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「学院別対抗試験」 (Gakuin Betsu Taikou Shiken)
“Inter-Academy Exams”
Well that got crazy in a rush. As expected our good guy heroes wound up being as good as they can get, although having their first shot be the hopes and dreams of yet more of Anoth’s classmates was certainly a surprise. You’d think by now everyone would realize by now that trying to upstage the man himself is a pointless endeavour, but then again insanity is a persistent bugger.
Given what we learned of Kanon’s partial reincarnations last week, it was a given something malicious was planned, and indeed we got that and then some. While there’s something to be said about Maou Gakuin using the same script as with other encounters—i.e. Anoth coming in to claim names after the local antagonist faceplants in disgrace—I’m honestly hard-pressed to criticize matters too much when it’s played off this well. After all, given how these exams were arranged you’d think Anoth would simply sweep in and dominate the proceedings, but in reality? Sit back, relax, and let nature take its course. For all the sheer simplicity of this story Anoth’s benevolence and willingness (or indifference) to let others try really keeps things refreshing because you can never know exactly how things with him will play out. Will the demon king immediately jump in and dominate? Will the secondary cast have another chance to shine? It’s a sense of ambiguity far too many wish fulfillment series abandon in favour of the usual shenanigans.
Besides any satisfaction of watching Anoth do the usual though, the interesting bits once again lay in the additional crumbs of info dropped. The heroes for example were pretty damn quick and willing to accept Anoth as the actual demon king reincarnation, which when you think about it is quite impressive once remembered everyone believes Avos is the true demon king and Anoth’s classmates are still in the denial phase. Couple that with Kanon’s history likely having been further tampered with (hard thinking the talk on prophecy being anything other than Anoth’s impersonator covering his bases to ensure Anoth’s reincarnation is nipped in the bud) and we’re certainly looking at a potential conspiracy running across more than demon lines. The good news though is we’ll likely receive some answers relatively shortly, as that the teaser at the end alludes to.
When dredging up a two millennia old spirit from the bottom of a lake, hard not thinking the old girl might wind up being a bit talkative.
Preview
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You’d think by this point, Anoth’s overwhelming display of power would convince even the most biased and indoctrinated of demons. He’s not just displaying power that’s marginally above the rest of the student body, he’s displaying outright omnipotence that I’m surprised the government equivalent of the demon race hasn’t intervened by now. I understand there’s a deep-rooted conspiracy that’s been manifesting for thousands of years, but Anoth has become such a liability to that with this obvious claim to the throne that leaving him to mingle with his classmates at the academy seems nothing short of being incredibly reckless and outright stupid.
That said, obviously, I appreciate and acknowledge that this is an anime we shouldn’t take too seriously and we wouldn’t have a plot if things transpired in a realistic way. There’s nothing more satisfying than watching Anoth effortlessly dismantle any notions of elitism and arrogance with a snap of his fingers. This anime is essentially a glorified version of Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei, but with less substance/grounding.
Actually. Anos’ personality belies actual confidence. He doesn’t owe anyone a demonstration or convincing.
He doesn’t have a messiah complex, trying to save everyone because he’s undergoing some form of survivor’s guilt or inferiority complex or overcompensating for something.
He knows who he is, he knows what he can do, he knows how to get things done. He will give acknowledgement and praise without mocking anyone, he will get sarcastic to anyone who deserves it. He will let others try and examine their motives and character by their words and deeds.
This is why Anos is so awesome a main protagonist.
The lack of seriousness is what ensures this series remains on the right side of fun IMO. I’ve mentioned it before but it’s basically what all wish fulfillment shows strive to be and what few ever succeed at. This is what’s going to make seeing Mahouka’s sequel next season so intriguing because Maou Gakuin has given us an excellent example to compare it with and show what makes this type of show work correctly.
Honestly, I feel like Lay and Misa actually having an internal life beyond Anos already puts this story somewhat ahead of Mahouka even beyond the comedy / parody aspects.
Jaw dropped when seeing that gigantic fireball after that guy mentioned drying the lake. Should’ve expected it, but was still awe inspiring.
Isn’t the one at the bottom of the lake Eleonore? Doesn’t look like one of the hero’s party members. They usually give us a flash back about important characters.
Also, like how chill Lay was about the inadvertent marriage proposal.
Nope the lake girl isn’t a hero party member. She was shown in an earlier episode facing off against Ray in his previous life.
Hmm, they do have a similar expression. H2O user too. IIRC she’s a seirei right?
Really need to rewatch episode 5. There might be some hints with all these reincarnations.
Well, now I’m even more interested in the next episode.
I was so sure that it was Eleonore, but after comparing the hair cuts (and breasts), yeah, it’s not her, or at least not what she usually looks like
I checked episodes 2 and 5 and still have no idea who that girl is supposed to be since she doesn’t match with any of the characters that appeared in those episodes.
Her outline looks younger, and her bangs are considerably longer than Eleonore’s. Though since her hair also seems to be black and kinda in a similar style, maybe she Eleonore’s little sister or something similar?
I like how you know Anoth is going to come out on top, but you’re
never quite sure how he’s going to do it until he does.
And I still am reminded of Maou-sama, Retry! where the demon lord
wants to “do things differently” this time, kinda like Anoth wanted to
be reincarnated into a peaceful world without war.
It doesn’t seem like they’ll flesh out the remaining 3 of his underlings,
and I wonder if this season ending will (hopefully) be a segway for a
second season down the line…
The funny thing is we don’t even really know what Anoth wants yet. This season has basically just been him going with the motions because hey, why the hell not apparently? Will be interesting seeing if there’s some tangible motivation on his part.
No one mentions the cutest beta-couple in years?
Ray and Misa bloomed on us suddenly.
Other than that, it seems the Great Lake Spirit we have seen in flashbacks of Anos history is likely to make it’s presence…
Is there a reason why ya’ll are calling him Anoth when his name is listed and spoken as Anos? He is listed as the English name Anos Voldigoad which is the translation of the Japanese アノス・ヴォルディゴード which is Anosu Vorudigōdo in Romanji. (The -u at the end of his name is “silent” in the same way as the -u at the end of desu) The fake demon king is listed and called Avos Dilhevia.
Largely down to light novel/manga translations. Anos is technically the correct one if transliterating the katakana, however Anoth I believe was used as a stylistic choice by some translators. I personally use Anoth given it’s what I grew familiar with when previewing the show.
Also thanks for reminding me the imposter’s name is Avos, just realized I screwed up his name in the post 😛
Yea, it just threw me off because the Japanese voice actors call him Anos so I thought maybe I had misheard and went back to re-listen to a few episodes.
Someone mentioned (quite accurately) that “Anos” has a pejorative meaning
in Spanish. I used to use it but now I use “Anoth” because I wouldn’t want to
be caught calling the Demon King of Tyranny an a$$&^*# 😛!
He can kind of be an a**hole depending on who you are in the anime! lol Makes me lulz thinking of the royalists calling him a**hole on purpose with a straight face like “What? I’m just saying your name…” lol