Devil May Cry: The Animated Series, known as just Devil May Cry (Japanese: デビル メイ クライ?) in Japan, is an anime series based on the hack and slash action game series by Capcom. The show was produced by the anime studio Madhouse and was directed by Shin Itagaki. Bingo Morihashi, one of the writers for the second, third and fourth games, was also on the writing staff. It debuted on the WOWOW TV network in Japan on June 14, 2007 and ran for 12 episodes. The show was subbed and dubbed by Funimation Entertainment.
Plot[]
The anime show, which is canon to the games according to Hiroyuki Kobayashi,[1] is set sometime between the original Devil May Cry and Devil May Cry 4. While most of the episodes' stories are self-contained, they are also based on some of the Devil May Cry manga and novel volumes.
In the show, Dante runs his devil-hunting business, "Devil May Cry", while struggling under constant financial debt. There are also two new regular characters - Dante's agent Morrison, who visits frequently, and Patty Lowell, a young orphan girl he saved in the first episode, who also visits frequently and shares a father-daughter-like relationship with Dante.
Characters[]
| Character | Info |
|---|---|
| Dante | The half-demon son of the legendary demon knight Sparda and his human wife Eva, Dante operates as a private investigator, mostly accepting jobs involving the supernatural. When he accepts a job, he diligently finishes it to the point of gaining a reputation of infallibility; he is strong enough to face a small army of lesser demons with his bare hands. Known for his cocky banter when on a job, he is fond of strawberry sundaes and pizza without olives.
His weapons of choice are a pair of Caliber .45 pistols known as Ebony (for its dark color) and Ivory (for its silver color). He also carries his sentient faithful sword, Rebellion in a guitar case. A source of a running gag in the series is his apparent lack of gambling skill and his indebtedness, often being short of money. According to Dante, this is because people who hire him usually leave him a bill instead of paying him (due to destruction he causes during the job, such as destroying a bridge). His lack of money is also attributed to Lady, to whom he owes an unspecified sum of money. Lady often takes his payment as part of his debt. When Dante earns some money it is usually squandered. |
| Trish | A demon created by Lord Mundus in the image of Dante's mother (face wise) and given demonic powers such as electricity, strength and quick healing. She joined Dante after Mundus' defeat and became his partner. Though it didn't take long for them to agree on separate ways due to certain conflicts in interest. Doing jobs on her own, she wanders mostly outside of Dante's usual hunting stops. However Dante did remind her at one point that she can come back at any time, though not wanting to admit he simply gets lonely in his less than inspiring office.
Trish generally criticized Dante's lifestyle and eating habits. Unlike Dante or Lady, Trish doesn't take jobs to track down demons, she just goes from place to place following rumors as a freelance hunter. Trish appears to enjoy shopping for clothes and sometimes sticks Dante with the bill. Trish initially has a few violent scrapes with Lady which notoriously seemed almost planned out by Dante in advance, but the two become good friends shortly after. They both enjoy amusing themselves on their abilities to torment and manipulate Dante. |
| Lady | A human devil hunteress, descended from the priestess whose blood Sparda used to seal the gate between the human and demon worlds. Dante seems to be in constant debt to her. She sometimes brings Dante work, but usually must con him into accepting the jobs and generally takes his pay claiming them as part of the debt he owes her. Lady spends more time at Devil May Cry than Trish but still not as much as Patty. She is Patty's primary female role model. Though human Lady is a skilled acrobat, she also has immense skill in billiards and is a weapons expert. |
| Patty Lowell | A young girl who Dante met after she supposedly came into a large inheritance. This turned out to be a scam, and she has since been spending a lot of time with Dante, whether he likes it or not. She turned out to be a descendant of a powerful magician who sealed the devil Abigail. Patty is very girly and loves cute things, sometimes decorating Dante's otherwise gloomy office with ribbons and plush toys. She loves romantic TV shows and serves as Dante's only source of feminine influence in the absence of Trish and Lady. |
| J.D. Morrison | Dante's liaison. He finds Dante jobs and sometimes helps out with repairs around the office. |
| Sid | A weak demon who first appears in episode one, and has recurring appearances throughout the series. Initially seeming to be an insignificant danger and minor nuisance, Dante shows mercy towards Sid and restrains from killing him when given the opportunity. Unfortunately, Sid's ambitions prove to be far more dangerous than Dante possibly imagined. |
Episodes[]
| # | Episode Name | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Devil May Cry" | June 14, 2007 |
| Dante, a half-devil, half-human mercenary specializing in devil hunting, is hired as the bodyguard of Patty Lowell, a young orphaned girl who is the heir to a large fortune. He protects her from the numerous demons set to kill her, but feels something amiss in this job. | ||
| 2 | "Highway Star" | June 21, 2007 |
| Dante reluctantly accepts a mission from his old acquaintance, Lady, to stop a demonically possessed motorcycle named "Red Eye" that haunts the motorway. At the same time, a young, brash motorcyclist hopes to outrace the Red Eye, so as to avenge his brother. | ||
| 3 | "Not Love" | June 28, 2007 |
| The daughter of the mayor begins seeing a mysterious man. Under suspicion that the man is a devil in disguise, Dante is sent to investigate. Along the way, the man questions whether a human and a devil can ever be together, forcing Dante to recall the relationship between his human mother, Eva, and his father, the legendary dark knight, Sparda. | ||
| 4 | "Rolling Thunder" | July 5, 2007 |
| A strange woman with lightning-based abilities is seen lurking around town. Lady is asked to investigate, believing it's a demon in disguise. However, the fact that this woman dual-wields handguns does not surprise Dante at all. | ||
| 5 | "In Private" | July 12, 2007 |
| Dante finds himself followed by a male customer from a local diner, who is trying to find out the devil hunter's secrets in order to impress a local waitress. After witnessing Dante slay multiple devils, the man is determined to become more like Dante and manages to gain the waitress' affection. | ||
| 6 | "Rock Queen" | July 19, 2007 |
| Dante is hired to protect a group of treasure hunters from a female devil that has possessed the body of a former rock star. | ||
| 7 | "Wishes Come True" | July 26, 2007 |
| A man receives a visit from a demonic mask which claims to fulfill any wish he desires. After inadvertently wishing for his friend's death, the man ends up in a prison deemed impossible to escape. Dante is hired by a guest from the past to get him out of the prison. Dante manages to expose the prison guards as devils and later defeats the wish-making demon as well. | ||
| 8 | "Once Upon A Time" | August 2, 2007 |
| A man named Ernest insists that Dante is his childhood friend, "Anthony", and that he and his mother used to live in his small town twenty years ago, before being banished by the townspeople after a devil attacked. Dante hesitantly plays along, but continues to deny the claim. | ||
| 9 | "Death Poker" | August 9, 2007 |
| A woman hires Dante to save her husband from gambling. Not long after, Dante joins a game of poker and hears the story of "King", a gambler who is said to be killing anyone who loses against him. The gamblers assembled realize that King is among them, and as they drop dead one by one, Dante exposes and kills the King with the aid of Lady. | ||
| 10 | "The Last Promise" | August 26, 2007 |
| Dante is attacked by Baul, a former servant of Sparda who seeks the chance to battle the Legendary Dark Knight. In the meantime, Baul's brother Modeus tries to find a way to prevent the fight between Dante and Baul. Dante defeats Baul and subsequently kills his enraged brother. | ||
| 11 | "Showtime!" | August 30, 2007 |
| Dante encounters Patty's mother: She is the descendant of a human sorcerer who once sealed away the power of an ancient devil lord, "Abigail". But the mischievous demon Sid, who has been harassing Dante for a while since the first episode, finally unveils his plan that could unbalance the human world and destroy it. | ||
| 12 | "Stylish!" | September 6, 2007 |
|
With Dante impaled and crucified in the demon dimension, Lady and Trish fight the invasion of devils in the human world while Patty attempts to retrieve Dante. Dante returns and challenges Sid. Despite Sid's power, Dante defeats and subsequently kills him. In the epilogue, Dante, Lady, and Trish leave on a devil-hunting mission and make a bet that whoever gets to the job first, gets the money. Meanwhile Patty comes to Dante's office, determined to clean up his mess. | ||
Trivia[]
- Unlike most anime series, the episode titles were released in English instead of the customary Japanese.
- On June 9th, 2015, China released a list of anime, including Devil May Cry: The Animated Series, that were banned in the country for a variety of reasons ranging from intense violence to "crimes against public morality".[2]
- Despite originating from the anime, both Morrison and Patty would later be integrated into the games' lore, starting with Devil May Cry 5.
References[]
Gallery[]
DVD Covers[]
External Links[]
- Wowow's webpage (Japanese)