This anime's take on modern fantasy and overall Medieval is different and much more appealing, to me, at least. Oh, it doesn't hesitate to show how rough it can be but it chooses to introduce economics into its world. The premise is that demons are at war with humans, and finally a hero with three sidekicks gets close to stopping the war (of course he does, it's the plot of any party-based RPG ever) and heads off to kill the Satan. Who turns out to hate war herself and, in turn, tells him she actually wants to stop the war. He agrees to help her, and the rest of the show more or less focuses on her plans and their consequences.
Most of these plans revolve around reforming agriculture, economics and so on. In the beginning it felt similar to Spice and Wolf: there are two main characters falling in love, the female is going to introduce some clever schemes, the atmosphere is equally warm, even the two leads are played by the same actors. However, Maou's ideas are all pretty simple, the intrigue comes not from the plans themselves but from the effect they have on people and, ultimately, on the country. The plot is coherent but seems to be episodic at times, partially because of the inevitable time jumps, as such reforms require time to actually take effect.
This one is difficult to talk about, for it's really hard to point out one single element that makes the anime good; it's mostly the little touches. For example, I really enjoyed watching the Hero for many reasons, one of them being that he asks an interesting question: what is there for a hero to do after the war has concluded? He won, awesome, so what's next? This character seeks peace to begin with, and his interactions with Maou only serve to keep him on this path, while he actually can only function in times of war. The question of what war means to different people is an interesting one, and it's explored from different angles throughout the show. There is no clear answer, though, which might irritate people; me, personally, I hate when such questions get a clear answer, ambiguity is what makes the topic interesting to begin with. Many issues are addressed, some in a rather unusual light; for example, merchants tend to place profit before everything else - is this bad? Not necessarily, as this series suggests, one character was turned from an obvious and boring "heartless douche" type almost into someone to root for without any real change whatsoever. I have actually thought of a thing to praise here: the writing.
The characters are good when they are given enough time to shine, I'd like to see more of the Mage with her split personality (for once, it's not a villain who has it), for example. Maou is interesting in that she's clearly wise and cunning but still childish and innocent, which overall makes her all the more appealing. Yuusha is pretty lighthearted and not that smart, though intelligent enough to understand his problems and limited usefulness; to his credit, he doesn't fall into angst, he always tries to help people. So, yeah, he's the Hero, no real surprise there. There obviously is a romance between these two (as usual with the characters voiced by these actors - Lelouch and Kallen, Lawrence and Horo), there is even a love triangle with the Knight lady, though this is the weakest part of the show. Don't get me wrong, the main couple's interactions are mostly nice but it leads to many unnecessary moments, like, say, discussions of boobs, which is always classy. It doesn't feature fanservice, though.
The supporting cast consists of a variety of characters, some of which evolve throughout the series, others are interesting as they are. There are, of course, those who mostly serve as a throwaway joke or are ultimately pointless (the Old Man, the little servant girl, the Dragon Princess) but they almost always are there to complement someone else's personality, so it's not distracting. In the end, they do reflect the world they live in and present interesting possibilities for the writers to take advantage of. More than enough for me.
The art and the score both serve to reinforce the aforementioned warm atmosphere and yeah, they work. It's not the sharp drawing style I usually enjoy but it's justified here. Everyone looks unique, particularly Maou, who is not drawn like your usual anime nice girl but instead opts for a more mild kind of beauty, which is refreshing in a female lead. The voice acting is awesome: practically all significant characters are voiced by someone whom I have heard and liked before (be it in Code Geass or Rozen Maiden), and they do a good job here too.
Overall, I really enjoyed the show. Yeah, it doesn't really pay off in terms of the romance, and the story can feel somewhat unfinished, particularly with the ending being only semi-happy but I really like to see real world economics and serious issues like cultural diversity being brought into fantasy world. It makes for an intelligent plotline with believable outcomes for all actions and allows the creators to show how Medieval actually progressed. This is what I'm going to think of now when I think "Modern Fantasy". A great anime.
