The Devil’s Got a Daughter!
Creative Staff
Story: Satoshi Wagahara
Art: Akio Hiiragi
Translation: Kevin Gifford
What they say
The Devil’s Castle (Maou’s tiny apartment) has a new resident, and she’s still in diapers! With the appearance of the mysterious child Alas Ramus, Maou’s household is plunged into chaos. With the Devil as the daddy and the Hero mommy, playing house just got serious!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Devil is a Part-Timer volume 6 details the not-so-everyday life of Sadou Maou, formerly Satan, the demon who almost brought Ente Isla to its knees, now a part-time worker at McRondals. This story begins with Suzuno, otherwise known as Crestia Bell, the former assassin for the Inquisition on Ente Isla, buying a new bike for Maou. She’s doing this in payment for what happened in the previous volumes with Sariel.
They arrive home with Chiho, who just happened to be wandering to Maou’s apartment to deliver ice cream, and not long after that Emi Yusa, formerly Emilia the Hero, arrives on the scene to argue with Maou. The dynamic between these two is as interesting as ever. They have a very hate/hate relationship, though part of me feels like they’re only maintaining this to keep the status quo. I’m not sure what they, Emilia especially, would do with themselves if they didn’t have this small token from their past lives on Ente Isla.
While they’re arguing, a large fruit suddenly appears before them—or what seems like a fruit until it sprouts arms and legs. The fruit is actually a young girl of maybe 2-years. She appears before them and proclaims that Emi and Maou are her mama and papa. I have to admit, the child known as Alas Ramus is adorable. She’s very polite and can talk a bit, though not much, and she’s really attached to Maou and Emi and cries whenever they aren’t around. I also really like how her addition into this story has shaken up the foundation for Emi’s and Maou’s relationship.
The artwork for The Devil is a Part-Timer is very clean. While a lot of other series decide to create a sense of motion and depth by varying the thickness of their line art and creating lines to denote movement, this series doesn’t do that. Likewise, the characters all have a very clean look. While this gives it a somewhat static feel, it also makes the story seem more modern, which helps give the slice-of-life moments more depth. Whether this same art style will work during scenes with more action remains to be seen.
Because The Devil is a Part-Timer is half slice-of-life, half-action, and all comedy, most of this volume deals only with the slice-of-life/comedy side of things. Maou has decided to take care of Alas Ramus. Of course, since Maou works, this means Alciel is stuck dealing with the baby, who can’t be consoled without Maou and Emi there. Chiho helps out. Consequently, this causes some problems when she decides to bring Alas Ramus to Maou’s work. There’s some excellent comedy during these moments, especially when Alas Ramus gets compared to Urushihara and everyone agrees that she’s better than him.
While the first three chapters deal with Alas Ramus’ arrival and the affects it has on the people living in Maou’s castle, the last two chapters are about Emi and Maou going on a “family outing” with Alas Ramus. It’s hard since they both hate each other. However, the fact that they seemed to be getting along showed their maturity about this situation. Neither of them likes the other, but they’re willing put up with each other for Alas Ramus. Whether this means they are growing closer or simply growing as people is up in the air.
In Summary
There’s a lot of mystery surrounding this volume. We see who sent Alas Ramus to Earth, and we have some basic clues to let us know what she is, but we don’t really know who she is, why she sent this baby to Earth, or what her ultimate goal is. We’re not-quite as in the dark as Maou and Emi, but we don’t know much. However, I feel like this enhances the story. I really want to know who Alas Ramus is. Is she really Maou and Emi’s daughter? If so, how is such a thing possible? I’m sure all of our answers will be resolved in the next volume, and since volume 6 was mostly slice-of-life, I expect volume 7 to be action-packed!
Content Grade: C-
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: B-
Age Rating: Older Teen
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: October 26, 2016
MSRP: $13
