「「魔王っていい匂いだな」「勇者の腕の中はほっとする」」 (「Maou tte ii Nioida na」「Yuusha no Ude no Naka wa Hotto Suru」)
“「You smell good, Maou」「And I feel safe in your arms, Yuusha」”

While last episode felt like it was missing something (and it was – a proper showing of Yuusha’s deeds), this one felt more cohesive. My interest was piqued by Gate City, there was action and unforeseen changes with the fleet’s blunder, and love was in the air as Maou and Yuusha finally see one another again.

Gate City – A Demon City, Controlled by Humans

As if we didn’t need the reminder, humans are dicks. The events in Gate City were a poignant reminder that evil is not confined to demons, and Yuusha proved how far he has come with how readily he accepted that. You want monsters? Look for them in the hearts of your fellow man. There’s enough villainy there without searching out other groups and demonizing them. Erh, literally in this case.

Personally, what struck me in these scenes was how similar demons and humans are, thanks to the introduction of Mazoku Musume (lit: Demon Girl, Eriko Matsui). She looks much more like a demon than Maou or Meido Chou do, but she acts no different than a human girl – no different, in fact, that Meido Ane did when she was first introduced. It’s not that I didn’t understand that the two species are very similar in this world, but more effort has been put into showing how humans are like demons (evil bastards) than showing how demons are like humans (utterly mundane and weak normal people who just don’t want to be hit).

As for Gate City itself, I feel like it’s as important to settling this conflict as Bright Island is. Peace is hard to come by when the other side is squatting on your land, so both sides need to get back to their old borders before peace can be achieved (feel free to draw real world comparisons – hell, I can think of like twelve – but please keep it tame in the comments. Thanks). As Maou’s knight, Yuusha can stomp in and kick the humans out of Gate City and take care of that festering sore on the peace process. Which appears to be his plan in the near future. I do wonder what Yuusha is trying to smuggle into the Northern Fortress, though I suppose we’ll find out in due time. Related: spoiler tags, people. Use em. Just sayin’.

Bright Island – A Human Island, Controlled by Demons

Seriously though, humans are dicks. Or at least some of them are. I cannot understate how much of a pompous, short-sighted asshole the Byakuya Ou (lit: White Night King, Touchi Hiroki) is. He was using his “rousing speech” to snipe at Fuyu Sabi Ou, and then when said king saves his life by sacrificing his own, the bastard has the gall to try to blame the loss on him. And as if that wasn’t enough, he had the temerity to say that the whole disaster didn’t matter because they would get new ships. It doesn’t matter? It doesn’t matter? 200 ships and 6,000 lives don’t matter because you’ll get shiny new ships? If this is humanity, I’ll take the demons, because I don’t see how they can be any worse. Though if they’re really so much like humanity, they’re probably just as bad.

While jackass military commanders getting their asses whopped and brushing it off like no big deal is nothing new in history, I was surprised that Fuyu no Ouji (now the new Winter King…congratulations on your promotion, blondie) wants to tackle Bright Island again. Though really I shouldn’t be…just as Gate City is a sore spot to the demons, Bright Island is one for the humans. What’s more, the Winter Country is beholden to the Chruch, the Alliance, and Maou (thanks to their help with their new farming methods), and the Alliance at least stands to make a lot of money if they can use the shipping routes that go past Bright Island to trade with the West. As for the Church, they just want to exert their influence and remain relevant. My my, the one who wrote this story sure knows their history.

Fortunately, since the former Fuyu no Ouji has decided to bring in Onna Kishi as his commander for the second attack, I’m confident this one will go much better. Or inconsolably angry if she dies. Onna Kishi!!

Friends Among Rivals – Onna Kishi & Maou

Speaking of Onna Kishi, I enjoyed her talk with Maou. How is it that, in a conversation between two women, it’s Yuusha that ends up looking like the best? Actually, all of them impressed me here – Maou for wanting to be honest despite the risk and Onna Kishi for not being prejudiced and accepting Maou as a good person (rather than an evil demon), but Yuusha was the wisest for telling Onna Kishi beforehand, giving her plenty of time to decide how she felt rather than chance her getting swept up in the moment out of duty and surprise. Friends, huh…that gave me a warm and squishy feeling, even as Onna Kishi’s protests that she hadn’t given up on Yuusha made me laugh. Come on, give it up girl. You lost that battle a while ago.

The New Year’s Festival

Massive props go once again go to the meido sisters, this time for being kind, thoughtful, and generally great people. If White Night King and the soldiers of Gate City make me hate humanity, they make me love it again. Not only were their presents sweet, but they even managed to render Meido Chou speechless for a second there. I never thought I’d see the day!

Best of all though, was the scene between Maou and Yuusha. Yuusha’s long absence is still a suspect decision, but it’s undeniable that their reunion was sweet. Yuusha’s casual entrance on the pouting Maou was so fitting for him! I also very much enjoyed Maou wailing on him with her dakimakura. That’s what you get for leaving her alone, buddy!

They really are a baka couple though. Watching them both get jealous and pouty was hilarious, and shows that though they may have come together for strange reasons, they’re actually quite a good pair at the end of the day. And the dance…well, the dance was sweet, but I’m sure I had the same reaction most of you did to the almost-kiss – just kiss dammit, you chickens! No you should not let go! GAH!! Stop making this so painful for me, you baka couple you.

Looking Ahead

Yuusha has declared he’ll retake Gate City in under a month, Maou intends to go to sea as well, and it looks like Yuusha will be meeting up with his old buddy Rou Yumihei next episode as well. Things are heating up.

tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – When enemies are on your land, peace is hard to see…even if you’re on theirs too. Also, Maou & Yuusha are such a baka couple! #Maoyuu

Random thoughts:

  • The Papal election might be influencing this sudden militancy on the Church’s part. Hello, echoes of real life.
  • Is it just me, or rather than using all those fish for fertilizer, couldn’t they just, ya know, eat them? Though of course, they don’t have refrigeration, so I guess they wouldn’t last long. Still, seems such a waste!
  • This is the first episode of Maoyuu I wouldn’t want to have watched around my friends. Not because anything embarrassing happened, but because I can just imagine all the tentacle jokes I’d get. Giant squids destroy ships in Western fiction too, dammit!!
  • Props to Yuusha for using teleportation magic exactly how I would. Walk across the room? Walk down to the main hall? Fuck it, teleport! Makes for a better entrance anyway.
  • Ohoho, Meido Chou got asked to dance! I don’t know why, but that entertains me a lot. That old man has good taste.

 

Preview

66 Comments

  1. The White Night King is similar to the leaders we have here in America. We are ready to go to war all over the world to protect our interests… I mean democracy. All these guys that are ready and willing to send poor people’s kids to die overseas don’t send their own (not many congressmen and senators send their kids into the service).

    The White Night King is the same. A pompous fool that thinks nothing of sending 6000 men to their doom and then tries to lay the blame elsewhere.

    Karmafan
    1. *similar to the leaders we have everywhere.

      I feel that statement is a bit more accurate. Sure, some countries are a little more prone to it, but the main thing is that some countries are more able. There exists jackass politicians (and plenty of normal people to boot) in every country that think like White Night King does. Every single one.

      Stilts
      1. I’m confused by the whole “Royalty” thing in England. The Queen, Princes and whatnot have no power to make decisions that affect the country? They don’t make any policy (The Prime Minister and parliment does)? So basically they are just rich celebrities like the Kardashians or the Hiltons?

        Karmafan
      1. While I feel like you’re trolling, there is some truth in that statement. The vast majority of politicians are people just like the rest of us. The decisions they make are perfectly reasonable given the situations they find themselves in. Humans are only as good as the situation they’re placed in 9 times out of 10.

        The other 1 in 10? They change it, like Maou and Yuusha are trying to do. Those are the rare cases, though.

        Stilts
      2. Yeah, that 10% are rare cases, & they usually end up dead – celebrated for the heroes they were, but still dead. I’m not trying to be sarcastic or anything. That’s just human history.

        Oh well, at least that’s not happening here, especially since one is a jiggly Maou & the other is a Yuusha who can level a whole town – if he had to. Bah, I should give up trying to be funny & serious at the same time.

        Megas
  2. A couple typos:
    “If this is humanity, I’ll take the humans, ” I think you meant “I’ll take the demons”
    “was how similar demons and humans” I think you are missing the “are” at the end there.

    ergZay
      1. Stilts, I thought at least you at RC appreciated comedy shows (along with ecchi shows, that is). Why no coverage of “Cuticle Tantei Inaba”? Of course there might not be much to say since it’s a pure-gag show, but it’s the best comedy show running right now and such limitation didn’t stop RC from covering pure-comedy shows. It’s so lowbrow over-the-top absurd gags that it becomes awesome, that show. It’s somewhat formulaic with gags, but so far (ep 4), it’s still funny. I’d say it’s even more absurd than the recent fairly absurd comedy Binbougami Ga (and even better since it doesn’t have the obligatory pseudo-serious drama moments). Yeah, yeah I know you’ve already covering 3 shows and adding another show may jeopardize your current position at RC as “the most consistently on-time coverage-published blogger”. But I insist that you give it a try.

        deathtogeneric/formulaicshows
      2. Because Cuticle Tantei Inaba is a show for boys-love fangirls. It’s also lays its jokes out too quickly with zero pacing. Basically its like a comedian that keeps running through joke material as quick as possible hoping to find one that sticks, yet most of them don’t.

        ergZay
      3. There’s no denying BL/yaoi vibes(of which I’m no fan of and tend to avoid shows like that) of Cuticle Tantei Inaba, but it’s just too funny for me to be bothered by them or to take them seriously.And your right it runs through joke material(although I had no issue with the pacing), but at least for me, almost all of them were funny.

        On a side note, I recently found out there’s no letter limit for RC names, who would have thought.

        shadowalker
      4. ergZay,

        yeah yeah. I don’t proclaim that “Cuticle Tantei Inaba” is some sort of a masterpiece. I only submit to you that it’s ridiculously outrageous and absurd that it’s become funny (to me, at least).

        I don’t see “boys-love fangirls” thing, but yes it does the moe-boy pandering if you want to call it at that. Since it’s done cheekily, I can forgive them.

        And yes, it has that “jokes out too quickly with zero pacing” issue I can see, if you happen to notfind most of them failing at inducing even a light chuckle. But if they can keep as outrageous and silly rapid-fire joke after joke as possible, chances are I may indulge that a little (have I said too much about my dark side? gasp. Heavens to Betsy no~). Well, I suppose I’m a bit weak against outrageous absurdity skits -I’m STILL a knight who say…Ni! hahaha.

        But above all, I watch because of the goat.

        deathtogeneric/formulaicshows
      5. shadowalker,

        U talking about my rapidly increasing name? Fat chance, but well off chance you are (and yes, it’s getting a tad too mouthful now..), I only added “formulaic” to the mix since some random folks seemed to confuse at what I was mostly allergic to. In fact, I am kinda sure both terms imply one and the same (and thus interchangeable), but hey, better to be clear than ambiguous when I’m rocking the boat from time to time.

        And as your name implies, “Shadow” walker: you, sir, can see the humor in this silly wolf/goat rascal as I. That makes two viewers for it.
        umm, Stilts? C’mon, I know you too indulge walking in the “shadow” (probably? A blogger designated as RC’s in-house Ecchi writer must be, I’d submit to you).

        Well in all seriousness, we know you won’t cover it, so let me just poke around a little. All right, with that, I will stop hijacking this show’s post to talk about a different show. I am not so rude to post a 4th one with this topic here.

        deathtogeneric/formulaicshows
      6. @ deathtogeneric/formulaicshows

        I can give you three reasons why I’m not covering it:

        1. We don’t take blogging requests.
        2. If I were to pick up another show, there are others I would opt to cover first (Senran Kagura and Love Live! come to mind).
        3. I dropped Cuticle Tantei after the first episode.

        Yes, I know, I didn’t even give it the courtesy of three episodes, but I’m having a hard enough time keeping up with the things that piqued my interest to bother with that on everything. The BL vibes didn’t bother me, but the jokes fell flat (to me). S’all there is.

        P.S. I almost added “Because you posted about the show on an unrelated post” and “Because you replied to an unrelated top comment so I would see it quicker”, but since I haven’t been on IRC in a while I’ll excuse those, and also because saying as much would have been mean. I don’t much like those things though, so let’s end this conversation now and get back to Maoyuu, ne?

        Stilts
  3. Nice post.

    Well, I tried giving it a fair shake but I just don’t think this show is for me. I can see why others enjoy this show but personally there’s just too many little things that keep me from enjoying it. Well, I hope you guys enjoy the rest of the series. ^_^

    OmegaChosen
  4. Is it just me, or rather than using all those fish for fertilizer, couldn’t they just, ya know, eat them? Though of course, they don’t have refrigeration, so I guess they wouldn’t last long. Still, seems such a waste!

    Considering you only need a tiny bit of a fish for tons of fertilizer and that you get many potatoes per plant, and just one potato is enough for a full meal. This is an investment with great return on investment. This is the one of the greatnesses of humanity that they learned how to do work early and reap rewards later aka “profit motive” (in the food sense).

    ergZay
    1. Ahhh, that makes sense. I don’t know enough about farming to know that the return on investment from herring-based fertilizer is so great, at least before you mentioned it. Good to know!

      Stilts
      1. Lots of info here on them: http://urbangardenmagazine.com/2011/02/a-fish-called-fertilizer/

        On another note though. I think I watch this differently than a lot of people, at least in regards to the world politics involved. While a lot of people see the competition and war as ugly and horrible, I see it instead as a necessary driver for development and spread of technology. Some of the best drivers in the world for improvement of technology are war and hunger. Some could even claim that lives are saved because of them. Lives lost at the current time are an investment into the future to save many more lives. This thought process can be dangerous if taken too far though.

        Perfect examples in this show are the spread of the technology of the compass which will greatly increase trade because of the confidence of investors that ships will not be lost. This allows the construction of larger ships to carry more cargo more efficiently. This allows redistribution of food to more places and reduces famine.

        ergZay
      2. @ergZay: Most of that is the same logic Maou told Yuusha in Ep.1 when she was explaining why they couldn’t just end the war right then and there. It’s a little sad to think that some of it still applies to today’s world, considering how “far” we’ve come from the middle ages. It’s also sad when some of that logic is used to topple republics and hoist up dictatorships, as you said.

        Aex
      3. Dangerous thinking, that. While it’s true that war advances technology, is it not reasonable to think that we can spur on innovation without requiring huge numbers of human deaths? Nazi scientists conducted horrible experiments on captives that lead to great advances in medicine and biology, and I’m sure you would agree that this doesn’t make it right, yes? We vilify them, and rightfully so. War is no better for anyone’s flawed ideals of “honor” or “duty”.

        Put another way, the ends do not justify the means. Never.

        Stilts
      4. Nazi (or anyone) torturing humans and outright war I treat differently. I will vilify them both, but that does not mean I will not appreciate the advances that come about because of the latter. In the pursuit of technology that kills enemies better/faster/more accurately and at the same time technology that reduces the likelihood of death of our own. The latter has reached the point where technology has begun to entirely replace humans as the arbiters of combat and produced great advances in robotics and artificial intelligence that can be used across all industries.

        Beyond war though, outright competition without killing is what has produced the most increase of technology. If death is not one of the possible outcomes of a risk you take, then you become much more willing to take that risk. Also if someone wants to bring up that corporations are evil somehow, I would like to point out that some of the greatest advancements have come about through total competition. The current situation is such that corporations are protected from their competition and do not take risk. So called crony capitalism.

        Anyway I could rant on forever on these subjects so I will stop here.

        ergZay
      5. I thought this discussion was beaten to death after the first episode. What you are arguing is what economists have debated over for awhile and have agreed upon a general conclusion. The parable of the broken window states that the argument that the accounting gains you get from the acts of destruction and reconstruction are in fact not beneficial as they generally bring you no where for a period of time while instead if said event did not happen you could have been going somewhere during that same time. Essentially the difference between one person walking in circles vs another walking in a straight line, both are doing work but one is far ahead of the other.

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window

        Go read and get the gist of it.

        Though I would like to point out that after said event already happens and you have said resources available to you then it would be a folly to not consider said gains as potentially useful to move forward from there.

        KoroshiyaKi
    2. They could have tried salting it to preserve it. I’m pretty sure salt would have been available in their time period.

      But even then, the cost/benefit definitely leans in favour of potatoes over the herring anyway.

      Euzio
    3. @Stilts

      Is it just me, or rather than using all those fish for fertilizer, couldn’t they just, ya know, eat them? Though of course, they don’t have refrigeration, so I guess they wouldn’t last long. Still, seems such a waste!

      A sound argument, especially here in the modern world, where synthetic alternatives can be easily and cheaply manufactured. Why waste food on fertilizer when the world continues to be afflicted by pervasive starvation? In this show’s medieval-ish setting however I would suppose that such things are far out of their reach. But even without the availability of synthetic alternatives, the starvation argument remains, especially in a war-torn world like theirs- and the perishables problem vanishes when they are distributed to camps of innumerable, starving war-refugees. I’m inclined to think at this point that fish were chosen for fertilizer because less unusual organic alternatives such as manure were deemed to be too unpalatable/mundane for this kind of show.
      __________________________________________________________________

      @ergZay

      Considering you only need a tiny bit of a fish for tons of fertilizer and that you get many potatoes per plant, and just one potato is enough for a full meal. This is an investment with great return on investment.

      Still less economically efficient that using pure manure. With manure you get all the benefits of fish emulsions without having to sacrifice any food sources. And they could’ve just distributed the fish to the poor before it went bad- of which there would almost certainly be no shortage in a messed-up medieval world like theirs. In all likelihood, any perishable handouts would evaporate in a day.
      __________________________________________________________________

      @KoroshiyaKi

      The crux of the argument is about whether the technological acceleration afforded to us by war is worth your aforementioned “broken window” costs, and even if it is, to what extent. And whether where war is removed, the resources that were afforded to it would be re-allocated at equal proportions to more directly constructive endeavors- or whether a peaceful world would simply breed complacency. If the former proves true, then a world without war would indeed be a better place- but if world peace breeds apathy, then clearly we’re better off with at least some degree of global conflict. There are no good answers to these questions as of yet, and the cost/benefit question is entirely normative.

      Notions of absolute peace, however, are not grounded in reality. As long as humans exist, there will be conflict; prejudice and misunderstandings are, unfortunately, an indispensable part of our nature (As this show makes abundantly clear). It is entirely unproductive and naive to argue about whether a world with perfect peace is better than a world at war. Because we will never be rid of war. Our energies would be better spent pursuing means to minimize and contain global tension/conflict at low, manageable levels where its effects can be channeled positively; i.e. to push technological developments and whatnot… Realistic damage control, the hallmark of every good politician in the Liberal Democratic world- not blind idealism…

      Zen
  5. Good episode. I’ve decided to pretend last week didn’t happen. Erased from my mind. Yuusha is still being played as too clownish and immature in the anime adaptation though. It takes away from him and makes him look too whiny.

    Ah Onna Kishi… she might not be Maou, but damn she’s a fine woman! I agree that their little talk was great, as was Onna Kishi almost skewering Yuusha for lying to her. He deserved it there. Now Winter King has his own monster of a commander to counter the demons rather unique defenses, and I’ll be interested to see how much of the coming battle for Bright Island they show. White Night King… pompous b*tch. Aquatic General, will you be the next to suffer animation cuts? >.<

    I hate them for adding these almost-kisses. They weren't in the manga, and they're pure torture!! XD Stab my hopes with a thousand butter knives, why don't you?!

    Aex
    1. After last week’s disaster, any amount of screen time they gave Yuusha over 3 lines would have been a great improvement. Too bad it’s still a chopped mess but at least it wasn’t as plain as day. Dumbing this down into a horde of clichés is just too painful.

      Megas
      1. Well, sadly, this is what happens when studios adapt and stuff an epic novel/manga into 12 episodes. I think had MaoYuu been slated for at least a full 26 episodes, we wouldn’t be complaining about all the cutting and jumping around. Better yet, with the type of pacing that this show could have pulled off, I think this series would have been great for 52 episodes, but that’s just me. It does seem more and more studios try to pull more quantity (i.e. more 1-cour seasons) rather than quality (i.e. full seasons). Was there even one new winter show this season that was slated for more than 12-13 episodes? I don’t recall any from the RC winter preview…

  6. My gosh, pacing was ALL over the place =02! First, they’re in a big battle, then the next, it’s over. 6000 lives lost, yet we don’t really get to see ‘how’. Who was behind the attacks? Were they random? Calculated?

    The ‘friend’ scene didn’t feel any better. It felt so flat and lacked emotion. Of course Female Knight knew that she was the Demon King already, so I can understand her lack of being shocked, but it still lacked….spirit, as if it was a simple “um….can I be your friend?” with a subsequent, “yeah, its fine” and walked off. I just thought it’d be more dramatic than that.

    Apparently Female Knight meant Hero during the timeline of this episode. I can’t believe they didn’t show that, since Female Knight hadn’t seen Hero since they met at the Lakeside Convent. I’m sure Female Knight had some things she had to say to him since she came all that way to that Frontier(?) village only to find he was gone. She speaks of the powerful bond she and Hero share(enough to tell her Demon Queen’s identity), yet such a moment is only shown as a quick flashback?

    I will say the reuniting of DQ and Hero was pretty good and amusing. In other aspects of the show, they seem to feel rather lackluster, but they do make the romance between the two fairly good. Hopefully Hero can finish taking the city or whatever so he can get back to DQ because that’s when this show starts to shine. I can use more FK/Hero/DQ moments =03.

    frubam
    1. You can blame this being an anime adaptation for everything you just said. I’m actually serious >.< I've only read the manga version before, but it's just so much better at… everything.

      Aex
    2. Time time time. With 12 episodes, they alas don’t have enough time to leisurely progress through the source material like the manga does.

      That said, I don’t think a lot of these things require showing to be effective. Take the Onna Kishi flashback. It wouldn’t have been as effective if we knew that Onna Kishi knew about Maou ahead of time, so why show it? And if they went into more detail during the flashback, it would have taken focus away from where it was supposed to be during that scene – Maou and Onna Kishi.

      Likewise, on the attacks, since ships were being sunk left and right and their weapons were shown to be ineffective, why bother to show the whole messy ordeal? It’s perfectly reasonable that they got all $%^@*# up, so skip to some new events! You don’t need to show everything when you give the viewers enough to naturally infer the rest.

      Stilts
  7. The Red Dragon Princess a.k.a. Demon Queen’s “Love Rival” to Hero will be shown during/before Winter Nation’s siege on Bright Island(Aurora Island?).

    Show Spoiler ▼

    Ungas123
      1. There’s still hope for the Red Dragon Princess to appear:
        Show Spoiler ▼

        Ungas123
  8. Both Dragon Princess and Demon Girl doesn’t have the same impact they had in the manga, or is it just because of the looks?

    Anyway it’s nice to see Yuusha and Maou doing lovey-dovey things again…

    TheMoondoggie
    1. No, it’s not the looks…well, the manga does look better, but that’s not what I mean. For one, Demon Girl in the anime just feels like a side char with no emotion. At least in the manga, they gave her some cuteness. Second, they haven’t even formally introduced Dragon Princess, and she’s SUPPOSED to be one of the major-minor characters. Although the primary story is being told, it’s all the minor, unimportant dialogue that gives these characters some added personality and depth.

      frubam
      1. I think you’re wrong about Demon Girl. She was obviously afraid and displayed a good level of emotion the whole time. And be fair: even in the manga, she IS a side character. Your concern about thr Dragon Princess, on the other hand, is more significant. They cut out their good chance to properly introduce her. They’ve only really got one more chance before she starts becoming enmeshed in her part of the plot, at which point it would be… awkward, to say the least.

        Not that this series is any stranger to awkward… We’ve already had Lady Knight become a “substitute teacher” for combat training with the three boys, despite the fact that we never saw them doing any training with their original teacher (Hero). The cuts they’re making to fit this into 12 or 13 episodes are hurting it the most, I think, especially since they’re acting like some of that content is still there.

        Wanderer
      2. I’m thinking that they’ve left out Yuusha’s activities in the demon world on purpose in order to give themselves material for DVD/BluRay OVAs.

        The advantage that the manga(s) can take their time to show the details is really apparent. They’re really rushing through the material in the anime and leaving out so many details.

        tuxdev
      3. @ frubam

        I do agree – it’s not in the major events that you truly learn about a person, but in the small, everyday ones that make up the majority of life. A shame they had to be cut, but that’s the price of seeing the characters move on the screen sometimes.

        Stilts
  9. teleportation majic rocks !
    i wonder why they’ll meet at war next time though?
    great lost during the attack of the giant squids but i wonder if they would stand a chance if they sent all of their forces?

    1. Yes, in the “Kotowaru” manga at least. At first it’s amusing to see Hero’s flustered reaction, but it’s also a chilling sign of just what this poor girl and others like her have been going through ever since the city fell. How many times have they been raped by the “holy crusaders”? The sort of hell they’ve been living through… And they’re just people. Not warriors, not monsters, just people who were living ordinary lives until their city was suddenly invaded and they found themselves turned into slaves. I don’t even want to think of all the things she must have endured.

      Wanderer
  10. “Seriously though, humans are dicks. Or at least some of them are. I cannot understate how much of a pompous, short-sighted asshole the White Night King”

    You are showing a lot of emotion with each post. But I do agree, the humans here are portrayed in a manner to the point where even I would prefer to side with the demons; of course as the hero said, if the demons win then the likely chance is that his world would be similar to Sands of Destruction anime.

    Anyway, going back to humans being scum, it is truly deplorable that THIS was the “peace” the Hero was trying to make. Ironic, in the manga it was mentioned that this captured Demon City was the result of the Hero’s “good deeds,” the Hero now realize that this war is full of rubbish lies and he was easily shown to be swayed by those lies in episode one (demons are evil while humans are the absolute good). To be honest, it gives anyone the urge to punch a person who says such nonsense; we seen the Little Sister Maid and Big Sister Maid ‘s past where they were poorly treated by humans and had their sister burnt to death because the villagers, mostly consisting of some low lives who know nothing but using a sword, when they didn’t even try to find a doctor or have any slight remorse for their actions. When you look at it, the term “serf” is nothing more than a sugar coated version of the word “slave.”

    The White Night King was a horrible loser, I don’t really understand why the Winter King had even bothered to keep the alliance when the Crimson Scholar provided the needed benefit. At this rate, he would be a perfect “demon king” that everyone should make an attempt to kill.

    L002
    1. I always try to write with emotion. Leave the dispassionate treatises to scholars – I’d rather have fun with it and really convey how an episode effect me, ne?

      But yeah, agreed with all of the above. That dude is a total dick.

      Stilts
  11. The first half of this episode felt disjointed compared to the manga, I don’t know if its just me.
    The lost naval battle could have used a bit more. But yeah its a sneak attack by those water demons so EH, i’ll let that one go since that is all that happens. Winter night king…big f***ing douchebag. But the latter half was D’AWWWW and yes that cock tease none-kiss >.>
    Overall I still enjoy this series so what the heck 😛

    Catsrofl
  12. dark knight hero see gate city is bit messed-up with how treat demon as slaves & servants wonder how to save the area?

    oh whole 200 ships sents to battle end-up being release the kraken with many lost involve during nations leaders have argue about it.

    red queen confess to yellow knight about everything from being demon queen to working with hero yet yellow knight allow them continue all fine on it cue hero confess as well.

    so new year party with red queen with hero’s pillow wonder oh here the hero give litte argue, hero’s harem, & etc dance the night & all that hero got a plan to save gate city.

    amlie
  13. Awkward lovers are awkward… still, some progress!
    Onna Kishi is judging by the deeds, not names. In Winaban voice, no less!
    First Bright Island Crusade ends in failure. Second is getting new ships and certainly better leader.
    Humans have been assholes to each other throughout history, why should they have been better for Demons?
    The pacing sadly seems to be rushed due to 12 episodes limit. Such epic stories really deserve 24 episodes, at least. Imagine Fate/Zero squeezed into 12 eps. So yeah…

    ewok40k
  14. Maoyuu Mao Yuusha, has left me whelmed not overwhelmed or underwhelmed just whelmed. In part because I read the Manga before hand and find the Anime whelming by comparison. There are three Elements that made the Manga and I’ll assume the Light-Novel as well. Relationship Cuteness, Economic&Machinations, Epic Action! With Only two out of three Elements the Anime just Isn’t having the same impact on me.

    The producers really down played the fate of the Demons living in the human occupied city. In addition to the fact that Demon Culture literally believes in Might Makes Right.
    In The Manga it’s made painfully clearly that Demon-Girl in the bar has been “Used” so much that she starts spreading her legs almost as soon as she’s alone with Hero. That whole seen what have much more powerful had it played out as originally written; it also by the implications have been much darker.

    I still hold out hope for a flashback to the battle with Arch-Duke Fire Dragon, especially since Princess Fire Dragon should be showing up in an Episode or two.

    Trismegistus
  15. “…even as Onna Kishi’s protests that she hadn’t given up on Yuusha made me laugh. Come on, give it up girl. You lost that battle a while ago.”

    How dare you speak of Onna Kishi with such a tongue! A body devoted to the Light Spirit will never lose!!!! >:D

    I don’t recall the dakimura bludgeoning in the manga, but it was a very sweet touch. Go, Maou, go!

    …I’m sad they skipped Yuusha’s adventures in the Demon World, though. I was hoping we’d see it this episode.

    Beedle
  16. I really enjoy the dance, been waiting for that scene since last week.

    And PS.

    (lit: …erh, White Night King (not sure on the official Japanese for that one), Touchi Hiroki)

    Official name of White Night King is “Byakuya-ou” (白夜王(びゃくやおう))

    Serapita
  17. Stilts, I think it’s OK for you to call the characters by their titles in English, as none of them have any proper names anyway and are all referred by their job and social positions. As some of your names in Japanese are starting to get confusing to read already as the series progresses with the increase in nameless characters. We the readers generally get who you’re referring to, so trust us. 😉

    Though you may of course continue with the special dispensation for “Maou” and “Yuusha”, since they’re the two main title characters after all.

    Kinny Riddle
  18. As someone who hasnt read any of the source material I gotta say: Its damn hard to follow this because of all the cutting away. Inferring is one thing, but telling a story is not: “Here we have the demon queen, a human hero and war. Now infer the rest if you would”. Seriously, if you cant stuff that story into 12(?) episodes than just dont. Its a real pity, cause the source material seems to deserve muuuuch more screentime.

    Libelula
  19. I thought that Maou & Yuusha was trying to end war via a certain kind of pacifism, by developing a model town (education, economy, etc). But now Yuusha wants to “take Gatecity” and Maou wants to “go to the sea”, as if they are taking more active role in the actual war.

    Did I miss something?

    BTW, anyone got the world map? I only remember that the demon continent is south of the sea; I’m oblivious to everywhere else. That’s probably why I’m having a hardtime grasping the strategic value of mentioned places (Gatecity etc.)

    LGrey
  20. One thing I like about this show is the design choices in buildings and character costumes.

    I LOVE the Rennaisance/Tudor architecture for most of the towns and buildings depicted in the Human World, as well as the Indian-Arab designs of the demon’s Gate City buildings.

    I also love the whole pseudo- medieval/Tudor/Elizabethan costume designs for the characters, primarily for the new Winter King and the White Night King’s armor in this ep!

    It gives the show a certain classiness over the usual ‘casual Friday meets Final Fantasy’approach to clothing taken by most fantasy anime shows.

    What does everyone else think?

    zztop

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