Press Audio: The Devil is a Part-Timer! Anime Dub Review

That plight comes through greatest when she is forced, to her utter horror, to spend the night at Sadao and Ashiya’s shabby small apartment when she loses her wallet in an early episode. Gone is the proud warrior. In her place is a sad and lonely girl (which is what Emi is at this point, since she’s only really about 18 and does not have any friends to help her). From the fierce and proud spirit in her voice when she first confronts Sadao in this world, we have a complete sea-change as she becomes a blubbering mess. (See embedded clip). The heroic act comes back when she has to face a new threat from Ente Isla. While the “hero” bits can sound a bit cartoonish, it feels like this was deliberate, especially the better to give Sadao’s put down of her stilted heroic dialogue in this particular occasion a stronger bite.

In comparison to the original, there are times when Ms. Angelle’s Emi does sound slightly older than the character is (as noted, the character is still a teenager, though she pretends to be a legal adult in Japan), but it’s not that she sounds “old,” but just a touch older. Now, it might be argued that the rather…trying…life that Emi has lived up to this point has aged her beyond her 18 years, so it’s not strange that she might sound more like she is 26 at this point. Emotionally she hits all the right notes, which is really the greatest challenge for the role.

Another highlight of this show and this dub is the interplay between Emi and Sadao. At times abrasive, at times endearing, it has a touch of the flair that Spencer Tracey and Katharine Hepburn had on screen long ago (no, really, I am being serious here), with quick verbal sparring matches that take no prisoners. You can sense a bit of it from the trailers and dub clips, but it really is best to hear the pieces in full context to get the complete effect.

In Our World
While some of the characters I am going to be discussing here come originally from Ente Isla, we don’t really hear them until the action has moved to Earth, so they will appear here.

As part of his job at MgRonald’s, Sadao interacts with a number of co-workers, foremost among them being a sweet 16-year-old high school girl and fellow part-timer Chiho Sasaki. Tia Ballard, who has now appeared in a good number of Texas dubs in the past few years, gives voice to Chiho. The sound is similar in tone and range to another performance I have heard of hers lately, that of Komari Kamikita of Little Busters!, which she did for the other Texas studio. It’s a cute voice and a cute performance that matches the original quite well in terms of feel and impact. Chiho as a character is not as much of a challenge, being confined largely to two veins: cute and viciously jealous, as Chiho has developed a strong crush on Sadao. Both sides of Chiho come through well in Ms. Ballard’s performance.

Not all those present are friendly, however. Early on, both Sadao and Emi are threatened by other arrivals from Ente Isla. First, after some mysterious attacks, the pair are confronted by the Demon General Lucifer and the High Priest Olba Mayer (the Church is a major factional player in Ente Isla and was the major sponsor of Emilia in the war), who have come to Japan to kill both the Devil and the Hero. Lucifer is played initially as a smarmy teenager by Aaron Dismuke, all teenaged bravado and snide delivery as he threatens to kill both in a bid to regain a place in Heaven (that’s the deal the Priest has made with him, as Lucifer is, following mythology, a fallen angel). Matching him is Mark Stoddard’s Olba, who is the embodiment of that specific kind of arrogance that comes from great power. These aren’t mustache-twirling villains, however. Both convey their intentions and pride quite competently and thoroughly.

Of course, the show can’t end so quickly, so after their defeat, Olba gets sidelined for a time while Lucifer is reduced to becoming a NEET, freeloading in Sadao’s apartment under the name Hanzo Urushihara. A representative of the hikikomori phenomenon, Mr. Dismuke does well in transforming Urushihara into a sullen teenager who’s been spanked a bit and now knows not to challenge his “parents” for power, but can still get in a barbed word here and there, especially against “mom” Ashiya. His explosive tantrums at being treated like a child (technically he is in this world, as they register his identity as a minor, with Sadao and Ashiya as his guardians) and a miscreant work well with his otherwise sullen disposition.

Rounding the major supporting roles is another newcomer, Alex Moore, who plays Suzuno Kamazuki. At first, she appears to be a sweet young woman who prefers traditional clothes–and traditional speech patterns to match them–who moves in next door to the demons in their low-rent rooming house. Ms. Moore tries to match the old-fashioned language of the original (Kanae Itou merely softened her tone to aid the archaic TV historical drama language her character spoke) by giving her voice a slight nasal quality that makes her sound like a young old fogey. It’s an interesting way to convey the old-fashioned language of her character, which would be hard to replicate in English without sounding far too affected (you would need to rewrite her dialogue into something approaching Shakespearean English to approximate the effect…except that the result would sound fairly laughable and, perhaps, too “cartoonish,” which is why this method is almost never attempted (thankfully)). This doesn’t stop her from being able to get across the right levels of emotion, though Suzuno often on the surface appears emotionless, which makes the task easier. When her true identity as the Church’s high inquisitor Crestia Bel is revealed, some of the mask is peeled away. Bel is largely unemotional because as an assassin, she’s had to steel herself against feelings for the most part, but as she begins to question her role in affairs, because of how the Church is acting versus the contrary-to-all-expectation “goodness” of the Devil in this world, you can hear some emotion begin to seep into her voice. As it should.

Finally, a few minor roles that get their moments to shine. Emi’s one human friend from Earth that she makes is her co-worker Rika Suzuki, who is played by the bright and chipper Alexis Tipton. Ms. Tipton is an actress whose work I’ve always enjoyed since I first heard her as the lead in My Bride is a Mermaid, and she again delivers here as Rika, especially in episode 9, where she takes a major role in forwarding events. Continuing with Emi’s circle, Monica Rial and Christopher Sabat have brief appearances as Emerada and Albert, two of Emilia’s comrades in arms from Ente Isla. Ms. Rial is in her often-heard cute mode while Mr. Sabat voices yet another gruff fighting man. While these performances may be nothing new, they are both portrayed in the right way as one would expect from these two long-time veterans of dubbing. Turning to Sadao’s workplace, in addition to Chiho, he has many scenes with his restaurant’s manager, Kisaki, who is played by another long-time veteran, Caitlin Glass. Again, perhaps not something new or challenging for Ms. Glass, but a thoroughly professional job that matches the varying moods and temper of the Hatagaya Station MgRonald’s manager.