Yet another light novel series made its way into an anime adaptation. Picture a bloodthirsty demon king hell-bent on the domination of the world of Enta Isla. When confronted by a group of heroes, he flees through a portal that whisks him off to modern day Tokyo. Devoid of magic power, the demon king is forced to become a Regular Joe named Sadao Maou and get a job at a fast food joint. This one clocks in at thirteen episodes and covers the first three volumes of the light novel series.

First-off, every last episode of this show is visually impressive. I kept noticing really well-done shots and details. A solid opening theme, to boot.

The script was good. A nice balance between action and comedy, and romance as an important plot point was almost nowhere to be found. There were a substantial amount of perfectly-timed gags! I found myself chuckling out loud on more than one occasion. Many of the action scenes gave me a nostalgic feeling. I found them very reminiscent of Nineties fantasy anime like Bastard!! — a cocky anti-hero slinging magic. The pacing was fine despite a couple of episodes that felt like nothing but filler.

There were some neat ideas put into play, especially about how characters were able to use dark magic and holy powers in a world without it. We also got a fair amount of character development jammed into the thirteen episodes. Exploring the motivations and backstory of Emi, the female protagonist, were crucial for us to understand the importance of Maou living by the rules of our world.

Thirteen episodes went by quickly. At the time of writing, it doesn't seem like there are any plans to make a second season despite the fact that the anime covered only three of the thirteen novels out so far. I'll admit: I'd like to see more of this franchise, but if it never gets made, it won't ruin my life.