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if you’re interested in a Japanese perspective on LGBT issues in Crybaby, I found this article by a trans blogger. here are the main points in it:
- the sabbath has couples of the same gender and different gender, which normalizes the former.
- Koda is a devilman and gay, but not a
devilman because he is gay since others are possessed too. his sex scene is also normalized, not a stereotype or a joke.
- demon/devilman hunting resembles anti-gay persecution (sodomy laws, gay allegations, AIDS crisis, etc), especially because gay people are historically associated with demons.
- Crybaby uses apocalyptic imagery from the Bible and the Christian Makimuras are portrayed respectfully.
- Ryo televising Akira’s devilman transformation resembles outing.
- admittedly “maybe I’m reading too much into it” and “of course, this is a high-handed explanation. I think so too.”
- referring to the demons as “ancient people” brings in colonialism, which also caused anti-gay persecution.
- Netflix’s English subtitles using “foreigner” and “mix” instead of “gaijin” and “haafu” changes the nuance of Japanese xenophobia.
- Miki K’s last stand is more an act of unarmed neutrality than one of suicide, because after she was able to confess her love to Miki M she doesn’t kill anymore.
- “calling [Miki K’s confession] ‘gay’ may be an exaggeration, but something like 'friendship’ isn’t enough either. I feel it is 'love.'”
- empathy is acquired through love in Crybaby, such as through love symbolized in the baton pass.
- perhaps gods and holy figures (in this case angels like Satan) are often depicted as androgynous to connect to any mortal.
- Ryo’s ultimate form looks like a woman but Ryo and Akira are also men (like gachimuchi, a genre of gay art). the question of if they depict “love” or “gay” or “straight” doesn’t have a definitive answer because they have surpassed the gender binary and biological sex. anyone (man, woman, gay, straight, trans, etc.) can empathize with the final scene because of that.
- Akira didn’t lose his empathy or love for Miki M even after becoming non-human, and Miki K regained her humanity after confessing her love.
- the time of anti-gay persecution is not over.
- “thank you, Devilman! thank you, Crybaby! good job!”
feel free to tell me any constructive corrections or anything important I missed. but please don’t respond to this post as if these are my opinions, since they’re not and I just want to share them.
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