First released: April 2013
Version reviewed: Blu-Ray
The only time I seem to hear about this “Maou-sama” chap, the “Demon King”, is when anime subverts that most grand of titles. First it was as a fiercely intelligent but largely benign lady in Maoyuu Maou Yuusha and then here in Hataraku Maou-sama (The Devil is a Part-Timer).
It starts straightforwardly enough amidst war in the high-fantasy kingdom of Ente Isla, all darkness, death and monsters as the beef-cake Demon King lays waste to the once peaceful island nation. Then a hero shows up, starts scrapping with him, only for the mighty Demon King to retreat, warping out and landing in modern day Tokyo with his general Alciel. As introductions go it gets the point across and sets up a series which is surprising not only for how enjoyable it is but also how much it has going on under the surface.
My expectation was that this would be a typical fish-out-of-water scenario whereby the antics of the Demon King - now Sadao Maou - would be shock and horror as his olde worlde sensibilities clash with the hustle and bustle of a major city. Nope. All of that hullabaloo is wrapped up by the end of the first episode and is by and large relegated to the kind of unwritten assumption that it happened and wasn’t worth elaborating on. This means there’s no “carts moving without horses? preposterous!” moments and a distinct lack of the expected enthusiasm for mobile phones and the internet.
What we get instead is a rather critical look at Japanese working life as well as a dip into modern gender dynamics. If all that sounds drab and tedious, it’s largely hidden away behind the absurdity of a once infamous Demon King, who commanded armies and wielded untold dark magicks, working at McDonalds (sorry, MgRonalds), pestered by the myopic Hero and batting off the romantic overtures of a peppy highschool girl.
In short, this is a light comedy but with its themes delivered through the perspective of “foreign” characters. So, from a Western point of view, working in a fast-food restaurant (“flipping burgers”) is commonly viewed as a job for layabout teenagers or those without better job prospects, yet the series never implies that anyone in MgRonalds, least of all Sadao, feels that way. In fact he sees it as the perfect way of taking over this new world: by working up the ranks and eventually holding dominion over a large (fast food) empire.
The key part of that plan though is that success is won through hard work, which Sadao never shuns or begrudges, effectively embodying the, some would say typically Japanese, ideal of always applying yourself to the fullest, regardless of the task. We only get to see this however when Emi shows up, the Hero to Sadao’s Demon. Filled with righteous fury she is initially derisive of Sadao's new life, first physically and then verbally, implying that while he and Alciel (now Shirou Ashiya) live in a rundown apartment and scrape by hand-to-mouth, she has a job that lets her live comfortably if discontentedly. It’s never stated explicitly but only when Emi ceases trying to kill Sadao and casting aspersions towards his lifestyle does her own improve. Indeed in the opening few episodes of the series she seems to feel like she’s hit rock bottom, despite her circumstances to the contrary.
Her relationship with Sadao is the other major theme of the series, more generally the contrast between men and women. It’s probably no coincidence that all of the female characters are initially pitched as pure and virtuous while the men are nefarious demons, sporting even Lucifer himself. So whereas the ladies are telesales and high school girls the men are freeters, fry cooks and hikkikomoris, even serial creeps or just outright evil. The big reveal then is that (most) of these men are decent people once you get to know them and stop figuratively and literally demonising them. It’s a concept demonstrated most keenly by Emi’s friend from work, Rika, who at first scorns Sadao despite his pleasantries, but is then proven wrong and finally impressed when she learns he’s an upstanding member of the community and is enormously competent at his job.
Whether this is based on actual experience - one can only imagine borne from the crucible that is online dating - by the original light novel writer Satoshi Wagahara or not is unclear; what is clear is the almost complete lack of expected romantic overtures between Emi and Sadao. Emi retains her distrust of Sadao, not unexpected given his past actions, right through to the end and it’s left to the endearingly straightforward Chiho to put the moves on him. He remains unmoved though, displaying more empathy towards his househusband Shirou who spends half the series stricken by a rather gruesome illness and the other half running back to fetch his cowl.
Beyond all of the messages about Japanese work ethics or modern gender views, the series is still a comedy at heart, drenched in modern culture and remaining light-hearted throughout. There are brief moments where the series shows its teeth - Maou versus Lucifer and Maou versus Sariel, the two major scuffles of the series - but otherwise this is endlessly pleasant to watch and although it ends long before the still ongoing source material runs out of steam, it still manages to feel very complete.
There are the odd moments when things go awry: a late episode trip to a combination swimming-pool and zoo feels like the story is playing for time and needed an excuse to put the female cast members in swimsuits. Likewise Crestia Bell’s character arc doesn’t feel as accomplished as it perhaps wanted to be, somewhat due to the completely straight way it is played, all grim-dark murder and clandestine meetings.
These are minor niggles though and Hataraku Maou-sama mixes its high-fantasy tomfoolery with good humour and a dash of romance. It certainly had the right director for it with Naoto Hosoda evidently bringing pieces from her past works, Mirai Nikki (Future Diary), Koe de Oshigoto (Working with Voice) and Shuffle! before helming this. The series works so well because of the strong, likable characters it builds and benefits from being set at a different time of life than the usual middle/high-school period. It cries out for another series and even it were just more of the same it would be a hugely worthwhile watch.