urban Fantasy: Much of the first half of the story focuses on Ryo and Akira hunting demons to protect humanity, of which it is later revealed that demons were the basis of all mythological gods and monsters in human history, all while The Masquerade is upheld to prevent widespread panic. This goes out the window once Ryo instigates and exposes a demon attack to record and broadcast irrefutable evidence of a demon massacre at a track team match, shattering the Masquerade and bringing the existence of demons to mankind's knowledge. This causes a gradual Genre Shift to post-apocalyptic Religious Horror as the ensuing war between humans and demons results in a gradually-escalating Apocalypse How.
• Use Your Head: At one point, while they're arguing over whether to spare Miki or not, Akira and Ryo end up literally butting their heads to the point that there's blood.
• Vagina Dentata: The most in any series on Netflix, animated or otherwise.
• Villain in a White Suit: Ryo's signature outfit consists of a long, white fur coat. Most of his other attire is similarly white. He's a young man with mysterious connections and seemingly endless money— and is the Big Bad.
• Vocal Evolution:
  • This is one of the effects on teenagers who become a Devilman, most likely because the transformation accelerated their growth through puberty. For example, Akira's voice turns from soft and meek to raucous and husky; and Miko's ladylike, gentle voice turns into a strident contralto.
  • A non-Devilman example applies for Ryo, whose voice is distinctively masculine and cold; but in his angelic form, his voice sounds much more androgynous and serene.
• Wall Jump: Akira leaps from wall to wall while chasing after a demon-possessed Miki, who in turn tries to evade him by crawling on the walls.
• Weirdness Censor: This ends up being explained as the key reason why The Masquerade was held up for so long. It's not just the sheer existence of demons being met with disbelief, it's that it's too terrifying of a prospect for humanity to want to even consider. The Masquerade is blown wide open when Ryo gets irrefutable evidence of a demonic rampage, though.
• We Used to Be Friends: Throughout two-thirds of the series, Akira and Ryo remain friends even after Ryo informs the world about demons, though their relationship becomes strained by that point. But then Ryo exposes Akira's identity as Devilman, and they spend the last two episodes as enemies. This dynamic doesn't last for long though, since their first battle ends up being their last, and while Akira loses and dies, Ryo shows remorse for killing him and perishes almost immediately after when God destroys the Earth.
• Wham Episode:
  • Episode 6, where Ryo reveals the existence of demons to humanity. The world descends into chaos afterwards.
  • Episode 8, where Miki's family falls victim to the strife between humans and demons, followed by Ryo betraying Akira by exposing his identity as a Devilman to the public.
  • Episode 9, where Miki and half of the rapper gang (with the other half turning traitor) dies after defending Akira, with Akira arriving too late to save them and avenges them by scorching their murderers.
  • Episode 10, where the final battle between humans, Devilmen, and demons begins. Unlike what you'd expect, everyone dies with the exception of Ryo/Satan; though he doesn't get to enjoy his victory for too long.
• Wham Line: In case the story wasn't tragic enough by the last episode, this line puts the final nail on the coffin, followed by the Wham Shot as explained below:
  Ryo: Akira, why am I the only one who's talking?
• Wham Shot: In the final episode, Ryo and Akira lie side by side while Ryo talks to him. When Ryo asks why Akira hasn't said anything, the camera pans over Akira's body to reveal that he was dead the entire time, having been cut in half at the torso.
• What Is This Feeling?/What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: Ryo is perfectly aware of the concept of love, and believes in the concept of a human conscience, but doesn't necessarily believe that love exists. When he finally changes his mind, the person who made him feel love is already long dead, consequently causing him to question another emotion he's feeling and to which he also didn't believe existed: sadness.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Discussed a few times throughout the series, regarding the demons and whether they're capable of love. Akira himself wonders about this after seeing Kaim selflessly offering his life to give Silene a bit more time to fight Devilman, and Ryo states that demons have hearts but lack any conscience, but after the final battle as Satan, he's bewildered when he finds himself weeping over Akira's death. In a flashback, Akira implies that he could feel love all along, but Satan admits in the first episode that he didn't understand what he meant.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Ryo gets this from Akira quite a lot throughout the series, from attempting to kill Miki to Leave No Witnesses to intentionally triggering Koda's transformation into a demon, then airing his identity as Devilman to the world.
• Where It All Began: Akira and Ryo first met up a cliffside, then they meet there again in the final episode when Ryo reveals the truth to Akira and Akira renounces their friendship, and they ultimately die at that very same cliffside (what's left of it, anyways) in the ending.
• White Is Pure: Ryo Asuka is a blue-eyed youth with light blond hair, and associated with the colour white, since he is seen in white clothes during the course of the anime. This is deliberate: his true incarnation is Satan, an angelic androgynous being with white feathery wings, evoking the pop culture image of angels, in contrast to the titular Devilman, a demonic antihero.
• Witch Hunt: Once the existence of demons becomes public knowledge, humans begin to hunt down their own kind on the mere suspicion of being demons.
• You Need to Get Laid: A darker example: after being forced to kill his parents, Akira takes his frustrations out on other demons but he's still unable to calm down. Ryo then gives him some cash, and his words to Akira — which is basically telling him to find another alternative to vent out his stress — imply this trope.

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Nobody knows the real devil.