The Devilman Crybaby exhibit in the Tower Records Shibuya showcases everything a fan would want from an anime exhibit: key animation, gorgeous designs, and artwork that's guaranteed to make you feel emotional.

When you first walk into the exhibit, you'll see signed boards from key members of the staff, greeting the visitors.

The exhibit was called the “Sabbath Shibuya”, which is fittingly named for its nightclub theme. Nightclubs play a core part in Devilman Crybaby, where counterculture and devils manifest. The far back area of the exhibit was recreated a nightclub, featuring stills from the anime's nightclub scenes and the devils that occupy the night life.

Another flashy part of the exhibit was the recreation of Miki's younger brother Taro's room, which is filled with classic Devilman paraphernalia. There's even a Devilman statue sitting with his arms crossed on the chest of drawers. This was a neat touch.

Then there was this mirror with the ominous words: “You could be a devil, too.”

Most of the exhibit itself was taken up by key animation frames and still frames from the completed footage. Each of the anime's ten episodes had its own wall, making the exhibit quite spoiler heavy. I would recommend visiting the exhibit only after finishing the entire show. You should also avoid reading the rest of this article, as I'm going to spoil some key plot points here.

There were also Ayumi Kurashima's early character designs from 2016 on the wall, as well as Kiyotaka Oshiyama's rough devil designs and the background art boards. These are taken from the 100-page artbook, which is bundled with the complete Bluray boxset that came out on May 30.

There were even some illustrations featured that were drawn specifically for magazine spreads, like this illustration by Ayumi Kurashima, which was first seen in the April 2018 edition of Otomedia. You can see that this image appeals to the largely female demographic of the magazine.

Meanwhile, Oshiyama's art for CONTINUE and Monthly MdN portray a strikingly different image for the series.

If that wasn't enough of an insider glimpse inside the production of Devilman Crybaby, scripts and storyboards from every episode of the series were available for fans to peruse freely at the exhibit.

Fittingly for an exhibit inside the Tower Records, Japan's biggest music store chain, you could put on some headphones and listen to some of the tracks from the Devilman Crybaby soundtrack.

Aniplex's Devilman Crybaby figure, which was unveiled at Winter Wonderfest 2018 and will go on sale in July, was on display at the exhibit as well.

As cool as the entire exhibit was, my lasting impression of the experience is going to be the cutouts of all the characters running in a relay race.

Relay races are a recurring motif throughout the series, which represent the idea of trusting others and relaying feelings between one person and another. As director Masaaki Yuasa puts it in the pamphlet interview that came with the admission ticket: “Think of the story as a relay race where tears are passed as a baton. Akira/Devilman is a crybaby, and at the end he is able to make Satan cry.”

This idea is perfectly encapsulated in these two images:

The Sabbath Shibuya exhibit at the Shibuya Tower Records runs between May 23 to June 17. Entry costs 800 yen. A range of Devilman Crybaby-related merchandise is also available for purchase at the exhibit space. For more details, check out the Shibuya Tower Records website.

©Go Nagai-Devilman Crybaby Project