Masaaki Yuasa's 'Devilman Crybaby' Gets A New Trailer, January Release Date

Of all the animated projects that Netflix has announced, there are few that have been more unexpected than Devilman Crybaby. Based on the iconic manga and anime character from Go Nagai and directed by Masaaki Yuasa, it's due to be released in 2018 to mark Nagai's 50th anniversary in the business.

We've now got a concrete release date, as it has been confirmed that it will hit Netflix everywhere on January 5. The news arrives alongside a new trailer and a poster too.  In the new version, according to Netflix "a demon possesses a boy's body to do evil. But after falling in love with a human girl he has a change of heart". This is quite a change from the 1972 original, in which a young man named Akira Fudo willingly fuses with a demonic creature, in order to fight other demons. As well as the original manga and TV series, the character returned in a 1990s video series (which was released in the US and UK), several spin-offs and a live action movie.

The trailer suggests that at heart, the premise of a half-demon hero (still named Akira) fighting his own kind is unchanged. With Yuasa at the helm, however, the animation itself is going to be a big selling point. The supernatural storyline allows Yuasa's style to really let rip and results in some astonishing visuals. This is definitely going to appeal even to those who are unfamiliar with Nagai's original character.






Check out the English version of the trailer here.