The struggle between good and evil is a central theme of many works, and in the context of Western culture, it is often embodied as a story of demons vs angels. And what it reflects in essence is a basic contradiction that life faces—the contradiction between existence and continuation. On the one hand, life needs to maintain its own stability, and external threats must be excluded, which makes the impulse to "destroy" rooted in the nature of life and become the so-called "evil"; on the other hand, life needs to continue as long as possible. We have to absorb and accept other lives in order to adapt to the infinite possibilities in the future, so "love and tolerance" are also rooted in the nature of life, which is the foundation of "goodness". In fact, the two are in conflict with each other.
Different from ordinary works, in "Devil Man crybaby", Satan as an "angel" does not represent the good or evil side of human nature, but a "superior" - a higher life than human beings. Because he has an almost eternal life, he is an absolute powerhouse in the human world, and there are no things that can threaten him. Good and evil have no meaning to him, and he does not need to empathize with humans. Because of this, he didn't understand why Fumei was crying over the dead cat, why he was worried about the rabbit on the moon, and why he handed the baton to himself.
In the work, the "devil" represents the destructive impulse in the nature of life - this impulse can bring people powerful strength on the one hand, but also threaten others and even oneself on the other hand. In the whole play, Asuka's attitude towards the devil is only summarized in one sentence in EP10 - "I like the simple and bright heart of the devil" (of course, this is the need of the plot, after all, if he likes the kind and pure heart of human beings, then the whole story will be There is no conflict). It is precisely because of this that Asuka uses his ability to guide the demons through the "evil" in the human heart, thus dragging the entire human world into hell.
In the whole play, the heroine Miki Makimura is actually the heroine who replaces the angel to represent the "good" side of human nature. She brings together almost all the beautiful parts of human nature - positive, brave, optimistic, kind, and innocent. In the track and field club, she is an idol-level athlete that everyone looks up to. When the bad youth team was framed and fell into crisis, she took the initiative to rescue him. When the identity of the demon was exposed, she accepted him and defended him. The "goodness" in Fudaki's heart was not swallowed up by the power of the devil, precisely because of the support of Miki Makimura.
The interesting thing about "Devil Man crybaby" is that it does not present a simple story of the battle between good and evil, but the destruction and rebirth of "people". The demons in the play are not completely the incarnation of evil and destruction, they are more like old human beings who have not been baptized by civilization and maintain strong violent impulses - they have normal intelligence, and even organize and infiltrate human beings. Among them, the most representative is undoubtedly the role of "Dead Liyu". Her yearning and worship for strength is no longer only at the level of instinctive impulse, but has reached the level of "faith" - this is already a "faith". good" field. And Kaim, who sacrificed himself to provide the decisive power for the dead Liru, has the same love for her as a human being. Compared with the latter humans who brutally kill their companions in the frenzy, they are more "human".
However, Reiu and Kaim died, their parents who loved Akira and Miki died, and Miki Makimura and Miki Kuroda also died. In this war between demons and humans, human nature is worthless in the face of Satan's overwhelming power, and in the end, they are all torn apart one by one in extremely tragic ways. Whether good or evil, in the end did not escape the end of destruction.
At the end of the story, human beings perished, and Fu Ming also died. The judgment and purification of the gods came again, and the lonely bird felt the small and powerless side of itself again. At this moment, Asuka finally understood the human condition and the meaning behind human nature, understood what love and grief are, and truly felt them. The humanity that disappeared due to the demise of mankind has re-germinated in the heart of an angel. After more than ten years, the last stick of this relay race has finally reached the hands of those who should catch it.
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