And so we find our shift coming to an end.

Hataraku Maou-sama! has been a number of things over this season. It’s been a takedown of the fantasy genre (briefly), an everyday slice of life sitcom (frequently), a backwards jab at our current society (very occasionally), a character-focused comedy (constantly), and an action/drama (when it really feels like it). No show has forced me to adjust my expectations so often – sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. There were moments when I thought it was getting pretty damn ambitious, but ultimately I’m happy enough with it settling for being well-written, smartly paced, and endlessly likeable. It couldn’t be a more obvious choice for a second season, so I suspect we’ll be seeing these characters again soon, but even still, I hope this last episode gives them the sendoff they deserve.

Episode 13

0:56 – “I have to return to Ente Isla. I’m sorry.” I love when this show just plays a dumb genre scene completely straight. It’s like the joke is “we don’t have to make a joke here, these stupid overwrought anime parting scenes are a joke already.” If you find boob size jokes more funny than this, I don’t know what to say to you

1:45 – Chucking Sariel through the gate by his foot is a nice gag. I also like that they’re just summarizing the aftermath this time, and that they’re starting the episode off with the underlying question of whether the status quo will end. This show is always solid on the fundamentals

3:47 – “Truly, we are star crossed lovers…” The joke isn’t great, but the musical accompaniment is. This show’s soundtrack is almost as good as its expressions

7:00 – “Just checking up on him? Isn’t it about time you two stopped making excuses to one another?” I AGREE. How many light novels is this series, again?

I know, it’s somewhere around eight. Don’t remind me – goddamn serial entertainment…

7:17 – “He slaughtered my whole village – I can’t forgive him for that.” Oh come on. I have waited NINE EPISODES for this goddamn conflict to progress, and they decide to remember it now? You are a cruel bastard, Maou

Again, I know, serial entertainment and all that, but I can’t help feeling that aside from introducing Suzuno, we might as well just now be reaching episode 6 actual-narrative-wise

8:23 – I love how Emi coming in doesn’t make Maou feel guilty at all, but as soon as Asriel enters he realizes he’s being fawned over by two girls. Asriel truly is best general

11:58 – This episode’s getting some good mileage out of actually subtle dramatic expressions. Nice to see they can use their facial powers for good as well as evil

17:53 – “Why is a demon general getting worked up over working for an evil corporation, anyway?” Aw man. They were doing so well, and then they had to explain the damn joke. Tragedy

20:21 – I really didn’t expect this last episode to be entirely dedicated to Lucifer falling for an internet scam, but it’s somehow kind of appropriate

22:23 – Love this ED singer’s voice in all her stuff

23:12 – Cute circle – befriending Emi cost him his umbrella and befriending Suzuno cost him Dullahan, but here Emi is getting his back

And Done

Hah! That’s all we get. Well, they certainly are confident in that second season – this one didn’t resolve shit.

Anyway, kinda funny and random final episode – Someday in the Rain level of anticlimax there, where it’s just another day in their meandering lives. It certainly wasn’t a highlight, but it wasn’t trying to be. I think it worked.

Pretty close now – only two episodes left. Is Maou-sama gonna pull it off?

Probably – Maou pretty much nailed the dismount of the first arc, and I have no reason to suspect it won’t repeat that accomplishment this time. The dramatic stuff has never been the problem with this show – the characters are decently developed, the writing is sharp, and the direction is always pretty damn good. No, the problem Maouactually suffers from is a fairly common affliction, a little disease I like to call “Why Most Anime Comedies Suck-itis.”

Early on, the unique concept and good character chemistry offered ample fodder for humor – and this show mined it. It mined the fuck out of it.

And at a certain point, it struck solid rock.

So we got boob comparison jokes. We got “Lucifer sucks, laugh at him” jokes every episode. We got “Alsiel makes funny faces when he’s sick” for five episodes straight.

I don’t get it, you guys. [1] I’ve seen these jokes a thousand times. They were barely worth a chuckle the firsttime.

So yeah, that was kinda disappointing. Early on, the character relationships moved much more quickly, and thus new opportunities for humor constantly presented themselves – but when a show reaches a point of narrative and character stability, unless the jokes are really sharp or creative, the humor has a tendency to suffer diminishing returns. And that certainly happened here, at least for me.

But why am I being so down now, of all times? We’re actually in the middle of what this show does best – being a winking, fantastical semi-drama that undercuts itself with perfectly timed humor. Episodes 1 and 5 nailed the shit out of this formula, and I’m eager to see how this all resolves. Despite my complaints, I actually really like this cast – I like Emi’s personal struggle, I like the contrast between Maou’s helpful optimism and utter obliviousness to the horrors he’s created, I like Chiho’s unusually mature take on the usual upbeat girl archetype, and I like what they’re currently doing with Suzuno. I’m ready to see Maou save the fucking day. Let’s get to it.

Episode 12

0:10 – And of course Alsiel ends up in the hospital. This show always does have a way of naturally bringing the characters together when it really counts

0:40 – Oh Alsiel, so loyal. I know he’s my husbando and everything, but it’d be damn tough for them to make any of his conflicts work beyond comic relief at this point – they’ve burned those bridges pretty thoroughly

2:15 – Mm, this OP. I’d say “I really am gonna miss this show,” but it’s doing great in sales and there’s plenty more LN material, so I guess I’ll just kinda miss this OP

3:40 – “This is Heaven’s consensus.” So it seems likely the angels are just another self-interested bureaucracy

6:11 – Why do no other shows understand the power of a good reaction face? [2]

7:02 – And off with his shirt! I find this recent cross-studio realization that girls watch anime and like fanservice too pretty amusing

7:25 – “In what universe would a lovely lady suddenly move in next to a bunch of guys and take care of them?” There’s gotta be an otome adaptation for that – the reverse-Clannad setup

7:38 – “It stinks of sacred powers, but food is food.” Fantastic. This is what I was talking about – snappy jokes that come up naturally but don’t break the flow of whatever else is going on

8:13 – Maou chastising Suzuno. I hope they actually address the hypocrisy of him acting morally superior here

11:17 – “I’ll examine your body later.” Well this episode turned super-rapey super fast!

13:06 – “Heavenly Sliver of Progress,” eh? Hm…

14:17 – Are they gonna blow up the moon? Please tell me they’re gonna blow up the moon

20:10 – That rescue is pretty adorable. “Eh, I don’t have the energy to be tsun right now. Just put me down.”

21:40 – Okay, Alsiel repeating his “sorry I’m late” speech but actually missing the whole fucking thing this time got a serious laugh out of me

And Done

When are these villains going to realize that big, public displays of magical power are perhaps not the best way to defeat someone whose powers are based on frightening pedestrians? Jeez, guys.

Anyway, that conclusion was kinda tidier than I’d hoped it would be, but it was a snappy episode overall, and I think the jokes in general work much better when they don’t draw as much attention to themselves – I found Maou starting his victory speech, being yelled at by Emi, dropping her off, and starting the speech over without missing a beat pretty funny, for example. And his startled but kinda resigned expression when Sentucky started blowing up buildings he was gonna have to clean up was great, too. I wish the girls had a bit more to do here, but it was fine – I probably wouldn’t be complaining if the episode didn’t have another pile of boob jokes. Overall, I don’t think this arc’s conclusion was as satisfying as the first one, but I was definitely entertained.

It’ll be interesting to see how they handle the last episode – at this point, they’ve resolved basically none of the show’s actual underlying conflicts (Emi, Maou, and Chiho’s personal conflicts, the political shitstorm in Ente Isla), and I don’t think anyone’s expecting them to. This show’s in a pretty comfortable position regarding sequel potential, so it’s most likely going to be a few minutes dedicated to sending off our Team Rocket villains, a few minutes not-resolving the Chiho-Maou relationship, a few minutes of showing off the normal SoL dynamic, maybe one minute of Maou-Emi tension, and then maybe a last-second introduction of a new conflict to set up the next season (that or a joke where a seemingly personal moment ends up resolving with Maou being focused on his job).

Okay. Maybe I’m a little cynical.

Hataraku Maou-sama!

And jeez, look at the time. Three weeks left? What does that mean?

Well, first, it means we’re almost certainly in core narrative mode again – last episode followed twenty minutes of nothing happening with ten seconds of revealing that the Mysterious Assassin is Sentucky is Part Angel, which wasn’t exactly the most dramatic way to go about that, but whatever, that’s where we’re at.

What else does it mean?

It means I don’t give a fuck about losing the crowd. Let’s be frank for a moment – I thought last week’s episode was terrible. Worst episode so far. Pointless, didn’t do anything for the characters or the story, fanservicey, and the least funny episode of the season. I’ve lost the crowd by being too harsh on this show before, but believe me, I’m coming from a place of wanting this show to be great. And it normally is! At this point, I’ve pretty much come to terms with the interesting class/society stuff just being a lark and not actually a theme – all I really want is for the jokes to be funny, the narrative resolution to be snappy, and the character relationships to actually move forward a few inches. I don’t think that’s too much to ask!

So that’s where I’m coming from. Now let’s see where this is going.

Episode 11

2:12 – Yep, there’s Sentucky added to the OP. Kind of a funny reflection of this show’s balancing of drama and slice of life that it initially hides plot developments in the OP, but then adds them to the perky lineup as soon as they’re actually introduced

3:05 – Oh man, you know something’s actually gonna happen when they start the episode with an Ente Isla flashback

4:38 – HER WEAPON IS A GIANT HAMMER. Of course. Why wouldn’t it be? The giant hammer has a long, illustrious tradition as a tool of assassins and inquisitors

5:36 – It’s nice that they establish her as having doubted her work for a long time, so it’s not all just everyone falling for Maou’s irrepressible charms

6:00 – Interested in Suzuno? But… but …

6:31 – Why is this show so cruel to Alsiel?

7:57 – I was hoping it was liquor for a moment there. I’m pretty much always in favor of characters getting drunk together

8:53 – I’m pretty fine with the moments when this show just has the characters deal with the mundanities of life together, particularly when it’s acting as the scaffolding of a character turn like Suzuno’s here. I actually like slice of life with good characters, but am not a fan of the current-definition slice of life that is more escapism than still life, and doesn’t actually have any bearing on characters or situations I could possibly relate to

Hey, you know what’s good? Yotsuba

9:33 – So Sentucky is clearly part-angel, but his relationship to Suzuno is pretty unclear – Emi was half-angel, but seemed to be on the side of the knights and only allied with the church, not a part of their organization. With Sentucky proving angelic heritage isn’t the sole right of the hero, how does religion actually work in their world? Are the church and the deities they represent actually combined into a single influence-hungry power structure? Cynical idea. I like it

10:13 – Okay, so Emi actually was an instrument of the church

11:00 – This is great. Using the dramatic downfall of a very public figure to justify their brutal power-grabbing actions during times of conflict, and then immediately falling back on a more even-handed system when their supremacy is assured to keep the people from rebelling. Okay, it’s not particularly subtle, but what can I say? Organized religion and I have never really gotten along

12:26 – Yeah yeah, dump on Alsiel, etc. I made a joke before, but they are kind of running this gag into the ground

15:33 – Yes! Conflict! Make Emi take a stand on Maou! Make Chiho cry!

Man, this show is so great when it’s actually moving forward

16:00 – “Did you ever meet him before he became Maou Sadao?” Man. Perfect fucking question, that actually gets back at the heart of my favorite idea I thought this show had abandoned – the relatively well-intentioned people who are so high up they can’t see the consequences of their actions or the way the world moves beneath them

17:00 – I was just thinking, “It’s nice that Emi’s still here for this impassioned pro-Maou speech,” and then the show of course gives us a shot of her taking it all in

17:49 – The jump cuts between Suzuno’s protests and memories here are so well done – this episode has built to this moment masterfully. She has to be right. If she isn’t, what did she kill all those people for?

19:35 – “This is my ability… Convenient Enemy-Incapacitating Plot Device!” Oh come on. That bullshit’s for shounen tripe, Maou – at least make his ability relevant to their shared heritage or something

19:54 – Oh. They did. Carry on!

20:03 – Omigod his wings look so silly

And Done

Oh man! HEATING UP! Goddamn, the difference between an on and off day for this show is absurd. That second half was so good! Like episode 4, this one was extremely light on humor, but I didn’t care at all because the characters and drama were handled so damn well. Suzuno had earned a spot as a member of the comedy troupe, but this episode was obviously wholly focused on her dramatic arc. At first, I was afraid they were overselling a character who really wasn’t going to pull her dramatic weight… but that last exchange with Emi was definitely one for the show highlight reel. It’s looking like Emi isn’t actually going to be forced to take a real stand here (unsurprising, since there are apparently many more LNs to adapt), since Sentucky attacked her before she was ever forced to actually defend Maou, but if the show keeps up this level of tension and effective drama, that won’t matter at all. Sweet episode. Bring on the climax!

You’d think the show to most frequently surprise me would be one of the trickier ones – Gargantia is the obvious choice, but maybe Aku no Hana, or even Crime Edge. But no, my predictions have most often been flummoxed by the goddamn comedy.

I write down “I hope it’ll stay this funny” and it switches to excellent character drama. I swerve to “I hope it can keep developing these characters” and it introduces some themes about the capitalist class structure. I sigh and type “I hope its ideas can remain this insightful” and it goes BACK to comedy, with some action/drama thrown in for good measure. I decide to be content with whatever it throws at me, and then it throws out its first actual filler episode.

So yeah. Maou’s undoubtedly a slippery beast. I wasn’t a huge fan of last episode, mainly because I felt it didn’t really do much for the characters or ideas, but I think it was basically just indicative of the sometimes-unwieldy process of adapting a series of distinct Light Novels into one coherent anime. With that in mind, I have high hopes for the show now that we’re back in the swing of things and introducing religion into the mix, and I’m optimistic that “It will probably be pretty great” will prove to be a safer prediction than any of my previous ones. Capitalism, ho!

Episode 7

1:38 – That slowmo letter reveal. I didn’t find it that funny last episode, but the more they abuse the joke, the funnier it becomes

1:57 – Hikikomori translated as “bum” – I guess that works

2:15 – Again, the soundtrack is an all-star here, with those classic strings making her costume even sillier

5:55 – “You could say I’m just stalking some veterans who are peacefully living out their days…” Got it in one! Well, two, that was your second guess. Still good!

6:22 – “It really feels like there’s another Alsiel now.” Does that mean Alsiel gets a love interest?! WAS MY LOVE NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR HIM?!?

9:44 – I love how we get like a quarter-second shot of Alsiel looking impressed at the Shift Manager speech, but nobody else gives a shit

10:45 – “I get the feeling I’ve gone through this before…” Well at least even the show recognizes these tsundere speeches are getting pretty tired

12:25 – Wow, they played that misunderstanding so goddamn straight. Beautiful. Golf clap for a show confident in not having to overplay its jokes – normally my biggest problem with anime comedies is the massive prevalence of“that’s the joke!” overplaying of every single gag, and here they don’t acknowledge this conversation is ridiculous in any way

13:42 – It turns out heat stroke just makes Alsiel even more moe

16:09 – Ehh, this Light Novel adaptation stuff still just gets to me. The first five episodes were so self-contained, and every piece built to a coherent finale that gathered up all the existing ideas – and now there’s just a lot of stuff happening in a variety of directions, and it’s feeling more like a television show than an anime.

Okay, I know that doesn’t actually make sense. But one of my favorite things about anime is that, unlike virtually all western television, it doesn’t have to be a commercial, seasonal product – it doesn’t have to maintain status quo, it doesn’t have to indulge in episodic conflicts, it doesn’t have to manage a variety of themes but never advance them. It can tell a story, and then at the end, that story will have been told, and everything will have fit together to make a specific point or detail the journey of some specific characters or whatever. But with these Light Novel adaptations, those “commodity” strings just become much more apparent, unless the Light Novel is already concluded and the anime staff have the freedom to draw elements into one continuous narrative. So when I see a show like Maou, where in the first five episodes every single element built to a coherent point, change gears and start using the status quo to build towards another “conflict-of-the-week” (or four weeks, or w/e), it’s just kind of disappointing. The writing and characters are still good, but I feel episodic adventures are just never as satisfying as fully articulated stories.

16:21 – …that said, “Tomorrow will see the opening of a formidable foe… Sentucky Fried Chicken” is a great line

19:16 – Aha flinging the cashier aside. Great stuff

And Done

Eh, that was fine. Funny as always, though I’ve had more than enough of Emilia’s tsundereness at this point – are there really people out there not yet tired of this shtick? A new threat has been introduced, new romantic troubles, Maou and Alsiel’s new neighbor seems like a solid addition to their domestic life… all this was good stuff. Alsiel still #1. But I really do hope this show gets back to the stuff that really raised my expectations – Maou’s perspective of his own past self, Emilia’s changing perception of how people work, both of them seeing society from the ground up for once. I know, I know, this is a comedy, I shouldn’t get disappointed over things comedies don’t generally do anyway. But this show did bring up those ideas, and kept the episodes they were inside just as funny – it might be greedy of me, but I want that stuff back.

Still a solid show though, and things should continue to gain more momentum again next week. If it trades off a couple of straight setup episodes with a few awesome resolution episodes again, I’ll be more than satisfied.

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!