Netflix’s newest foray into animated online game diversifications is a brand new spin on Satan Could Cry, Capcom’s glorious sequence of character motion video games that kicked off in 2001. And despite the fact that the present represents a reboot of the continuity that lets the uninitiated decide issues up at the start, it’s nonetheless deeply rooted within the sequence’ early ‘00s origins. Watching the opening set to Limp Bizkit’s 2000 nu metallic 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 hearken to, watch, and play as a child change into “divorced dad core.” Someway, after I wasn’t wanting, Satan Could Cry grew to become “outdated,” and apparently, so did I.
Although Capcom’s sport franchise has spanned many years and arguably acquired its greatest entry ever in 2019’s Satan Could Cry 5, the Netflix sequence’ eight-episode run feels very a lot of the video games’ unique early-2000s period. Sure, its needle drops for edgy AMV-bait songs like Papa Roach’s “Final Resort” are tacky nods to a nu metallic heyday that may not resonate with somebody who’s by no means performed certainly one of Dante’s demon-slaying massacres, however these have been the songs of the early 2000s that Satan Could Cry followers have been most likely listening to throughout the unique 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.
A lot of the essential elements of Satan Could 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 certainly one of 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 advised 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 shocked at simply how elaborate the present’s entangled net of characters grew to become by the tip of the season, provided that it’s all comparatively easy within the video games. Satan Could Cry is a busy present. Dante is on the heart of all of it, however there are giant swaths of the eight episodes that target the supporting forged, corresponding to fan-favorite Woman 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 via and loads of characters have already fallen. By the point it reaches the second half, the present has dropped numerous lifeless weight and began specializing in the stuff Satan Could Cry followers are most likely on the lookout 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 identified to do so much with little or no, having such an enormous ensemble doesn’t do it many favors at first.
Although it’s a bit bloated to start out, Satan Could 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 Could 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 reduction when the long-winded exposition is briefly damaged up by scenes of Dante dealing with off in opposition to a small pack of poor bastards who don’t 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 Could 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 diversifications like Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and Castlevania have introduced in individuals who by no means performed these video games, however Satan Could Cry feels completely different, like a understanding nod and wink to the individuals who have been taking part in via Dante’s demon-slaying adventures 20 years in the past. Will its tacky time capsule of edgy 2000s camp be interesting to the trendy teenager? That’s not me, so I can’t say for certain. However Satan Could 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.
