Jahy-sama wa Kujikenai! – 04

「サルワさんはぬかりない？」 (Saruwa-san wa Nukarinai?)
“Saurva Never Slips Up?”

Episode 04 of Jahy-sama wa Kujikenai! gives Jahy a more powerful antagonist than crippling poverty as Saurva travels to the human world to replace her once and for all. But what she doesn’t realize about Jahy’s true status ends up ultimately placing far more on her lap than she would’ve thought.

Saurva was a fun addition to the cast for including a different take on the demon world’s ignorance of how humanity operates. Much like Druj, she holds Jahy to a far higher set of expectations. But instead of overestimating her because of her reputation, Saurva overestimates Jahy because if she doesn’t, it’d make her feel worse for failing at overtaking an already-weakened Jahy at her lowest point.

But because of this, it helps propel the comedy that’s centered around Saurva being hoisted by her own petard. She aims to ruin Jahy’s standing, but because she already had poor standing, Saurva’s plans end up backfiring. If it isn’t dropping her magic enhancement potion and having a stray dog beat her to the punch at lapping it up from the ground, it’s her accidentally paying her rent to avoid the landlord’s wrath and earnestly wanting to go out of her way for customers at Jahy’s job.

One detail that’s becoming more apparent with each episode is how the anime is also a stealth horror show about the terrifying reality some face in having to make ends meet. It’s funny to see it acted out through Jahy because she ends up pulling through in the end, but it’s also far too relatable and doesn’t always work out in reality.

Jahy’s struggle to live paycheck-to-paycheck on meager wages and terrible living conditions amps up to its highest stakes in this episode when she realizes she only has about 300 yen to her name. In the process of finding any way she can make enough money to feed herself, she not only is unable to find a way to find a quick second job but spends most of her money feeding herself. It’s a pretty harrowing segment, especially near the end where she starves her way through the workday and keeps envisioning herself just straight up dying of starvation as she’s unable to afford even the most frugal lifestyle.

What makes Jahy-sama wa Kujikenai! as unique and interesting as it is is how it takes a campy concept like an oddball comedy where the demon king’s aide has to take on odd jobs in the real world and turns it into a horrifying look into the struggles of surviving on a low wage. The comical dark magic hijinks and Jahy’s humorous self-sabotaging schemes really disarm you when you come across points where you feel guilty about her misfortune.