Devil May Cry

Netflix

Netflix has brought back another great animated adaptation of a famed video game series, and like many other attempts, has gotten a sky-high Rotten Tomatoes score.

This time around, the show is Devil May Cry, which was turned into an anime series that first aired in 2025 and is back just a year later for season 2. The show’s 96% Rotten Tomatoes score in season 1 has at least currently been upgraded to a full on 100% score, bringing the average to a 98%. Devil May Cry fans, however, are not fully on board, with season 1 getting 66% audience score. Still, it was well-watched enough to return for season 2, which is live now.

While not every attempt is a hit, Netflix’s batting average with these adaptations is excellent. The new ranking order of these series is:

• Arcane – 100% critic score
• Cyberpunk Edgerunners – 100% critic score
• Pokémon Concierge – 100% critic score
• The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf – 100% critic score
• Castlevania Nocturne – 98% critic score
• Devil May Cry – 98% critic score

It’s an elite club, and Devil May Cry is clearly in tier 1, while others from Tomb Raider or Dragon’s Dogma are in the 70-90% range. Some have totally missed, like Tekken Bloodline, which landed a 40% for its singular season.

Many of those top shows have ended, from Arcane to Cyberpunk, though both of those are supposed to return with new characters at some point in the years to come. That leaves Devil May Cry as one of the few active ones, and many of the video game-based projects heading to Netflix next are live-action, like Assassin’s Creed and Gears of War. One returning series will be Splinter Cell: Deathwatch, where the first season had a solid 86% score.

Why is Devil May Cry so divisive? A critic and audience sampling perhaps shows the difference:

• Fangirlish – “Having zero knowledge of Devil May Cry, I had a great time with Netflix’s new anime of the video game franchise without feeling like I was missing out on key information.”
• William M (audience) – “This is the single worst adaptation I have ever seen. Dante’s character is not what he is in the game by any means. He is 100% different. Not only that, but this show breaks the lore of the game series in many different ways…This is a perfect example of what not to do when adapting a franchise. It’s extremely disrespectful to all the longtime fans.”

Criticisms about video game adaptations often fall into the “not faithful enough” category, but clearly, Devil May Cry is at least worth trying out, and season 2 indicates there has been no dip in quality.

Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.