So. Maou-sama!
We’ve introduced our cast. We’ve resolved our opening conflict. We’ve even established a kind of status quo, an uneasy peace between our protagonists.
What the fuck do we do now?
The obvious answer is “end the book.” And I guess that’s what they did.
But it sold well.
Hm.
What the fuck do we do now?
I’m eager to find out! The first arc gave us a brief sketch of Emilia’s past – but she’s the only one with any background so far. We’ve certainly had development of our other characters, but up till now it’s mainly been used for humor – the first major conflict was outside interference, not a natural evolution of their characters. Plus, there were all those vague swipes at capitalism and the social order – that has to go somewhere eventually, right?
I don’t know what they’ll focus on now. But this writer is damn good at what he does, so I think I’ll be happy with wherever he leads us.
Episode 6
0:12 – “You will burn to sustain me…” Alright, what’s he cooking
0:57 – Classic scenario. Why does it work? Because Alsiel’s so goddamn adorable, that’s why
2:47 – Hm. New girl in the OP. Not to immediately be incredibly cynical or anything, but I hope they’re not planning on maintaining momentum by just throwing new characters into the mix when needed – I think the core characters have more than enough potential for development bouncing off each other. Granted, another show I could mentiondoes generally manage to use its side characters to illuminate new things about the central cast, but…
4:32 – Damnit Maou-sama, I know when you’re just pandering to me – don’t think making casual asides about religion’s self-deceiving hypocrisies will win you any favors!
5:05 – And now Maou/Alsiel have an ungrateful teenage son. Finally Lucifer’s haircut makes sense
6:27 – Maou’s cocky smile as he humbly downplays the impressiveness of his shift manager promotion. My god I love this show
7:25 – Their conflict doesn’t really seem that unsolvable any more – don’t they just have to just chase ambulances or hang out at hospitals and funeral homes and juice themselves up on despair and sadness?
7:51 – Wow, both sides of this argument are so great. Maou takes Lucifer in because the evil priest who tried to kill them both can no longer babysit him, and Emilia’s bothered by the logistics of the apartment. Awesome
11:08 – “His roommate?!?!” Man, whole lotta fujoshi jokes lately! Kids these days…
12:24 – “A student disappeared from that room like they’d been spirited away.” That could be a whole lot more than a throwaway line
12:45 – Ahahaha. “I’m not scared if you’re with me…” “’Kay.”
13:58 – There’s something particularly great about Alsiel comforting the Great Lord Satan about a high school ghost story
14:15 – “Gate opened in the past.” There we go. I wonder who was sent to Maou’s world? If it’s someone who now works in the church, we might already have the foundation of this book’s arc in place
18:30 – Seriously Emilia, that damn sword’s gonna put an eye out
20:25 – “Urushihara’s one cheeky cunt.” I can’t believe I’m putting up with Commie subs just to be in time for the discussion. Bleeeh.
And Done
Well, that was alright. It didn’t really do very much, but I guess it makes sense as the beginning of a new book – it’s basically reintroducing these characters and their dynamics, and sending them on a haunted house adventure. Plenty of solid jokes throughout (I really, really loved how disappointed Maou and Alsiel were with Emilia over the anatomical statue), and Alsiel continues to be Best General, but it was definitely a lesser Maou episode – at its best, this show combines that humor with sharp satire (like in four) or very effective action/drama (like in five). But obviously they can’t all be standouts, and this was still a solid episode that at least established Lucifer in Maou’s dysfunctional little family. And with the Inquisitor finally arriving, hopefully next week we’ll be diving into the church!