Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. It’s the last week of the Netflix arc and I can think of no better way to end than with one of Netflix’s latest animes Devil May Cry. I have a lot of history when it comes to Devil May Cry. The Madhouse adaption was the first anime I ever reviewed and started Project Nitsuj. Shockingly, at that time, I had never played a Devil May Cry game. I knew about the series, story, and characters so when I watched the anime nothing felt confusing to me. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of playing all the games and falling more in love with the series. Despite releases being scarce, everyone always gets excited whenever they see or hear anything about Devil May Cry, and can you blame us? It’s a great series. The characters, stories, action, and music are all great. Dante is one of if not the greatest rogue hero out there. Even if you’re not familiar with videogames, anybody could pick these games up, play them, and have a blast. Adi Shankar was also a fan of the series. After making Castlevania a hit and working on a few other projects, it was announced that his next videogame project would be an original take on Devil May Cry. People were excited. The trailer looked good, it really did seem like the show would capture the spirit of the original games and what was everyone’s overall thoughts of the series? Mixed. The negative feedback was louder than the positive and today I’m taking on the unpopular opinion and defending this series. Okay, I admit it’s not great. It has problems, but I’m not going to sit here and say it’s awful. Pull the devil trigger, this is Devil May Cry the Netflix series.
Episodes 1-4
The series starts with a bunch of masked men breaking into a cathedral to steal some priceless artifacts (the new Payday is looking good). The heist gets interrupted with the appearance of the White Rabbit a demon from Hell who hired the masked men in the first place. The only thing he’s interested in is the sword of Sparda which he gets and kills the masked men in the process before setting off explosives to scare everyone away. The news of this attack reaches the White House where president Roosevelt if he was Texan and vice president Kevin Conroy (okay, why do these feel more real than our current president and vice president?) know that it was demons responsible for the attack and Conroy actually has created a task force to fight against such threats (because he’s the goddamn Conroy). Meanwhile, in a city across the ocean we meet our favorite demon Dante voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch (Nero from DMC 5). While I miss Reuben, to Bosch’s credit, he does a good job voicing Dante here. This is a younger, brasher, but still cocky and funny Dante and I think Bosch’s voice matches up with this version of Dante. One of the big complaints of this show is Dante being weak and I don’t see anything wrong with that. Especially with this young version of Dante. This isn’t the veteran demon hunter we know from the games, this is a version of Dante who doesn’t fully understand who or what he is and will only get stronger the more he learns about himself. Anyway, we see Dante save a mom and baby from some demons with the mom not realizing that her baby has been replaced with a demon before running off. Back with Conroy, he and his team begin to round up all the so called demon hunters to see what they know about the White Rabbit. Their search leads them to a guy named Enzo (not the one from Bayonetta, but that would have been a cool cameo appearance and tie-in) who tells him that the rabbit wanted him to hire a demon hunter named Dante because he has the amulet of Sparda. So in this timeline, Sparda was the champion of Hell who sided with the humans and fought against the demons. Using his sword and powers he separated the two realms from each other and split his powers into two amulets pieces, giving one of them to each of his sons (a different setup from the games but not a bad change in my opinion). The White Rabbit wants to use the sword and the amulet to reunite the realms and release Armageddon on the world. Returning to Dante, the shapeshifting demon from before attacks Dante in the diner (good fake out with Vergil), but he fights it off and the demon escapes (https://youtu.be/g33Pu5dfpqU?si=I_0naT36GhEhcYxG).
In episode 2 Vice President Conroy sends in mercenaries and his task force to retrieve Dante’s amulet by any means necessary (or we could just work with him). This leads us to an all-out fight scene between the mercenaries and Dante. We get callbacks, references, and funny moments as Dante easily takes down the mercenaries (scenes here: https://youtu.be/OVJLCJJtCWY?si=leBuT6pLvOgZ-wZP and https://youtu.be/MdPYRTiDVMI?si=IVUTG73JKafioW-g) until Mary the leader of Conroy’s task force attacks. Now Mary is obviously Lady and I do like this interpretation of her. A skilled fighter working for the government and having a hatred for demons. The only issue, cusses like a fucking sailor. She cusses almost every time she opens her mouth. It’s like she has a bomb in her neck and if she goes one minute without cussing her head will explode (did Steven Foster write her lines?). She manages to get the amulet from Dante and even captures him a little too easily. Some fans have said Dante was nerfed in this fight and it’s hard to argue that seeing as how he took out everyone with ease all through the episode. But at the same time Mary did outsmart him and used weapons that not only harmed him but he wasn’t used to seeing. Again, this is younger Dante hasn’t come across any real challenge and usually fought against humans who underestimated him. Mary on the other hand has been fighting demons and trained to take them down.
Episode 3 begins with exploring Mary’s past. Even as a child all she wanted to do was hunt demons and then one day her family got attacked by one. Luckily, they all survived as the demon got hit by a train, but the police didn’t believe Mary’s dad who at the time was actually studying demons and the possibilities of them entering our world. He became obsessed with his research and trying to find a way to gain their powers in order to protect his family. But in the processed pushed them away. Returning back to the present, the White Rabbit and his crew attack the task force where they get the amulet and combine them with the other half, however it’s still not enough to open the portal. They make their escape with Dante chasing after them and taking each of the demons down one by one until he catches up to the White Rabbit where it seems like he’s about to unleash his devil trigger. However, the bomb implanted in his neck goes off and half his face gets blown off (scene here: https://youtu.be/owQSkj7HCgc?si=qoVo_gTTktLyBQJa. Damn, they didn’t pull any punches on the gore. That is horrifying) and getting captured by the White Rabbit.
Episode 4 begins with Mary rallying what troops she has left and going after the White Rabbit to retrieve the amulet. They track the location to an abandoned building where they fall into a trap and all of Mary’s friends and men get killed one by one until she’s the only one left. Meanwhile, Dante and Enzo get put on a plane with Conroy and the other flight attendants. It’s here that Dante finds out he’s the son of Sparda and the White Rabbit wants him to activate his devil trigger, so he decides to make the plane crash in order to set it off (sink or swim is the best motivation). From here, both Dante and Mary go through character development. Dante activates his devil trigger and accepts that he’s the son of Sparda (took you long enough. Your mom was into some freaky stuff). He kills one of the demons with his own sword (oh this embarrassment) and the other demon sets off the bombs causing the plane to explode As for Mary, she gets saved by a family hiding in the building who turn out to be demons and after chatting with them comes to realize that not all demons are evil (thank you for getting rid of the prejudice thinking).
Episodes 5-8
Picking up where episode 4 left off, episode 5 starts with Dante and the others falling out of the plane. This leads to Dante transforming into a full demon to save everyone and flying off to the tower Mary is in. Speaking of Mary she actually outsmarts the shapeshifter, kills one of the demons, saves Dante from another demon, and even gets the demon refugees out of the building safely (scenes here: https://youtu.be/d04H3G-FsP8?si=dDydVxSFHo8_59_a and https://youtu.be/JH0rgdTwqOM?si=PG-Bh_TTAYX77BI6). Too bad Conroy decides to be an asshole and ordered his men to kill the demons (for a religious man you sure don’t walk the walk). Mary figures out that the rabbit needs the blood of Sparda to weaken the gate (and since Sparda is gone that just leaves the son) hence why Dante is still alive.
Episode 6 may just be my favorite episode of the series. It explains the past of the White Rabbit while also finishing Mary’s backstory. First, Mary’s story. As Mary’s dad became more and more obsessed with his research, he drove his family apart until he finally injected himself with demon blood and became a demon. He killed his wife and burnt his house to the ground leaving only Mary who vowed to rid the world of demons and kill every last one of them. Meanwhile the White Rabbit (the meat of this episode), is actually a human being. After losing his parents he was placed in a foster home where he was abused by the parents and other children. His only solace being in his favorite book, Alice and Wonderland (he particularly liked the rabbit character). One night, a portal to the demon realm opened, and the White Rabbit entered the portal and found himself in the demon realm which wasn’t very hospitable for himself or the demon residents he befriended. The air was poisonous, and many demons died at a young age. In order to give the demons a better life, the White Rabbit created a device that would allow them to travel between the realms. He used the device to send demon refugees into our realm where one night they got cornered by Mary and the others. All of the demons were killed in the attack and the White Rabbit’s body severely damaged in the attack but still surviving. He soon went insane from the trauma vowing to crush the demon task force and merge the realms to make the humans see what Hell is truly like (scene here: https://youtu.be/naOvkwDBmhM?si=p7vf8k2HzjO5fSn_). This episode is brilliant. Not only is the animation beautiful, but it tells the story with no words at all and with great music to go along with it (I feel like I’m watching an episode of Samurai Jack). This is storytelling at its best and makes you understand the characters and their motives.
Episode 7 opens up with Mary locking Dante in a truck and going to face the White Rabbit and his army herself. She knows the rabbit needs Dante blood so best to keep it from his reach. She arrives at the spot and at first does a good job fighting the demons but gets paralyzed and about to die until Dante shows up to fight. The rabbit does show him the demon realm in the hopes that he’ll willingly give up his blood after seeing how harsh everyone has to live but Dante still decides to side with the humans knowing what’ll happen if that barrier falls (honestly, with Nintendo presumably charging $80 per game and the state of the world I say let the barrier fall). Dante fights against the demons while Mary finally comes face to face with her past as the White Rabbit reveals his identity (scene here: https://youtu.be/XQS7btHw5uc?si=s8sPT-okXbPNHS0g, you created this monster. Now kill it). Dante manages to defeat all the demons and then saves Mary from the rabbit who willingly lets himself fall to his supposed death. Dante does reclaim the amulet just as Conroy shows up with the calvary (could have used you ten minutes ago).
In the final episode the rabbit survived the fall into the river and after eating another demon he becomes a full on demon (he became Bane in demon form). This leads to Dante and Mary taking on the new rabbit for most of the episode. They fight on top of buildings, in the air, and on the bridge. During this struggle Enzo gets killed protecting Dante (a scumbag who had loyalty) and Dante actually gets stabbed in the chest by his dad’s sword. The rabbit retrieves the amulet and uses the blood of Dante and Vergil to finally unite the realms. As demons begin to pour into our realm and the rabbit gloats, Mary lands a shot on his pacemaker (jackpot), allowing Dante to break free, activate his devil trigger, and use his dad’s sword to kill the rabbit once and for all. Dante separates the realms saving the world and you would think this is the end but nope, it’s just the beginning (of the end). Mary is still loyal to Conroy and takes out Dante saying he’s too dangerous. Conroy gets the rabbit’s device and opens the portal to the demon realm where he begins bombing the place and killing demons (this is the most American thing in the show). Dante gets put on ice, the president lets the world know about the existence of Hell and demons (and just like that the whole world converted to Christianity), and Conroy establishes a base in the demon realm where he captures and hold demons. We finally end the season with the arrival of Vergil who breaks into the prison and frees the demons (the storm has arrived. Scene here: https://youtu.be/-C9j6A30v18?si=xcHjueveEm6IaHsp).
Final Thoughts
This new take on Devil May Cry was okay. While I think the Madhouse one is better, this version had it’s moments. It’s exciting, fun, action-packed, and shows us new and familiar characters that are written well and have personalities we all know and love. This Dante isn’t as overpowered as he is from the games but still a powerful and cocky badass that we all love with one-liners. He’s still discovering all he is and what he’s capable of doing, so it was nice to see a more vulnerable side of Dante and watch him grow as the show progressed. I wager he’ll only continue to get stronger from here on out. This version of Lady is alright in my book. I know a lot of people hated this version of her because of her actions and I think that was intentional. We’re meant to not like her now, but will eventually. They did a good job exploring her past and hatred for demons, but also developing her character and letting her see that not all demons are evil. Despite seeing all of this she still remains loyal to Conroy and it’ll be interesting seeing how far her loyalty will go, and when she finally does break free it’ll be epic. Speaking of Conroy he does one hell of a performance here. Being this zealous believer of God who considers himself a crusader in a holy war. At first, you think he’s not such a bad guy, but then he reveals his true colors as a man who will kill all demons. He doesn’t care if they’re good or bad in his mind, they’re the enemies of mankind and he’ll wipe them all out. The White Rabbit may not be the best villain from the Devil May Cry series but he works here. He has a great backstory and he’s a good villain for this young Dante still unlocking his powers and embracing his demon side. Speaking of demons, they all have some good designs here that fit within the world of Devil May Cry. The show is packed full of references and jokes from other Capcom games that’ll put a smile on your face. I’m curious if somewhere down the line we’ll get to see more Capcom shows from this same team.
The animation for the most part is good. The CGI could definitely use some work and feels out of place whenever it’s on screen. The music is like a time capsule of early 2000s music which is appropriate as this is when the games were released. This is a soundtrack I could definitely see Dante rocking to in his place. Action and fight scenes are also good. Dante and Mary are the main fighters and each one fights to their strengths and are different from each other.
Final Score
The final score for Devil May Cry is 6/10. A fun and explosive ride from beginning to end that pays respect to Devil May Cry series and reminds us why we love this series so much. I think hardcore fans will have issues with the series but casual fans will find it enjoyable. The second season has already been announced for 2026 and I can’t wait to see what’s next for Dante and the others. Until then, thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.