OP Sequence
OP: 「Fightin★Pose」by Ogura Yui
「復興計画その1」 (Fukkou Keikaku Sono Ichi)
“Reconstruction Plan Part 1”
I’m overwhelmingly happy that I loved the first episode of Jahy-sama wa Kujikenai!. While I was so used to being let down by the Summer anime this year, Jahy-sama’s initial set-up was straightforward, enjoyable, and most important of all, hilarious.
Jahy herself is a likable protagonist as a put-upon demon lord who has to think on her toes about how to navigate through the human world to make ends meet as she gathers enough mana crystals to stay in her true form and return to her throne. Oozora Naomi does a great job at balancing the fearsome anger of Jahy and the desperate whining she does about having to stoop to the level of the humans she has to interact with. At the same time, it makes her plight sympathetic as she suffers so much as a human that it’s poignant when she is genuinely happy about eating a nice meal or gaining Tenchou’s support.
Speaking of Tenchou, she’s a great foil for Jahy as the one human who takes pity on her and defends her from the wrath of her landlord sister Oya. It’s funny to see how quickly she accepts that Jahy was once a demon lord and how she automatically trusts Jahy to play ball with her tendency to coddle her.
What I find amusing about her is how many different layers she has to her. There are some moments when she’s intimidating enough to cause Jahy to comply with her instructions or stop Oya on a dime from gearing up to beat the rent money out of Jahy. At the same time, we get cute scenes of her like when she’s truly impressed with Jahy’s status as a shapeshifting demon lord or when gets caught doing a magical girl pose with Jahy’s amulet on.
This episode mainly served to introduce the central cast and Jahy’s current plight, but it does an effective job at boiling down what Jahy’s end goal is as she gets further acquainted with the human realm. It’s a humorous take on a fish-out-of-water story where Jahy has to endure the human condition of working odd jobs as she gathers the resources needed to make it back home. I’m really excited to follow a show I can look forward to aside from Uramichi Onii-san, and look forward to seeing how Jahy is able to squeeze by and restore her honor.
ED Sequence
ED: Tsumari wa Itsumo Kujikenai!「つまりはいつもくじけない!」by NEGI☆U
This post convinced me to give it a look, and I was not disappointed!
This feels a lot like Gabriel Dropout, a series which also starred Naomi Oozora.
Kana Hanazawa also played in that series but she played as a sadistic Angel.
So what happens when you mix Hataraku Maou-sama and Gabriel Dropout in a blender? You get Jahy-sama wa Kujikenai.
It might not be Oozora Naomi’s first time to voice a butt monkey demon girl, but based on first-episode impressions, Jahy could potentially be just as funny to watch as Satania. (And now I want to see the actual Satania wearing Jahy’s original outfit.)
No one can resist the “Ara ara” power of Kayano Ai! Also, Hikasa Yoko (an alumna of Hataraku Maou-sama) as the serious Oya-san, the angry tsukkomi to Jahy’s fish-out-of-water boke? Yes, please.
On to the music… Almost confused Ogura Yui with Hidaka Rina for a second there while listening to “Fightin★Pose”. Well, with how they’re usually typecast to voice cute girls (bonus points if they’re loli), it’s easy to make that mistake sometimes. ^^;
And was definitely pleased hearing “Tsumari wa Itsumo Kujikenai!” for the first time in the anime (even heard Subaru’s panicked “duck-like” portion of the song that the studio staff decided to throw in). Looking forward to the clean version of the song (plus translated lyrics or even an MV[?]) and looking forward to the rest of the episodes. This is where the fun begins…