One For The Gamers

Written by XSpectreGreyX on January 17, 2012 at 6:24 AM

I love the Devil May Cry (DMC) series. It basically invented the Hack n' Slash genre and innovated when many gamers were tired of slow horror games like Resident Evil. So when I found out an anime based on some of the best action games in history was released I had to check it out.
Story:
The anime follows the exploits of Dante, the half-demon half-human son of Legendary Dark Knight Sparda. Unlike the games, the anime follows his every day work that is being a bounty hunter specializing in demons. Although Dante comes off as a relatively simple character, he sticks to his own morals and is interesting to watch, although he doesn't develop much, since this anime is set after the first DMC game, which is where most of his character development occurs. But there is some paternalism to him this time, which I interpret as him trying to resolve his relationship with his father. The anime depicts Dante killing Demons and a character named Sid who tends to plot in the background. The last two episodes seem to be the worst, as they are much too dramatic for the series, which has always taken its plot lightly. It seems to be common in the DMC series for any plot that doesn't revolve around Sparda to be below-average. The few episodes that do involve Sparda are great, and if the whole anime was based around this plot, I would definitely rate this higher.
Dialogue
Let me say this: watch the dub. The Japanese voice actor didn't seem to know his character, and so passes Dante off as somewhat of an emo figure; he seems to hate things and brood. The dub, in contrast, is very similar to the games in that they pass Dante off as not hating things and brooding, but just being bored. Don't let the white hair and red trench coat fool you, Dante is in no way an emo character, he is a smart-ass, trash talking, immature demon hunter who owes money to everyone he knows and likes to eat pizza (and strawberry sundaes apparently) while gambling what little money he has left away. The dialogue in the dub is much better, in that it shows a much more laid-back element of the characters, something that they are, not the generic mean girl and slut portrayed in the Japanese version. Truly, it seems like the English voice actors really studied up on their characters, whereas the Japanese voice actors did not, although this doesn't stop the English oice actor of Lady from sounding horribly bored.
Animation:
The animation is top notch, as one would expect from such an action packed anime. The animation depicts the brutality of the games while remaining heavily stylized like the games. Watching Dante fight feels like he's trying to max out his style meter (haha, gaming jokes) and shows how carefree the character is. The animation is great, and the demons are truly monstrous, much more so than their video game counter parts, which actually makes them somewhat scary.
Entertainment:
What you get out of DMC really depends on if you like Dante. As a gamer, I’ve followed him long enough to enjoy watching the action instead of playing. But I know that some people might find him annoying. Some people may find the combat too laid back. Honestly, if you aren’t a DMC fan, this is a very average anime. However, since I am a DMC fan, I enjoyed this show immensely, and would recommend it to any gamer eager to watch Dante’s exploits.