Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Summer 2019 Isekai Battle Royale! This season we have plenty of isekai and isekai-ish light novel adaptations throwing down for the title of Isekai of the Season, and it’s going to get wild! In the red corner, we have Demon Lord, Retry! (Japanese title: Maou-sama, Retry!) Here we have a protagonist who has shut down the servers to an online game he ran, only to find himself transported to the very world of that game, and as the demon lord character, no less! Looks like he has rescued a cute girl who was shunned by her town and offered as a sacrifice to a demonic creature, and now they are going to make what they can in the world.
From the intro reel it looks like Demon Lord, Retry is having some trouble moving. Seems like it has a bit of an issue figuring out what direction it wants to go in, as the protagonist lacks any notable motivation or goals. The noticeably bad animation seems to be crippling it as well, with action scenes basically a joke. In such a state, it seems that Retry is mainly going to try to fight with the heartwarming relationships developed between the protagonist and the girls who gather around him? Seems like it is aware its audience digs that kind of stuff, and at least there it looks like it has done a competent job. Or maybe it is hoping that its world setting full of angelic beings and religious figures can play into a larger plot? But will that be enough for it to overcome its handicaps, especially as the other isekai contenders enter the arena? We’ll be keeping an eye on this underdog for at least a bit to see if it can beat the odds and survive this season’s Isekai Battle Royale!
Demon Lord, Retry! is streaming on FunimationNow.
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