Hataraku Maou-sama! – 13 [END]
Returning the favor.
Alas, it’s time for Hataraku Maou-sama! to leave us. As the dramatic developments have been dispensed with, the show finally returns to romcom full time with a simple, fun finale.
Wrapping Up
Never give up, Chi-chan!
This episode of Maou-sama! opens with a oddly amusing, if not obvious fake out. I think we all know that Maou won’t be returning to Ente Isla any time soon, so it came as no surprise when his apparent departure merely turned out to be Chi-chan’s nightmare. And while we’re on the topic of nightmares, Emi’s very own of Maou reverting to his old ways was equally hilarious. While she may continue to deny it, it’s clear as day to us that Emi has come to develop complicated emotions towards her former adversary. But more on that later. First, there’s a little bit of cleaning up to do. After his fisticuffs with Sariel last episode, Maou is left with the task of repairing the damage, which he does in short order. Then, he has to take out the trash. I still find it a little questionable that he “wasted” his magic opening the gate to throw Sariel back in. If you’ve already opened the gate, why don’t you walk through as well? But in any case, it turns out that wouldn’t have done him any good anyway, as Sariel just ends up back on Earth. And in a MgRonald’s freezer, at that. The archangel really is having a very bad day. But that’s alright, because he deserves it. There’s little mention of Orba’s fate, which is a bit of a loose end. Maybe they did send him back home offscreen? Or maybe he’s recuperating in a hospital somewhere yet again? Either way, it doesn’t seem important. After being beaten soundly twice by Maou and his buddies, I highly doubt he’ll be back for more even though they say the third time’s the charm. The guy has also lost all his cards, so unless the Church tries sending more people over to Earth, there’s not much he can do anyway. And with that said, we’ve wrapped up the last bit of business, so let’s head on over to the romcom.
Romcom
You don’t say.
That’s right. Romcom is back with a vengeance. I think it’s really true to the show’s nature for it to leave us off in this way, though I can see some people being a little dissatisfied with such an unserious finale. But I feel a more laid-back and comical approach is what Maou-sama! does the best. This is when we get to see the characters for who they are; silly, bumbling, and far from perfect. From Sariel’s fall to a masochist to Chi-chan and Emi “in disguise” to Lucifer falling for a scam, the events of this episode felt naturally at home with the show. This is the comedy that makes me love Maou-sama! Oh, and any episode where Emerada makes an appearance is also a good one. I just love her super relaxed yet matter-of-fact attitude. Truly, she is an awesome support character who deserves more screen time than she got.
Undercover.
Moving on to the romance, I’m sorry to say that yet again, Maou drops the ball with Chi-chan. I know people have said he’s perceptive enough to realize her feelings. And heck, the girl’s already confessed to him straight up. But even so, I can’t believe that Maou is actually consciously avoiding Chi-chan’s advances. It seems to me more like he’s just completely forgotten about the confession, and is legitimately dense. But there’s really no way to verify either belief without a super lengthy analysis of his character and his actions. And even then, we can’t say which is the matter of fact with absolute certainty, so I will just drop the issue. Believe what you will. I will continue to believe that he’s just not seeing Chi-chan’s feelings, even though it pains me so. Chi-chan aside, we do get some advancement between Emi and Maou thrown in after the credits. I was fully prepared for khatsu-duuuum futaaaaatsu to be the parting line, but I’m glad they decided to include that little private moment between the former hero and demon lord. Harking back to the very first episode, Emi returns the favor from Maou that started it all; that one act of kindness that probably sparked the change in her view of her mortal enemy. And looking back at the body of this episode, we see that she has in fact come a very long way. I think even last episode, it would have been unthinkable for her to directly extend a hand and help the demon lord when he is in trouble. She’s tolerated his existence for a while now, but it still felt like there was a bit of a wall between the two. Now, I would say she won’t think twice about aiding and defending the man who saved her from the clutches of a perverted angel.
So actually, Maou-sama! departs with teasing hints of potential romance. But truth be told, I think even by the very end, the relationship between Emi and Maou is more trust and respect than love. It’s a very complicated one, that’s for sure. Or maybe this is just my inner Chi-chan fan refusing to acknowledge any other girl as Maou’s love interest. Either way, it felt a very strong end to a very strong show. Maou-sama! has entertained from day one, and I’m very pleased that White Fox was able to deliver such a fine piece of work to us. Will we see more of the franchise in the future? Who knows. No such indication has been made so far. But I’m confident Maou-sama! is well respected enough that this could easily become a reality eventually. And if that ever happens, you can be sure I’ll be there to cover it!
8/10
About Sumairii
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I’ll give the studio points for effort because that fake out was so obvious. The sequence felt too corny for it to be actually plausible but it’s easy to forgive since it’s cute little Chi-chan dreading about losing the guy she fell in love.
I’m surprised no one did much in response to Urushihara squandering money and nearly plunging Maou in perpetual debt. Had I been in his place, I’d have opened a can of whoop ass on him. One thing I’ve noticed is that those who have purple eyes don’t seem to be human, like that guy trying to keep Maou from returning the stuff. I mean, Urushihara and Sariel have those color eyes and they’re angel and fallen angel.
They say practice what you preach but here is Emi beginning to do exactly what she’s told other girls (Chiho and Suzuno) not to do: Falling for the Dark Lord. I can bet she did everything in power to avoid those feelings but in the end, she’s caving in though there’s surely some self loathing because she knows it’s still the same guy responsible for her father’s death.
This was indeed one of the best shows of Spring. From start to finish, there wasn’t a dull moment and it displayed great capacity for balancing action, comedy and drama. I hear Hataraku Maou-sama is popular in Japan so there might be hope for another season which I hope comes to pass. White Fox outdid itself again and is creating a nice reputation seeing that it also handled the successful Jormungand series last year.
Ah, it’s somewhat depressing now. With this, Date a Live, Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge and Valvrave gone, I feel a void getting bigger from lack of awesome shows, refering particularly to the 12/13 episode series. Even Gargantia is on its way out. There better be some good animes during Summer to fill this hole in my heart.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Yeah, that conman had the purple eyes as well. But honestly, I don’t want to speculate on him possibly being an angel as well since we don’t know if we’ll get more Maou-sama! just yet.
Also, summer shows are literally just around the corner, so I’m sure that void will be filled soon enough. It’s probably a guarantee you’ll be watching Blood Lad, I take it.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
True. These days, the probability of another season coming along is determined by how popular and profitable it is. Though it’s not a lot, I do hope another one comes along.
I’m eagerly waiting for Summer to kick off so I can make my judgments on the shows. Ah, my avatar pretty much gave away my intentions, huh? 😛
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 175 comments
well find this series to watch really indeed good stuff that wait for s2 & dub on maou-sama.
indeed really from being demon lord to now conquer the mcronald this too YES YES YES.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
The dub is going to be done by Funimation but it’s going to be titled “The Devil is a Part-Timer!”. I’d give it a year or a year and a half before it’s released.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 323 comments
everyone knew that there will be season 2 even my 12 years old brother knew about it..zzz
cause the guy with the purple eye ..is the new charactewell ..one of the kind about this episode wasss everybody say “DELUXE LIFE INTER~NATIONAl HOL~DING ” (O // v //O )
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Maybe I’m not understanding correctly. Are you saying there’s already a second season confirmed? Where did you hear this news?
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
There hasn’t been any news about season 2. tatsuya’s just assuming.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Whew, that’s in a way good to hear because I didn’t want to get my hopes for nothing because Date A Live got a second season announced just after the first was completed no less than at least two days before.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 323 comments
there will be..cause i will lose my bet if not..so i trust my anime instict 🙂
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
Sayonara, Maou-sama. Thou SNAFU had you beat in complexity, you were the winner in the LULZ for me. I rather dig the merry go round tsundere aspects, and the magical antics.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I don’t see it as hard to believe that Maou would know that Chiho has a crush on him, and think that he’s just not the right guy for her, or her the right girl for him. For any of us, she’d be great (if we were of acceptable age), but for Maou, she’s just not anything like his equal, even if she loves him desperately. So he’s got two choices: turn her down, and hurt her feelings, and maybe drive her out of his life, which I can’t imagine he would want, or act oblivious and try to ride out her crush until she realizes it’s not going to happen and falls for someone better for her.
This show really was great. I honestly can’t believe the complaints I’ve seen about it that “there’s not enough fighting”. Not every show needs to have outright evil characters and depressing moods and giant battles, people! It strikes me that this show was a lot like Chuu2Koi in the overall composition, and that’s a good thing. It had a good style that was somewhat different from other shows, and a great mix of comedy with light drama.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Yeah, this is definitely one show that doesn’t need more fighting. A little interspersed between the comedy and dramatic developments is plenty.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
Agreed. This series had all the fighting it needed as it was essentially a fishes-out-of-water comedy with a good dose of romance. Those who want lots of angst-ridden drama and endless battles can get those with Attack on Titan.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Boy, “angst” and “endless” really hit it on the head there. 😉
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
You forgot to add “death” and “despair”.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
True. Thanks for the correction, BB.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
No problem! I do what I can to help!
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Apparently to some ppl anime needs 12 episode of constant fighting to not be boring =_=
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I think ‘boring’ should be in quotes there, because I can’t think of anything MORE boring than 12 episodes of fighting.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Unless they are in ranges of shows like DBZ, Bleach and Naruto.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 323 comments
and shirokuma cafe zz..just saying
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Funfact: The ending part of this episode is actually from the epilogue of the 1st LN. Also 50% of this episode are anime-original.
Wait, tht redhead guy have purple eye!? Damn didn’t notice it…. I don’t remember seeing tht guy in the LN or my memory is failing me again. Will reread the LN after my exam. There *is* another angel making an appearance in LN3 though but his description doesn’t fit this guy as he have silver hair….
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Considering it had absolutely nothing to do with the overarching plot, I can definitely see this episode being mostly anime original.
As for the conman, it’s all just speculation at this point. Heck, his eyes could even be a red herring.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
When I say “absolutely nothing” I’m exaggerating, ofc.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
I’d look forward to a s2 announcement because I really did have fun watching hell’s overlord enthusiastically working his ass off at McD. The premise has so much promise and the series did deliver 70% of times on lulz.
Also, congrats, Suma on finishing a full series here at Meta! 🙂
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 323 comments
see ..somebody noticed …s2
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Your words humble me, bosslady. orz