Devil is a Part-Timer

Summary: >

Life has been such a pain in the butt lately. The fryer has been acting up, which is going to make meeting the quota for pepper fries sales difficult. At this rate Sadao might get passed up for promotion at fast food joint MgRonald's. It'll be a long journey before he regains his former glory as demon lord general he had in the land of magic known as Ente Isla. Heck, it was only a few months ago he'd been defeated by the Hero Emillia and forced to flee, landing on Earth by accident.

And Emillia, what in the hell is her problem? She was high and mighty as the grand Hero back on Ente Isla sure, but now she's just a call-center drone. She can't just boss him around and threaten to kill him. It's a never ending stream of problems coming from his past life, and at this rate he'll never become a MgRonald's manager. First MgRonalds, then the world... with many steps in between we'll assume.

Thoughts: >

Minimum wage work with supernatural hijinx seemed like a formula destined for good things. The Devil is a Part-Timer didn't exactly do that however, and I think it turned out better than the show I expected/wanted. I thought it would be focused on one particular theme. Instead The Devil is a Part-Timer is a solid mix of many things.

The former demon lord employed at MgRonald's is more a minor (but important) feature. Instead The Devil is a Part-Timer has a broad view of low wage peon life. In hindsight, I don't think the fast food environment had much joke potential without becoming quickly tired. Instead the nuances of poor living and the demon lord stuck in the middle of that makes great material. It especially shines with odd interpretations of characters behavior. For hero Emillia who defeated the demon lord is determined to finish him off, but it's hard to explain her behavior as anything but being a stalker ex-girlfriend. The characters provide a great mix for the show. They're practical about the pros and cons of Earth compared to the magical land of Ente Isla, but opinions vary on how they fit into Japanese life. They're diverse and fulfill their roles well, yet don't push too hard to be a "featured type" in the anime, which helps prevent it from being annoying.

The plot of The Devil is a Part-Timer is a mix of experiences on earth, how characters cope with their current roles in society as Japanese citizens, and their relation with happenings on Ente Isla. It becomes apparent the lines between good and evil aren't so clear. The story flows naturally enough that it doesn't feel the least bit episodic. While no particular episode stood out as totally awesome, I'm impressed The Devil is a Part-Timer didn't have any weak episodes either (well the last episode was more filler I guess).

I wasn't sure how the dub would go, but I loved the hell out of it. Voice acting is solid all around, but the dub really shines with the script. The characters and their situations come to life in the dub in a way not as clear in the Japanese language context. Emillia's constant tirades are often a chain of hilarious insults, but many others have lines just as memorable. Suzuno is unusually formal and old fashioned. Her choice of words in the dialog captures how her sentences make sense, yet sound very strange, but this feature isn't overplayed either. Awesome dub, enough said.

The Devil is a Part Timer is still in progress, and it turns out there's enough of a plot in the background for that to matter. As a comedy which is solid end to end, I think it's worth picking up right now. I didn't think any feature makes it outstanding, but it's fun enough to say it's well worth checking into.

Screen Caps: >