FIF#82-Devil is a Part Timer

In the world of Ente Isla, The Demon Lord Satan ruled supreme.  However, a rebellion led by the hero Emilia crushed Satan’s armies and forced him to retreat along with his trusted aide, Alciel.  Now the pair have found themselves in our world, or to be more precise, Tokyo. With their magic in short supply and no way to return home, Satan and Alciel must do the unthinkable.  These dark lords of Ente Isla must adapt to the new world and try to make ends meet.  In the process, Satan, now known as Maou, gets a job at a fast food restaurant…and begins to enjoy the work he does.  After all, ruling the world is one thing.  But whodve thought The Lord of Darkness would find such joy flipping burgers.

I was a little caught off guard watching the opening minutes of Devil is a Part Timer.  For a show with ads that made it look like a comedy, things started off on a bit of a Castlevania kind of note.  Violence, buckets of blood, Holy Knights vs the Lords of Darkness, the works.  I mean it wasn’t bad, just not what I expected.  Thankfully that lasted all of under five minutes and once Maou and Alciel made their way to our world, I got what I expected and then some.  In fact I think I just found Anime’s equivalent to “Coming to America” with Eddie Murphy…and I’m perfectly ok with that, quite a lot actually.

The (literal) lost in translation humour of the premiere is one of two things that helps Devil is a Part Timer get off to a promising start.  In a medium where everyone usually speaks similarly no matter where you go, it’s nice to see that Maou and Alciel continued to speak their native language until they built up an understanding of Japanese (or just downloaded it from someones head, I don’t really remember).  It’s comical to see the police think theyre cosplayers when Alciel tries to use magic to get rid of them, only for nothing to happen.  But once the language barrier was overcome, we get to see the duo build up their little resources from house hunting to job hunting, and there’s where the second best element of the premiere comes in.  Much like Eddie Murphy in Coming to America, Maou is in love with his new setting after an indeterminate time.  Sure there’s a mission to return to his old world and reconquer it (cause he is still Satan at the end of the day).  But when Maou is more obsessed with doing his job to the best of his ability, no matter what, you cant help but laugh.  Satan’s making fries, being nice to customers…and he likes it, he freaking likes it.

I’m almost worried that there’s going to be a sudden tone shift that returns us to the hyper serious intro of the premiere…and I don’t think I want that. Devil is a Part Timer works better as a comedy about two men from another world who were basically Gods getting stuck in another and having to make ends meet if they want to survive, much less get back home.  Maou is a joy to watch and his interplay with Alciel shines.  I think this could be a show worth continuing with.  With a concept as fun as this one, it’s hard not to smile while watching Satan flip burgers and prep fries.