i donno about these series..
reading this review gives me an idea bout d story of tha series...
nice review..
gotta check this series out..
<i>I'll start off by saying I'm a HUGE fan of Kyou Kara Maou, but I'll take a bit of an objective approach here</i>
<u>Title Translation</u>: From Today on, Demon King
<u>English DVD Subtext</u>: God(?) Save Our King!
The story is about a boy named Shibuya Yuuri. An average High School student, he's a daydreamer that has a passion for
baseball and a sense of justice. One day when coming home from school he sees a former classmate of his, Murata Ken,
getting picked on by bullies and ends up becoming the bullies target, getting swirlied in a toilet and flushed into
another world.
<br><br>
Yuuri is revealed to be the spirit chosen by the Shinou (Original King aka Great One in the English DVD) to be the new
Maou (Demon King) of another world. His soul is from that world and was carried to our world to be raised in
safekeeping. His strong sense of justice brings out another side of himself that I like to differentiate by simply
calling him "Maou" because of the fact Yuuri's appearance and voice and manner all change when he's in this
mode. As the Maou he has many loyal retainers, the 4 main ones are: <br>
<b>Conrad Weller</b> - The lowly born middle son of the previous Maou, he is half human and a highly
accomplished swordsman. He is Yuuri's closest friend and most loyal subject in his kingdom, Shin Makoku (New Makoku aka
Great Demon Kingdom). He is plain in appearance and dresses in earth tones.<br>
<b>Gunter von Christ</b> - Yuuri's most doting retainer, he is hopelessly devoted to Yuuri and constantly
worries about his king's well-being. He educates Yuuri in the ways of the kingdom as an accomplished scholar. He is also
an accomplished swordsman. He is a shining man with long silver hair and dresses in white.<br>
<b>Wolfram von Bielefelt</b> - Conrad's younger half-brother, Wolfram is hot-headed and a demon purist,
holding no respect whatsoever to humans or half-breeds like his older brother Conrad. After a mishap turns him into
Yuuri's fiance he becomes possessive of Yuuri and their fragile relationship. He is young with wavy blonde hair and
dresses in blue.
<br>Gwendel von Voltaire</b> - A cold, tactical man, he is the eldest son of the last Maou and half-brother
to Conrad and Wolfram. He is all about sticking to the law and taking the most expedient route. He wears green and has
long black hair.
<br><br>
There are a lot of twists and turns and be sure to pay attention or you might forget someone who'll be important later
on ^_~
Rating:
The art is in a very shoujo style with a lot of attractive men, pretty scenery and flowers and sparkly and flowery special effects for emotional moments. However these elements are not overused so much that the show becomes a sparkle-fest. The colors are very vibrant and color is used in a very distinguishing manner. Uniforms are also very common as you easily recognize which minor characters affiliate with which major characters by the colors and uniforms they wear. The magic effects are quite impressive artwork. Characters have very expressive faces with a lot of wide-eyed reactions from Yuuri.
Rating:
The background music of this series is quite subdued and doesn't draw too much attention to itself in the anime, which
means it does it's job well, I say. The opening song is wonderful and energetic and is called "Hateshinaku Tooi
Sora Ni (Towards the infinitely distant Sky)" and really captures the mood of the anime and sets you up for the
show you're about to watch. The first ending "Suteki ni shiawase" is bouncy and childish, which I think
expresses how the first season has a very childishly naive and innocent Yuuri. The new ending for season 2 (starting at
the end of Episode 40) "Arigatou" has a more mature air to it to show how Yuuri's now come into his own as
the Demon King and knows how he wants things done.
<br><br>
For the dub acting, my personal highlight is Mona Marshall as Wolfram. She captures him quite well. Wolfram's an
effeminate young man with a chip on his shoulder and he tries to overcompensate by being as manly as possible. Mona
sounds a little feminine at times in this role and that's suitable for Wolfram in my opinion. Overall the dub voices
don't shine all that much but they aren't terrible. The dub acting is decent enough, and I think it's bound to get
better. Josak is another character that I think has a good character voice, it really fits. ^_^
<br><br>
The Japanese acting is wonderful. Yuuri has a wonderful actor that captures regular Yuuri and Maou magnificently. The
Japanese track has a definite advantage over the english track, but when you're watching another language it's harder to
catch nuances that would be annoying if it were your own language... plus the japanese seem to be better at voice-acting
in general in my opinion... I'll let you decide for yourself on the japanese track though.
Rating:
The story elements of KKM are that of a parody. Every character in this show parodies or is meant to be a generic
character to the extreme... It looks like your generic "Hero sent to another world to Save the day" story, but
it's not. Instead of being a Holy Warrior, he's a Demon King, instead of defeating demons he's to defeat humans. All of
his retainers are different stereotypical bishounen and the women of the castle are very wild and controlling. It's a
very fun story that works with all of the general cliches you'd see in a fantasy anime and make them into something you
wouldn't expect... or at least, Yuuri doesn't suspect XD. This show likes to turn the most minor insignificant character
you encounter into a useful player later in the show. It's quite amazing how someone you'd never think twice about
suddenly shows up to save the day. There are some slow episodes when you first start watching into the double digits,
but stick with it, it definitely gets better again.
<br><br>
The english DVD has a lot of little inconsistencies in the credits that I'd like to mention here. They obviously didn't
check that. The English dialogue handles the puns of Kyou Kara Maou in a way that probably inspires a reaction that the
original Japanese puns are probably meant to evoke, but are unsuccessful in direct translation. The English DVD does
keep the subtitles as a pure translation though so purists needn't worry about that.
Rating:
7.67 (good)
Reviewed by Terra-chan, May 22, 2005
i donno about these series..
reading this review gives me an idea bout d story of tha series...
nice review..
gotta check this series out..
I only seen the first episode but thought it was kinda boring.....but I might give the serie a second try after reading your reviwe! ^_^
cool i have yet to see it but now i have to
great job :D
never heard of it hehehe
ever hear of galaxy angel or tenchi
Good job reviewing KKM, terra-chan.
Now I'm even more desperate to watch KKM! I have to wait till Saturday so I can go buy the dvd. T_T
great review! i'm a KKM fangirl to the max, i'm more a gunter fangirl...love 'gungun' to bits :D
Thanks for the review! Nice ^__^
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