The Devil is a Part-Timer! Anime Review

THE DEVIL IS A PART-TIMER SCORE: 8.25

INTRODUCTION & SYNOPSIS

The Devil is a Part-Timer is a unique, fun anime that I really enjoyed watching. I would classify it as comedy, slice-of-life with a bit of action and small doses of romance. It had all of the elements necessary to make a great story; however, it was cut short a little soon. Rounding out at just 13 episodes in length, with no second season out yet, that was a bit of a let-down. All of that aside, I still think it’s worth a watch, especially if you consider yourself a casual anime watcher.

Satan, from the underworld, king of evil-doing, is sent through a gate warp from his kingdom of Ente Isla into modern day Tokyo with one of his faithful generals Alciel. The two wander about the streets of Tokyo in human form trying to make sense of their circumstances, when they get mistaken as rambunctious cos-players and get taken into custody by the cops. Through a turn of events, the duo decide to put down roots in Tokyo, as they will be here for the foreseeable future. Satan himself, going by Sadao Maou in this world, gets a part time job as “Lord of the Fries!” at Mc “Ronald’s.” Thus, the title, “The Devil is a Part-Timer.” If I had to compare the concept of the show to something else, it’s like the comedy “Coming to America” with Eddie Murphy. People from a totally different world coming to the modern world and trying to get by. Heck, they even both get part-time jobs at McDonald’s!

PROS

The Devil is a Part-Timer made me laugh. It was a funny show and the characters were quite comical. Each character displays their own unique type of comedy whether it be dry humor, sarcasm, slap-stick, rude humor, dumb accident and even cutesy humor, which makes a well-rounded cast perfect for a comedic and casual show such as this. Additionally, most of the characters were very like-able, which makes you care enough about their plights to watch the show.

A lot of the humor also came from the circumstances the characters were put in. The situation of coming to modern day Tokyo, being Satan, being an angel, being a devil’s general, etc, humor comes from that. The setting and circumstance make for a unique show. Especially since things go in such a way that you don’t expect. The devil turning out to be a nice, happy-go-lucky guy who freaks out if he is even a little late to his part-time fast food job.

Lastly, I want to commend the animation and voice acting. I think it was superb. (I watched this in English Dub) Particularly, the language that they used for Ente Isla, while it was a fake language, it sounded extremely convincing!

CONS

As for cons of this series, I don’t have a lot really. Most tie in to the show’s length. I’m aware that the show is originally a light novel, so I know there is probably more content than what we were given. I am hoping that there is a season two! For example, the love triangle (ish) thing that forms between the Hero Emi, Satan, and one of his Mc Ronald’s employees Chiho was really interesting and I wanted to see how it all played out. That said, the show had a satisfying enough ending, but I wanted to see more.

Lastly for cons, the intro was super boring, and I skipped it every single time. It could have been better selected.

FINAL THOUGHTS

All and all, The Devil is a Part-Time is a solid comedy anime. All things considered, I have awarded it an 8.25 out of 10. If you are looking for a casual and fun show to watch by yourself or with friends, I highly recommend The Devil is a Part-Timer!

Kokoro Connect Anime Review

KOKORO CONNECT SCORE: 7.8

INTRODUCTION & SYNOPSIS

Kokoro Connect is a comedy, romance, drama anime centered around the lives of five high school freshman and a strange phenomenon that occurs to personally intertwine their lives. When each of our five main characters find themselves in a club together, something very strange starts to occur... They all start switching bodies! The spirit/being behind the mystery takes over one of their teachers bodies to inform the group of what’s going on, explaining that this is happening purely because he finds it “interesting to watch,” and if they try to make it not interesting by staying home from school there will be “consequences.”

As the story progresses, due to the body switching and other phenomenons that occur throughout the story, secrets start to be unveiled, love triangles form, and resolutions are reached. As the title suggests, their “Kokoro” or in English, their heart(s) are connecting; they can start to feel the feelings of one another and know the innermost thoughts of each of their friends. If I do say so myself, this makes for quite the interesting story.

PROS

My favorite thing about Kokoro Connect was its story. The story line was enigmatic, emotional, funny, and romantic. I laughed and felt many of the characters dilemmas of unrequited love, fear, regret, and more. Speaking of characters, somewhere along the line it becomes clear that there is a main protagonist – Taichi. They are all main characters, but Taichi seems to be the focus and glue that holds together the group, and I really liked his character for it. He was a selfless and kind person that helps almost every other character along in reaching their resolution. Additionally, I loved the OTP (one true pairing) element the characters had in this anime. With the various character relationships you root for certain ones to develop and grow, which makes for an interesting and engaging watch. I personally, really loved the connection between Innaba and Taichi the most. I wish they would have focused a bit more on the development of their relationship, but we'll get to that in the cons…

Another pro for Kokoro Connect is it's great balance between drama and comedy. The show was never weighed down by the drama, and was never too silly from having too many jokes. It's hard to have that perfect balance, but this anime pulls it off. There's even a nice balance of male and female characters.

Lastly for pros, I really liked the opening theme; when I say that I’m actually not talking about the song – the song was pretty forgettable. However, the colors and animation in the opening theme were far better than in the show, and I liked watching them soar through the vibrant sky; very serene and fun to watch. The opening reminded me a little of “Love, Chunibyo, and Other Delusions.” Kokoro Connect's tone and feel actually reminded me of that anime a lot at times, and they even share some of the same voice actors.

CONS

As for the cons, I did actually have quite a bit for this anime. First off, the animation side was slightly disappointing and to be frank, lazy at times. The simple style works better for a comedy only. I felt as though the animation couldn't handle some of the more serious moments. The opening theme is the best animation you’ll see for the whole show. Secondly, I really don’t remember any OST’s from this show at all – it could have benefited from a better soundtrack to create atmosphere for some of the scenes.

The worst con for me is one of the main characters - Iori. I just didn’t like her. Her voice and character design were not good in my opinion. I like her voice actor as other characters in different shows, but as Iori it came off annoying and a bit screechy. Her character design was way off base; the whole first part of the show people would comment that she is the prettiest in her grade, she’s popular, so good looking, and all of that, yet her character design was (in my opinion) the least attractive of all of the girls in this entire anime. I didn’t feel for her because her problems seemed, for lack of a better word, kind of dumb. What’s worse, for the greater part of the second season the anime totally focuses on her, and our main protagonist Taichi is smitten with her for the greater part of the show. Innaba was the focus of the first season, so when it switched over to Iori, I was left confused. They shouldn’t have wasted so much time solving Iori's piddly problems, and rather focused on Innaba and Taichi’s relationship. When they do circle back to Innaba and Taichi, their connection loses its charm because of the fact that they cut Innaba off and switch focus to Iori for so long. We end up with a cheap and forced relationship that could have been really captivating had Iori not ruined it. The anime would have benefited greatly from a total change in Iori's personality, back story, and place in the anime altogether.

Another major con was this show's ending. After all of the buildup, and everything the characters went through, we don’t get answers as to why they had to go through this. It just kind of stops and everyone moves on, The End. What is that?!

FINAL THOUGHTS

Kokoro Connect was an enjoyable anime to watch, and the situations the characters got into were interesting. Although I had a lot of issues come up with this anime, it didn't outweigh the positives and I would still recommend it to a friend who likes Rom/Com Anime or someone who enjoys the supernatural element in anime. Thus, I have come up with a score of 7.8/10. Let me know if you have seen this anime, and what you thought in the comments! Did Iori bother you as much as she did me?

Watched On: dubs2go.net (freesource)