Alternative Character Interpretation: As summarized by a comment thread and a post on Reddit, Dante's behaviour in the anime is consistent with depressive symptoms, which might explain why his behaviour is so off compared to the games. This line of thought is derived from an earlier and somewhat more common Alternative Character Interpretation that believes Dante's more mellow personality is due to emotional fallout from the first game's events (though not necessarily to the extent of full-on depression). With the re-arranging of the timeline prior to Devil May Cry 5note The order of the games was retconned from 3 > 1 > 4 > 2 (as originally indicated by the 3142 Graphic Arts artbook) to 3 > 1 > 2 > 4, many say that this interpretation applies even more, or becomes more acceptable, since TAS now takes place right before Devil May Cry 2, where Dante was moodier than in any games made before and since. On the other hand, some viewers also theorize that Dante is mellow because most of the enemies here barely challenge him, and those that do (enough to evoke a smile on his face) still don't last long anyway, leaving him disappointed. In fact, Dante outright expresses disappointment towards Baul and Sid, even if the latter has obtained Abigail's powers.
Ass Pull: Episode 12 reveals Patty's necklace containing a shard of Alan's Tear, which conveniently allows her to repel some low-level demons and open a new portal to the underworld to wake Dante up. However, this plot point wasn't foreshadowed before, making it exclusive to this episode. One can only wonder why Patty's necklace didn't show its powers when she was nearly killed by demons in the theatre (back in Episode 1), especially when it's also mentioned early on that Patty always wears her necklace (as it's her precious memento from her mother).
Awesome Art: Madhouse's animation style fits with the overall style of the games and manga. One can only wonder how Nero, or Vergil, would look like in their style.
Broken Base: The portrayal of Dante in TAS is a point of dispute for fans. Some liked it for changing him into someone who was somewhat more realistic while retaining his coolness and badassery, but others felt that it made him Out of Character.
Sid is a cowardly lesser demon who will do anything, including murdering children and fellow demons, to rise in the ranks of Hell. Killing a man, Sid wears his skin to manipulate his friend, Nina Lowell, and later threatens Nina's life to force her daughter, Patty, to activate his ritual to summon the great demon Abigail, to absorb his power. Summoning a demon army to slaughter everyone on Earth, Sid cares nothing for the death and destruction as long as he gets to rule Hell, just to eradicate his own inferiority complex.
"Not Love": Mayor Mike Hagel's butler is a seemingly well-mannered servant whose true loyalty lies with the demon Belphegor, wishing to sacrifice the entire human population by condemning them to be Eaten Alive. Working alongside the good-hearted demon Bradley in making the preparations for their master's arrival, the butler stabs the mayor and uses his body in a ritual to summon Belphegor for him to devour the entire city while claiming that they would eventually destroy the human world. A human who stood in contrast to his benevolent and demonic partner-in-crime, almost driving his own race into extinction to satisfy his master, he served as an example of how some humans are even worse than demons.
Continuity Lock-Out: The anime's Audio Drama CD Volume 1 actually explains that Dante's shop was renamed from "Devil Never Cry" (at the end of DMC1) back to its original name of "Devil May Cry" (and it would be consistently named like that in the next installments) because Trish requested him to do so. Problem is, the Audio Drama CDs were voiced by the Japanese cast and never released outside of Japan, so most of the fanbase wasn't aware of this key plot point for several years until a fan posted an English-translated summary of Volume 1 on the Devil May Crysubreddit.
Fanon Discontinuity: Before the series timeline got re-arranged, this anime was originally supposed to take place directly between the first game and Devil May Cry 4. But because of some continuity problems, specifically the lack of mentioned references to it in 4, this anime was considered non-canon by fans. One of the main points in favor of the anime's canonicity is that it depicts how Lady and Trish first met, thus explaining why they seem well-acquainted in Devil May Cry 4, but several fans still disregard the anime and skip it. Any issues about the anime's canonicity or relevance would eventually be put to rest with the appearances of Patty and Morrison in 5.
He Really Can Act: Reuben Langdon (going under the alias "Justin Cause") does an impressive job of voicing this iteration of Dante, which is particularly notable given that, as noted under the Broken Base section, Langdon had not portrayed Dante as he was depicted in the first game, back when he didn't have some of the quirks he is known for now.
In Episode 1, Dante jokingly says he'd ask young Patty out on a date "in about 10 years or so", but Patty isn't comfortable with it and says she'd quickly decline that offer. By Devil May Cry 5, Patty has turned 18 and she's now inviting Dante to her birthday party, much to his discomfort. The tables have turned, now Dante is the one trying to decline an offer from her.
When Lady hires Dante to investigate a biker gang in Episode 2, he exclaims "What the hell is this!?" Dante would later ask the exact same question in Devil May Cry 4 when looking at a rainforest, and it became a commonly memed clip from that game. Reuben Langdon's delivery is even almost the same in these two scenes!
Episodes 3 and 8 show Dante's odd "habit" of sleeping with a magazine covering his face. In Devil May Cry 5, his nephew Nero has picked up on this quirk as well in a cutscene; having slept with a magazine on his face while waiting for Nico to arrive at the Qliphoth.
Throughout the show, Dante is dealing with the difficulty of being in debt. In DmC: Devil May Cry, this is the method by which Mundus, who in that continuity poses as a Morally Bankrupt Banker in his human form, plans on using debt to control the Human World.
Following the announcement and release of Devil May Cry 5, new viewers went into this anime mostly to understand who Morrison and Patty are, and why they are acquainted with Dante and his other allies. This is usually done to ease the Continuity Lock-Out effect induced by DMC5 now that it confirmed the anime as a canon material to the games.
Memetic Badass: Dante, in a similar vein to how "Cutscene Dante" jokes are circulated within the games. Some fans have joked that he either abused his Trickster Style or used an overpowered version of it to justify his Offscreen Teleportation scene in Episode 5 when he suddenly appeared in front of Isaac's car in the distance despite being last shown in Isaac's apartment.
Narm Charm: In the theatre scene of Episode 1, there is absolutely no logical reason for a Dramatic Spotlight to follow the characters there, such as Dante when he appears to save Patty, and especially when Sid flees the scene in fear and panic. It just begs the question on who's operating those lights at that time. However, it's still par for the course of the franchise being over-the-top. In fact, Devil May Cry 4 would later use the same trope for its "Agnus Redux" cutscene.
No Yay: The Prison Warden hits on Dante in one scene and is strongly implied to be raping the inmates on a regular basis.
So Okay, It's Average: General consensus says the anime is just okay. It's not great because the fight scenes are very short and can't represent well the Rule of Cool factor of the games. However, it's not too bad either because it still has some funny moments, it explains how Lady and Trish first met, and it actually supplements the Devil May Cry lore, worldbuilding, and characterizations.
Spiritual Successor: Devil May Cry: The Animated Series is considered to be too similar to the Hellsing TV series, as both aired in the 2000s, featuring a red-clad supernatural protagonist armed with their signature black-and-white pair of handguns while battling other forces of evil in an Urban Fantasy setting. Their story structures are also both primarily self-contained adventures before bringing them to a linked final conclusion at the end of the season.
Squick: This anime series has a lot of blood and gore, and it's Bloodier and Gorier than the three Devil May Cry games that were released before it, but one particular nasty shot comes from the opening of Episode 12. While Sid is transforming into Abigail, all of his teeth pop off from his mouth, blood included, and they fall to the floor.
Vindicated by History: This 2007 anime received a warmer reception from fans on 2018 onwards when Devil May Cry 5 resolved some questions that plagued it before:
For a decade, this anime was considered non-canon by some of the games' fans because DMC4 doesn't retain its original characters such as Patty and Morrison, and it isn't covered in that game's Previously on… video (which only summarized the first three games). Any issues about the anime's canonicity ended when DMC5 was announced on 2018, which confirmed the debut of Morrison and Patty in a DMC game (although the latter only makes a voiced cameo via phone call), and also referenced it in the "History of DMC" video which serves as a recap of the classic continuity.
Because the anime was originally supposed to take place between DMC1 and DMC4, Dante's moody characterization here was considered Out of Character because it's sandwiched between games where he's goofy and happy-go-lucky. After the series timeline was re-arranged to make the anime take place between DMC1 and DMC2 instead, the fandom now saw a cohesiveness in Dante's personality shift from the second game.
The Woobie: Isaac from Episode 5. At first, he seems like the standard jerk you'd see on this kind of show. Hitting on Cindy, the waitress. But when he hears that he should be more like Dante, he starts becoming obsessed with Dante, to the point of repeatedly injuring himself trying to find Dante's secrets. As it would be to any normal person, he starts believing that Dante is dangerous, and puts himself in greater danger trying to prove it. Thankfully, however, Dante chooses to help him out, and he gets the girl by the end.
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