The video game to movie-TV show adaptation scene is getting way too crowded for its own good. For every Arcane dual-season banger, you’ll be getting more trash like the Borderlands movie and middling fares like the Tomb Raider anime last year. Capcom is no stranger in dogpiling the genre with their offerings on Netflix: one is the Dragon’s Dogma CGI anime show that should have been relabelled Dragon’s Dogs***, and the other is Monster Hunter: Legends of the Guild is a lesson on why you should put more effort in your storytelling and character development when your CGI animated production is on a limited budget.

Thankfully, the Capcom and Netflix deluge is improving, starting with the pretty decent Onimusha adaptation. Adi Shankar and his production team of Judge Dredd reboot and Castlevania fame have dispelled the curse entirely alongside the animation talent of Studio Mir (Avatar: The Legend of Korra, Dota Dragon’s Blood) with their take on the hit aughts character action series Devil May Cry.

A bold claim, yes, but as someone who loves most of the Devil May Cry games, perhaps a new spin on the established canon into an alternate tale is what it needs.

Dante’s Awakening

The premise is simple: our main character Dante (Johnny Yong Bosch) is a demon hunter who is cocky and is good at his job. After sorting out an assignment, he is then ambushed by other demons attempting to steal his family necklace as well as a government agency called Darkcom, run by USA Vice President Baines (the late Kevin Conroy & assist work by Ian James Corlett). His star soldier is Mary Arkham (Scout Taylor-Compton) who can go toe-to-toe with elite demons and even Dante, who already is a superhuman as established in the first few episodes. Amidst the chaos and Dante fighting for his survival, a demon called the White Rabbit is clearly orchestrating all this for his own nefarious purposes. This leads to a ton of high-flying action setpieces involving Dante’s apartment, a highway, and even an Airforce plane.

Fans of the game will know that Dante is a demon-human hybrid with a ton of secrets he isn’t aware of, and Mary will eventually be the mainstay game series character known as Lady who wields a trademark rocket launcher. The team handling this alternate tale already knows this, and given the time these games were made, set the show in the 2000s and give it the soundtrack appropriate for the era. If you loved rock music and nu-metal back in that specific time period, you’ll love the vibe and energy of this adaptation.

As each episode goes by, you’ll see Dante opening up a bit from his cocky and one-liner-spewing facade to show that he’s taking this all seriously, though not letting up with his jokey attitude that’s an amalgamation of Devil May Cry 3, 4, and 5. This is an origin story, so he still has some of that brashness of youth so that his growth feels earned throughout the 8-episode season.

This is heightened by Johnny Yong Bosch’s stellar voicework, who is clearly having the time of his life. Yes, I know that he voiced Nero in the main games. And it can get confusing and weird hearing him in his uncle’s body. But once you get past that and treat this show as an alternate timeline/adaptation piece, you’ll appreciate the work Bosch has done in making this Dante fun and relatable. Plus, his love-hate relationship with Mary is a huge highlight as they have chemistry.

Speaking of which, top players like Mary and White Rabbit also get the spotlight, thanks to great voice performances from Scout Taylor-Compton and Hoon Lee respectively. The former is girl-boss-bitch badass while also eventually learning to warm her heart up a bit after certain events, and the latter is charismastically evil from start to finish. And you don’t need me to tell you that the late Kevin Conroy is stellar as always playing the ambiguosly-maybe evil Baines, with his bible-thumping and Heaven-loving creed laid onto his stern and commanding presence.

And then Episode 6 hits you with the feels, acting as the perfect intermission before the climactic showdowns between Dante and his adversaries. This particular episode, titled “First Circle”, switches up art style and is mostly without dialogue to portray two different pasts of key characters that eventually tie in together with tragic results.

It’s a beautifully-animated and presented episode that will be the talk of the town on social media this week and the next few, only because it’s a well-done prelude that adds a lot to the stakes and narrative to make the last few episodes all the more impactful. And those last two episodes do not disappoint in the least in terms of payoff and setups for the future, because I am very sure there is going to be a Season 2 for this given the love and care put in here.

Having said that, there are a few complaints. While the 2D animation is stellar, the CGI implementation range from middling to flat-out terrible. The main demon troops like Echidna, Agni, and Rudra look alright when static, but in some scenes, they do show their bad side and look out-of-place which thankfully isn’t too frequent. And the last few minutes of the final episode allude to an allegory of a 2000-era hot topic (but with a different outerworldly nation) that loses all semblance of subtlety especially when the key song hits. This whole bit feels out of place in a show based on a game where you do multi-hit juggling combos on puppet demons for SSS ranks.

Also, some cues in the soundtrack show that the makers really, REALLY love Devil May Cry V and its DLC; specifically the bits involving the triggering of certain demon powers and approaching storms. These additions do feel like they’re pandering to hardcore fans; if you know, you know. Personally, I’m OK with it, as it’s been 7 years since a new and good Devil May Cry interpretation has surfaced.

Jackpot!

In spite of those nitpicks, Capcom earns its adaptation redemption by working with Netflix to put up an actually decent and fun thrill ride worth 8 episodes, with some heart and pathos added in for good measure (and cute easter eggs involving other Capcom titles).

You may need to come in with an open mind to take it all in, but trust me when I say this is fine-ass demon slaying anime action that hits all the right notes, both mind and heart. The former will be stimulated with the combat set pieces and frenetic pacing, while your heart will be sated with the second half, especially with the aforementioned Episode 6.

Final Score: 90/100

English or Japanese Dub?

Definitely, definitely English. No expense was spared with the top-notch work with the English VO courtesy of Johnny Yong Bosch, the late Kevin Conroy, and company. Go head and check out the non-spoiler video below which takes the best parts of Episodes 1 to 3.