Welcome to Anime Rants, where I’m still trying to finish up my episode reviews for a few Summer 2023 anime series. Today, I’ll respond to some episodes from The Devil is a Part-Timer! (Season 2.)
I’m actually enjoying this series a lot more than I thought I would. The art-style is great, the OST music is excellent, and the story slowly becomes more interesting with time. I think everyone gave up on this anime too soon. It was widely dismissed for some reason – even though the first season was a huge success. At any rate, I’m glad I continued watching. Let’s get started with the episode reviews!
Episode 19: The Hero Weeps
This action-packed installment impressed me more than expected. I’ve always loved the art-style here, but the visuals in episode 19 seemed even better than usual. I also liked the exciting and/or ominous music during some of the fight scenes. In addition to the great audio-visual quality and the amount of action, this episode also brought back Amane, an awesome character from an earlier arc. She’s so bad-ass and attractive!
The only bits of this episode I didn’t like were centered around Acieth. She has an amazing character design and I don’t mind her being bratty to Mao once in a while. What bugs me are her sexual/romantic jokes, such as the one about “giving my body to you.” I just don’t find this amusing. Even if she is an eternal weapon spirit, Acieth’s human form is child-coded, and I have no desire to hear a little girl make weird innuendos. Jeez.
Going back to the positives, the fight scenes on the school roof were epic. Suzuno’s bravery was a major highlight of the episode. She is beautiful, valiant, and powerful in battle. I’m equally impressed with Lucifer. He might still be uncomfortable with calling those girls comrades, but actions speak louder than words. He protected both of them, sustaining serious injury in the process. Not bad for a NEET.
The fact that Mao can wield a Sacred Sword is probably hugely significant, but I’m more worried about Emi than excited for Mao. The episode title is “The Hero Weeps,” but we didn’t see Emi crying. In fact, we didn’t see her at all until a brief after-credits scene. She appears to be safe for the short-term, but she’s trapped in the custody of the angels, apparently. I just hope we get more information about Emi in the next episode.
Episode 20: The Hero Questions Her Hometown
As I had hoped, this episode showed us what Emi is been doing in Ente Isla. She and Alas Ramus go to visit her hometown, Sloane Village. After a few discoveries, Alas Ramus inadvertently gives away their location. Olba from the Church comes and arrests Emi. Back in our world, Mao and Suzuno prepare to rescue everyone. Before setting out, they have a brief encounter with Sariel at McRonald. That night, Suzuno opens a portal at the art musuem. She and Mao go through it on a pair of motor-scooters.
Let me make two quick notes about Emi as she traveled around. Firstly, it was amusing to see her trying to adjust to a world without modern conveniences. There are no toilets, for example – only filthy, stinky outhouses. Secondly, I enjoyed the scene where Emi found her father’s wheat field. For Emi, this discovery signified a rekindling of hope and purpose, as well as reassurance that her father is still alive. It was a touching moment.
The brief discussion with Sariel outside the restaurant was rather interesting. We learned that Sephiroth beings (like Yesod and its fragments) absolutely hate Angels. That makes sense because, according to Sariel, Angels once tampered with the Sephiroth Tree of Life. Sariel doesn’t know the details, but he remembers hearing the reason behind the Angels’ actions: they wanted to prevent a God from being born.
This is fascinating lore, but it brings up one of the key issues I have with this anime. Ideally, there should be a good balance of fantasy world lore and day-to-day escapades in Japan. But the balance is poor in The Devil is a Part-Timer. There’s not enough explanation, so everything feels vague and ill-defined. To understand, I had to look up Sephiroth on the wiki page. Though I enjoy this kind of “research,” audiences should not need to do this to follow the story. That’s all my notes for episode 20.
Episode 21: The Devil Vomits
There was a lot of good content in episode 20. My favorite part was when Suzuno sat down with Mao in the style of a religious confession. She was very kind, forgiving Mao for the first time. Thanks to Suzuno’s questions, we also learned a lot about Mao’s reasons for leading the Demon invasion. Now we know how Demons derive their magic and how food might be able to sustain them instead. I love that Maos has been trying his best this whole time, but is still remorseful about some of his choices.
Another noteworthy part of the episode was when Olba’s army defeated an encampment of Demons. It was interesting because, for the first time, Emi felt sad and guilty about the Demons who were killed. Olba did not allow Emi to even entertain the idea of accepting a surrender from the Demons. It was implied that all of them – not just the leaders – were wiped out. Emi was genuinely upset. It’s taken a long time, but she’s become compassionate even to her enemies.
During the talk between Ashiya and Gabriel, a few things finally became clear. The Angels and the Church have enlisted the help of a certain Demon faction – the Malebranche. Part of their plan involves reinstating Ashiya/Alciel as the ruler of one of the areas still occupied by Demons. The next step should be something like this: The Angels arrange for Emi to defeat Alciel and make a big show of it, thus restoring everyone’s faith in the Church.
That would make sense as the next step; however, I don’t think their goal is something that obvious. Don’t forget Gabriel’s words on the rooftop. He mentioned something about a new Great Devil being born. I’m not sure why, but Gabriel – and possibly Heaven as a whole – wants this new calamity to make itself known. I suspect that a Great Devil is a Demon King who can tap into the power of the Sephiroth. Things are definitely getting interesting.
My current theory is that a new Devil is already at work in the Demon Realm. He might have been working to replace Mao and become even more powerful. That would also explain why Mao maintained his human form after returning to Ente Isla. He should have assumed his Devil form, but he can’t. On top of that, he and Acieth both feel weak and sick. Maybe that’s because the new Devil has taken his role and limited his powers.
That wraps up my episode reviews for today. Be sure to join me next time when I respond to the last three episodes of The Devil is a Part-Timer! (Season 2.) Sayonara!
Thanks for reading~
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