ThreeKeyWords

SPOILERS! | NSFW!

Summary

The Netflix show Devil May Cry anime exposes the fantasies of middle-aged men who get an erotic kick out of saving women and their civilization from the evils of demons and foreigners. Proof-points:

• The hero is a mimbo who defends the status quo for no other good reason than “because”. Women of all fantasy types worship him or provide him an entertaining, but not maturing, challenge.
• The villain is by far the most interesting character: a radicalized orphan who uses his genius to tear down oppression, embrace taboos, and destroy the status quo to free both the oppressed and oppressors from political lies.
• All the other characters — Mr. Vice President, Enzo, etc. — are symbols of the erotic fantasy of the hero or the political nightmare of the villain.

Main Post and Warnings

This post contains spoilers and discussion of sexual content and politics. If you don’t want to know what happens, watch the show first and then come back here to read the review. 

And if you’re shy of sex, definitely don’t read on. Much of my analysis will be about how the show draws on sexual themes to satirize the characters and by extension the audience whom the characters represent. 

I don’t have a copy of the script. I don’t know some of the official names of the characters.  Everything I’ve taken from the show — dialog, screenshots — are intended to help flesh out the review and provide evidence for an analysis. 

My goal is to convince you that the show brilliantly uses storytelling techniques to sharpen tension, keep us the audience on the edge of our seats, seduce us with fantasies of power and eroticism, all while satirizing American politics and society.

One more note on my approach: 

I’m going to do the best I can to go scene by scene through the show. I might skip around a bit, but each scene seems carefully curated to contribute to the themes and goals of the show. So it’d be a shame to skip anything. 

This particular post will get us through the Diner scene in Episode 1 – Inferno; the next post will cover the rest of Episode 1. 

 With all that now out of the way, let’s dive in!

Scene 1 – The Vatican Heist, Intro of the Villain

Wow, we are starting off with a bang! (Literally!) So much happens in this short scene — let’s break it down: 

A special forces team uses bombs, hacking devices, and guns to take out the guards who hold poleaxes and wear flamboyant colors. 

From the modern versus the medieval weaponry and uniforms we are immediately shown one key theme:

This story will clash the modern world against the ancient one, albeit with a very special twist, for — a moment later — a supernatural being, a myth made flesh, beheads the special forces team leader, representative of the power of the modern world, using a single slash of an ancient sword. 

Side note: losing one’s head is symbolic too. The power of the White Rabbit is to cause men to lose their heads, literally and figuratively. Not only does he cut off their heads, he challenges the ideas and the thinking of his adversaries. 

Special Forces Thief 1, says “What the fuck is that thing?”

Special Forces Thief 2 responds, “Doesn’t matter. Kill it! 

“Americans,” the Rabbit says, “The most dependable of your species. Anything that doesn’t fit your narrow understanding you shoot bomb or burn without hesitation.”

In one sentence this villain sums up the entire flaw of the protagonist and the regime he represents. Although we haven’t met the hero yet, we already know that this show is about expanding your narrow understanding of your world. 

A story must have conflict to incite interest. In this first scene several conflicts are set up through the battle we’re watching but also the symbolism and arguments made by the combatants. 

The conflicts challenge assumptions of the modern world of the show, a world that assumes: 

• The modern world is better than the premodern
• Science overrules superstition
• Good guys are good and bad guys are bad
• What we don’t understand is bad
• “Us” and  “Them” are different, obvious, clear, separate.  

The White Rabbit continues: “Hell has always been the true heart of human religion. You can curb the worst of your savageries only through collective fear and hatred of another world.” 

The rabbit is saying that what you think of as opposites are actually an intertwined whole. Most people think of hell as the opposite of Heaven, and that the heart of region is the inspirational and saving figure of a God; but the rabbit sees the argument of an inspirational God could not be made without the deplorable example of something to fear, just as religion inspires you to run to God and from Hell. The rabbit speaks again and again to the intertwined nature of reality. And really, can anyone blame him? Does he not make the most sense of any character? There’s really no better argument than the Rabbits throughout the story of Devil May Cry, and you’re asked to ponder who can make a better point than that people’s lives are intertwined, the world is bigger than you think.

One more point: 

The rabbit combines all means of force – he uses a sword, bombs, and seemingly magic as well to defeat his enemies. In the framework of a narrow understanding of good and evil, using all types of weapons symbolically shows that this character has no rules, and for that reason, he is evil. His villainy stems from the argument that you should expand your thinking, and he shows it through all of his actions and words. 

In addition, he says that he came to the heist in his Easter best — since Easter celebrates the rise of Jesus Christ from death, the Rabbit’s clothes, no, his very being, makes mockery of Jesus’s rebirth. But that’s the point – to pair opposites and show through the pairing that they were never opposites to begin with, but two ends of the same whole.

“This world is about to become much larger,” he says. 

The rabbit embodies the prejudices of xenophobia and the status quo. In the light of the anti-immigrant sentiment sweeping the United States and many other democracies, the rabbit’s words are timely. They are a damning critique of border control, euphoric recall of a national mythological past, and self preservation of a narrow way of life. As we shall see, the white rabbit is the vigilante who has arguably more heroic traits than the hero. 

Scene 2 – Meeting the Hero, Dante

The opening image is a setup for a totally different fantasy. 

For just a few seconds we see a billboard showing a risque shot of a roller skater. The angle is the same used in upskirt erotica. The advert is for a stereo casette player “runplayer”. So, we’re immediately setup to envision the 1990s or early 2000s at the latest, but most likely a fantasy of the peak era of cassette tapes, when the walkman symbolized the freedom of movement in the mid 1980s. 

Why the 1980s? I think there’s a running theme that becomes obvious as the scenes unfold. Again and again, the erotic and power symbols suggest that the fantasy portrayed in the show is for a man who was a kid or adolescent in the 80s, and, so watching the show now, is middle-aged. 

But this is just the opening image. Next we’re taken down to street level…

We see a mom with pinup proportions in blond hair and pink clothes, pushing a stroller with a baby holding a toy. 

Few points: 

• The camera angle shows the baby directly in front and slightly above us, implying the dominant driving position of the baby. How often do kids hate the newborn baby, when they lose mom’s attention and hear the whining attention grabbing of a new child? I think we are getting setup here to buy-into the animosity and distrust an older brother has for a new young sibling. This tension – showing the baby in a dominant position when it’s actually the weakest being around — foreshadows the revelation that the baby has been replaced with a demon. 
• The mom is drawn and shown to be an erotic fantasy:
  • She has the proportions of a PlayBoy model and the dress of a working woman. 
  • The pink is repeated in many of the erotic 1-dimensional female characters; pink symbolizes love, since it’s a combination of the purity of white and the passion of red.
  • She’s clearly overworked, tense, and a stranger bumps into her. She is the damsel in distress. A perfect opportunity for a good boy to help his mom and a grown man to impress his mate. 
• From the point of view of the erotic fantasy, the guy who bumps into her, who she calls an asshole, is a perfect stand-in for a loser step-dad, absentee dad, or other loser rival. These male roles morally justify the hero’s intervention. 

With all these erotic symbols set up, the hero now has his stage to dance for his mate. He takes down the three demons in flamboyant fashion, showing off all of his virile skill. 

It’s interesting that there are three demons, all similar, all attacking in an alley, and all doing so through physically manipulating the damsel — just as a gang of rapists would. 

And once the fighting is done, where is the mother he’s saved? On the ground, facing him, in the same pose used for a blowjob. 

So of course the first words out of the hero’s mouth are a joke about his faulty wit and the sexual innuendo, “This never happens to me I swear.”

As everyone knows, “This never happens to me, I swear” is the cliche line guys use when they cum too soon or get ED.  

So the young hero who uses this sexual language about his wit – since he couldn’t think of a snappy one-liner to say to look cool – is a joke that alludes to the action-hero genre and a gag about sex. The show wants you to see Dante as likeable, not too arrogant, although it plays up his arrogance a lot. He has the arrogance of youth and the self-deprecation of age. 

Finally, Dante says “Man, Skeletor did not hold up since the 80s.”

Another reference to the 1980s. And a joke that would be said by dad in his 40s. Are you seeing a pattern yet? 

It’s no surprise then that the baby turns into a demon and the hot mom / wife blames the hero for trying to kill it. Isn’t this just like the frustrations a potential mate would face trying to court a single mom who already has a kid, and a kid who wants to get all the approval and attention from a mother figure, but is denied that by the presence of sweet, innocent, greedy baby? 

Once the mom runs away with the baby and disappears, Dante curses out “Dammit,” which can mean a concern for the danger of the woman he just helped… or a complaint that he got excited and left without finishing, a kind of blue balls hero ordeal.  

Scene 3 – Intro Music

Not much I’ll say here except that the music is the song Rollin by Limp Bizkit, released 2000. 

We’ve got the cassette tape that finally went out of fashion in the early 2000s, all the 1980s references (walkman, roller skating, Skeltor) and now Limp Bizkit. The shows creators definitely became teenagers in the 2000s or earlier and are in middle age now. Or at least playing to the fantasy of those in middle age, by using all the props of their youth to incite that feeling of being young and powerful again. 

Scene 4 – News Spreads Like Wildfire

Some recurring themes and new ones are quickly introduced here in a series of :

We see news footage, drawn with a grainy picture just like the television technology of the 1980s. Maybe I should start counting how many allusions we have to the `80s?

The live news show “Fact News Channel” has pugnacious pundits arguing, all completely devoid of facts, decrying the Radicalized Left using the incident as a reason the US should step down from the role of global policeman, and another pundit blaming the Russians.

Now we switch into J-cuts and L-cuts as we see radio talking heads and audiences around the world listen in the story as its developing. The point is to draw the tension tighter upon the question of what is true, who is in charge, what’s real, and to show an underlying sense of anger and violence from those who have a strong opinion on the matter. 

Of course the joke is that the crazy disc jockey, who has the appropriate prompts — white trach coloring with a southern accent and broken tooth — gets it the most right. And meanwhile, the snobby intellectual Conan O’brian stand in snears at the idea of terrorist demons from Hell. 

These counterpoints amp up the tension:

• Fact News Channel says nothing about facts
• A radio rube (country bumpkin) who is supposed to know nothing has the correct facts
• The ivy-league host of the Late Night Show dismisses the true explanation of events out of contempt and ignorance

Scene 5 – War Room at the White House:

This scene has so many gems and golden nuggets of storytelling charm that I can only cover the highlights. Maybe I’ll write a longer exposition frame by frame one day. If you’d like that let me know!

Now onto the analysis…

The war room white house scene confirms that the attacks were made by a “sophisticated network of terrorist demons.” Key symbols and strategies of the show: 

Introduction of key characters:

The generals. Although they play a minor role and say little, one line of dialog stands out — one of the generals says “our Rampart boys were in there…” Of course it’s common for men to use a term of endearment like boys with each other and for a commander to say that of his soldiers. But this is one of those hooks that the show drops, intentionally or not, that starts to continues to draw tighter the lines of a theme about manhood and masculinity — who are the men, who are the boys, what’s the difference? Since the show goes to such lengths to make the hero Dante into a teenage fantasy, it’s important to keep a lookout for any allusions to growing up, or not growing up, by any character. 

Mr. Vice President: 

Red glasses, black gloves, blue suit, white hair, gaunt and stern countenance. He’s clearly a figure that crosses all the rules and combines passion, purity, purpose, and death. Interestingly, his hair is white — meaning his ideas are pure; his glasses are read — meaning he sees with passion and intensity; his suit is blue — meaning he carries authority in the world and in all settings; and his gloves are black — his actions bring death and destruction. 

 The US President: 

He speaks after Mr. Vice President. So, he’s slower and takes his lead from the Vice President. A rundown of his characteristics that make him a caricature:

• Cowboy hat that’s slightly too small

• Big muscular frame with the macho hair and virility of a playboy
• Orange hair coloring with a dark purple suit. Wow what a combo. The orange hair suggests zest and vitality while the dark purple suggests luxury and royalty. But the clash with the other patriotic symbols shows what a buffoon he is. 
• Hat band and tie in the color of the American flag, suggesting an over-the-top patriotism 
• The too-small-hat, over-the-top patriotism, larger-than-life virility, idiotic misquotes of cliches, all suggest a buffoon. 

The first thing the President says is “Let me wrap this around my brain”

A Deliberate misquote of the click “let me get this straight” or “help me get my mind around this” or “let me wrap my head around this.” So clearly, the President, the leader of the American people, is a virile, macho, physically powerful but not truly powerful buffoon, one most likely manipulated by others with real power.  

Ok back to the dialog…

Dr. Fisher says the demons are the colloquial term. The show again presents the idea that there are multiple interpretations of reality, one colloquial, one more accurate and therefore true. 

The true interpretation of reality is that the demons are a “related but separate” (sounds like “separate but equal” doesn’t it?) evolutionary branch of Homo Sapiens. In other words, they are more like us than we care to admit. They are natives of another world, just as we are. And they are the descendants of a common ancestor to Homo Sapiens. 

Dr. Fisher and The White Rabbit both know this truth — that Heaven and Hell are colloquial terms for worlds that are artificially kept apart. However, the Rabbit would disagree when Dr. Fisher says “Mythology exists to explain reality.” Instead, to the Rabbit, mythology exists to blind you to reality and prop up the powerful. If mythology said to the people of Heaven that the inhabitants of Hell are essentially your brothers and sisters and you can help them by simply opening the door for their escape, then the door would have been opened a long time ago instead of staying slammed shut. 

The President is the first one to crack after seeing the footage from the bodycam of the decapitated “Rampart” boy soldier. He acts the perfect clown — bemoaning his fate, playing the victim, making the whole ordeal about what he is forced to deal with, as though he isn’t responsible for navigating and leading people through tough times. 

The Vice President is the true leader, or true villain as it were. He is willing to respond to the situation with grave intent. 

“This is no longer a matter of religion. It’s science. The word of the lord has been proven beyond dispute.” 

I love this wonderful overlap of paradoxes. He’s both a businessman and a fanatical prophet; a vice president and true leader; a technologist and medievalist declaring the start of a Holy War. From his clothing to his speech everything about the Vice President shows what true power in the show is — embracing multiple worlds and combining them into something new, a syzygy of types. So, is a hero or a villain? A good guy or a bad? Clearly the question no longer matters since we are beyond good and bad, hero and villain, into the terrain of strange and influential “Unions” of pairs of opposites. 

The emerging world of Unions is emphasized with a joke when the show has the Generals look to the President for direction and the President looks down, disliking being made to state the obvious, that everyone should do what the Vice President said. 

Scene 6 – DarkCom Capturing Demon Hunters

I’ll quickly say here that we have more symbols:

The DarkCom outfits are twists on the Vice Presidents. Pink glasses (showing less passion and a bit more care); blue and white uniforms for authority and purity of purpose; gold belt buckles for prestige and honor. 

Importantly the gloves are not overtly black like the Vice President’s are, suggesting less ominous death even though they are the footsoldiers actually doing violence. Nonetheless, no one’s killed in this scene despite the high-tech and over-the-top weapons and the bruised and bloody faces of the captured demon hunters.  

The DarkCom soldiers here are almost portrayed as toy soldiers; although doing real damage to these demon hunters, they have no actual impact on the the world or the story. No one dies. 

Next scene – The Diner

7am breakfast to 10pm breakfast at The Diner. 

A hot waitress with red hair donning a pink maid’s outfit has Dante’s breakfast (of ice cream) ready and writes her number with a lipstick kills on a napkin for him. 

What a fantasy! 

A fantastic amalgam from the yearning mind of a child, a teen, and a man:

• The weary husband coming home from a long day of work and wife has food ready. He says “Thanks, I need it today”, with the tired voice of an aged old worker. Total satire.
• The sexy maid’s outfit suggests another object of pleasure; coming home to fuck his kid’s babysitter; or, the teen who lusts after the babysitter.
• And all of this with the kid’s food fantasy of a breakfast of icecream.

Then what does Dante do? 

Wipe his mouth with the napkin that has her number written on it. It’s another fantasy. The fantasy of not giving a fuck; of having so much, that you disdain all women’s attempts to play into your erotic desires. So the biggest desire of all is to be so powerful than you can reject the very fantasy you need the world around you to be. 

Suddenly Dante like Spiderman becomes aware of the gasoline truck on a trajectory to fly through the windows of the Dinner. He saves everyone who are too slow to react and for a moment stares in shock at who would attack in such a devilish way. What does he see? 

A vision of his dead brother emerging out of the fiery wreckage, triggering a flashback of traumatic scenes. 

His brother symbolizes so much. He looks slightly older, more handsome, and more refined. 

How appropriate that the brother draws another thread in the tightening strings of tension. 

A brother whom you both miss and hate; miss because he’s lost and abandoned, allowing the fantasy pleasure of sympathy offered to the grief stricken; and hate because of the competition inherent in twins determining their own character from the choices they make in life. 

The knowledge that Dante had a brother who died grounds the erotic fantasies of the story, but they are still part of the fantasy. They highlight Dante’s character, his almost innocent brand of cool, his intersection of teen virility and angst. And they set it against the refined, debonair character of this vision of his brother. 

The knowledge of the dead brother plants the seed to question Dante’s choices. The fact that this vision of the brother turns out to be an illusion cast by the demon who before had played a baby, implies that Dante will simply reaffirm his own decisions, double-down, instead of learning anything from his brother, or anyone else for that matter.

That’s it for now! Stay tuned for the next post in this series — part 2 of Episode 1: Inferno!