Hataraku Maou-sama!! 2nd Season

Following the revelations of the archangel Gabriel, Ente Isla hero Emilia Justina—who lives on Earth under the alias Emi Yusa—starts doubting the validity of her mission to slay the Demon Lord Satan, now reduced to a modest employee of MgRonald's as Sadao Maou. At the same time, Sadao's high school-aged coworker Chiho Sasaki pursues a new dream with hopes to protect not only herself but also her friends. Secretly training with Emi and Suzuno Kamazuki to develop telepathic powers, Chiho's training is cut short when a group of demons abducts her.

As angel and demon attacks threaten the fragile peace between the two worlds, Sadao and Emi need to put their troubled past behind them if they want to have a chance to find their new purpose in life.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Maou, Sadao Main

Oosaka, Ryouta Japanese

Yusa, Emi Main

Hikasa, Youko Japanese

Ashiya, Shirou Main

Ono, Yuuki Japanese

Narrator Main

Houki, Katsuhisa Japanese

Urushihara, Hanzou Supporting

Shimono, Hiro Japanese

Sasaki, Chiho Supporting

Touyama, Nao Japanese

Kamazuki, Suzuno Supporting

Itou, Kanae Japanese

Ramus, Alas Supporting

Kino, Hina Japanese

Suzuki, Rika Supporting

Nishi, Asuka Japanese

Etuva, Emeralda Supporting

Asakura, Azumi Japanese

Oowada, Tomoyuki Producer

Nagatani, Takayuki Producer

Kaneko, Hirotaka Producer

Sotokawa, Akihiro Producer

Reviews

Jan 5, 2024

Lord_Spoon

Recommended

Season 2 of "The Devil is a Part-Timer", is a series that really needed to have been made a long time ago.

Because of the cultural impact that the first season had back ten years ago, it has been put on a pedestal of being a "Classic". If anything the first season, while good, failed to really deliver any sense of continuity in a meaningful way. Yes, it was fun and quirky, and was a herald of the reverse isekai as a genre; but beyond that what did it actually deliver? Nothing of any real substance that couldn't be delivered in one season, while leaving ... the viewers with a cliffhanger of an ending that promised a continuity of the story that was delivered far too late to remain relevant.

As such, the Second season as a whole, will always fail to deliver on the expectations that people have for something that has been held with such strong cultural regard. Even if the same studio had been animating the second season, even if the second season delivered a truly phenomenal story never before seen by the eyes of any anime fan, it would still be considered some kind of mistake by the people who believe that what they "expect" something to be, is what it "should" be.

Thinking about the second season as if there were no decade-long gap between releases, and removing any sense of cultural significance that the first season has, we are left with a strong follow-up season to a pretty strong first season. The story and the characters get the development that is really needed for this kind of story.

Beyond that, the themes of the show and what it represents are further driven home and expanded upon. On top of that, we have a trickling of interesting lore being fed to us via the story in a way that is both compelling and keeps things interesting. But, most importantly, above that, we have complex themes and storytelling, and yet, this anime remains what it is supposed to be, a comedy. The laughs were good, and the writing was light-hearted enough to carry it.

My critique would be, that at times, the second season seemed to drift and the pacing became a tad too slow in places. That said, that wasn't as big a problem as it could have been, because while the drifting is evident, it's at least enjoyable to watch. I would also have liked to have seen more consistent animating styles between the first and second seasons. While the art was different, it was still good, but at times the animation quality wasn't quite where it needed to be to deliver on some of the more important moments of the story.

All in all...this is worth the watch.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Apr 16, 2024

giacomo_giugiaro

Mixed Feelings

I'm not used to rating or doing reviews of anime. I'm not a passionate writer, much less a competent one.
I hate judging anime publicly because judgments can change with time and experience. A 9-star rating 10 years ago may not have the same meaning as a 9-star rating now. And I'm too lazy to constantly change my MAL for these kinds of things.

Still, "Hataraku Maou-sama!" is an anime I kept close to my heart since I watched the first season 10 years ago and went as far as to convince all my Japanese class friends to watch it in one of our all-together anime afternoons. ... And the "Reverse Isekai" is a sub-genre I adore. Blame this anime, "Keroro Gunso" and, to a certain extent, "Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri" for that.

That said, I should give my say regarding "Hataraku Maou-sama!! 2nd Season".
- First: I hate that the first season ended in the weirdest cliffhanger of all: ending with the first and most mundane episode of, what should be, the next season!!!
- Second: As a result, I'm glad this third season ended with the story properly wrapped up, even though there are plenty of unanswered questions and unresolved conflicts. It's a situation where the battle is over, but the war is still ongoing. **But**, the **battle* is over. We can rest before the next march if we are drafted to fight again.

I'm giving a "Mixed Feelings" recommendation because your mileage may vary with the three existing seasons of "Hataruku Maou-sama!"

This season, much like the previous one, is a mixed bag of passable animation, a rushed story, weird pacing and fights too simple, quick and "easy" to give any sense of tension. The humour regarding the interaction of the Ente Islanders with "our world" doesn't have the same impact as the first season, and it's mostly about Sadao Maou having too little money and barely managing himself.

But the slice-of-life episodes were still solid enough, there was good and positive character growth and the logic behind the behaviour and thought process of our main characters made sense and didn't break my suspension of disbelief.

Whether or not you'll be able to enjoy or be appalled by the second and third seasons of this anime will depend a lot on how much you enjoyed the first season and if you can put up with an "OK" execution of the anime after that. This **is not* AOTY material. Far from it. But if it made me laugh, cry and have fun, it might be good enough for you. Just don't approach it with high expectations or you might regret it.

To finish my review, does this anime have space for further development? Yes.
Does it need to? No. Unless a very competent studio and writer picks it up in the future.
Will that happen? Probably not.
Am I ok with that? Yes. Like I said, it's thanks to how this season ended. I couldn't ask for more.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Sep 28, 2023

Jozuwa-_-

Not Recommended

As much as I'd want to go ranting so hard, I'd just refrain from doing so as it's clear to me now, that this entire season (Part 1 and 2) has been designed for younger audiences. And I'm ashamed for denying that for too long. So me wasting my time on this show is all on me. I've got nothing and no one to blame but my Emi-and-Suzuno-simping self xD

Obstacles that have been set up since the beginning of the series? Taken care of in a matter of seconds.
Characters being kept hostage and/or in a tough situation needing to be saved? Effortlessly saved in a ... matter of seconds.
Long awaited meeting encounters and closures? Undermined by bad execution in just a matter of seconds.
It almost felt like the people working on it really just wanted it to end. Can't blame them though. Even I, a viewer of the show felt as such.

I see a possible sequel, seeing as the situation with Yusa's mom is still yet to be tackled but, unless they get a different studio that could make this show at least as interesting as the 1st season, I just wouldn't give a flying F anymore.

POSITIVES: OP theme
NEGATIVES: Wasted precious time of precious lives

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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