Devil May Cry (Japanese: デビル メイ クライ Hepburn: Debiru Mei Kurai) is an anime series based on the video game series by Capcom, in turn very loosely based on the Italian epic poem Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. It is set sometime between Devil May Cry and Devil May Cry 4. It debuted on the WOWOW TV network in Japan on June 14, 2007 and ran 12 episodes.
The show was produced by the anime studio Madhouse and was directed by Shin Itagaki. Bingo Morihashi, one of the writers for the second, third and fourth games, was also on the writing staff.
A teaser-trailer, released on the show's official site, featured pre-production artwork of Dante, the primary protagonist and playable character of the video games, and confirmed him as the show's protagonist.
A second trailer released at the 2007 Tokyo International Anime Fair showed actual animation from the show and included a character and cast list, featuring both new characters and other characters from the games.
The first episode aired in Japan on June 14, 2007.
On June 30, 2007, at Anime Expo 07, it was announced that ADV Films had licensed the show. However, in 2008, it became one of more than 30 titles that were transferred to Funimation Entertainment.
The series made its North American television debut on the FUNimation Channel in September 2010 and it began airing on Chiller's Anime Wednesdays block on July 15, 2015.