The series can be abbreviated simply as “Yu-Sibu” and is based off the light novel of the same name written by Jun Sakyou. The initial premise sounds generic and unoriginal. After all, one cannot help but think of “The Devil is a Part-Timer” without a second thought. While both series shares similar premises, Yu-Sibu lacks what The Devil is a Part-Timer had: an engaging and energetic humorous tale between a hero and a devil.
For starters, Yu-Sibu takes place in the modern setting of Japan. Despite having fantasy themes, the show ventures into a more realistic zone of portraying the working environment; or at least so it tries. The series starts off with some familiarity as we see what happens with Raul. Battered, humiliated, and defeated, he begins a new life as a salesman at a local magical store. If the show was depicted as a slice of life story, the series would have no problem with presenting Raul’s life like a biography. Unfortunately, the fantasy element enters his busy life in the form a young girl named Fino Bloodstone. Here is where it gets complicated because the girl is not just human, she’s also a demon lord’s child.
If you’re coming into this series with expectations, fan service will be one of those. This is thanks to Fino and her clueless mind. Her lack of common sense not only gets herself into trouble but others as well on many various occasions. It doesn’t help by the fact that she is unconscious of situations when she wakes up nude next to Raul. Unlike most female protagonists in the typical harem series genre, Fino does not panic (much anyways) but instead question why Raul reacts in such an astonishing way. The lack of chemistry from the beginning makes this show’s characterization look like a cookie cutter without any dynamics. Luckily over time, there are some development for the duo as Fino gets more situated to her new life. However, the series still shamelessly advertises her character as the eye candy. This is supported by her clumsiness that gets herself into trouble on many occasions as well as compromising positions.
No fantasy romance is complete without a rival such as Airi Ortinet, the mature older woman (Ceara August), foolish (Nova Luminous), senpai (Lore Beriferal), or the sidekick (Lamdimia Do Aximemor). The series has a package of these coming in all shapes and sizes literally. Because the series has fan service, the camera angle often focuses the girls’ movements on areas where you may raise some eyebrows in response. It never hides the fan service either as in a particular episode, the girls decide to pull out the old trick in the book by advertising themselves with swimsuits. It’s odd on most occasions that the girls in this series has little care about their sexual orientation. Only some of the more traditional characters like Airi shows emotions during embarrassing moments especially in her lascivious bunny outfit.
The series does maintain its serious tone on occasions though. Most of this comes with Fino’s road of helping out at the store. Her intentions are genuine and she really wants to learn more about her job. The series captures her moments of discovery as she learns more about ideas in the human world. These include tasks such as simple greetings while working at the front counter. Not to mention the fact that Fino has the mind of a child, she often make mistakes but strives to learn from them. In one particular episode, she puts all her effort in order to impress Raul and everyone.
For the story itself, it shifts between fantasy and reality on various occasions. The story picks up later on as we find out some startling revelations. The past comes back like a dagger with its sharp edge pointing at Raul. In various ways, the series doesn’t entirely neglect itself without the initial set up from the beginning. The problem is the execution being slow paced and utterly sudden.
Absurd is also an underrated word to be used to describe this show. For whatever reason, Nova often lets others take advantage of her such as the dirty old man that comes to visit on occasions. Additionally, humans also sees demons as vile evil but Raul treats Fino with care. It’s peculiar the sense that Raul was defeated by a demon lord and stuck in the situation he is now. Yet, he never plots for revenge directly or take out his frustrations towards Fino. (well only when she ends up scaring away the customers) Surprisingly enough also, Raul never takes advantages of the compromising positions he gets himself into. In a way, he is more tolerable than the typical male harem although he isn’t immune to nosebleeds or lewd thoughts.
In terms of comedy, the show honestly tries a bit too hard with repetitive clichés that we see often in harem series. While the series negates the presentation of a beach episode, it still keeps its fan service dosage high with sexual innuendos. The way Fino wakes up every day in the morning, the tentacle monster, bunny girl outfit, and girls in bikinis advertising themselves are just a few examples. Most of the girls’ outfits are designed with excessively short skirts where ladders are a showcase to their positions. If designs tries to hides some of the body parts, action scenes will shed them off. Speaking of action, the series does have maintain somewhat of consistency with the sword fighting, armor, and magic. Unfortunately, most of it is obscured by its strange comedy where it only occasionally shines when the plot is at its core. Wait, did I just say ‘plot’? An ecchi/fantasy series with a plot?! How remarkable. The romance itself is also blend and this is again thanks to Fino’s absentmindedness. Her trivial mind cannot even comprehend the simple term of a ‘girlfriend’. On the other hand, Raul seems to have small inklings of feelings or at least lust for Fino in the forms for daydreams. The duo may have some chemistry but their relationship is senseless and incompatible.
The animation of this series is about as generic as it can get. The way the girls are designed along with their outfits is suggestive. Most of the women in this show also has absurdly big breasts that bounces in uniform. The OP song is highly innovative on this with no shame at all. Fino’s character is also designed to look like an innocent girl because of her childish behavior. However, she is more like a molded character with a million dollar body but a 2 cent brain. In other cases, the backgrounds of the series is hardly noticeable. There’s nothing extraordinary about the place our main characters work out or venture out throughout the series. Only the fantasy world occasionally has a few noticeable features to say the least. The animation studio Asread is in charge of the production with some odd similarities to their previous work, Shuffle. It’s hard to take the animation style for granted with all the fan service plastered and in the end standing out with little substance.
Soundtrack wise, the series mostly retains a lighthearted nature because of Fino’s innocence. Some of the more intense action scenes does give off the feeling of how battles should feel like. But in most cases, there’s little chance for praise because the soundtrack lacks a dynamic tone. Even during some of the more emotional scenes, the soundtrack is off balance. Fino’s VA Azusa Todokoro is noticeable with her contagious laugh. (“ha, ha, ha”) It’s surprising she can portray her character so well in the case because her relative new experience in voice acting. On the other hand, Raul’s VA Keisuke Kōmoto is unfavorably dull and often possessing a commanding tone. The OP song is like a rainbow of fan service of colors. I already mentioned this before but fan service will be something you can’t avoid, at least not without diving into a wave of bouncing breasts.
It’s hard to label this series as enjoyable because it’s generic plot and characters. While it does try to characterize Fino’s discovery and development on various occasions, the show doesn’t redeem itself thanks to her own lack of common sense. There’s little sense in this show either with its main plot or romance subplot. Surprisingly enough, Raul isn’t a weak man and doesn’t give into temptations like the typical harem protagonist. Unfortunately though, Raul is just the common working man with little sense of humor. The humor in this show itself also tries far too hard on various occasions fused with fan service, clichés, and gags. In the end, it’ll be up to you to enjoy this series or not. It’s not aimed for a war between humans/demons or is one about how a human and demon can find love with each other. It’s about working in the real world - a tale between a young man and a demon.
