Yuusha, Yamemasu – 01

「次の職場は魔王城」 (Tsugi no Shokuba wa Maoujou)
“My Next Interview’s at the Demon Queen’s Palace!”

For all isekai is the rage with the kids these days, fantasy itself still likes to make its presence felt, and spring has its first contender in that regard with Yuusha Yamemasu. While at face value I’m unsure just how well this one will perform, at least it’s aiming to do something few series have done before.

Much as elaborated on in the RC Preview, Yuusha Yamemasu can be thought of as a fantasy flip. The hero, one Leon Demonheart (Ono Kensho), does the usual in saving the world from certain demonic doom via fantasy party shenanigans and the always expected grand battle. Except things don’t really go as expected when Leon’s party winds up proving less than useful, Leon has to take care of business himself, and everyone perceives the victorious hero as the next major threat to eliminate. Yeah yeah, I’m sure this has been done before somewhere (Maouyuu Maou Yuusha has its own version at play) but still pretty neat seeing it crop up here. If anything Yuusha Yamemasu gets a few points for creativity.

Part of the initial pleasantries too extends from Yuusha Yamemasu’s main calling card: employment. Leon you see needs gainful employment if he’s to get back on his feet, and what better way than by joining up with and helping rebuild the very army he single-handedly defeated? Hell the jokes effectively write themselves at this point, between the demon queen Echidna (Hondo Kaede) not taking kindly to the usual array of Excel-formatted office work and the four demon generals (I swear it’s always four now) having their own interpretations of hero doing hero things and a collective willingness to give their former enemy a chance. Personally I’m getting a kick out of Edwald (Inada Tetsu) and Lili (Oowada Hitomi) the most right now, the former for being a decent Fate/Zero Alexander knockoff and the latter doing the usual rambunctious cute nekomimi touch fully tail stuff (it’s the fang ok? It’s always the damn fang), however I suspect Steina (Itou Shizuka) and Melnes (Uchiyama Yumi) will yield their own positives sooner or later. In a story like this you can bet each face will have their own time to shine.

Although I don’t expect Yuusha Yamemasu will really stand out from the crowd once this season gets going, should the next couple of episodes do the trick in terms of comedy and material I wouldn’t put it past this one to become a decent bit of springtime fun. Not every show needs to be the latest and greatest thing after all, and if there’s one this one has going for it right now it’s lighthearted charm. Sometimes that’s all you really need.

OP Sequence

OP: 「BROKEN IDENTITY」by Minori Suzuki

Preview