[quote=@ProPro]
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Funny. Last time I let some mooks hit me, i saw my life meter drop a considerable amount, but when it happens in cut scenes it's a "walk it off" situation at the very worst. In the opening cut scene for DMC 3, all the scythes Dante takes at once would kill you unless you had multiple health upgrades, but he pretends they're not even there, and even weaponizes them. He's basically got high speed regeneration and isn't bothered by most anything unless he takes a ton of punishment over a long period of time. 

Seriously, there is a definite segregation of story narrative and gameplay mechanics. 
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Protip: Don't get hit. That enemy is super duper slow and doesn't have a lot of attack power. They're the punching bags given to you to practice controls on before the game starts.

Furthermore, Dante actually does have a fair bit of health. You won't have trouble tanking hits until you fight a boss, but an decent player is too SSStylish to hit.
That's the whole point of the taunt button.