Feb 13, 2014
There's a somewhat infamous textbook that's used to teach Discrete Mathematics in some colleges called "Discrete Mathematics With Ducks". It sounds silly, but the premise is effective: if you pour raw information at a person it can bore or overwhelm them, but if you mask it in metaphor it can be a lot easier to understand.
Maoyuu Maou Yuusha is the "Discrete Mathematics With Ducks" of anime. It explains the importance of some really boring historical innovations like the use of potatoes and dual currency economics by making them elements in an engaging story. If you were reading a history book on the importance of
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potatoes for sustainable population growth you probably wouldn't care much, but if you're watching a show where the development of potato agriculture is of literal life or death importance for your favorite character(s) you're much more inclined to pay attention and the lesson sinks in better.
Because the importance of this show is (at least in my opinion) the lessons being taught and not the story being told, the story itself doesn't do anything new; it uses the most generic plot imaginable (humans and demons locked in a fantasy war that could be taken straight out of any fantasy MMO made in the past 20 years) and even goes to the effort of making the characters and countries anonymous [fun fact, they don't say a single proper noun in the entire duration of this show, that I noticed]. The main character is named Hero not because the writers are lazy but to remind you that he as an individual doesn't matter, he could be any character in any setting and these lessons would still be relevant. If they made the characters and settings any more unique than they are you might lose track of the lessons being taught. In fact, this blatant simplicity of setting is the most unique part of the show! I don't think I've ever seen a show intentionally make itself generic and it is a wonder to watch.
Now all that talk about the setting and plot being generic might make you think this show is boring, so let me be clear. This show is NOT boring. It moves at a casual pace, but I became more attached to some of the support characters in this show than I have in any show I've seen in years. In my opinion this show displayed more meaningful character growth in one season than Naruto has in its entire run. The few sword fights are gorgeous, the speeches are gripping, and the romance is heartwarming.
Visually, they used a technique that I've only ever seen before in Gankutsuou (though it is much more tasteful here) where they seem to have overlayed patterned texture filters on a lot of the objects, and a lot of the backgrounds are painted in a very interesting way... Sort of like thick watercolor, I guess. They kept with historically accurate drawing techniques for the scripture pages shown in the credits, in the maps, and in a few other places where they're applicable. It's not the most gorgeous anime I've ever seen, but it gets a full 10/10 for originality. The voice-acting is at least on par with other animes. Though it never really blew me away I'm not exactly a connoisseur of Japanese voice-acting, so maybe it's wonderful and I just didn't notice.
This show is educational, entertaining, and just a delight to watch. I completely recommend it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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