Score: 6.56/10
Maou-sama, Retry!
Synopsis
Akira Oono is an ordinary working adult who manages the MMORPG Infinity Game. Fifteen years after creating the game, Oono decides to shut the servers down once and for all. However, as the clock strikes midnight, he somehow finds himself in the body of middle-aged Hakuto Kunai, Infinity Game's Demon Lord! Soon after his mysterious transportation, he witnesses the demon Greole chasing after a little girl named Aku. Although he effortlessly dispatches the creature, Hakuto is still concerned; after all, he does not remember creating the girl or the demon! Doubting whether he truly is in the world of his creation, Hakuto decides to investigate. Bringing Aku along as his guide and companion, Hakuto sets out on a journey to find out exactly who or what summoned him to this fantasy world—all while leaving chaos and destruction in his wake. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
The field of isekai titles is so crowded these days that a new one must do something extraordinary – whether in an outrageous premise sense or a qualitative sense – in order to stick out. This title opts for a different approach: just deliver a very likable protagonist, pair him up with an adorably moe First Girl, and allow a charmingly sweet relationship to develop out of it. The result is a first episode that isn’t going to blow the world away but delivers enough promise to justify watching more.
The series certainly isn’t going to win any points for originality, as its basic premise lands it somewhere amidst Overlord, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord, and Death March to The Parallel World Rhapsody. However, one immediate difference is the character design: instead of appearing as something monstrous, the protagonist appears as a middle-aged yakuza who just radiates cool factor. He’s also apparently not socially inept, and the series definitely isn’t trying to sell itself on male-oriented sex appeal (at least for now, anyway) or using some kinky device like slavery. Aku is just the kind of ordinary downtrodden girl who might be found in any medieval village, though the suggestions that she has one artificial leg raise some interesting questions about how she got one that can mostly pass for realistic. The episode oversells the “downtrodden” part a bit with crass handling of the rock-throwing thugs in the village, But Hakuto’s efforts to not only help the girl but also bolster her self-image are endearing enough to break through multiple levels of cynicism.
The first episode is all about set-up and introducing the two most important characters, so the episode ends with little clear indication of what the overall plot direction will be. However, Hakuto’s encounter with the wish-granting entity, and the demonic ring he gets from that encounter, is interesting in its implications. If Hakuto created this world, does that mean that he has to take responsibility for all of the slaughter and bloodshed in it, even if he never regarded the setting as being real? This question has been touched on in other stories (most notably Re:CREATORS), but I have my doubts that this one will pursue the matter in much greater depth. The only other real indications we have about direction at this point are openers and closers which feature several additional adventurer-types and suggest that the setting might not be purely fantasy.
Technical merits for the first episode are run-of-the-mill, and it doesn’t look like the series will dazzle with its animation or battle design. Even so, the series might succeed if it can maintain the charm factor displayed by this episode. You can also free Maou-sama, Retry! anime watch online and free anime download.
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