Kyou kara Maou!

Kyou kara Maou! revolves around Yuri Shibuya, your average Japanese teenager. One day, Yuri sees a classmate being harassed by bullies. Thanks to this intervention, his friend is able to escape, but unfortunately Yuri becomes the new target of the bullies in the process and gets his head shoved into a toilet. But instead of water, the toilet contains a swirling portal that sucks him into another world, largely resembling medieval Europe. There, he is told that he will become the next Demon King due to his black hair and black eyes, traits only possessed by the demon's royal lineage.

Yuri's arrival is met with some skepticism by some of the demons, who view him as unworthy to be their king. However, after Yuri wins a duel by utilizing his magical powers, the demons slowly begin to acknowledge him as their monarch. Yuri must now learn what it takes be a true Demon King, as he tries to keep the peace between demons and humans in this strange new realm.

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Adaptation:	Ma Series
Sequel:	Kyou kara Maou! R
Summary:	Kyou Kara Maou! Recap, Kyou kara Maou! Taizenshu

Sakurai, Takahiro
Japanese

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Staff

Simone, Jamie

Producer

Urasaki, Nobumitsu

Producer

Nishimura, Junji

Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Yamamoto, Hideyo

Episode Director, Storyboard

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Opening Theme

"Hateshinaku Tooi Sora ni" by The Stand Up

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Ending Theme

	1: "Suteki na Shiawase" by The Stand Up (eps 1-39)
	2: "Arigatou~" by BON'z (eps 40-78)

Reviews

Jul 9, 2023

minatika

Recommended

This show exudes early 2000 vibes.

In short: a standard everyday Japanese boy named Yuri is going through a normal day, when he accidentally gets flushed down a toilet into another world. Yes. A toilet. Honestly, considering how many isekai stories there are now, this was a refreshing parody ahead of its time.

Yuri arrives in a fantasy land of swords, magic, horses, and strife. And immediately finds out...he's the demon lord!! Except wait. Despite that frightening title, demon lord doesn't really mean much. Demons in this world are basically just a race of humans, except with more magical talent and longer life spans, that have their ... own Kingdom and culture...but are otherwise still humans. (Honestly they looked exactly the same as humans and acted exactly the same, and I wasn't sure why the story decided to call them demons, but eh.)

Suddenly appointed to Kinghood, Yuri struggles to know just how he fits into this magical new world and how he'll handle an ongoing war. But good news, he's got lots of retainers to help him out, and whole vassals of royal families, and also his fiancé. Though, much to his chagrin, said fiancé is male, since Yuri attempted to insult the boy by slapping him across the face, and didn't realize that in this world, that was a proposal of courtship. Whoops!

The whole show is on that level of silliness. It's a comedic adventure romp, that happens to also have a solid fantasy story going on at the same time. Despite the layers of slapstick comedy, the show does manage to have a fairly competent adventure plot -- with some political intrigue, dramatic backstories, and quests throughout the country for Yuri to journey upon. The quality of storytelling does fluctuate. Some of the filler episodes notoriously transform the characters into idiots running right into danger and spouting out-of-character platitudes for twenty minutes straight. But when the main story is happening, the writing shapes up and manages to be surprisingly good. I was into the series mostly for the comedy, but ended up staying for an unexpectedly decent fantasy adventure.

The anime was released during a time where shows were expected to have longer runs, so Kyo Kara Maoh has over 80 episodes to build up its world and characters, which is a good thing. Too many fantasy genres in anime get squished into the 12 episode limit of one-season, and thus aren't capable of building their story correctly. So it's nice to see a fantasy story that had time to shine (and also be a completely silly mess.)

There's also an ever-present BL vibe through the whole thing (as might be obvious by our main character getting formally engaged to another boy by the second episode) so many of the side characters have flamboyant tendencies. For me, this was a welcome addition in most cases as I found it hilarious, and it again parodied the usual "boy falls in fantasy world and suddenly gets a ton of hot elf girls" by instead giving the main character...more and more middle aged dudes to deal with. (Though the joke with the purple-haired guy clinging to Yuri did get old eventually.)

So don't watch this with the family unless they're all okay with some very openly BL humor, often held in bath scenes.

It's a feel-good show and silly adventure that occasionally dips into a darker, more serious fantasy plotline. It's not perfect. There's definitely some budget animation, dumb moments, and pretty bad filler episodes. It has some preachy speeches, and Yuri can come across as a naive pacifist (though it is eventually explained why he's like that, more than just being inexperienced.) But it's nice to watch Yuri's desire to stop war through peaceful means, and see how it changes his commanders' ways of handling the situation. It's something you want to believe in, even if it does come across as childish.
I just can't help but like this stupid show.

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May 16, 2022

yoonik

Recommended

As someone who really loves the isekai theme, it's hard to find one that really tugs on your heartstrings while still giving you the action and adventure you need. This anime gives you precisely that, but with a little bit of spice. The plot of the story does not fall within the usual cliches and you might stumble across several plot twists that you didn't expect.

I personally enjoy long animes, so it was a bonus for me, but do know that the story progression isn't as fast-paced as your usual 12-episode season. What this anime does extremely well also is the humour and banter ...

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Jun 10, 2015

Markezzo

Mixed Feelings

When the first episode involves our hero being sucked down a toilet into a magical world, it certainly sets up a tone. Lighthearted is the key-word for this series, as it aims to deliver a mix of comedy and fantasy-adventure, as well as a lovable cast of bishounens. Lighthearted is also the key-word for what makes the show good, but not great, more on that as I go along.

The production-values are a mixed bag. The quality of the animation may vary from episode to episode as is often the case with longer running shows. At times the motion is fluid, while other times it cuts ... a few corners. Even with good animation though, it would not be saved from some lackluster directing, as the cinematography and design keeps everything very basic, never taking artistic risks to be more expressive.

The soundtrack fits its medieval setting with its subtle use of flutes and violins, conveying a cheerful mood while not overshadowing the scenes that play out. The one problem I would have with the soundtrack would be how it doesn’t work well with the comedy, as it’s often too quiet and slow-paced to keep up with situations that should be far more flippant and energetic. By itself though, it is a soundtrack I could imagine sitting back and relaxing to on a sunny day.

The story of Kyo Kara Maou will attract an audience by being humorous and easily digestible. One vital thing that keeps KKM lighthearted is its semi-episodic format, which cuts out a lot of dense plot and cliffhangers, making sure each new episode has something new to offer. The down-side to this would be that the viewer can't get attached to any given plot-thread for too long. While this perhaps is a wasted opportunity for a stronger story, it still works in creating its carefree atmosphere.

As a comedy it starts off strong with potential for more. The main character, Yuuri Shibuya, is thrown into an environment where he experiences a myriad of culture-shocks and strange customs, including an accidental proposal between him and another boy. Some shameless short-cuts are also made to progress the story in earlier episodes, teleporting characters from location to location without any explanation. Over time the show has less and less of these crazier moments, which is a shame as it could have done a lot more with its quirks.

When telling a fantasy-story Kyo Kara Maou puts in all the effort. The usual tropes are all here, from dragons and swordplay, to bickering noble families and an ancient evil that only shows up once every millennium. The show even borrows some classic shounen tropes such as Yuuri having a darker demonic side that steps in whenever diplomacy doesn't work. Despite having all these ingredients in place, its lightheartedness tends to keep it from going all out with these potential conflicts. What I mean by going all out is that the conflicts are delivered in a limp-wristed way, not forcing the characters to develop in order to solve the problem. For example , Yuuri's demonic side does not cause any irreversible harm, the fact that he even has this side is never questioned by him. The stakes are high yet the consequences are few.

On a better note, the characters do get fleshed out to a good degree. This often involves Yuuri digging up old secrets of his closest comrades which they then must confront, which by far lead to the most enjoyable parts of the show. While I did state that the characters don't develop much, these moments did twist things around during some arcs, though I can’t say I felt too differently whenever an arc ended. Yuuri’s marriage to another boy, the relationship between the noble-families, the dilemma of forgetting their war-torn history, these are all things I wished to see more of. Again, the lightheartedness and the episodic format keep the characters grounded to the status quo.

To summarize, Kyo Kara Maou is a fun lighthearted adventure with mediocre story and art, but good characters and music. It had the potential to be more, yet was held back by its own safe and relaxed attitude, and an unwillingness to take risks with its story. It succeeds in being what it sought out to be, with all the right ingredients if one is willing to look beyond some cut corners here and there. Recommended to people who want a casual adventure with likable characters with a bit of silliness added to the mix.

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Worth Watching? dustinator1991 - Apr 5	9 replies	by Maou_heika »» Apr 19, 5:33 AM
Poll: Kyou kara Maou! Episode 31 Discussion Rasco - Jun 6, 2010	6 replies	by msnut1 »» Dec 10, 2023 1:07 PM
Conrad's Birthday (It's official now!) Maou_heika - Jul 28, 2020	4 replies	by Maou_heika »» Jul 28, 2023 8:18 AM
Poll: Kyou Kara Maou! Episode 36 Discussion removed-user - Jan 13, 2009	6 replies	by Abyhape »» Dec 4, 2022 5:31 PM
Poll: Kyou kara Maou! Episode 70 Discussion NEKO-est - Mar 11, 2010	4 replies	by Dawizz »» Oct 12, 2022 2:57 PM

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