Hataraku Maou-sama! – 07
It’s like power thirst, but better!
This week in Hataraku Maou-sama!: energy drinks! Yes that’s right. Even heroes need a shot or two of liquid energy to keep them going throughout the day. The moral of the story? Drink energy drinks and you can have super powers too! Chuunibyous rejoice!
Meet the Inquisitor
But first, let’s talk about the mysterious inquisitor. This week, she is introduced as Suzuno Kamazuki. This is a marked departure from the other names of the Ente Isla folk so far. Either she wasn’t creative enough to invent a Japanese-sounding version of her real name or she’s actually taking her job very seriously and using an alias to hide her identity. Or perhaps she doesn’t even have her own name and just goes by a multitude of aliases as a part of her job? Either way, her entrance into the fray is rather interesting. We see that she’s rather capable,1 despite being a little clumsy. I’m not sure if her little fall last time was merely a goof up or a calculated move to bring her closer to Maou, but she certainly lets her guard down around Yusa. From her brief conversation with the hero, it’s clear that she believes Yusa has seen through her disguise and is aware that she is an agent of the church. She also believes that Yusa is still intent on taking Maou’s life, a misunderstanding that will no doubt have major ramifications down the line. There’s no explicit language used in this exchange, but we’re lead to believe that she’s after Maou’s life herself. And as for why she hasn’t already taken action against the demons,2 I can only guess it’s because she’s spent her time cautiously appraising the situation.
So now we have an amusing recipe for disaster. Suzuno believes that Yusa knows what she’s here for and is intent on superceding her by ending Maou’s life herself. On the other hand, Yusa believes that Suzuno is just another girl head over heels for Maou who needs to be warned of his malicious nature. One day these two girls will sit down for a chat and realize that they’ve had a different interpretation of “after him” all along, and then things will go sour. Or more likely Suzuno will keep waiting for Yusa to make her move, and when nothing happens for long enough, realize that Yusa doesn’t intend to kill Maou at all. This is ironic, of course, considering Yusa’s constant threats towards the demon lord. The best part of the whole exchange between Yusa and Suzuno, however, has to be the former sizing up the latter with very obvious concerns on her mind. “Just like me, huh?” Oh Yusa. You so silly. Ok, that was pretty bad. I’m ashamed I even tried to make that funny, but let’s move on.
Holy Vitamin Beta
Getting back to energy drinks, this week’s Maou-sama! brings us phony energy drinks courtesy of Emerada. Her super chill attitude while describing the effects and recommended dosage of the Holy Vitamin Beta was very oddly amusing. Almost makes her sound like a stoner, if you will excuse my language. I don’t remember her being so nonchalant in her speech before, but she’s only had very few spoken lines before now. In any case, the concept of taking a shot of sacred power to restore one’s powers sounds like a game-changer for me. All this time, the stranded Ente Isla folk have been looking for a way to recharge their powers. Holy Vitamin Beta provides just that. But of course, I’m sure there are some limitations beyond the maximum recommended daily dosage. The most obvious one is that Holy Vitamin Beta only provides sacred power. Call me crazy, but that doesn’t sound like something Maou can use, what with him being a demon. Surely it takes someone from the holy faction to be able to utilize sacred energy. And on that note, we should discuss the new, mysterious assailant.
Ah, who am I kidding. It’s so very obviously Lucifer again. I mean, the last time we had a mystery man firing magic bullets at our heroes, he was responsible. And I know only one character with purple eyes. You aren’t fooling anyone with your disguise, Lucifer. What we should be wondering, however, is how he got so much power back. And it is this question that points all the more to Lucifer, if you ask me. Being a fallen angel, he has had past association with the holy faction, so I would say he is probably in a position to use Holy Vitamin Beta as a sort of technicality. And if you consider how Yusa left her bag with the energy drinks on the table beside him, he could have very easily swiped a bottle for himself, despite claiming not to have touched her stuff. Which is how he’s now able to fire lasers from his eyes ala Evangelion. I guess all angels have to have an eye beam or two whether they’re fallen or not, eh?
Extras
In terms of comedy, we have Yusa finally realizing that she’s essentially a stalker. At least now she’s conscious of how questionable and obsessive her own behavior is. We also have Chi-chan overreacting hilariously to Suzuno’s “loving” double-decker lunchbox with a heart drawn on the rice. This, from a girl who lives next to Maou to boot. But don’t worry, Chi-chan. You’re still the one with the best shot at winning over Maou’s heart. Yusa’s too busy annoying him and being a bother in general, and Suzuno probably seriously wants his head for the inquisition. So rest easy. You’ve got this one in the bag.
1The scene with the welcome gift implies she has tremendous strength. But seeing as Maou was in his “weak”, human form, it may not mean much.
2A point which Yusa herself ponders before reaching the wrong conclusion.
About Sumairii
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
Ah, Suzuno, kill him or love him, you’ll still be Itou Kanae. And that is all I need.
Seriously, how much can a box o’ udon weight? Lead lined box?
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
The section holding the rice looks big and heavy. That could be the reason why the box as a whole is difficult to carry.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I’m guessing that Suzuno is poisoning Ashiya and Maou with holy power, given that she’s doing all that cooking for them. So she has been acting against them.
I don’t know if they were trolling us with that energy drink stuff, both with the ‘don’t drink more than one at a time’ and with basically dangling it in front of Lucifer and the others. If they are doing that just to tease us, that’s great, if they’re doing it to be obvious, it’s pretty annoying. I’ll go with trolling for now.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Oh, that’s a very interesting proposition. I didn’t connect Ashiya being ill with Suzuno cooking for them. I guess she’s going for that slow knife that slips quietly between the bones. And now that I think about it, she’s certainly done a good job of being an assassin. She’s gotten so close to Maou and co. and no one suspects a thing.
As for the Holy Vitamin Beta, I’m sure Emerada was just trolling us. She certainly enjoyed trolling Yusa about her relationship with Maou.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
I didn’t consider it either. Now I like her even more, if for misguided reasons…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I agree Suzuno may be good at being an assassin but waiting a whole week feels kind of lengthy and odd. Maybe certain circumstances just weren’t in her favor and she had to improvise. The weirdest thing is that she and Emi are supposed to be on the same side yet Emi knows nothing about her.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
You guys seriously didn’t think that? She’s always going and getting ingredients from her apartment, Ashiya’s getting worse, even as he’s eating ‘better’, I mean, it seemed so obvious to me.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Seriously, I didn’t think of that. Your insight-fu is clearly superior. orz
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 323 comments
i’m with you Highway ..something definitely weird because in my opinion ,chick won’t go that far to help a neighbour especially MEN
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
You can’t trust anyone being that generous without suspecting some kind of ulterior motive. That level of kindness isn’t a usual thing in human nature and it sets off warning bells.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
I would be dead in a day then. As you stated, my VA love is my weakness.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
Kawaii, traditional garb, cooks meals for me. Yeah, I’m one dead skylion.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Burial or cremation. The choice is yours.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
In this context, and only in this context BB (can’t have my rival getting the best of me) I will choose cremation. So that the molecules of me will spread like a fan of justice into the wide world….
POWUH: iLurker with 4 comments
Suzuno’s name is actually still a direct reference to her original name but you’re still right in that it is certainly more creative than the other Ente Isla denizens’ lol
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Oh… Don’t tell me it’s “Susan” or something. Other than that, I’ve got nothing. XD
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I hope it’s not that name. It’s too plain. The studio can be more creative than that, can’t they?
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
MAL give Crestia Bell as an alias, other than that, I got nuffing.
POWUH: iLurker with 4 comments
Her alias: Kamatsuki Suzuno
Her real name: Crestia Bell
Kama 鎌 tsuki 月 = ‘Crest Moon’
Suzu 鈴 = ‘Bell’
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Ah. Sometimes I wish I knew Japanese. Thanks for the info. =)
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 245 comments
Suzuno for the win! XD also major points to Emerada and her Vitamin drink lol
Hmm, Lucifer could cancel our Emi’s Sacred Sword since he’s part angel as well? And since he was only part angel, he couldn’t recover enough energy after drinking the Vitamin drink to manifest his wings? idk
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
That is a good supposition. Lucifer is the first amonst angels despite his fallen status. Well, depending on how you read the myths. I’m a Gaiman guy, so Lucifer is the rock.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Suzuno is quite the mysterious new character. Because she appears to be expressionless most of the time, it’s difficult to determine if she’s actually carrying out her mission or if she’s gotten sidetracked and beginning to admire Maou after stalking everyone on the school grounds last episode. Not mention that she’s becoming oddly invested in doing their housework and like Emi said, she’s taking too much time to be considered an assassin.
Seems like everyone’s shipping Maou and Emi together whether it was Chi-chan or currently Emerada and Suzuno. She doesn’t want to admit it but Emi’s beginning to grow soft on him and that’s what ticks her off most because it’s still the same guy she holds responsible for her father’s death.
Towards the end, the one who attacked Emi is most likely a demon but I doubt it’s Lucifer because he’s shorter than this guy and never carried a scythe and Lucifer wasn’t able to nullify her sacred powers during their fight. So I’m guessing another mage/demon pair-up like with Orba and Lucifer but this time, this guy is with Suzuno and probably there to get her out of the way.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
I’m not sure about admiring Maou, but it seems clear to me that she admires Yusa. I remember she blushed slightly when Yusa offered her “help”.
I dunno about Suzuno working with a demon. She’s acting directly on the church’s behalf now, and it would be really odd for an inquisitor to work with those the church deems enemies. But maybe it’s just a mage and not a demon. Who knows?
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 323 comments
–the story became less serious and turn into typical daily life but it’s kinda funny to see yusa spying on maou….
–rather it’s still weird because this mage know how to make osechi ..
–this episode is a let down to me bacause I expect more from Hataraku Maou-sama!
–well here’s the postive comment ..i kinda like to way chiho scream ..yup definitely