Hataraku Maou-sama!! | Episodes four and five: Not so great.

I’ll be honest, episodes four and five of Hataraku Maou-sama!! leave much to be desired. It’s a shame to be honest because after waiting almost ten years for a second season to Hataraku Maou-sama!!, I’m presented something that feels a little rushed, allow me to explain.

The encounter with Gabriel was a very disappointing to be honest. However, the fight with Gabriel was part of the larger problem and for me that was just how inconsistent the art style has been. Inconsistent and downright bad, there were times when the characters just looked sloppy.

For example, the confrontation between Gabriel and Alas/Emi. Felt as though I was watching a budget fight, like one that was quickly animated and deemed “good enough”.

Not to mention our characters also seem weaker, which I mean is a given because they’ve all been on earth for so long. Their powers have dwindled as a result, but after episode four, all the characters seem to be quite wimpy and that’s a real negative for me.

Then episode five rolls around and all of a sudden Maou and company are now out of a job and no longer have a house. So everyone decides to move to an island to find a place to work but a place to live at. Do not get me started on this moving to a remote island stuff either because the art design of the characters are comparatively worse than in the previous episodes and that’s what annoys the heck out of me.

Like did we decide to rush everything here? We had ten years to potentially create something great. What bothers me the most is that Hataraku Maou-sama!! and all its episodes thus far don’t even look or feel like an anime that is supposed to air in the year 2022. It feels as though this anime as a whole was the first revision that they had completed, but realized that they didn’t have time to focus in on a style or design that was worthy of Hataraku Maou-sama!! and decided to go with what they had.

It’s frustrating because I do want the art style to change, however, it has all already been produced. The episodes are what they are and cannot be changed anymore. As a result, it’ll be directly impacting how I feel about the anime as well as my overall enjoyment. Which is something I do not want because I want to love the second season, but what I’m being presented is making it really hard at the moment.