Maou Gakuin no Futekigousha

Throughout the show, there’s proof of how powerful Anos is when he overwhelms his enemies without batting an eye. One example includes using a mere stick to fight against a sword while seemingly treating the fight as a game. To Anos, life feels like a game, and he doesn’t take too seriously. The first few episodes show that he’s enjoying his time and isn’t as malicious as his former title may imply. Anos seems to respect those who are loyal. His female classmates and characters, such as Sasha, have a vast amount of magical potential.

Sadly, most of the other cast doesn’t hold up much potential either. This is pretty much the Anos Voldigoad show. He runs it from morning to night, and no one can hold a candle to him. Sasha and Misha are the two main characters that Anos believes may have a lot of potential. Sasha, in particular, is a prodigy with unique eyes and talent in the magic arts. Of course, this is all impractical compared to Anos, as evidenced in their first fight. While Sasha does stand above her classmates, she’s nothing but an ant in Anos’ world. Misha, the younger twin sister of Sasha, has a powerful magical capacity. Anos even admits that someday, she may be able to surpass him in creative magic. The keyword here is ‘someday’ because from the Misha we see in the anime story, she’s a fragile girl with few friends. Anos is one of the only few characters that look her in the eye and treats her with kindness. Her relationship with Sasha gets a bit more complicated as the two rarely see eye to eye. Although their relationship improves, later on, the storytelling side doesn’t fully explore their characters as a whole. Because let’s be honest here: This anime has and always will be about Anos Voldigoad.

The main story itself continuously adapts Anos’ journey to regain his former glory, but he also encounters formidable rivals along the way. These include other students such as Lay or even Demon Emperors. Unfortunately, most of these characters remain underdeveloped and seemingly added to the show to push Anos. In every confrontation, it’s shown that Anos is the powerhouse. Furthermore, Anos’ fights in the front remain undeveloped due to the nature of his powers. Every action sequence feels repetitive with the overemphasis on magic. When these fights attempt to apply psychology, they fall short on feeling something unique. If I said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times. This show is really about Anos Voldigoad, the misfit of the demon academy. It’s quite disappointing, looking back on everything. I thought the fight scenes, which occurred probably like every other episode, could have developed into something more epic and outstanding.

There were several attempts where the anime tried to add meaning to the fight scenes, like when Lay and Anos fought against Melheis. The effort to involve Lay’s ‘mother’ and his connection to her, I thought it was a great attempt, but in the end, I felt it fell way short of what I was expecting. Furthermore, when the two academies squared off against each other towards the latter half of the anime. I thought there was so much left to be desired. I felt as though the action sequences could have been more meaningful and intense. Instead, we’re met with the demon academy students outright owning them in a battle that was not even close. The same can be said about the final fight between Jerga v. Hero Kanon and Anos.

Yes, there was symbolic significance to their action scene (Love over hatred). It just wasn’t satisfactory. The scene itself felt dull and very predetermined. What do I mean by “predetermined”? Well, everything about this anime was already predetermined by the first episode. We knew Anos was going to be the be-all-end-all with regards to whatever story Maou Gakuin no Futekigousha tried to tell. However, before it even commenced, you already knew what was going to happen. It was very linear. There wasn’t a time during the whole fight where it deviated; there wasn’t a curveball thrown at us, causing the viewer to doubt the outcome. There wasn’t anything during the conflict that could grab attention and pull it in because it felt so linear, to the point where you felt the urge to skip through it.

Silver Link’s experience in crafting this project to life can be best described as mediocre. Nothing, in particular, stands out above this light novel adaptation when compared to similar shows. The character outfits are designed with an academy vision in mind. Anos, Misha, and Sasha are the only characters that stand out as the main cast. To further enhance their abilities, the anime designed them with aesthetic eyes that symbolizes their power. The show’s world setting lacks an attractive appeal because let’s face it, once you’ve seen an academy like this, you’ve seen them all.