「二人の決勝戦」 (Futari no Kesshousen)
“The Final Duel”

And now for the fight we’ve all been waiting for. Wait, you mean the Dragon Ball worthy fisticuffs? Nawh, it’s all about that interdimensional ping pong that has me thinking I really need to rewatch the Majin Buu arc once again. Because Buu! Alright, comedic reminiscing aside, Maou Gakuin was all about cranking the crazy to eleven this week, and finally revealing the face of evil at the centre of it all.

Given the sheer ridiculousness of magic, demonic strength, and outright invincibility on the part of Anoth, it’s probably not too disturbing when you learn our demon king’s power was only a tenth of his maximum up until now. Yes, a tenth. Normally that would be the apex reveal of a climactic shounen showdown, but here? Just another day in the neighbourhood. The ability of Maou Gakuin to seamlessly and continually throw these sorts of arguably cringeworthy scenes at us frankly keeps on amazing me, as for all the blatant cheesiness, it never stops being entertaining. All the power in the world, and the intelligence to know when to keep things subtle. Threading the needle has never been a more apt statement.

Of course, what really helps in the demon emperor liberation this week is Ray. Much like Anoth’s willingness to let his fan club and parents steal the show, here it was Ray and his mother proving they’re more than emotional trappings for Gary Stu actions. Sure, the whole secret sword power was as trope-ish and stereotypical as it gets (albeit coming from a mom was pretty unique), but it nevertheless feels nice knowing Anoth is willing to both rely upon and empower others to see various conflicts through. Obviously, Ray can never defeat Anoth, obviously these battles will only ever play out one way, yet it doesn’t mean building up these characters and letting them shine is bad or boring. After all, where else are you going to see an OP teenage toddler lovingly herald his father’s craftsmanship as the sole reason for his victory? After a scene like that you can be forgiven for thinking a dolled up tsundere Sasha was a little bit of a letdown. Slightly.

Going forward though it looks like it’s back to investigating as the teased appearance of Anoth’s impersonator hints towards some more direct confrontations in the not too distant future. I wouldn’t think any serious answers will be immediately forthcoming (still four episodes to go!), but when dealing with any masked character, you can bet the results will be wild.

 

Preview

9 Comments

  1. It was clever that so much foreshadowing was given regarding Ray’s
    mother being a sword — and I missed it completely! I thought they were
    simply trying to prop up Anoth’s dad with all of the sword praise, but
    there was (obviously) a more subtle message there as well over the
    last two episodes.

    My only complaint was there was no Misha clapping — too cute to not have any!
    It would have been a nice touch if she clapped right at the end after her sister’s kiss!
    And Sasha shows the proper way to “tsundere.” AND quite her character change
    at the end, too. Very nice!

    Just an overall fun, “don’t take it too seriously” series and I can’t wait to see
    how far the last little arc will take the story….

    mac65
    1. Thanks, I was about to check myself whether it was Ayako Kawasumi aka “Seibaaa” voicing the sword Mom or not. It certainly sounded like her.
      And the last time that I heard her outside of Fate related stuff was in Violet Garden in another mother role. Thankfully, this time it ended on a a lot happier note.

      boingman
      1. This season she also voiced the killjoy Shimichuu in HxEros. I wonder if they thought that given the countless times she’s wielded a magic sword, it’s time she was one.

        Mockman
  2. I am finding it funny that after all that evil-chessmaster bragging from the one of the 7 demon lords we learned he was just another mind-controlled puppet of REAL chessmaster.
    And that sword Anoth uses himself?
    That is above and beyond of artifact-of-doom.
    That is fucking game developer tool. Sorry for language.

    ewok40k
  3. Taking control of the demon generals is a good strategy to become the demon king. Whoever the antagonist is, he/she certainly took the right strategy. Still, I think he should’ve taken over Melheis a lot earlier.

    Sasha’s getting a lot of kisses on Anos. XD

    theirs
  4. I get the feeling that Avos is Anos from the future or something. Even though he was wearing a mask the style of clothing he was wearing looked so much like what Anos was wearing. I am guessing, something must have happened in the future.

    banzemanga
    1. haha same thought here, he’s basically god already, from what i understood he literally rewrote history of two sisters so they one does not cease to exist, so basically what were watching now is all history and real Anos is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay in the future just slightly altering the past, who knows what he did when he altered sister’s history, maybe he also shown up there several times changing events.

      John

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