Devil May Cry Netflix Anime, Dante May be bored but you won't be.(Spoilers!!!)

Devil May Cry is not a Franchise I have been very keen on getting into, for various reasons, firstly, it seemed very different from what I have played so far which is a plus in my books since I like to challenge myself with new stuff to try out all the time.

Secondly of course I have a thing for the OG games, the games of old, Prince of Persia and the like, as a kid or even a teenager, basically any time I spent with my parents, it was very difficult to get my hands on any games, which I do not exactly blame them for, games are fairly a new phenomenon and the Media and every single "old wise person" seemed hellbent on blaming every problem on whatever new thing they couldn't understand.

Humanity needs a villain to direct it's anger towards, a concept that will come into play heavily in this show as we will see, regardless, as a gamer at my soul, I cherished whatever little time I did get, and rued every moment I didn't, therefore I made a sort of mythology around every single game that the cool kids used to play.

Devil May Cry while being rated Pegi 16 and M + in most regions was definitely one of those games, I mean were the kids around me supposed to be playing them? No. But goddamn did they anyways.

But there are reasons I also didn't want to get into the Franchise, I have always had a thing against... let's call it... edge... now that might sound strange to anyone who will take a glance at my social media, but like this show shows us, we often hate that which we are and create that which we hate.

Again, something that will play heavily into this show.

I guess my initial hatred was in a sense a way to deal with my guilt, every adult around me was telling me that video games are the Devil's Spawn, that they are the root of all evil, they would give a series of, in hindsight very Fallacious and emotionally driven Arguments filled with moral policing that at least initially made me want to distance myself from the games that I liked.

"Hey I play video games, but not those ones, I am a non violent gamer, one of the good ones." Yeah you already see the holes in that Argument.

But as I grew older I obviously grew out of this phase, or rather I grew to realize my hatred for what I then considered "edge" was actually something else, it was a dislike for shallowness.

See in the Prince of Persia series for example, my favorite game is Two thrones, but a close second is Warrior within, now that is in no small part because of the various improvements that it made to the combat and mechanics of the first game, the dislike was... well...

Now before you rage click off, let me clarify the problem isn't that Shahdee is Scantily clad, Kaileena is too, and I will make it no secret that I like her in Warrior within much more than I do in Two thrones, in no small part because Two Thrones portrays her as too much of a Damsel in Distress character, but also because, end of the day, I am into scantily clad woman, I may be queer but I am still a man and I am not ashamed of it.

No scantily Clad isn't the problem, Problem is in the context of the Story Shahdee being Scantly clad makes no sense, she is the commander and leader of the armies of the Island of time, and it's not like the soldiers of that place do not require Armor, they clearly do! Why isn't Shahdee wearing armor!!!

I mean she is but it doesn't serve it's purpose all her Vital organs are exposed, for everyone to see, I mean, that's kind of the point isn't it.

Now, with Kaileena it makes sense that she is Scantly clad, she is an Empress, and since this is Prince of Persia, I am assuming the locality is around Persia, and that place is hot ya'll it would make less sense for Kaileena not to be scantly clad.

But I digress.

Coming to blood and Gore, Invincible is my favorite show, period, and that has a lot of Gore and blood, but it doesn't bother me because like I said, it makes sense in context of the story, but I do have a problem with some of it in the boys because sometimes it just feels like, yeah this is there for shock value.

The comics especially, I have already highlighted my thoughts on this, so I wont bring them up again.

A lot of violence in a lot of shows is for shock value, just like Shahdee's dressing sense is for titillations and nothing else.

Moments like these where you get pulled out of the story and get reminded that yeah this is a game you are playing that is the problem, it's difference between a comedian who makes non pc jokes because he is actually good at them and someone who swears they are a master of edgy jokes, goes on the stage and then says the N-word.

I took that example from this video about the Boys and it is amazing you should go check it out.

So all that said, the point I am trying to make is, violence is not the problem, scantily clad women are not the problem, scantily clad men are not the problem edge isn't the problem, the problem is, whether it makes sense in the sense of the story.

Warrior within is a great game in spite of every little stunt it pulls like Shahdee, Two Thrones is a great game even though it takes a great character from the previous game and makes her into a damsel in distress.

But how does that apply to Devil May cry? I mean the first game literally starts with a sexy woman attacking Dante with a bike and a sword and then claiming to not be his enemy in his Devil May Cry residence, and the game has a logo with a sexy woman posing with Guns.

Well because once again, the logo is a Diegetic logo of the actual place that Dante runs, and Dante as a character, well let's just say it makes sense for him to come up with a logo like that.

Just like it makes sense that he would be dancing shirtless in the beginning of Devil may Cry three.

And it makes sense that Kratos is drowning his sorrows in wine and women.

Again I'm no authority on this, but this is my honest opinion.

Now just like the boobs and violence of God of war kept me away for a long time, the same kept me away from Devil may cry, I mean in the HD collection, you can stand to make the female voice a little less sexy.

But after giving in to the Netflix shows awesome trailer alongside a hefty helping of peer pressure, I am happy to report that Devil May Cry is not shallow, just like in the case of God of War, I was the one being shallow.

Yeah I said it.

Turns out in attempt to move away from Shallowness I became shallow, coming back to the themes of this show.

Lets begin with this, becoming what you fight against.

Let's have a deep look at Batma... I mean Vice President Baines.

He leads a Demon hunting organization called Dark Com and is voiced by Kevin Conroy(that's why the batman Joke), he is a god fearing man and a true believer in the way of the Lord, he believes even the worst of the worst can be an agent of God and can carry his will, it is because of this that he gives Dante a chance to help them despite his Demon heritage.

He is the tough but fair leader that an organization like Darkcom needs to run the way it does.

Well too bad that Darkcom is directly responsible for the creation of the White Rabbit, i.e. the villain of the whole season.

The White Rabbit is the opposite of Sparda in many ways, while Sparda was a Demon that fought for the good of Humanity after being pulled through into this world, White rabbit is a Human who fought for the good of the Demons after he got sucked into their world.

Through the actions of Sparda the one who benefitted the most was the Tyrant Mundus who he rebelled against, as the wall between our Universe and theirs allowed him to spread his rule far and wide and the subjects had no where to run to as their only refuge was now taken from them.

Through the actions of the White Rabbit the one who benefits the most is V.P. Baines who uses this assault as an excuse to send troops into the Demon realm and bomb the place, based on the images that were shown this is very clearly a parallel to many real world atrocities.

I could go on length about all of these things that have actually taken place, but based on the song choice, and the context of this entire season as a fight against "Hell" which in actuality is just another universe with harsher living conditions and a Tyrant ruling over them... many of it's inhabitants that have crossed over are just refugees that want an out from the place they unfortunately call a home...

I can confidently say that the two main things this is an analogue for are the war on Terror and America's border conflict with Mexico.

I mean I cannot be the only one to pick up on the similarities between the quantum border separating our universes and the one between Mexico and America.

Whatever maybe the similarities, in the context of the show, it means that humans are capable of just as much evil as the Demons and hell they so fear, is it a humans were the real monsters all along plotline? Potentially, but more accurately it is a plotline about artificial boundaries and politics.

But hold on there, am I really going to be taking the White Rabit's side? The one who so mercilessly killed off so many people.

Well firstly, as Mary, or Lady said, his brand of intense psychotic violence? that is all of humanity.

And secondly, there is one thing common amongst all those who spread evil, the concept of "Good" or "for the greater Good" a lot of atrocities can be justified if you believe the ends justify the means, and the ends are "good enough" no one shares poison in a vial labelled with a skull and crossbones save that vendor, and the vendor sells it with some other purpose that the poison can also fulfill.

In general whenever someone poisons someone they do it by mixing it with something they like, and so all tyrants and dictators and terrorist leaders come with promises and dreams of a better tomorrow, whether or not they can deliver on those dreams is secondary, but the constant remains that the powerless suffer, sometimes willingly.

Because what pain isn't worth Paradise? And what would you not inflict on those who would keep you and your people from it, either by standing in your way or killing them.

But like all Terrorist leaders, the White Rabbit pretends to care for the people he leads, so much so that he convinces himself that he actually does, but in reality, all he wants is to get back at Darkcom for killing his Demon friends.

And who can blame him, he was orphaned at a young age, had no one to love him, was treated like shit at the orphanage he went to, and then like Alice in wonderland, he finds a portal, and goes down the rabbit hole, he is brought up by peaceful Makaians(Makai is the actual name of the place humans so callously refer to as hell), and then he tries to get back to the other world with his friends, get them help, get them food, get them away from the Toxic air of Makai if even for a little bit....

And then Darkcom kills all of them in a moment of misunderstanding, creating their worst nightmare.

The show contrasts this with another Orphan, Mary, or Lady as Dante calls her, Mary Arkham is the daughter of a man who dedicated his life to gaining powers through experiments, (presumably on Demons) in order to protect his family from Demons, after all the first one they encountered nearly took his daughter, and she was saved at the last moment by an opportune train.

After that, no one believes their story, the authorities do nothing, what was papa Arkham to do?

His attempts unfortunately begin to tear their family apart, long before the whole "I turned into a Demon and ate your mother thing, while setting the house on fire and dying part"

And so a young Orphan Mary Joins Darkcom to protect the world from evil, as she calls it.

But it is true what white rabbit says, it is no coincidence that the three main players of this story are Orphans, only those who sever their ties to the world can look towards something Greater, or so it is believed, by those who want to control others and hence tie their followers to themselves.

I mean a good follower is always loyal to the cause first and for most.

For Makai...

For Darkcom...

A Demon hunter who saves the helpless as a mercenary and is loyal only to the next task, they are all the same.

That is why V.P. Baines picks Mary, and that is why Mary is the most interesting person who could have figured out the reality of "Demons"

So when even she realizes the truth and therefore chooses to save the peaceful Makaian families from the white Rabbits experiments, you believe for a second that the peaceful families will be saved, White Rabbit will loose his followers... but then again if they wanted people to sneak in, they would sneak in as families...

And so... V.P. Baines the god fearing man, burns them all...

So were the real Nazis?

Everyone it seems, this is war and in War, there are no winners...

Now, I haven't played the games, I am only just beginning, but I do understand the games are a little more on the cool badass side than this serious political series that chooses very deliberately to make references to real world events and ends with our badass main character being knocked out by an Injection right after he cut a giant monster in half with his Devil Trigger form.

But what I do know is, this political angle is a lot closer to the True inspiration of Devil May Cry, and no I am not going on a Tangent about the fact that Devil May Cry was originally Resident Evil four, though yes, it was... No Dante, Vergil, Mary...

Anyone read the Divine Comedy?

Or heard of Dante's Inferno?

The Divine Comedy is till date one of the most referenced works in art, any time you hear someone bring the nine circles of hell, or Purgatory, you know they are referencing the Divine Comedy.

It is among one of those epic retellings of Mythology right beside Journey to the West and Paradise Lost/Regained.

And like the other works mentioned, it is a heavy political piece, where Dante(the Author) chooses to go through first the nine circles of hell and then Purgatory and Finally Heaven with the help of Virgil the ancient Roman poet, who currently resides in the top circle of Hell, reserved for those who lead righteous lives but did not follow God.

You know it seems to me we have a history of using God to justify our Political actions...

Regardless, there are many moments in the Divine Comedy where Dante brings up his political views and makes it appear as if they belong to a character, well, doesn't this anime also do the same?

Paradise lost even has the Devil spout the opinions of the Author... amazing... just like the White Rabbit calling the border between the worlds a Construct...

So On a whole if you're here for Dante cutting dudes in half, this series has that, if you then want then to Attack on Titan that shit with it's political Drama, then you got that as well, and Dante is preserved as the Winter Soldier by the end, and we get Nelo Angelo/Vergil working for the Demon King Mundus going against the Uroboros corporation, in a series that is a little more grounded than it's source Material, but still has time for the bombastic.

If you wanted the exact tone, then well you will be disappointed...

But there is a Storm that is approaching...