Hataraku Maou-sama!! | Why it sucked.

So I am a little late to the party, yes. But I will be making a better effort of finishing the anime I intend to watch, first up third up on the list, Hataraku Maou-sama!!. I’ll be honest with you, having waited years for a second season and having been very much let down. To me, Hataraku Maou-sama!! sucked, allow me to explain.

The once-feared Demon Lord Satan of Ente Isla, who had to flee to Earth after being defeated by the hero Emilia Justinia, is now leading a peaceful life in Tokyo under the alias Sadao Maou. Having become a model employee of a local fast-food restaurant, Sadao has to provide for his former generals Alciel and Lucifer who joined him in Japan, as well as avoid confrontations with Emi Yusa—the assumed name of Emilia—and the angels who monitor his actions.

Amidst a violent argument between Sadao and Emi, a dimensional portal suddenly appears, carrying a mysterious apple that harbors a toddler named Alas Ramus. To everyone’s bewilderment, she imprints on Emi and Sadao, marking them as her parents! After Emi reluctantly agrees to help Sadao take care of Alas Ramus, their semblance of normal life is jeopardized by the appearance of the archangel Gabriel, who comes bearing bad news. He claims that he must take both Alas Ramus and Emi’s sacred sword with him—lest the world be destroyed.

Unable to accept Gabriel’s grim prophecies, the hero and the former Demon Lord need to put their differences aside and unite to protect what they hold dearest.

There were many things wrong about the anime. For starters, it didn’t feel the same at all. Yes, we had a returning cast, with the same voice actors/actresses. However, for me part of the appeal of the first season of Hataraku Maou-sama! was how appealing to the eye the anime was. So when I saw the first trailer of the sequel along with the poster art, red flags started to go up because, visually, it didn’t look like the first season. Which was a concern because I would think, if you’re going to make a sequel you’re going to atleast try and follow the previous art style. Then again, in hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have expected all too much because the original series was animated by White Fox while this current season was animated by Studio 3Hz.

The art styles between the first and season seasons of Hataraku Maou-sama! reminded me of when High School DxD suddenly decided to change how all the characters looked for the final season. Like, you go three seasons of the same animation, then for the final season, you switch it up. But again, the circumstances are the same. DxD was picked up by another studio for the final season. But atleast try to make an effort to match the art style that came beforehand. Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei tried and while its not the same, they got as close as they could and that’s what mattered.

The fact that there wasn’t an attempt was very disappointing.

Furthermore, the story has a whole was simply not interesting enough. I thought that Alas Ramus was going to be a character that would have helped develop the story in a significant way. Obviously, as you can tell there are two sides to this coin, those who say she was a character was significant and those who say she was not. I fall on the side that Alas Ramus was not.

At first I thought Alas Ramus was because she forced Maou and Emi to be closer and the first few episodes were around Alas Ramus and her origins. They also played her out to be someone who was extremely important for the heavens and for the balance of both worlds. However, as quickly as her ‘arc’ came in, it left without a trace and Alas Ramus became a supporting character. As the Alas Ramus died down and we stopped focusing on Emi and Maou, Chiho started to gain more and more importance. Which to me has always been questionable because I just feel like she’s part of this unoriginal affection triangle.

I’ll be honest, the Alas Ramus was a poor attempt of progressing the story, so in my mind, I can only assume that the same will be said about Chiho and everything that will surrounding her. The only reason why I think that is because the storytelling has been so poor and unentertaining.

Gradually you see the anime transition to what felt like a very poor slice of life anime, trying to bank on the popularity of the previous season to carry it to the end. I guess it worked because now there’s going to be a third season, which I assume is just something they’re doing to capitalize on the hype that is still there around the anime. However, for me, that hype or that excitement isn’t there anymore. The second season of Hataraku Maou-sama!! has really killed what this anime was for me in my youth. I definitely won’t be watching the third season.

Hataraku Maou-sama!! has definitely turned out to be a very big disappointment.