Anime Review: The Devil is a Part-timer

Anime: The Devil is a Part-timer

Genres: Comedy

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

General Setup: After being defeated, the Demon Lord of a far-off mystical land is banished to an even more frightening world: Earth. Satan and his right-hand general, Alciel escape to Tokyo, Japan through a portal. While they bide their time and recover their magical powers they must learn how to survive in modern times. For Satan, who changes his name to Sadao Mao, this means working part-time at a fast food restaurant suspiciously similar to McDonald's. Things start to get interesting when he bumps into his mortal enemy, the Hero Emilia, who came to Japan in order to finish him off once and for all.

Characters: Mao exceeds Emilia’s expectations and turns out to be a dedicated and hardworking part-timer. During his experiences on earth he learns about humans and grows to feel some empathy for the creatures he previously scorned. It takes Alciel a little while to adjust to the new reality of living on Earth. He rallies eventually though, and takes on the job of housekeeper for Mao and himself. Emilia is in a similar position to Mao, in that she lost most of her powers upon arriving in Japan. To sustain herself financially she works at a call center, but she is significantly better off than Mao and Alciel. Chiho Sasaki is Mao’s coworker at McRonalds.  She has a crush on Mao, however he sees her as a friend instead of a girlfriend. Her character arc changes, albeit slowly.

Plot: The plot is mostly centered on Mao and Alciel collecting the magical power needed for their return to their homeland. Each episode tends to focus on a specific conflict, but the main plot is not forgotten. The balance between advancing the story and providing humor is well-done.

Ending: This anime ends with a bang and a battle, but not all the conflicts are resolved. Whether or not Mao can/will return to Enter Isla is still up in the air.

Things to Watch For: Unfortunately, there is some fan service going on in this show. Especially watch out for episode 10.

Humor: A great deal of the in this anime humor is derived from Mao’s job at McRonald’s. So, if you have ever worked at a fast food restaurant you will be able to resonate with Mao more. However, there is still plenty of humor that does not deal with Mao’s work.

Moral Lessons: People can change. Kindness rewards itself.

Sights and Sounds: The animation and soundtrack were well done. I really liked the music and animation for the opening. The Japanese voices for the sub were good, but the actors for the English dub were mediocre.

Other Media: The Devil Is a Part-timer started out as a light novel series written by Satoshi Wagahara. Besides the anime, two manga adaptations have been made.

Fillers: There are no fillers in this anime.

Length: There are 13 episodes in this anime.

Where to Watch: This anime is available to watch legally for free at Hulu, FUNimation, and Crunchyroll.