Netflix’s newest foray into animated online game variations is a brand new spin on Devil May Cry, Capcom’s glorious sequence of character motion video games that kicked off in 2001. And although the present represents a reboot of the continuity that lets the uninitiated choose issues up in the beginning, it’s nonetheless deeply rooted within the sequence’ early ‘00s origins. Watching the opening set to Limp Bizkit’s 2000 nu metal banger “Rollin’” made me say “Oh, this present is for the divorced dads,” earlier than I slowly realized that sooner or later, the belongings you take heed to, watch, and play as a child change into “divorced dad core.” One way or the other, after I wasn’t wanting, Satan Might Cry grew to become “outdated,” and apparently, so did I.
Although Capcom’s sport franchise has spanned many years and arguably obtained its finest entry ever in 2019’s Satan Might Cry 5, the Netflix sequence’ eight-episode run feels very a lot of the video games’ authentic early-2000s period. Sure, its needle drops for edgy AMV-bait songs like Papa Roach’s “Last Resort” are tacky nods to a nu metallic heyday which may not resonate with somebody who’s by no means performed one among Dante’s demon-slaying massacres, however these had been the songs of the early 2000s that Satan Might Cry followers had been in all probability listening to throughout the authentic trilogy’s PS2 run. After it stopped making me existential, I appreciated how a lot Netflix’s spin on the sequence commits to the bit, even when it took me time to heat as much as its busy, multi-season setup.
Many of the necessary components of Satan Might Cry are right here. A youthful, spryer model of Dante, performed by Johnny Yong Bosch (who performs his nephew Nero within the video games), finds himself within the crosshairs of two factions: a demon rebellion led by a dapper White Rabbit and a demon-hunting authorities company. The White Rabbit seeks to tear the barrier between the human and demon worlds down, permitting the devils of the underworld to pour into the remainder of the earth, and so they want one among Dante’s solely household heirlooms to do it. This model of Dante was orphaned at a younger age and solely is aware of the tales his mom informed him about the place they got here from. He’s only a easy demon hunter who doesn’t know why literal Hell is rising round him.
Longtime followers know the place this all leads, however I used to be stunned at simply how elaborate the present’s entangled internet of characters grew to become by the tip of the season, on condition that it’s all comparatively easy within the video games. Satan Might Cry is a busy present. Dante is on the middle of all of it, however there are massive swaths of the eight episodes that target the supporting forged, reminiscent of fan-favorite Girl and the remainder of her demon-hunting unit, and the non secular zealot Vice President Baines, performed by the late, nice Kevin Conroy. The primary half of the present is a bit plodding because it establishes the brand new setup, and also you solely get into the meat of what issues after the present’s midway by way of and loads of characters have already fallen. By the point it reaches the second half, the present has dropped numerous useless weight and began specializing in the stuff Satan Might Cry followers are in all probability searching for. A lot of this extended setup feels designed to put groundwork for future seasons, which the finale unambiguously tees up, however for a sequence that has been recognized to do so much with little or no, having such an enormous ensemble doesn’t do it many favors to start with.
Although it’s a bit bloated to start out, Satan Might Cry continues to be a rollicking good time even whereas it’s attending to the good things. Dante is as fashionable, rambunctious, and pleasant to look at wreck store on demons as he’s ever been. The motion in Satan Might Cry is classy, quickly oscillating from Dante’s signature campy swagger to dramatic hyperviolence on the drop of a hat. Throughout the early episodes, it’s at all times a aid when the long-winded exposition is briefly damaged up by scenes of Dante going through off towards a small pack of poor bastards who do not know what the gunslinging swordsman is able to. Then the second half of the season places all that violence into context, lending it new dramatic weight and even making it cathartic as well.
Satan Might Cry’s first half isn’t dangerous by any stretch, however the present takes extra time than it ought to to seek out its footing. I’m curious to see how non-fans react to this present; Netflix’s earlier sport variations like Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and Castlevania have introduced in individuals who by no means performed these video games, however Satan Might Cry feels completely different, like a understanding nod and wink to the individuals who had been taking part in by way of Dante’s demon-slaying adventures 20 years in the past. Will its tacky time capsule of edgy 2000s camp be interesting to the fashionable teenager? That’s not me, so I can’t say for positive. However Satan Might Cry had me in its sights, and now that it’s cleared area for a extra conventional Dante story subsequent season, I’m down for a second spherical.
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