Thursday 11 April 2013

Hataraku Maou-sama! - Episode 2

As if life isn't already tough enough for our alternate world Satan in his new home on Earth, now he has to deal with the very Hero he was fleeing from to wind up here in the first place.  Mind you, somehow even the toughest of heroes is rather less intimidating when they're sacred sword has been replaced with a knife from a 100 Yen store...

Having followed Maou and his assistant through the portal to another dimension, the hero of the piece Emilia has found herself in effectively exactly the same situation as those she was pursuing - trapped on Earth with little magic and no choice but to blend into the local culture to get by.  That said, she has at least done a little better on the career front, working in a call centre rather than a fast food restaurant.  Although threatening to kill Maou with the aforementioned knife doesn't quite go to plan, Emilia (or rather, Emi Yusa to use her new name) has no plans to leave her quarry alone.


After a few nights of trying to follow Maou as he undertakes what she assumes to be defarious deeds, but which ultimately turn out to be visiting the local baths or buying sale items, it seems as if Emi simply can't figure out what's going on in her opponents head - does he even want to return to his homeland?  It doesn't seem like it at first glance, although more pressing issues soon lead their rivalry to be suspended, albeit temporarily, as a magical attack from an unseen opponent and Yusa losing her purse leave the pair in league for the time being.

Although its premise is already showing the first signs of being a little well-worn, this was nonetheless a really fun second episode of Hataraku Maou-sama - there are some decent gags and snappy one-liners to be found, the voice acting cast sound like they're having a ball, and the relationships between the main characters are nicely played for maximum effectiveness throughout the episode.  I still doubt the series has enough legs to keep me amused from beginning to end, but right now it's doing an impressive job, so I really hope it can prove me wrong and keep this up.

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