I totally agree. It's fun but really, not something that's memorable at all. Just something to watch when you're bored or you need a laugh. I do enjoy the voice actors, though. Everything else... like Tama-Neko said, it's just your average run-of-the-mill anime in its genre.
Kyou Kara Maou tv Review
Story & Characters
"Kyou Kara Maou" roughly translates to "From Now On You're the Demon Lord" and details the
adventures of a high schooler named Shibuya Yuuri, who would love nothing better than to play in the Japanese major
leagues. His plans are sharply derailed when he encounters some bullies one day after school, and (being the wimp he is)
gets dunked into a toilet. Unfortunately, the whirlpool keeps spiraling on downwards… and Yuuri lands in another
world.
You know, stories where characters get transported to other dimensions/worlds/universes and become pivotal characters in
that new world are a dime a dozen (Fushigi Yuugi, 12 Kingdoms, El Hazard, and Escaflowne are just a few that come to
mind.) Instead of trying to reinvent the genre, Kyou Kara Maou decides to make fun of it instead. After an encounter
with the locals (which Yuuri cannot understand since he doesn't know the local language) and a dramatic rescue (by
a bat-winged skeleton), he is told (after some magic confers the ability to speak the local lingo) he is the Demon Lord,
King of the Mazoku, and they know this because of his black hair and black eyes (to which Yuuri protests that ANY
Japanese person would fit the bill.)
As such, he's whisked off to the capital of the Mazoku kingdom and dumped straight into a set of politics (the
humans fear and wish to destroy the Mazoku, although the Mazoku really don't care unless the humans encroach on
their territories), intrigue (what happened to the previous Maou? Why did she retire and decide to spend the rest of her
life on a pleasure cruise? More importantly, why do certain situations cause the true Demon Lord to appear and give
Yuuri incredibly strong magical powers?) and even love (sort of… one of his advisors has a hopeless crush on him, and
he ends up accidentally getting engaged to one of the palace soldiers.) As a note, Kyou Kara Maou is heavily laced with
shounen-ai (male-male) relationships, yet it manages to make a mockery of that, too. Wolfram, Yuuri's erstatz
fiancée, turns from angry soldier to a jealous hanger-on at a speed that's just absurd, and Gunter (Yuuri's
advisor) has a crush that everyone else seems to make fun of. In this alternative dimension, everyone is perfectly fine
with male-male relationships, yet human-Mazoku relationships are so taboo that individuals found in such a compromising
spot are severely punished.
The story isn't very original, and a lot of the characters are strongly reminiscent of characters from other
series, but it doesn't try very hard to be a groundbreaker either. Instead, it revels in humor and parodies (such
as the story arc involving the magical sword, Morgif, which is more of a pain to have around than a boon), with just
enough seriousness to make you laugh when it all falls apart again.
Rating:
Art
The art is nothing special. This is a low-to-mid-budget series, and it shows. The colors are pretty bright and saturated for the most part, being a light-hearted show, but the character designs look like they've been ripped out of half-a-dozen other series (especially the Angelique franchise.) However, as this is a series aimed at the gals, there's plenty of bishounen, even if they're not superbly animated much of the time. There's very little noticeable CG, and there is a bit of reliance on speed lines and other animation budget-savers. At times the art design gets a bit absurd, especially with the bizarre creatures that inhabit the alternate world (like sand-bears with panda coloration, or the giant bears with bee bodies and wings). Still, the art has been consistent so far, unlike some series which start off fantastically but go downhill after episode 10.
Rating:
Sound
The sound is similarly not too special. The opening is a feel-good rockish song and the ending is a rather absurd, silly
song by the same group. The background music doesn't stand out at all, and in fact I can't remember a single
tune from there. It's not overpowering music as in some series, but it's easily forgettable.
However, the voices are one of the better qualities of the series. Despite the fact that most of the production seems
fairly low-budget, they have pulled in some pretty popular voice actors. Takahiro Sakurai plays Yuuri (also plays Haruka
from Tactics, Sasame from Pretear) and does a good job in separating his “Yuuri” voice (spunky, light-hearted and a
bit whiny) from his Demon Lord voice (deep, serious, and sexy). Mitsugi Saiga (also plays Junior from RoD the TV,
Tsukasa from .hack//sign) plays Wolfram, and is good whether playing the serious soldier or the jealous lover. Akio
Otsuka plays Gwendal (also Batou from Ghost in the Shell) and has no problem pulling off the serious, dedicated soldier,
while Toshiyuki Morikawa's Conrad (also plays Sora from .hack//sign, Alex from Last Exile) manages to inject a more
light hearted nature into his soldier character. That's just a sampling of the great cast they managed to get
involved (and how they got ALL of them involved is still a mystery to me) but certainly makes the show much more
enjoyable than I had originally expected.
Rating:
Presentation
Kyou Kara Maou is a comedy. It's nothing special, and the subject matter may turn off a lot of viewers. In fact, I consider it one of my guilty pleasures. It's a bit of a train-wreck of a series, yet I keep watching it, because it always makes me laugh (even if it's because the show is so absurd I can't believe they'd do something like that.) Someone, despite all the craziness, I found I really do want to know what happens to all these characters, although I'm worried it won't resolve anything in the end like so many other train-wreck shows. It's a fun way to pass a half-hour, a good study break to lighten up the mood and to think, “How did they ever get this idea past marketing?” Although a lot of the jokes have gotten a bit old (especially Wolfram's jealous lover bit) it still manages to make me laugh, and in the end, that's the only reason I need to continue to watch this. A show like this appeals best to its niche audience, and it will be interesting to see how ADV handles the release. All in all, I would recommend this to anyone who'd like to see a silly and absurd take on the “transportation to another realm” genre of anime, and who doesn't mind shounen-ai relationships. It's a hoot, if you can get past all the initial bizarreness.
Rating:
Final Verdict
6.0000 (average)
Reviewed by Tama-Neko, Oct 15, 2004
Comments
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ange-argente Oct 16, 2004
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Ilona Oct 20, 2004
That's a great review. I really like this anime thanks to its humor.... and not really thanks to the plot. It really changes from other anime.
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ayaki Nov 01, 2004
@ first, i found it very funny...
but then the plot just kind of drag on ~_~
now i don't even wanna continue watching it....i'm @ episode 25....
agreed with ange-argente ... u can watch when u wanna kill time @_@ lol -
Terra-chan Nov 15, 2004
I find this review to be accurate from a step-back point of view... but I don't strp back, I dive in when I watch an anime. I really love this show, and wouldn't mind if it kept going but I too get the feeling that there won't be a good conclusion to this series... I wish they would continue on for another 12-13 episodes after 26, but they're only contracted to 26... ;-;
I've seen to the end of Ep 22 subbed and can't seem to find the torrent for 23 subbed... ;-;a note that it has a lot of japanese puns and since the series is licensed, I wonder what they'll do to these puns in the english dub... Every time I've seen a show with puns like this, it loses a lot in the dubs because it just doesn't work in the english language and they have to change so much in order to make it work... but I can't judge until I see what they do with the actual thing when it's release by Geneon.
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kazuki21 Sep 08, 2005
I find your review quite insulting... Because you always say that it is nothing special, but the point of the show is to make you laugh and not DO something special! Besides, the drawing was nice! The music has nice rythmn also! I think you just does not appreciate the show...Sadly, I do not agree with your review so I'm going to create a review which will suit better for this title. The show inspired me and has many lessons you can learn. Do not say absurd, for it is NOT absurd! If you do not appreciate it then I have no choice... But really, it was nice. I have watched the show from beginning to episode 48. So there, that's my opinion! ^^
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selfdestructivepride23 Jun 24, 2006
I have to admit, your review is good. But I mean no offense when I say that I don't totally agree with you. I think, although the plot has been repeated numerous of times, this anime stands out.
I didn't quite like the ending song, though, which was "Suteki na Shiawase" by The Stand Up. "Hateshinaku Tooi Sora Ni", in the other hand, was quite addicting.
The graphics were nice, too. The characters are memorable. Especially the Maou and his fiancee... *grins*
Not everyone shares the same ideas, so I guess I can't expect everyone to agree with me.
I apologize if you were offended.
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nainoi Sep 27, 2009
Thank you for review.
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Sanisa Feb 24, 2010
Thanks for the review! Nice ^__^
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