Hataraku Maou-sama!

[Archangel]

Alternative Title: The Devil is a Part-Timer!
Type: TV
Episodes: 13
Source: Novel
Producers: Lantis, Pony Canyon, White Fox
Genres: Comedy, Demons, Romance, Shounen

Synopsis: Devil King Sadao is only one step away from conquering the world when he is beaten by Hero Emilia and forced to drift to the other world: modern-day Tokyo. As "conquering the world" are the only skills the Devil King possesses—and are obviously unnecessary in his new situation—he must work as a freeter to pay for his living expenses!

Resources: Wiki | AniDB | MyAnimeList

[Commie] - Episode 01

That was one hell of an impressive opening sequence, way to hook up my interest with some fast and fluid action. The comedy also did a good job keeping me interested afterwards, i'll definitely be following this.

[Ryllharu]

I gotta admit, I'm still leery with this show after the disaster of Ben-to (which the tone sort of reminds me of), but this first episode was great.

The series is animated by the Jormungand and Katanatagari folks, so it's pretty obvious why the animation at the beginning is so kickass.

But the Maou's attitude once getting to the human world was hilarious. The fact that he even considered using the final reserves of his magic to repair the deep fryers is golden. Also, his natural leadership and ambition allows him to strive for success in the most mundane of environments, throw everything into victory, and encourage his underlings (Touyama Nao ftw!). He might be down on his luck, but he's clawing his way back up.

Usually, I'd expect him to be down on his luck, moping around and being a pathetic loser until some cute rich girl takes pity on him and takes him in. Instead, he made sure he gathered as much info from the cops as possible, and started from scratch. That's entrepreneurial spirit! He's not getting any help, he's dividing his forces for efficiency, taking the burdens on himself, and not giving in. That's something to admire.

Now to see how far the hero has fallen. I suspect that she's lost a lot of her abilities as well, though she seems to be at least a little better off so far. I wonder who is bankrolling her, or if she's just putting up a strong appearance to make him shake his confidence.

[Archangel]

I really liked his character as well, he's a really committed worker and has impeccable work ethic. Also liked how he just nonchalantly gave away the umbrella with no big fuss, speech or shoujo bubbles. Both him and Aisler (sp?) were funny and badass when the situation demanded it, this is definitely something to follow.

Inb4 Mfauli shitting fest.

[shinta|hikari]

I just started reading the manga for this today. Ugh, accidentally spoiled myself.

[animus]

So far the first episode was entertaining as hell, can't really say the same for the other new series out so far. Those damn cosplaying gaijins.

[David75]

Out of the 10 new shows I tested yesterday eve, might be the only one I'll keep following.
Not that it was that good, rather it wasn't too cliché, had small surprises and kept me entertained.
For some reason, we get some shows with Maou in the title every season. New Trend? or is that I never really cared before?
I just hope it won't get boring too quickly, as most shows usually have a catchy first ep and then nothing else...
well some shows can't even have a good first ep:
Photokano is a show entirely cooked for you by Canon, and it's really bad.
Majestic Prince: they didn't even try, did they?
Karneval: Already had K last season, enough thanks.
Devil Survivor: FSN X something ?
Yahari..... overly long title.... Machigatteiru: Usual story starting with "fighting" Male and Female MC

[Kraco]

Usually, I'd expect him to be down on his luck, moping around and being a pathetic loser until some cute rich girl takes pity on him and takes him in. Instead, he made sure he gathered as much info from the cops as possible, and started from scratch. That's entrepreneurial spirit! He's not getting any help, he's dividing his forces for efficiency, taking the burdens on himself, and not giving in. That's something to admire.

Bullshit. I'd agree with you if you were talking about the hero here. But we are talking about the demon lord. He shouldn't be working at a fast food joint but bashing some yakuza heads to take over or starting a shady business. It's not like you'd need magic in this world of ours to be an evil bastard with far too much power. In fact if he had used the little magic he had left, he could have got a very good head start on a path to become an immoral business mogul. But instead he's happy selling fries and almost used the magic to repair the fricking deep fryer. Well, considering he started willingly a war on four fronts back in his home world, I reckon he's not the brightest fellow in general, but considering he started willingly a war on four fronts back in his home world, I thought he would have a wicked attitude and ambition. Apparently not. Instead he's both stupid and not wicked. A great combination for a demon lord, huh.

[Ryllharu]

Instead he's both stupid and not wicked. A great combination for a demon lord, huh.

For a comedy series?

The best combination.

They have to fit in and lay low until they figure out how to recharge their magic. Something they have again hilariously failed at. Taking over the yakuza wouldn't be very effective at the laying low part. Emilia probably would have figured it out sooner. The fast food employee situation nearly threw her off completely.

Nevertheless, he's decided to have his store conquer the rest of the franchise first and get more money. You gotta start somewhere.

[Kraco]

Nevertheless, he's decided to have his store conquer the rest of the franchise first and get more money. You gotta start somewhere.

But that leaves being a maou totally out of the question. It's like his background is that of a king of demons just because it looks oh so cool in the series description and because it would make a clumsy heroine pay any attention to him. But that's it. It's totally wasted on flipping hamburgers at a minor fast food restaurant. It also makes no sense how somebody like that could have become a maou in their home world. You'd think demons would be such backstabbing bastards that a doofus like that would have found himself killed twice over in no time by his own men.

I hope things will change in the future eps. It's not like I'd have decided to drop this already. I always like a story where the hero and the demon lord become a couple, although it would help if the demon lord was a bit more like a demon lord to spice things up.

Emilia probably would have figured it out sooner. The fast food employee situation nearly threw her off completely.

It didn't seem to me like he was expecting her to follow them to the human world in the first place, so playing low shouldn't have been an issue. Besides, a maou should be bold anyway. I mean, he even is at the restaurant, as much as one can be.

[MFauli]

Inb4 Mfauli shitting fest.

Well, sorry, but ...

No, let me start first by saying that I enjoyed this. The opening was fantastic (seriously, we saw important looking characters fighting each other and then suddenly die to the dozens in the span of 2 minutes). Really liked Satan´s attitude, too.

But, and here´s the but: Way to ruin an interesting premise. Why did Satan change to a normal human so quickly? Why is he so nice and gives his umbrella away? Why is he not actively looking for a way to regain his powers? This is supposed to be the ultimate evil? Yeah, um, no.
From the summary in the OP, I expected this be about Satan coming to our world, except without his powers. But this guy isn´t Satan, neither in terms of powers NOR attitude. I mean ... wouldn´t it have been hilarious to watch a boy boss around the people around him, telling everyone he´s Satan? That´s what I was looking forward to.
Instead, Satan changed into a good guy by switching worlds. sigh

Anyway, will keep watching, it´s good enough.

[Ryllharu]

It also makes no sense how somebody like that could have become a maou in their home world. You'd think demons would be such backstabbing bastards that a doofus like that would have found himself killed twice over in no time by his own men.

It's not like he gated into Earth and then became a big softie the same day. He was still talking with authority and acting high and mighty that first night. He was suspicious of the food at first, and definitely didn't eat it (to the point where he later collapsed from lack of food), while his underling was already chowing down greedily. He planned, gathered an extraordinary amount of information from the cop he hypnotized so that he wouldn't arouse suspicion again as they settled in. At least give him the respect he deserves for that first night. While his underling was freaking out, he was calm and under control.

The thing is, they've been there quite a while by the end of the episode. You can't buy a fridge, a washing machine, and a bike after a month's salary working part-time. He's adapted. He has gotten used to interacting with the world they've ended up in, while his underling has been sent off to study, and has kept on task (though becoming a bit of a housewife) and remains calm and under control. So there is a bit of a role reversal from the beginning compared to the end.

So his ambitions have...suffered a bit from tunnel vision on his part of the duties. Which after all, is earning all the money so the two can survive. Someone like him falling so far and probably not even realizing it, I think that makes great comedy.

[Kraco]

Yeah, sure, except for the fact he's not a maou anymore. Even a hero with some wits would have done the same. They were, after all, from a world full of war and wickedness, so being cautious should be a given until they figured out what the world is all about. If the dude was still a maou, he wouldn't be frying fries happily. Even if he had ended up at the restaurant, he would have arranged for the joint boss to get into an accident and be conveniently present to take over her place temporarily. That would be something a maou would do - IF he ever bothered to work at a fast food restaurant, which is a big if, especially considering I still believe he didn't know he had to hide from the winning people of his own world. Instead this guy is genuinely happy he got a permanent position as a burger flipper.

If that's the limit of his ambitions, why did he start a grand war to enslave the whole world back in his home dimension?

[Yukimura]

I'm with Kraco on this one, the maou on Earth didn't feel at all like the same maou as in the opening scenes . As cool as I found the opening scenes I am kind of hoping none of that stuff is going to come up again and we can attribute the discrepancy to an introductory joke in keeping with the comedic bent the actual series is going to maintain. Maybe the actual point of the show will be to contrast the fundamental attitudes of the denizens of the maoh's world with those the typical Tokyo residents, but we'll have to see how the interactions with the Hero play out in episode 2 at the least.

[Ryllharu]

[FFF] Hataraku Maou-sama - 02



-------------------




Emelia's face at the police station, and also after she got locked out by Alsiel...and while begging for a place to stay for the night. :3
They made her cry. They're still evil after all!

Looks like she's just as much of an idiot as the other two. She seems to have a better job though.

Things are getting more intriguing with someone claiming they can cause earthquakes and shooting bullets at the Emelia and Maou. Also, jealous high-school aged junior employee infatuated with Maou...can't wait until she meets his "ex-girlfriend."

Maou at least still has some high ambitions. He intends to take over Japan first, then back to Ente Isla. He even had his serious face on.

[MasterOfMoogles]

If High Priest man isn't the badguy, I just don't know... I think it is highly likely he's ruling over Ente Isla in the absence of the hero and the demon king.

I imagine the earthquakes are involved in either transporting people to Earth or siphoning out magic power.
Chi-chan's house is probably on a leyline or something, so I'm sure they'll all have to go visit her at some point.

[Kraco]

If High Priest man isn't the badguy, I just don't know... I think it is highly likely he's ruling over Ente Isla in the absence of the hero and the demon king.

I imagine the earthquakes are involved in either transporting people to Earth or siphoning out magic power.
Chi-chan's house is probably on a leyline or something, so I'm sure they'll all have to go visit her at some point.

Those do sound pretty good theories based on the exceedingly little we know at the moment. Since neither Maou nor his henchman nor Hero can regain any magic, it would be strange if whoever followed them could without resorting to extraordinary methods. I'm still thinking Maou doesn't do nearly enough to remedy his situation (because he does nothing), and Ashiya only reading some general books on old Earth folklore, history, and whatnot is not going to help them overly much. If they are magical beings to begin with, they should have some innate sense to find external sources of mana if any exist. On the other hand, they seem to be so stupid that I doubt they could themselves devise ways to siphon it back from their own world. Maou apparently is a man who never bothered to learn anything by himself and probably just ordered his underlings to do stuff for him. Now that flaw is kicking him in the nuts.

I'm still not getting really well into this series. Ryll praises the foolishness is there to make this great comedy, but I haven't laughed once during these eps. The last portion of this episode was a bit better with the interaction between Maou and Hero, but all in all this is a failure as a comedy as well as far as I'm concerned.

[David75]

MoM is probably not too far from what's really happening.
After all Chi-chan is in the ED, so she's part of the 4 main characters.
The earthquakes and gates theory is nice too. I guess someone from EnteIsla could gate to earth, use the stored powers they have left to trace Hero and Maou the first night and open a gate back before their remaining powers go too low.
The second night, they get lucky with Hero and Maou being at the same location and try to eliminate both, then go back to EI to replenish energy.

Now the question is wether the culprit is Chi-chan, but since I doubt it, I'd say it's Hero's co-worker.

[MFauli]

WHY?!


That´s how I´d sum up this second episode.
So many scenes where I went "Why?!", because they didn´t make sense, considering he´s the devil and she´s the hero. I guess putting both of them in opposite shoes is intentional and for comedy purposes, but ... it didn´t work on me. Not a single laugh from me.

I´ll keep watching, because the initial premise (the devil entering the real world and having to face mundane tasks) is too interesting. But if things don´t get better fast, I´ll drop this show. Real pitty how they didn´t use the promise of the first five minutes of ep1.

[Ryllharu]

You people have no sense of humor. Especially Kraco.

[Xelbair]

Earthquake happened when maou was thinking about Chi-chan. probably it is related to that.