The premise is pretty simple, but very functional. A detective called Akutabe summons a demon named Azazel, and the story follows him, his assistant Sakuma, and their various demon helpers as they solve cases and engage in depravity and lasciviousness.
Because the humor ranges from mild to Detroit Metal City-level swearing, visually almost grotesque gags, and numerous mentions of bodily waste. All the demons (unsurprisingly) have some sort of perverse gimmick or vice, and the show pulls no punches when it comes to exploiting these.
Compared to the only other I.G comedy I have seen, Cromartie High School, the humor is very different, though that mostly has to do with the source material. I have not read the manga, nor have I been able to locate it, but I think the anime does a pretty good job on its own of delivering a story that at a few points made me surprised at how involved I had become. Still, it’s nothing to write home about for the most part, but the humor, though juvenile, is great.
The shortness of the episodes make it good for sporadic watching, and I joined in late, but marathonned the first five episodes without noticing it.
The animation is mostly decent, with a couple of scenes with slightly above average fluidity. What makes the show stand out a little, though, is the overall design and expression of the characters. It’s very similar to Sgt. Frog in its simplicity, and while there is not much detail in the appearance of the characters, their over-the-top reactions and facial mimicry reinforce the gags, and do an effective job of bringing the characters to life.
The other thing that brings them to life is the voice acting. The show has a great cast, featuring Kobayashi Yuu (Undine), Nakai Kazuya (Salamander), Kamiya Hiroshi (eBeelzebub) and Namikawa Daisuke (Akutabe). They all give it their best, and do a wonderful job of giving the characters identity, making them lovable (or even more detestable) and they all fit their roles like a hand fits a glove.
If you’re of the opinion that all anime needs to have at least two subtle messages hidden in the plot, and that comedy you don’t consider high-brow is worthless, then you should not watch this. If you liked for example Detroit Metal City or Panty & Stocking (with Garterbelt), then you would probably like this. For everybody else, you’re likely to get a couple of chuckles out of it.
