-Story-
What would happen if Sauron, Dark Lord of Mordor, was dumped into the 21st century First World, had no magic or abilities beyond the average human, had to work a minimum-wage job to pay the rent, but still harbored delusions of grandeur? This series. 'Devil' works best when it has our main cast treating mundane everyday life like it's a colossal battle of good vs evil for the FATE OF THE WORLD ("I'm on the front lines of a fast food war!"). It's a good enough gag to at least get you through 13 episodes. The catch is the tone shifts where this show tries to weave in a serious fantasy story about events in magical world of Inte Isla- they don't work. Now having at least some basic semblance of a plot would be fine as an excuse to set up some comedic battles and give you an extra incentive to keep watching. And the first arc does follow this pattern, making it the better half of the show. However, the second half tries to significantly up the seriousness in a show that was running on 'Rule of Funny'- and it backfires. "Steins;Gate" also had a significant tone shift from comedic to serious halfway through its run, but it worked because the first episode had Makise Kurisu being murdered then mysteriously found alive and well, along with occasional hints and reminders that something deeper was going on until the second half started with a bang. The seriousness doesn't work here because at first Inte Isla is a completely generic fantasy world that could have come from any random D&D game- it's only mentioned in passing and only there to excuse why the main cast acts so abnormally. But then 'Devil' tries to make it far more important to the plot and even give it some development, all in far less time than was needed and all while still trying to regularly switch back and forth to comedic moments. In the second arc the comedy is diluted by too much serious material, and the serious material is undermined because it doesn't have enough time and development to actually be taken seriously. And the last episode is a filler. Ironically, the 'Story' score is hurt because this show tried to have a real plot.
-Art-
It's nice, it's colorful, production values are good. I don't really have much to say about it.
-Sound-
Go English dub on this one, verbal comedy works best in situations where there are as few barriers between you and the comedian as possible. Tone and inflection can make the difference between a dull line and a hilarious one, even when the actual words spoken are identical. And fortunately, the dub is very good. There's nothing really memorable good or bad from the soundtrack, it does fine.
-Characters-
The cast has three strong comedic characters in Maou, Emi, and Shirou- all recent residents of Inte Isla who embody the show's main gag of taking everything FAR too seriously. It has three weak characters in Chiho, Lucifer, and Suzuno. The first is moe with a bosom rather sizable for her age and can't provide any great gags (with the exception of one golden line from Emi concerning her... chest). Lucifer doesn't show up until the end of the first arc, and then does nothing for the second but still gets significant screen time. Suzuno is symptomatic of the show's attempt to get more serious and doesn't have any jokes worth remembering (although she did make a 'Lone Wolf and Cub' reference- always a good thing). Nobody else really worth mentioning except for Maou and Shirou's landlady, who only has brief screen time but squeezes in a couple OK jokes. In short, the main cast works well, but has to drag around significant dead weight in the second half.
-Enjoyment-
Strong start, but my interest began to fade down the stretch. It never bottomed out, but the serious plot wasn't engaging and the comedy didn't have enough screen time or variety towards the end to make me think this show really needed to continue. Though overall I still liked this series.
-Overall-
Should have stayed comedic, that's where the strength of 'The Devil Is A Part-Timer' lies. That being said, the jokes actually do translate pretty well and are rather relatable since they center on entry-level mundane jobs (we've all been there) rather than rehashing standard Japanese high school gags. Enjoyable, but also botched.
