As the Demon Lord’s forces continue in their struggle against humankind, a talented demon enters the savage scene. Ike, grandson of the knowledgeable and powerful magician, Romberg, is a frontline commander and a smart one too, quickly conquering the hamlet of Arsenam. Except Ike is not actually a demon, and he’s not Romberg’s flesh and blood. Ike was adopted by the wise, old man, who raised him as a demon and emphasized to the child that he must never his race be known. But with Ike’s success in battle, that secret may not long be held: his own commander, the beautiful Cefiro, already knows, as does a new maid who is somehow able to break through his magical barrier even if she doesn’t seem to know how to do much else. And Ike’s own thoughtful and merciful approach to battle may expose him. At the very least, his success has now caught the attention of Dairokuten, the Demon Lord, who seems to have her eyes set on Ike.
Demons aren’t fully evil. The hero fights for the demons. The Demon Lord is a diminutive but powerful female. The hero wants peace. And yada yada yada. Move over “villainess isekai” fare, the “hero fighting for demons” storyline has taken over fantasy anime. The structure of these stories is similar; it’s just up to the author to pick and choose which tropes to emphasize and which character types to include, or so it seems. There’s nothing original in the script, nothing in the writing that made me think that this opening episode, which was fine, is really worth investing in. The sound effects are pretty off the charts, strangely enough, but is that enough to make me want to keep up with the series? Nope, especially not when in addition to the mid storyline, other aspects should be criticized, particularly how the movement is drawn in a way that feels fake and automated, as if the 2-D animation is being done in 3-D, and voice acting that’s hollow and overly retrained. But the writing is what’s worst, most fully expressed in the scene where Ike meets Dairokuten and doesn’t realize she’s female until he lifts his head and sees her, this despite her feminine voice speaking to him long before that moment, and when she says that she’ll want to see his face “next time” when she’s mere inches away and, hey, could just lift up his mask and see it now. But hey, gotta have dramatic tension! This is lazy writing. And this is not an anime worth watching.
The Strongest Magician in the Demon Lord’s Army Was a Human can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
Ah, we’re off to a good start! LOL. Thank you for saving me the time I could have spent watching this.
Haha you’re welcome. You just never know with these series…similar storylines but such varying execution!
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