Review of Demon King Daimao

FULL DISCLOSURE: I have not read the manga. **But after I finished watching, I started reading. STORY: Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou is about a guy who transfers to a magical school to become a high priest. His motives are somewhat important and mentioned later in more depth, but essentially he wants to make the world a better place. Along the way he meets and interacts with various girls of different – yet common – harem archetypes. The universe this anime is set in is quite varied with many magical – or otherwise – based powers. Demons, witches, heroes, and a futuristic imperial army are just afew of the many inspirations.

Overall, the story is somewhat reactionary and convoluted. There is a lot of concepts being tossed around and I was confused at times, but the real issue is that there is too much material for one season. The story itself is fine, but I must have blinked at some of the wrong moments, as it took me a while to grasp what was going on. The families and various underdescribed factions are the main source of blame.

The failings of this anime are almost certainly due to the limitations of what can be portrayed well within a 11- to 13-episode season. It would have undoubtedly fared better if more time had been spent on clarifying the positions of the gods, and the structure and intentions of the various factions.

I have to hand it to them though, the mood felt well balanced, with silly and sexy moments almost as often as the crazy fight scenes.

As expected of a rushed ecchi-harem-shounen, there is some BS strewn throughout, and many characters are lacking in justifications for their feelings, but I don’t weigh that in as heavily for lighter hearted anime.

ART+ANIMATION+MUSIC:
Animation is befitting of an action anime. Battle scenes are very well animated with high frame rates and few static scenes. One episode partway through the season stands out especially for looking like a scene out of a major series. Day to day animation is fine but doesn’t really stand out otherwise.

Art is good but it is not my favorite style. It draws from the pointy arched hair styles of the 2000’s that I’m not really fond of. Plus, what’s with all the crazy hair colors? I know it helps you distinguish characters from each other but ehh…. green and purple…. bleh… I just can't stand the overly saturated color palette.

There are some nude scenes, and plenty of panty shots with compromising angles. The ecchi theme isn’t too outrageous though – most of the girls have average sized chests, which is somewhat fresh.

The electronic / rock mashup music in-show and in the intro are good. The outro is a cutesy song that is also good.

Sound effects are fine.

CHARACTERS:
There isn’t much depth beyond the generic character types.

I wish some characters got more showtime.

With the variety of character styles and powers, I’m getting a One Piece vibe – witch girl certainly helps with that. That being said, I strongly dislike the school uniforms.

ENJOYMENT:
Heavily enjoyed this show. I recommend watching the uncensored version if not for nips, then at least to avoid having lightly clothed rear-ends patched over. The censoring is not too annoying, but if you have the choice, just go all out.

The harem interactions aren’t anything really new on their own, but I must be a slut for stuff like this because I enjoyed it enough.

The battle scenes caught my expectations off guard. Had this show come out with today’s art style (Re:Zero, Shuumatsu no Izetta), it would be in my favorites.

OVERALL:
Great battle animations, standard harem humor, somewhat convoluted story – likely thanks to production limitations. If you like most action harems, you should love this.