so I make mmvs for fun now and I just finished my second one (this one Witch Hat Atelier, the first was dungeon meshi) and thought I'd commemorate it by making some gifs of some of the video moments \o/ Full video: https://youtu.be/GNINFn8ssOg
........ You know what? I think I'll give Netflix's Devil May Cry Season 2 a hard pass after all.
Okay so here are my personal opinions on Netflix's Devil May Cry
*Spoilers ahead*
So starting off I will say that I am a casual Devil May Cry fan (and have been for many years). I am also aware that this Netflix series is non-canon and I know that they were planning to go in a different direction with their own take on the Devil May Cry story and its characters. How it all panned out though? Personally, I think I walked away from this Netflix series a little less than lukewarm on it. Now I didn't outright hate it, but it fell pretty flat for me.
But, I want to be fair and start out with the things I liked.
I really liked the White Rabbit, both as this season's villain and as a character. My favorite part of the entire show was his backstory episode. I loved the direction of the story telling and the art. It was kind of jarring watching that episode to be honest, in a good way! I felt like I was watching an entirely different (and better) show for those 10 minutes. I felt like the White Rabbit was strangely the character that we as an audience had more of a chance to connect with over the others.
I really liked JYB's performance as Dante. He did a great job, even though my brain is so used to hearing him as Nero. I think JYB was definitely going for a younger (and less experienced) Dante and I think it worked well for the show!
Cavaliere Angelo (despite being mostly glaring CGI that stood out like a sore thumb) was pretty cool.
The plasma demon was also pretty cool for a side character demon guy.
I enjoyed Enzo when he wasn't being an exposition machine and just had some opportunities to banter with Dante. I think their occasional banter was the only time in the show I chuckled (outside of the last line in the season--that had me rolling because Vergil being unironically lame always makes me cackle💙)
The action scenes were fire!!🔥
Baby Vergil and Dante!! They were so cute! 😭💖
And now onto the things that made the show fall flat for me:
Lady. I'm sorry, but I just didn't vibe with the direction they took her. Lady doesn't need to swear every other line. She also doesn't need to posture like she's compensating for something. I understand that they may have been leaning hard into her standoffishness that she had at the beginning of DMC3, but outside of a few moments of self-reflection (which really didn't amount to much in the end) that's all she really was. Seriously, it felt like the show's creators were trying WAY too hard to make her "cool". My guy, listen, there is no need for that nonsense. Lady was already cool.
I sadly didn't laugh very much during the series. I don't know, the humor just didn't tickle my funny bone for some reason. Dante's one liners in the games usually do, but it just didn't hit the same in this series.
The whole dumb southern president and the rich, evil VP who pulls all the strings and runs a secret organization of demon hunters was pretty uninspired in my opinion. And I don't know, maybe it's just that the timing was bad given all the political insanity that is happening in the world currently, or maybe the show just focused way too hard on these characters/themes, but I just didn't enjoy any of the political and social commentary parts of the story. Especially since it came at the expense of time for us to get to know and explore the characters.
Despite this show’s promotional material leading us to believe it was about Dante and his family, this season felt like it was mostly dedicated to Lady and her squad/evil boss. All of which are characters that are very blatantly tied to the show’s political message and subsequently, making me care for them far less (sorry Lady, I loved you in the games, but not here). It's not a good sign for the likability of the characters when I ended cheering when Lady's squad was taken out. "Finally!", thought I, "They can stop focusing on these randoms and give us more Dante screentime!"
Branching off of this, did anyone else feel like Dante was a secondary character in his own show? Cause it did to me.
Now my next point is that the show didn’t land emotional scenes very well (except for episode 6, the one good episode that wasn’t even trying to be dmc). For example, Enzo's act of sacrifice at the end for…seemingly no reason? It felt like it came out of nowhere. Dante was not on the brink of death when Enzo put himself in the line of fire. Hey Enzo, did you forget that this man can survive a literal bomb to the face? It honestly was so forced and so nonsensical and the "emotional" scene that it was trying to build ended up falling totally flat.
Final point: Vergil is Mundus’ lapdog now? Willingly? That’s quite off course for his character in the games. But I’ll keep an open mind to see where they go with his character. I’m sad to say given what they did with Lady, I’m not very optimistic.
Final, final point: Vergil’s devil trigger/Nelo Angelo design looks like it was still in the first draft phase. 😬
That's about all of my initial thoughts. Overall, I respect the show for trying to do its own thing and I'm glad that some folks had a great time watching it! For me personally though, this show was more of a miss than a hit. Maybe season 2 will be a bit more up my alley.
Rating: G Summary: A short story about a woman searching for the person who abandoned her long ago. cw: family angst, child abandonment wc: 1.3k
Estelle held her breath, stilling completely before she took her first step onto the lifeless planet. In her suspended silence, she could distinctly feel the resounding shudder of gravity pull her forward, beckoning her to venture forth into a strange, new world.
“ You have arrived on EX 6G12 .” Computer’s voice crackled in her earpiece. “Atmosphere composition, 97% carbon dioxide and 3% nitrogen. Conclusion, unsustainable for human life. Please be advised that your current oxygen reserves sit at 73% .”
Estelle released her held breath, fogging up the glass dome surrounding her head as she lowered herself down from the shuttle. It was silly to think that something as seemingly fragile as a glass fishbowl was the only thing separating her from certain death.
“Acknowledged. Thank you.”
The moment Estelle’s boot came into contact with the surface of the planet, a cloud of bright red dust scattered about her legs. Estelle paused, momentarily enchanted as she watched the disturbed particles flickering like a thousand tiny stars, curiously dancing in the light beaming off her helmet.
Computer, like always, took note of Estelle’s interest and fuelled her boundless wonder.
“Every 112 years, this planet’s orbit brings it within close proximity of a star, HR 17C3. According to my data logs, this increases the planet’s temperature to 1278 degrees Celsius. Glass storms typically form as a result of the winds and fluctuating temperatures of the planet’s day and night cycles.”
A glass storm. Estelle couldn’t imagine anything as simultaneously captivating as it was terrifying. Thank goodness her timing had brought her to this planet before it had left its tranquil phase. Otherwise, she’d have had no hope of finding the person she was looking for.
“Computer, how far is he?”
Estelle turned and used her light to survey the pitch black space that surrounded her. She couldn’t see anything on the dark horizon. No rocks, no shadows, no lights. No sign of any life whatsoever. Nothing but red dust and glimmering glass.
“Acquiring signal. Calculating. Estimated distance to target: 3 kilometres, southwest.”
Southwest.
A strange sense of deja vu befell her. Southwest; the same direction she’d taken on that night many years ago. With vivid clarity Estelle remembered the way her chilled fingers felt combing through the cooled foliage of her grandparent’s cornfield as she searched for the strange light she had seen glowing in the distance from her bedroom window. She’d ventured forth that night, armed with nothing but a flashlight and her childish curiosity.
Stupid was certainly one word for what she’d been back then, but yet here she was again, searching for that same light; except this time she was millions of miles away from that quaint little cornfield.
“Signal lost.” Computer abruptly deadpanned in her ear and Estelle's heart nearly stopped.
“What? What do you mean you lost his–”
“Signal found,” Computer interrupted. “But it is fading. The target’s estimated power reserves have depleted to 4.3% of max capacity.”
The rest of Computer’s words fell on deaf ears as Estelle quickly made a grab for her lazer rifle and tore into the darkness of the unknown. God, she was shaking, but she held fast to that rifle, clutching it to her chest like a lifeline. She’d never ventured this far from her system before, and she was scared of what lay beyond the light of her shuttle, but there was no way she was turning back now, not after everything she’d been through in her search to find him.
Estelle's hurried footsteps were surprisingly silent, the red sand and thick darkness easily swallowing up whatever sound she made, making her feel that much more vulnerable and alone. It was eerie, like the inside of a coffin buried hundreds of meters down.
How fitting that she would find him in a place like this. After all that time he spent shut away from her during her childhood...after all that time she spent believing that he was dead.
“I’m sorry Starlight. But this work is very important. It will help people. It will save the world.”
Estelle’s molars gnaw on the inside of her cheek—a nasty habit she’d acquired in her youth. To save the world. It was a noble pursuit, her grandparents always told her, and she knew that painfully well even back then.
But…despite that man’s sacrifice, Estelle couldn’t help but feel that she was the one who paid the price. In the name of the greater good, Estelle lost the only person in the world she longed for the most. It didn't feel fair that she was made to sacrifice the one person who was supposed to love her above all else. All for a rotting blue planet filled with selfish people who cared nothing but themselves.
But then again, Estelle knew deep down that she was no different from them. After all, she had walked away from it all and abandoned those people just like he'd abandoned her.
“Approaching target.”
Estelle’s focus recentered on the vastness before her. Her eyes darted about the darkness, desperately hoping to find any sign of him, until there, far in the distance she saw something.
Levitating just above the ground Estelle saw two glowing orange lights. She'd recognize that warm glow anywhere.
Gasping out a sob she didn’t even know she was holding, Estelle ran for that faint ray of hope. With each step forward, her vision grew progressively more blurry and the lights flickered with each desperate gasp that exploded from her lungs. In the back of her mind, Estelle prayed that the flicker was just a trick of her welling tears.
Please. Don't disappear, not now. Not after I’ve finally found you.
And then, Estelle finally reached him. Her headlight sharply reflected against the metallic face of the one she had been searching for for so long. He lay there, immobilized on his front, his rusted body covered in windswept dust. His glowing eyes immediately landed on Estelle’s face, softening in spite of the emotive shortcomings of his robotic face.
“S-s-starrlight?”
The sound of his artificial voice vibrated through the empty darkness. It was so bittersweet, an imperfect replica of the man who Estelle could no longer vividly remember, such was the cruel march of time.
“Yes, It’s me.”
Estelle dropped her rifle and fell to her knees in front of the massive, mechanical man. She no longer fought back her stinging tears as she brushed the years of rusted dirt off of his dented and scratched face.
She heard the gentle whir of his optics as they travelled up and down her body. She must look so different to him now, being almost 20 years since he'd seen her last.
“I would have never imagined th-th-that…”
His voice cut off momentarily and a static sound reminiscent of grinding of sand filled the darkened night. Estelle wondered how long he’d been out here, eroding away in this state. 10 years? Perhaps even longer.
“L-look how b-big you’ve gotten! Oh, Estelle. I’m s-sorry I didn’t get to watch you grow up. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you. I-I-I’m so sorry.”
And when she heard those words, Estelle wept openly for the first time in years. Wailing and howling like a little child, she instinctively brought her trembling hands to her face, but quickly realized that the dome protecting her head prevented her from masking her pain. She had to show him; reveal her anguish in its full, ugly glory.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. Don’t c-c-cry ” His robotic voice echoed through the empty plain. Its tilt was artificial, but the regret in his words was as alive and organic as she was.
“I-I’m trying.” Estelle gasped, her own voice raw and broken. “I’m trying dad, but I can’t seem to stop.”
A heavy mechanical groan thundered and snapped Estelle’s attention forward. She watched, and her heart fell to her stomach as her father’s vessel fought with all his might to lift his hand and reach out to her.
But he couldn’t…despite her finally being close enough to touch, he couldn’t reach her.
“Es-s-s-telle.”
The cosmic irony was not lost on her.
He’d named her after a star after all.
obsessed with the idea that the farmer and Caldarus are like,, lovers through different lifetimes, OBSESSED
Happy birthday to the most creature ever
mister "my family crest is a demon of death"
single dad vergil is my fav kind of vergil