What They Say:
Something supernatural seems to be going on with Chiho. Meanwhile, it’s possible Maou doesn’t really understand the concept of a “date”… but it’s not long before everyone has much bigger problems on their hands.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
One of the things that has kept this series fresh and entertaining for its two episodes prior to this was that there was always something new being added in. Obviously everything was new in the first episode, and the most surprising part was how original it felt despite a seemingly generic premise. Then the second episode brought the all-important addition of Emi, which alone promised to keep things fun throughout the entire series thanks to the dynamic she adds to the existing cast. There was also a real enemy and serious plot hinted to, and this episode follows up on that relatively quickly, even leaving us on a pretty serious note to wonder where things will head from here. The real highlight of the episode, though, is probably how it brings together the four leads that haven’t all interacted like this before. It’s really only the very beginning of this and gets interrupted by that serious business, but it’s clear that most of the rest of the series will have plenty of these four all together, which has some really great potential.
Although Emi was the one who didn’t show up until the second episode, Chiho was clearly the odd character out before now, being the normal human who Maou just happened to work with, while the other three (as well as the mystery enemy, seemingly) are all from the fantasy world and simply stuck in mostly human bodies in this world with limited magic remaining. Because of this, I wasn’t sure if Chiho would really become a lead on the same level as the others, but the openings, endings, and general promotional material seemed to imply that she would, so I was curious how that would happen. I was a little surprised that they seem to be bringing her directly into the fantasy side of the show, although by the end of the episode she’s still not aware of it. I could see this becoming a running gag of sorts; it’s not entirely uncommon to have a normal human surrounded by fantastical events but remaining oblivious to it all for most of the time.
Hopefully I’m not implying that it’s too serious since, while there’s certainly more on that side of things than perhaps there had been before or might have been expected, this show is not making the mistake of forgetting its fun comedy side. And that’s good, because it continues to be very good at that. Following up on Emi’s tsundere reactions to Maou from last episode, Chiho joins in on the romantic comedy subplot to make a bizarre love triangle (or rectangle… when Maou asks if Ashiya is his wife I don’t think any viewer could respond with anything but a resounding “of course he is!”). She and Maou go on a date, although Maou is relatively oblivious of the implications, and since of course Emi and Ashiya then have to tail them to see what’s going down, this is the event that allows the four to all come together, just in time for the aforementioned serious plot to come into play on a more immediate level. Oh, but it probably is worth mentioning that Chiho’s character design is stupidly and distractingly disproportional.
In Summary:
This series continues to be very funny, and the serious part of it is quickly entering the story. Although it seems like going too far in the latter direction could kill some of the fun that has kept the series such a joy to watch until now, it all feels like it’s connected and balanced very well, so I have to find any real issue with these choices. We’ll see if that continues, but I’m happy for now.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: FUNimation
Review Equipment:
Toshiba Satellite L655-S5191 PSK2CU-1C301U Notebook PC.
