Makai Ouji: Devils And Realist

To believe or not to believe. If you are the type who do not believe in the existence of demons, angels or God, then move along and pass Makai Ouji: Devils And Realist. Heck, you shouldn’t even be watching anime if you truly do not tolerate these kind of stuffs. I’m not saying that only believers should be seeing this or you’re going to be a devil worshipper if you do so, well, this anime does dwell in the concept of demons, angels and God. And it is one little puny human who holds the delicate balance between everything. Seriously. Serious. Wow. A mere human that is more powerful than Satan and God himself but yet so feeble and weak? What’s more, our protagonist is a realist (that’s a term atheists call themselves) and doesn’t believe in the supernatural. Science rules! Everything can be explained by the wonders of science! Yeah. I’m sure one day science will tell us who made men and the universe. Till then, the rest of us (well, mostly) would just take the ‘easy’ route by believing in the Almighty. So what happens when you have a realist being the centre of attraction of demons and angels? A realist who holds the most important position in Heaven or Hell that is crucial in determining whatever fates of the worlds? This must be one big dream, isn’t it? Yup. You’re not waking up any time soon.

Episode 1
It opens with this guy named Solomon making a contract with a demon, Duke Dantalion. William Twining is the smartest kid around. So smart that his brain can be considered a national treasure and it is no surprise he is top of his grade. Unlike his friend-cum-classmate, Isaac Morton who believes in the occult or supernatural, William is a realist and believes in the sciences. But he has more pressing matters to attend because the principal called him and he hasn’t paid his tuition fees for next semester. Funny he thought because his uncle Barton was supposed to handle the finances. He goes home to investigate and is greeted by his servant, Kevin Cecil. He learns Barton’s business failed and has been declared a bankrupt. He is on the run and hiding. The creditors took everything from their mansion! Thank goodness they didn’t take the manor. What a big empty manor. As the other servants have been fired, Kevin is the only one left. William wants to fire him too but he pledges his support because the Cecil family has always served the Twining family. Rather, he is betting on his brains to get big money in the future. William wonders if the family has a secret stash and they find a hidden underground basement. When William breaks the door, his hand got scratched. His blood drips onto the insignia on the floor and whoosh! Out comes Dantalion. I don’t know how a powerful demon like him can be tied up by a mere human. Although he explains Solomon, William’s ancestor who subjugated 72 demon pillars and sealed them in some vessel, William doesn’t quite believe him. He is a realist, remember? Not even the explanation of Hell’s Hierarchy very much like humans and it is the job of the Elector (that is William) to choose a new king. Hell is now ruled by Lucifer. After letting the police arrest this cosplay guy, William goes back to the room to investigate how he entered the room. Before he knows it, dark mist surrounds him and sucks him into the insignia.

He still won’t believe his eyes. Think this is a dream? A manor underneath his and that goat guy, Baphomet is just a person in a costume party, right? Yeah well, do goat butlers make such good cakes? He is Dantalion’s servant and explains the numerous factions in Hell gunning for the king’s position. What is the king doing when there is a power struggle? Lucifer is currently asleep and apparently the higher your position, the longer you sleep. Suddenly the manor breaks into pieces. Gilles de Rais is looking for Dantalion but since he is not back, he will take William instead. Before he gets to do that, Dantalion bursts into the scene. I don’t know how he escaped the police but hell, he’s a demon, right? Kevin is ungrateful despite Dantalion saving his ass. With a snap of his finger, Dantalion creates his manor but Gilles won’t leave yet. He realizes William is the Elector and wants him. A power battle begins between the demons. Baphomet further explains Gilles serves his Grand Duke Baalberith, leader of a rival faction also vying for the throne. The fastest way to raise one’s status is to announce one’s candidacy and kill a higher or powerful demon. Gilles loses and understands why Solomon chose him. He mentions they are Nephilim, demons who were once humans and this riles Dantalion. He is so mad that he unleashes a blast of power. This is bad because the dimension can be distorted and William won’t be able to go home. In that instant, William orders Dantalion to stop and he immediately ceases. He wants to be sent home first if they are going to continue to kill each other because he has got tuition fees to think about. Gilles backs down for now seeing William is no ordinary human and will report this to his master. When William returns, the principal calls him and his tuition fee is solved. He is bloody happy that they have received a generous amount of donation. Much more they have ever received. While William ponders if his uncle has returned as a sponsor, the class receives a new transfer student. Huber. Dantalion Huber. Oh sh*t!!!

Episode 2
Isaac is seen summoning a demon in the woods. He summons Sitri Cartwright who demands Isaac to take him to the Elector if he wants to keep his soul. William can’t raise his voice to Dantalion because he just learnt he sponsored his tuition. What’s more, Dantalion is willing to call off the debt if he chooses him as the interim ruler of Hell. Not a chance. During church service, William thinks of talking to fellow prefect Mycroft Swallow about his debt problems when Father Ernest Crosby pops by to inform he sensed an evil presence and wants them to warn other students to tell him immediately if there is anything suspicious. Yeah. Guess who that evil presence is. Since Dantalion needs to return to Hell as Baalberith’s forces are making his move, he has his batty familiars, Amon and Mamon watch over William. Why the need to fly so close to him? Fluttering annoyance… Since others can’t see the bats, others see William ‘going crazy’. In his room, Isaac brings Sitri (disguised as a fellow student) to talk to William. Swallow interrupts them to hand William a list of scholarships since he requested for it (I suppose William is trying to settle his next semester tuition fees too). Sitri has overhead this problem and tells him that he has an uncle who likes sponsoring such students. All William needs to do is to come and meet his uncle. Though it might sound too good to be true, William won’t let this chance slip and agrees. Late that night, he sees Isaac going out alone and it is almost curfew time. As a prefect, he needs to uphold his duties and not wanting to be held responsible when people break rules, he goes after him only to discover he is trying his occult summoning. Seems Isaac is doing this for him too because in order to defeat the demons, he needs to summon a powerful angel. I think he screwed up somewhere because he summoned a monster boar instead. Thankfully Sitri pops up to save the day. It dawned to William that Sitri is a demon. He introduces himself as a viscount and one of nobles of Hell under Baalberith. Yeah. He is another candidate for the throne.

William must be so disappointed that his sponsorship has gone up in smokes and leaves. Sitri resorts to taking William as hostage when Dantalion returns. William isn’t pleased with all the demon talk except for Isaac. He loves it. And now for another power battle while our human fellows forced to watch in a ‘prison’. When Sitri mocks Dantalion a Nephilim who always have this lingering affection to become human, he becomes enraged and mocks Sitri a fallen angel dwelling on past sentiments. William has had it stuck here and tells them to stop. Immediately they cease and Sitri feels the lost of his power. Looking at William reminds him of Solomon. Back then, Solomon took him under his care. Sitri was curious because even though he was human, he reeks scent of Heaven. Because he met God. William continues to not believe in demons or fallen angels and uses the theory of John Dalton to explain they are all atoms! So how do you explain them flying in the air? Anyway he won’t side or choose anybody no matter what. He feels disappointed in Sitri and thought he had potential as a junior. Sitri views him formidable but finds it strange because if he is Solomon’s descendent, where is the ring that symbolizes wisdom and a gift from God? William is clearly not wearing it. Gilles pop up to tell Sitri to return to Hell because Baalberith seeks him. Sitri reiterates Dantalion is not fit to rule Hell. Isaac continues to fawn over this demon thing and William laments he should be admiring his flawless academics instead. Once again, Dantalion gives William the option to choose him and clear his debts and will also leave this place but he won’t be cowed into that. More woes for William because Sitri is in his room and has decided to be his patron (much to his dismay). He is ordered to keep an eye on him and Dantalion. Since it’s going to be like this, William says he has to follow the school rules and makes Sitri clean the floors while he strictly watches over. Bullying? Scary indeed…

Episode 3
Crosby finished exorcising a demon when he receives a message about Hell undergoing some battle for the next ruler. He shall exterminate them all. Dantalion and Sitri have become popular overnight. Dantalion and the rugby team are rubbing shoulders while Sitri has got people to serve him. And a big headache for William. When William sees Crosby, it made him think if the Church of England does have powers to exorcise demons. But more importantly, if he tells him his problem, will his normal life return? Eventually he decides not to. William is probably fed up of seeing Dantalion. Mentioning Solomon as the wisest man and the third king of Israel who subjugated 72 pillars of Hell, if he is truly his descendant, he has the right to command him. He commands Dantalion never to appear before him again. Dantalion is sad but warns him that he only commands the 72 pillars and there will be other demons that will still come after him. Secondly, it is not his lineage that is the reason he is able to command him. Dantalion now wants some answers. Why doesn’t William-cum-Solomon remember him? Why is he denying him? William doesn’t say anything though when their hands touch, he remembers something vague about it. That night, William hears his juniors complaining about a ghost being spotted in the dorm. Along with Isaac and Sitri, they go to check it out. Sitri understands what Dantalion is feeling because William can’t remember and that Solomon the wisest man to live, yet he runs from the mysteries right in front of him. The ghost is spotted and they give chase. Sitri will handle this in return to be elected as the interim. The ghost turns out to be a demon and flees. They follow it to the church. Wait a minute. Demons and churches? William could feel something amiss when he Sitri is about to open the door. When he does, he is blown away by the trap set by Crosby. The demon familiar they just fought belongs to him. William still doesn’t believe in all that Hell crap thingy so Crosby beats up Sitri to get him out of the way first.

Dantalion sets up a barrier around the church. Hey. I thought he is never to show his face around William again? Unless William didn’t really mean it then… Anyway Isaac recognizes Crosby’s cross as the Hand of God. He is one of those exorcists under the Church of England’s peacekeeping division to kill demons. As Crosby continues to beat up Sitri, Dantalion wants William to seek his help, though that kid is still stubborn on not wanting to rely on him. Now that Crosby has turned his attention to Dantalion, he mentions his intention to kill the Elector. That’s because human or not, an Elector has ties with Lucifer and as servants of God, they have been granted power to eliminate that evil. Dantalion laments that every era and generation is the same. Humans are crueller and selfish than demons in Hell. He knows it because he was once like him. Dantalion shows his true power and easily defeats Crosby. He is going to taint his soul and turn him into a demon but William orders him to stop. He believes as long he is in this world, he must obey their world’s law. Dantalion then says if he is going to stop him, then accept him. Like it or not, demons and Hell exist. So don’t reject him. This gives enough time for Crosby to escape. And this means he’ll report to the higher ups and more of those pesky church people will come after him. Dantalion wants William to order him to protect him. He doesn’t have to trust him or believe in demons. William beats around the bush and rewords his phrase to say he can be by his side. And he’s not exactly accepting him but not denying his existence. WTF. True enough, Crosby reports to the Church that Solomon lives inside William and is a dangerous man. Meanwhile William is worried about his future because if the incident of Crosby (who is reported to be hospitalized) gets out, there goes his bright future. The principal then comes in to introduce a new priest to replace Crosby: Kevin!

Episode 4
Kevin is an ordained minister because his mom came from a clerical family. His brother was supposed to be the head priest but died in some war. Then he got a call from mother about a school having a vacancy for a priest and that’s how he ended up here. Kevin doesn’t want William to get too friendly with him at school and wants him to address him as Pastor Cecil. One night, a group of boys played a prank and broke the window. The dorm mother, Maria Mollins didn’t report to the principal and got the injured one treated instead. Next days, those boys talk about Maria and how she never got married although she had a fiancée.  They want to find her weakness just to keep her from telling the principal but William overheard them and tells them to get prepared for the boat race tomorrow. Of course they don’t listen and sneak into her room to steal something. William sees them coming from Maria’s room direction but didn’t think much of it. Then he sees Maria entering her room but hears a loud thud. He enters to see her collapsed by the bed side. Though she says it is nothing and was just finding something, William notices an insignia on the floor. Before the boat race starts, Dantalion feels Nathan Caxton is suspicious but William doesn’t think this elite student and cream of the crop as such. Dantalion reminds him it is because he hasn’t chosen yet and there will be others still targeting him. The boat race is a tight one between Dantalion and Nathan’s team. So much so they collided and an oar broke. It flies towards Maria’s way when Nathan uses his magic to curve it. Later Dantalion approaches Nathan and confirms he is a demon. William thought he is rude but his hand touches Nathan, he could sense it. Now do you believe? That night, William hears those boys trying to spread rumours that Maria is a witch. He snatches the grimoire they stole from her room but they assert she was trying to summon a demon. Then, Kevin calls William to tell him an urgent matter regarding Maria because she just made her last prayers to him. Before he could finish, Sitri brings William away for something urgent. He sensed a portal from Hell just opened.

Maria summons a demon but before she is killed, Nathan saves her. She recognizes him in his true form as Camio. As Dantalion explains, Camio is a Halfling, a demon born from a human’s womb. He is also a demon general under the 72 pillars of Solomon and Beelzebub’s protégé. Yes. Another interim ruler candidate. Maria wanted to see him before she dies and she knew it would be possible if she came to live in this school’s dorm, the place where they first met. Flashback during their younger days. Well, Maria of course a pretty young lady. She wasn’t afraid despite knowing he was a demon because he was lonely. They spent lots of time together but one day her family was attacked by a demon. Though Camio came to their rescue, her parents refused to acknowledge Camio as he is a demon. They wanted to elope but in the end, Camio never came for her. Now she understands why because time runs differently for demons. Yeah. Now she’s an old hag. When she was diagnosed with a lung disease and have not much time to live, she wanted to form a pact with a demon in hopes of becoming one. Camio’s heart also wavered when he learnt she wanted to be one. For he had walked the Earth for a long time alone. As a Halfling, he had no place in Hell. He is happy for her to be a demon to be by his side but Dantalion wants her to let her die as a human or she’ll turn into a Nephilim. Maria is worried he’ll be alone after she dies. Camio also laments he has been alone since his birth because Solomon also died. William suddenly sees Camio’s past with Solomon. He took him in and vowed no one will ever deny him. Even if God does, Solomon won’t. William suggests Maria get her disease treated for her and his sake. Soon, Maria resigns to get treated as the boys return the grimoire to her and apologize. They notice the man in Maria’s photo looks just like Nathan.

Episode 5
Nathan continues to stay at the school and William wonders why Dantalion and Sitri are taking this easy. Aren’t they rivals for the throne? Wait a minute. He believes that? Besides, aren’t they putting up their good behaviour for his sake? William is once again top of his grade. The demons are just mediocre. Seriously. Isaac again somewhere at the bottom as he laments he is only good in the occult and tea. Tea? His family runs a tea business as his father has a company that imports herbs and spices from India and they even supplies it to the royal family. Suddenly Nathan brings the principal to William and says this guy will handle the problem. What problem? It seems the school wants to construct a new building. The old unused water mill will be demolished for that. As the principal is soliciting donations, he doesn’t want to risk losing it since the chairman is making regular visits to check on the progress. As there are discipline problems of midnight ruckus and people breaking the curfew, this is where William comes in to handle it and sniff the problem out before the chairman arrives. But why him? Remember his struggling tuition fees? Being in the good grace of the principal would help a lot. William must be thinking how the principal introduced him to the chairman as the brightest and promising young student and be given full scholarship. I’m sure he’d like that. So William agrees to it but realizes he has been bamboozled into doing his job when Nathan goes off to read a book in the library. William is pissed at Dantalion and Sitri that they can’t outclass Camio but Dantalion hints he already tried to help. He warns William he better not be thinking of electing Camio. Don’t worry, he won’t. Or anybody else either. William and Isaac go patrolling and here the weird singing. Sounds like a ghost? They try to sniff out the culprit at the watermill but since Isaac is too scared, they turn home. Meanwhile Dantalion returns home and is greeted by Lamia. The loli keeps reminding him his promise to marry her, blah, blah, blah. He is here to see Astaroth and tell her about Camio as a potential candidate. He feels from the looks of it Camio isn’t interested in winning the throne. Maybe he’s overconfident? Astaroth warns that Camio is a higher class than him or Sitri but he is not to be concerned right now because there is someone more dangerous by the Elector’s side.

Isaac is so scared that he wants to sleep with William. Yeah well, he’s snoring!!! William can’t sleep and hears the funny singing again. He wakes Isaac up to investigate and at the watermill they see a little goblin as the culprit. William becomes a lawyer to have the goblin speak to him and read him his rights! Do ghosts and goblins have rights? As discovered, the goblin has lived here for many years milling grain in this watermill. However since its abandonment, he hasn’t been milling and learning it will be torn down, he tried petitioning many times but it fell on deaf ears. William’s answer? Face reality and get a new job! Hasn’t he looked in the mirror? Sitri says that this goblin known as killmoulis will grind anything he can get his hands on because if they don’t, he’ll die. Since he is just a small fry, it won’t be so hard to make him listen. But is there anything left to grind as the industrial advancement has made such mills obsolete. And so William settles this by having the goblin grind spices in India under Isaac’s father’s company. Happy grinding. Nathan brings the principal and chairman to William. William thinks he is going to be honoured when Nathan introduces Isaac as the son of the Morton family who made a generous donation to the school. The chairman is glad for this token and hopes Isaac can send his regards to his father. William got so pissed that he vows never to trust demons again! Screw them! That’s what you get for playing with fire. Lastly, Dantalion confronts Kevin and wants to know who he is. From his reaction, he suspects he has something to hide and will uncover it. Today is just a greeting.

Episode 6
Dantalion and Sitri fighting over William?! Must be that Elector thingy. When Kevin passes them, it’s like he doesn’t acknowledge William or know he is even there. William wonders why they have grown distant so Isaac suggests using Family Day to talk to him. The school is pack with parents. Swallow comes running to William for a favour. Seems he wants to avoid meeting his dad Adrian as he has been pestering him to join a military school. Later when Adrian sees William and asks for his son, William apologizes he couldn’t help. Oddly, Adrian invites him to his home for dinner when they are interrupted by Kevin. Adrian excuses himself and it seems Kevin also disappeared. Strange. Is William seeing things? Dantalion and Sitri have a feeling that Beelzebub is likely behind this. Speaking of Beelzebub, he seems to be proposing to Astaroth but she sprays a bug spray to keep him at bay. Thinking he is not interested in the throne, Beelzebub says he has already made his move on Solomon. Kevin sends his underling, Raguel (Kevin’s twin?) to keep an eye on William or rather on Solomon. That night, Swallow wants William to follow him home as he wants to introduce him to his parents. Before you get any yaoi misunderstandings, what he meant was to celebrate his father’s recovery. Apparently he had a great fall and miraculously survived. William thinks he will get to meet the upper echelons and thus further his future ambitions. But do Dantalion and Sitri have to come too? Yeah. They’re sick of school food. And so William is here, happy to see all the famous and elite people in the party. Now to make some connections. During dinner, William remembers Swallow telling him how his dad changed after the fall. He became distant and a proactive supporter of going to war. This has William think Kevin’s behaviour has changed too. William is surprised to see Kevin but realizes it’s a different person. Raguel has him lie down in one of the rooms. When he wakes up, he hears Adrian and some men making final arrangements to go to war. All that is needed left is Solomon. Looks like they know who William is. The men turn into demon and attack William. But he is saved by Dantalion.

Adrian turns into his true form, a demon named Eligos and a servant to Beelzebub. When Swallow comes into the room, he sees Eligos as his dad. Sitri explains that his father is dead. Eligos used his corpse as a puppet to make it seem he is alive. Eligos decides to take Swallow’s soul and flee. William wants to save him but is held back by Sitri who explains about demons’ rule that they can’t interfere in the affair of others. Wait a minute. Can’t interfere in affairs of others? Then what the hell is this business of taking over hell thingy? Isn’t that interfering too? Dantalion offers to help provided if William chooses him now. Will he succumb to pressure and elect him? Fortunately (or not), Raguel throws holy water at Eligos and banishes the demon. Though she escapes, Adrian’s body turns into dust. Swallow has to face reality that his father is dead and cannot come back to life. Back home, William reads the news that the war was avoided by the slimmest margin. Swallow is also back since he ran away from home, not wanting to sort the hellish estate of his late dad. William confronts Kevin to settle things. He wonders if he wants to quit being his house steward and become a priest. Kevin thought he is firing him but William wants to know why he has been avoiding him. Suddenly betting documents drop from Kevin’s robe. The staffs in public schools had this habit betting on sports day and I guess Kevin bet on William on pity despite knowing he isn’t athletic. I take it he lost big time. So this is the reason he is avoiding him? Divine punishment! Later, Raguel reports to Kevin, whose real form is an angel named Uriel. Beelzebub is indeed involved in this and doesn’t want Uriel to do this and will do anything in his stead. However Uriel is resolved not to let the demons have Solomon. And that ring is in his possession.

Episode 7
William and Isaac aren’t really fond of Shakespeare plays. And their school has to do one. Worse, William is made the director for Hamlet. I take that back. Even worst is that Dantalion is playing the King of Denmark while Sitri is Ophelia. They’re so engrossed in their roles that they argue among each other. William is so pissed that he is praying to God to do His job! William seeks Kevin’s help with the play. Why do it when he hates it? Because the director stands out without having to be on stage and it’ll look good on his record. When he returns to the dorm, he learns from Swallow that Dantalion and Sitri have gone back to Hell. He rejoices that God is doing His job but this means the rehearsal will be cancelled, right? It seems tonight is Sabbat, a night where all demons gather and feast and the boundary between Hell and Earth disappear. Besides the candidates for the throne, the Four Kings are also here: Astaroth, Baalberith, Beelzebub and Samael. Sitri talks to Baalberith about Solomon and the latter views that all they need is Solomon’s soul and not his vessel. He is hinting something sinister that Sitri disagrees but is made to remember his heritage. Dantalion is thinking back one of those days he spent with Solomon. Cleaning books in the library? It seems Solomon is talking about his father who will come after him sooner or later because he is accused of treason. Dantalion vows to kill Solomon before he lets anyone lay a hand on him. Solomon knows that he will someday grant this wish of killing him.

Back on Earth, William must be dreaming when he sees a large cloud of demons. Think it’s some electrical discharge? Well, I’m sure the attack must be too. Sitri returns to save William and wants him to choose him so he can protect him. Still not going to. Dantalion also joins in and again reminds him that these demons see him as an ideal prey because they are those who didn’t form a pact with Solomon. Dantalion unleashes his power and easily disposes of the low level demons. But there are too many and one of them is going for William. A magic circle appears out from William to protect him. It is a sign of Heaven. The circle also barricades Dantalion. Sitri wonders if this is the work of an exorcist but it couldn’t be because no human can perform such powerful magic. Well, it’s Kevin in the works. He’s an angel, right? Dantalion unleashes his full power and breaks free but goes berserk. He is about to kill William and remembers Solomon’s words. It is Camio’s lightning that breaks him free as he lectures Dantalion that his stature should never have made him lose control. He orders the demons to get out of here or else. With that, they just disappear. That simple, huh? In the end, Isaac is delighted tonight is Sabbat but William still insists on the electrical discharge crap. He tells the rest to return to the dorm and rehearse the play. Back in Hell, the festivities just ended. The kings note how their interim candidates didn’t stay long. Baalberith notes they are smitten with Solomon just like them. Wouldn’t his death benefit them all? They would have broken free of this electing tradition.  As for the play, the one playing Hamlet comes down with appendicitis. Too late to cancel the show and a replacement is needed. Somebody who knows the lines well. That’s the director, right? And so William is forced to go on stage. That’s the least of his problem because Sitri acts out of the script and wants William to choose him! Dantalion makes it a threesome! OMG! And that is how yaoi was born… Those female audiences must be… I don’t even…

Episode 8
Uriel is visited by the archangel Michael. He wonders if Uriel is doing his job because it looks to him that he is growing fond over that human when he should be just looking at him. He beats him up and reminds him if he can’t do his job, he’ll handle things his way. This is God’s leader of angels? Beating up others and looking like a sadist? Meanwhile William doesn’t care about Isaac who is once again in the failing grade. Till Isaac mentions that Elliot Eden could upstage him for top spot. Hey. Isn’t this Michael? Eden himself throws down an academic challenge to William. He got so mad that not only being number one would be satisfactory. He wants Isaac to be number 2! So start studying! William becomes obsessed in studying and becomes a studying machine. He bumps into Eden in the library as the latter indirectly tells him that without an angel’s warning, men will perish. What is it that he considers important because Eden would gladly sacrifice to protect the things important to him. In short, if he focuses on the wrong thing, it will be too late when he realizes it. When one of the test results come out, Eden scores higher than William. Rather, William’s grade drop. Of course he is enraged. He is warned by Dantalion that there is something fishy about Eden. He is not a demon but there is too much light emitting. In another test, some guy tried cheating when he wrote answers on the table. Eden transports the scribbles onto William’s desk and he is caught and sent to the punishment room. Isaac visits him and is has something figure out. He has this talisman thingy that contains the holy power of archangel Michael. Whatever. Camio is also there and hears him out. That night, Eden visits him and knows the culprit. He is willing to testify on his behalf in return for something. He asks what fate he truly wish for. To be society’s elite. Michael refutes him and wants an answer that sounds like perfect justice and immortality. Since he doesn’t get it, he gives an example of Kevin and Nathan. Both are standing on a cliff and who should he choose. Should it be God’s kingdom or Hell? Before he can get an answer, Kevin is here to ‘chase’ him away because visitors are forbidden at this time.

William is in the trial when the judge’s words suddenly start to sound strange. Do you feel closer to God or demons? Isaac’s talisman works up and turns the area into Michael’s barrier. Eden crushes that troublesome talisman. Sitri attacks Eden and this causes him to reveal his angel wings. Now do you get it William? Slow on the uptake, isn’t he? Michael takes out his golden sword and will grant William ecstasy. It’s his responsibility to judge all sinners, including man and demon. Before he can do his thing, Dantalion breaks through the barrier and saves William from his clutches. Here comes another power battle. Dantalion doesn’t like it when Michael says Lucifer’s name because it was him who cast him down to Hell. They were brothers. When Lucifer rebelled against God, Michal fought him and won. Michael is about to call Dantalion to cruellest and most brutal human in his time but Dantalion got so mad that he unleashes his power that is on par with Michael and sends him crashing down. Before Dantalion can finish him, here comes Kevin to protect him. He won’t allow a demon to harm one of his ‘students’. He warns that if anything happens to William or Solomon, Heaven will respond with all its might and this will put William in further danger. Michael is sick of this and leaves. Suddenly William finds himself back in the trial. He pleads not guilty and remains steadfast he is proud of his intelligence. He is backed by Camio when he brings in the culprits who have confessed their wrongdoing. But they are baffled that their scribbles ended up on his table. William retakes the test and scores even higher. Happy ending. But that is calm before the storm because the kings of Hell are discussing that Lucifer may not awaken from his slumber. As demons are not indestructible, Lucifer may also vanish. Solomon’s existence grows more important by the moment and they want to bring him her to Hell where they can protect him. Because if Heaven brings ecstasy to him, his human personality will vanish and will turn into another of Heaven’s convenient pawns.

Episode 9
Michael feels the need of a change in plan and sends Jeanne, his best soldier to the battlefield. I thought this spunky girl looked like some idol cosplayer from Akihabara… When William wants to go talk to Kevin in his room, he finds the ring and remembers how he was so sad on the day of his parents’ funeral. When everyone else was gone, he cried in Kevin’s arms. William leaves and unwittingly takes the ring with him. The demon trio then tell William that they need to return to Hell as there is an emergency so he’ll be defenceless for a while. I think he’ll be glad that the demons are gone. Michael confronts Uriel. He knows he purposely let William take the ring and wants to know what he is up to. He mentions Heaven is planning to invade Hell but this is just a diversion so Uriel can perform his ecstasy ritual on William while those demons are gone. He is giving Uriel this ‘honour’ otherwise he would have done it his own way. He gives him a kick to remind him failure is not an option. This has Uriel remember how he punished Solomon for failure to destroy the demons despite receiving God’s blessings. Solomon wonders if he is jealous because their lot obey Heaven’s laws and punish sinners on Earth. Regardless of how men are judge, their sin will never go away. Therefore, do they need punishment? Do they even need them? It is strange that despite knowing they will be punished and yet they continue to commit sins. That’s because it brings joy. The demon trio are in Hell just fresh repelling Heaven’s forces. Dantalion feels something amiss since Heaven is being too reckless despite Lucifer in slumber and the Elector hasn’t chosen yet. But Heaven’s forces return and crazy Jeanne leads the pack this time. How can Heaven have a soldier saint that enjoys killing and bloodshed? Well, she as long as it’s not humans. She doesn’t care about demons, though. And with the power of virginity, she easily crushes the demons’ power. Yeah. That.

Kevin tries to perform ecstasy on William. At first he is hesitating but since he has unbuttoned his shirt, might as well go all the way. However it is not working and it dawned to him that William isn’t religious! Hah. God must be just some atom particles, right? Since ecstasy cannot be done, Raguel says the other way is to kill him. It’s that or risk getting punished. Gilles is spying outside and understands Heaven’s trick. He is going to move in when the angel’s barrier prevents him from getting closer. Raguel becomes his opponent. Gilles hates angels and Heaven and goes all out. He views them crueller than anything but Raguel mentions ecstasy is part of God’s will. Gilles remembers his beloved Jeanne was judged by them. He did all the deadly sins but was never judged a single bit. Baalberith approached him and found him interesting. He wants to make a contract where he will be turned into a Nephilim. That way, his soul won’t disintegrate into nothing in Hell and as a demon he will have a chance to meet his love who has been canonized as a saint. Raguel mentions that Jeanne is leading the attack but Gilles mentions he didn’t sell his soul to the devil just to see her one more time. Sure, he would like to meet her. He would also like to defile, torment and hurt her till she is free from Heaven’s ecstasy. Gilles is about to defeat Raguel when Uriel says he will stop the ecstasy to end his attack. Gilles doesn’t care and continues only to be blocked by Uriel’s holy barrier. He too can’t hold on any longer and this time it’s Dantalion’s turn to come back and save the day. Gilles will kill him too but since he has weakened, he passes out. Dantalion has his underlings take Gilles back to Hell. Learning of Uriel’s true identity, he mentions to him, he is just William’s house steward. Uriel wonders if Dantalion is just William’s classmate in that case. Michael is not happy with Uriel’s failure and is about to punish him. Suddenly he just feels pain and anguish. God punishing him for mistreatment? Next day, William seems to have caught a cold. Someone unbuttoned his shirt. He was warned about being defenceless… Sounds so homo… Hope you guys don’t get the wrong idea about this ‘attack’.

Episode 10
It’s the school cultural festival. William thinks of using this event to obtain extra funds for his tuition. Now he reeks of evil aura… Sitri is doing a photo shop with the help of Gilles. Yeah. All those homo boys can at least take a picture of pretty Sitri for a price. Don’t laugh. He’s doing very well. As not to be outdone, Dantalion opens his muscle store for the muscle brains. He too has his devoted followers. Even Isaac is doing well with his international tea stand. William on the other hand won’t subject to such menial tasks and yet he still hasn’t decided what to do. Then a devilish idea hits him. First he goes up to Sitri and tries to sew some jealousy by saying Dantalion’s booth is doing well. If they team up together, he can bring forth his true glory. Wow. William the smooth talker. Agreed! Next he goes to Dantalion and claims he has never noticed his charm, blah, blah, blah. Another round of smooth talking. He too agrees with him. Finally after seeing Isaac is doing bloody well, William threatens him to hand over everything! The meek guy just did so in exchange for William to be his Spartan tutor for his exams. And so William turns his business into a maid-butler cafe and the people are streaming in! That’s how you use your intellect and make others work for you! Of course Sitri and Dantalion feel they have been cheated since they’re working together but William hints the interim ruler of hell is a hard worker… See them work their ass off!

Meanwhile there is this handsome guy trying to buy meat at the stands. Who would have known this is Baphomet in his human form. He meets his rival, Leonard (whose true form is a ram) and is Sitri’s butler. He claims he has powered up and wants a rematch with Baphomet as he has trained well in China. A cooking competition to see who the best chef in Hell is. And so William is made to be the judge because he will get to taste their good food. They have an hour to cook as many dishes as possible and the best one wins. Those who want to watch this Hell’s Kitchen have to pay an admission fee. Raking in the money… So when everybody tastes their cuisine, it’s that out-of-this-world exaggerated heavenly ecstasy reactions you’d see in cooking animes. I thought I’d never seen them again. Universe! This is Hell’s Kitchen? Ironic, isn’t it? Now who will be the best? The judges compromising of William, Dantalion and Isaac gave both perfect 10. But it seems Sitri gave the perfect 10 to Baphomet and none to Leonard! With Baphomet the winner, Leonard is left to rue why his master chose his rival. I guess it’s because his Chinese cuisine doesn’t contain sweets that he loves. Why, oh why?! And the rest wonder why he went to China for training when he should have gone to France instead. And so the loser is made to work as a chef in William’s cafe to cover the cost. Even Baphomet is not spared and is made to cook. Who is the real devil here? At the end of the day, William thought that after taking over Sitri, Dantalion and Isaac’s business as well as utilizing both the greatest underworld chefs, he is going to win the overall award. To his surprise, Nathan nails it! Those who didn’t get to watch what he put up would be sorely disappointed! We want to see what Nathan did!!! (I think he dressed up as a maid!!!).

Episode 11
Michael laments he may have moved too early. Because when Camio repelled Jeanne’s attack, she had to leave Hell otherwise her virginity purity will be tainted. The Four Kings are discussing the recent invasion of Heaven as a diversion. Baalberith thinks of bringing him here to protect him. First he wants to kill him, now he wants to protect him? He shoves the duty to Astaroth seeing she sounded very concerned and that she is the most familiar with him. Astaroth orders Lamia to bring William now. Meanwhile Camio plays his piano to Beelzebub. He remembers meeting Solomon. He notes his vast wisdom and doesn’t want it to fall into Heaven’s hands. William is happy after being praised for another good work. Another step closer to his future. Suddenly he is whisked away into a portal to Hell by Lamia. I don’t want to say this is where his future is going… Haha! Anyway he thinks he has to attend some freakish costume party again because all the demons (minus Dantalion as usual) are here awaiting him. I suppose the only reason why he is tempted to stay is because Baphomet and Leonard have made some snacks. Can’t resist that, can’t he? Of course William denies all the crap they say about him being Solomon and that he is just some distant ancestor he wouldn’t care. But they point out if it means nothing to him, he shouldn’t have so vehemently protested it. It shows that he is aware he is in fact the Elector. William continues to say he makes his own decisions and denies the existence of Lucifer. The lower demons don’t take this insult lightly and want to kill him. Before that demon could, Dantalion blows him to smithereens. Why does he always have to come in late in this fashion?

William’s ring accidentally drops out from his pocket. This prompts the demons to note that if he doesn’t have it, they won’t be under his command. They will have nothing to fear. Not only that, they can conquer Heaven! Baalberith sees this opportunity to kill Solomon and take his soul and orders his demons to attack him. At that time, William puts on the ring and his conscious is slowly taken over by Solomon. Also, Uriel feels pain in his heart and this could mean the ring has been put on. Michael blames him for this to happen. Solomon easily destroys the lower demons but Baalberith won’t give up. He thinks as long as he has the numbers, he can still overcome Solomon. Well, looks like it will take a long time since Solomon is going on a subjugating spree. Baalberith is blown back. Sitri wants him to stop this but was warned by him that he knows he wants to go back to Heaven. He is doing this for his sake and this will be their ticket to Heaven. The entire building is destroyed by the time Solomon finishes subjugating the lower demons. Gilles thinks of raising his ranks by attacking Solomon. I guess there’s a saying that if you haven’t seen the darkness, you’re not afraid of the ghost. He too learns to awesomeness of Solomon’s power. Solomon doesn’t recognize him and notes he must be someone new after he died. Care to be his 73rd pillar? Baalberith tries another sneak attack but it doesn’t work. But how come Dantalion can go up close behind to Solomon without him sensing? He tries to take off the ring to save William. But when he grabs his hand, Solomon doesn’t recognize who he is.

Episode 12
Dantalion is blasted away so easily. The next time he takes that kind of blast again, he’ll be dead. Camio says Dantalion is still bound by his contract with Solomon but is unsure why he cannot remember him. Flashback reveals Dantalion thought Solomon wanted to raise an army of demons to go against his father. Because he was born out of one of his servant’s wife, the guilt of his father led him to scorn and imprison Solomon. However to Dantalion’s surprise, he subjugated the 72 pillars and the most he did was party together. Really. Why doesn’t he do an uprising? Because it’s too much trouble. This is more fun. But when his father began to move, Solomon reluctantly took up arms. Without much effort, he won. Naturally with his father overthrown, he would be the next king. All Solomon wanted was his father to acknowledge him as his son, even if it’s just once. But he kept denying it and calls him the child of sin that should not be born in this world. He says he will bring ruin to this world. Solomon left him a very sad king. One day, Dantalion asks Solomon what is his wish because he has followed him for so long and doesn’t know what he wants. His reply is that someday he will know. It is something only he can do. That is, to kill him. And I supposed that day came when Dantalion killed Solomon with his own hands. Back in present time, Baalberith still wants to try his luck to take Solomon’s ring. Because he believes his powers have not fully awakened. He even tells Solomon what is going on and the reason why he wants his ring. Too bad he is still as powerful as ever.

Gilles is standing there watching hoping one side will take the other out and he will swoop in to take the ring. He sends his demons to destroy both Solomon and Baalberith. Then when Gilles moves in, he gets another taste of Solomon’s great power. He seriously underestimated this wise guy, eh? When Baalberith is about to seize the chance to grab Solomon’s ring, the ring repels him away and burns his hand. The rest are stumped because when Dantalion touched it, he was unaffected. Dantalion has awakened. Slept well? He sees Solomon going to kill Baalberith. Fearing history will repeat itself if he lets this happen, Dantalion takes the full blast. He then tells Solomon to remember who he is. He is not Solomon but William. Solomon looked dazed for a while there although he still doesn’t recognize who Dantalion is. Dantalion grabs his hand and there’s lots of electricity flowing out from the ring. Or it seems so. Did Solomon recognize him for a while there? Suddenly the gates are opened. White feathers scatter all over. This is a sign that Lucifer has awakened. With that, there is no need to fight and choose for an interim ruler. Settled just like that, huh? Solomon somewhat understands and decides to give the ring to Dantalion. Once it is off his finger, he collapses but Dantalion catches him. Back in school, William once more is top of his grade. But he isn’t bragging like he used to. He is gloomy. Not even the good news of obtaining full scholarship could impress him. Why the long face? Seems he is the only guy who remembers about those demon students. Nobody else remembers who are Dantalion, Sitri or Camio. He even goes to talk to Kevin if there is such thing as demons who are more human than human and more merciful than angels. You call those demons? Then he tries snapping himself out of this and reminds himself that he is a realist. He trips and the ring drops out and rolls over to Dantalion’s feet. Look who is back…?

Yaoi Ouji: Hot Guys And Denialist
Just when it got interesting, they gave me this crappy WTF ending. Yeah well, Lucifer’s awakening solves everything, right? That dude doesn’t even need to make one stinking appearance but just his representing door to wherever he is just for the mess to be over. So did William remember he was Solomon during the trance? What was it that Solomon understood (too bad I’m too stupid to understand what that part meant)? With Dantalion back, would others remember him? I guess I’ll never know. The interesting part to me was the mystery of Solomon. He had subjugated 72 pillars of the demons and formed some contract with them. Why he did so isn’t clearly explained and most of our demon characters have some sort of connection with him as seen in their short flashbacks, their time spent with Solomon. He must be an intriguing man to be with, a reason why they hang out with him aside the fact they are under his order. Still a human but received God’s blessing and powers, it is no wonder many covets him or wants to kill him. Maybe it’s this mystery that caught my attention (am I saying I am also attracted to him) and if it was answered, perhaps it would be disappointing so it’s best left unexplained. Besides, if he had subjugated 72 pillars, why not subjugate the rest of Hell? Ah, his untimely demise… I’m guessing if he was alive, he could have conquered all Heaven, Hell and Earth if he wanted to. It’s like he has that one ring to rule them all, no? Oh sh*t… Lord of the Rings reference? See how many of the demons wanted to get a piece of it and ultimately Solomon himself? My precious…

I felt the storyline for this season is something minor. Because you know, William is dragging his feet and not accepting this Elector thingy and with the rest of the interim ruler candidates hanging around him in hopes of making him choose them seems to be draggy if you think about it. Can’t they just really threaten him or use someone or something he treasures to pressure him? If they’re that desperate then they should have been as bad as the devil himself, which is pretty fair game if you consider that they are demons trying to rule Hell. Instead, you see them hanging about and thus some sort of bondage form between them. Because they look really concern when William is in trouble or their big bad boss has some malicious intention. Thus for the dozen episodes seen here, some are nothing more than fillers. That cultural festival episode was definitely one. Including that little goblin and the watermill episode too. Paying a visit to Swallow’s home also feels like one. That episode with Maria in it serves as an introduction to Camio. Yeah. They had to take an entire episode for that. Michael’s descend to Earth and diversion tactic is perhaps just to tell us why ecstasy won’t work on William and therefore shall not be tried again. It’s like trying to say if you don’t believe in God, whatever effects by Him and his angels won’t work. Really? Does this mean if I don’t believe in demons and witchcraft, I can’t be affected by their black magic? Super convenient. Or maybe it’s because you can’t perform ecstasy on William because he has Solomon inside. Whatever. So in an overall context, it does little to further the plot. In the end, it really didn’t matter anymore, huh?

I’m not sure if William has really changed after returning to himself following his possession by Solomon. What is funny-cum-annoying about him is his so called realist reasons to deny the supernatural. It feels like he is more of a denialist than anything. Okay, maybe the demons come in weird costumes and he can pass that off as some cosplay. But come on. He has seen them firing and blasting their projectiles so many times and summoning barriers during attack. How do you reason that? Special effects? Hello, I don’t think this is the 20th century or at least Hollywood wasn’t incorporated yet. This is the Victorian era, right? Don’t believe in miracles, does he? Then he also sees the demons flying before their eyes. How do you explain that? Thin strings and wires? Seriously, you’ve seen too many Chinese kung fu movies. The way he uses that atom explanation is as ridiculous as believing demons and angels exist. Sure, everything is made out of atom. Even your brains. The bottom line is I don’t want to chide William for being a big denialist but there are some things that science just cannot explain. It’s good to have some rational explanation about how things work and the likes but like I said, with so many mysteries working in the universe, using science as a universal answer and method sometimes just doesn’t quite cut it. William lets Dantalion and the other demons hang around him because he lets them do what they want. If they claim they are demons, they must be nutcases and let them do as they please. But in a way, it shows that he tolerates and thus to a little extent, believe in it, right? He claims he is the top intellect but I think that is only confine to academic terms. Elsewhere, this ‘intellect’ of his fails…

I find it funny about the workings of Hell. Despite having a hierarchy and all, it still baffles me about the interim ruler part. How come only Dantalion, Sitri and Camio are the only candidates? Aren’t there others interested in being the interim ruler too? How are these trio selected because take a look at Camio, he doesn’t seem the least bit interested in the throne. Unless you tell me that being the interim ruler, it’s just like a puppet because it will be the king that he is represented that is doing the real ruling. If there are the Four Kings, doesn’t Samael have any candidate of his own? Isn’t he interested in the throne too? Is he? Hey, the king of Hell is sleeping, so anybody interested to kill him in his sleep and take over Hell? Nobody thought of that, didn’t they? Hell is where the baddest of the baddest are and nobody really cares about being good, right? Isn’t it so? The badder the better, yeah? Unless I’m very wrong on this context here. And if there is this rule of challenging higher and powerful demons and snatch their position, shouldn’t they be doing this? I mean, this is Hell, right? Anything goes. Why so orderly? And what’s that rule about demon not supposed to interfere with the affairs of others? Who the hell made up all this rules? Can’t a demon do what he wishes, for God’s Lucifer’s sake? So that’s why this interim ruler thingy to me is just something confusing and some excuse to perhaps further one’s ulterior motive.

Even funnier is how demons and angels aren’t really acting the way we thought they should. As seen from the demons, some are kind enough to be a saint and perhaps it’s because of their past sin that made Heaven condemned them to Hell. Which brings us to this next thought if Heaven isn’t as good and pleasant as it seems. Because as perfectly demonstrated by Michael, we see he is a sadist and tormentor and loves to take it out on Uriel. Aren’t angels supposed to be caring, loving and forgiving? Oh no. Not this Michael. And he is supposed to be the Lord’s highest ranked angel. This guy could be Lucifer’s right hand man if you ask me. And then there is Baphomet and Leonard’s cooking. So great that it brings a piece of Heaven in your mouth, which is pretty ironic, isn’t it? A goat and a ram cook better dishes than anything else? Truly mindboggling. And of course the most complicated and mysterious ones would be humans. Crueller than demons but sometimes more angelic than angels, as said and seen it is indeed something amazing and odd that a mere human like Solomon could possess the wisest wisdom and then control the demons. So all this makes you think, where the hell is God anyway? If the Almighty was powerful enough to just silence everything, he would have done so already. God works in mysterious ways? Maybe. You wonder He even exists since you won’t even think about Him while watching this anime (you might be prompted to when William quotes Him in one short instance) but of course He does since there are angels. Lucifer is asleep, God is nowhere to be seen (duh!) and not taking any action, humans are self-destructing. Just the right setting for the world screwing up big time.

Despite the setting is in the Victorian era in England, it is still hard for me to be convinced that this is so. Sure, thanks to our anime-like characters and the way they speak fluent Japanese, the thought of if they are in England or in some alternate English world never crossed our minds. Even with their typical and common English names, English style buildings and construction and the English culture (tea, anyone?), I can’t feel that English atmosphere. Worse, that cultural festival episode seemingly makes it as though it is a western version of a Japanese high school cultural festival. I’m not sure if schools in England do this but it sure reminded me of its Japanese counterparts. Also, I feel that with demons and angels as the main theme (Christianity to a certain extent), it relies heavily on the Bible and the myths of the European side.

Dantalion I thought is also annoying when he keeps pestering William to choose him. And then when he became Solomon, he fears the original William will never come back. So what does this mean? He just wants to be by William’s side, right? I thought he was into Solomon? Unless it’s just me jumping to that conclusion. I feel the other demon characters are somewhat lacking. So what Lamia is Dantalion’s future wife? Does that actually matter anyhow as far as this anime is concerned? Sitri and Camio are just hanging around keeping an eye on things for who knows how long. Till their boss say something perhaps. The Four Kings too didn’t play any big role since most of them are just there as show of power. It’s a meeting, right? With Baalberith as the exception because he tries to be the antagonist and take Solomon’s ring for his own. That’s what demons should do, right? Not wait there and watch passively and ponder like a dumbass like Beelzebub thinking if Solomon has truly awakened or not (when Solomon when on a rampage). Perhaps they know of Solomon’s power so the powerful ones are wise enough not to go against him. Well, I’ll give it to Baalberith that he did try and for having the confidence to do so. Still couldn’t change anything.

Gilles made a long absence in the middle of the series only to return at the end and this is a good lesson to us all about being young and reckless before becoming mature and wise. He never knew of Solomon’s awesome power, right? He doesn’t realize why the other higher demons don’t move their hand against him, no? Well, he experienced first-hand what it’s like to be overwhelmed. Ever since Michael’s plan of having Uriel give William ecstasy, he’s just seen bumming around in Heaven ‘complaining’ about his failure, blaming Uriel to make him feel guilty and just wait and wait and wait and wait… After all, Heaven has got lots of time on their hands, right? Amon and Mamon are supposed to be mascots of the series, right? They aren’t even prominent with so little screen time and worse, don’t even tug out cutie heartstrings despite trying to emit that cute aura. You’re just batty if you think they are. Isaac feels like he only exists to be a joker or somebody William can feel superior to. Sometimes I think William needs to take it easy and learn from him but of course, not to the point where he always fail and in the risk of not advancing the grade. Oh, oh!!! Remember Crosby and the Church of England? WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM? They sound threatening to do something, right? Weren’t they going to make some sort of move on William? Unless you tell me they didn’t get any order from God to take action. If I didn’t go through my blog, I actually forgot all about them. Worse than what Solomon did to Dantalion. I’m speculating it’s because of some contract and the wish fulfilling thingy, Solomon loses his memory of him.

With this anime being predominantly male dominant, I thought there won’t be any females appearing. Heck, the school William goes is an all-boys’ academy. I already resigned myself to not expect any hot chicks and some ambiguous yaoi situations. But a little surprise… I suppose they soften this by including some females but they do not have any major effect on the show overall. It’s the guys who are running everything. Haha… The first female to show up is Maria but she only lasted for that episode and you’ll never see her again. Eligos too shared that same fate but her appearance was even more limited and felt quite fleeting so it didn’t matter. Then you have mature Astaroth (whom at first I thought it was that Bleach’s Arrancar, Mila Rose) and loli Lamia who have a decent amount of screen time to remind us that there are still women in this anime. Do you feel they’re significant? Guess not. And ah yes, Jeanne. She went back to Heaven and never came back. There goes your power of virginity, people. So much for females’ participation in this anime. Because of that, a few yaoi moments that might send fujoshi fans’ heart aflutter for a second or two. Especially when Dantalion grabs William’s hand, it just looks like a very potential yaoi moment. Really. He doesn’t do this once or twice but several times. With Sitri looking so feminine that he could be passed off as a female and if they would have their way, a hentai version of this series to satisfy fujoshi fans with Sitri x (enter the name of the hunk of your choice here). Then there’s the part whereby Kevin unbuttoned sleeping William’s shirt. Potential nose blood moment for fujoshi fans…

Of course this means the art is filled with hot bishonen guys but after seeing so many animes with such art, it has become standard and nothing unique. This series is produced by Dogakobo and I strangely many of its other anime productions are of yuri nature such as Shin Koihime Musou and YuruYuri, or harem animes like Hoshizora E Kakaru Hashi, Myself; Yourself, 11eyes and GJ-Bu (okay, this one has mild harem elements). One little complaint that I have is that in the final episode during the scene of Solomon subjugating the demons, there are recycled scenes! Not only is the same scene used twice but thrice! There I was going, if there was something wrong with the video that caused it to loop. Am I experiencing some sort of deja vu? I guess this is what happens if you want to save cost and only have a low budget. Just like William’s case, huh? I know that they don’t really want to give emphasis on lower demons since they’re going to die anyway and we don’t care about them, the art on them isn’t that great at all because as long as they look ugly, they pass off as one. But to use the same recycled scenes? How cheap can they get?

The action bit feels okay but sometimes I find this little thing very irritating. After the fight ends with one seemingly has lost and the victor is about to destroy the loser with whatever powers, suddenly somebody comes in between and prevents that. Dantalion is guilty for doing this many times that I lost count. Isn’t it just annoying? He likes to play the hero whereby the always enter the scene late but at the right time. And he’s a demon for goodness sake. I mean, here we go, maybe this character is going to be killed off and then suddenly somebody swoops down in the middle to repel the attack or take the blast. It happens all the time. So nobody gets killed off in the except for lower demons that we won’t ever care about. Otherwise, I suppose the power battle is just sufficient for entertainment but it doesn’t go any more than that. I mean, all the powerful demons can shoot out some sort of beam blast, right?

Nothing special about the opening theme, Believe My Dice by the quartet voices of Dantalion, William, Sitri and Camio. Just imagine a boy band singing this pop rock. Very manly… The only thing I like about the ending theme is the opening guitar riffs. Otherwise, A Shadow Love Song by the same quartet isn’t anything special or to my liking. The voice acting is also pretty decent. The line-up includes Takuya Eguchi as William (Kon in Ixion Saga DT), Takuma Terashima as Dantalion (Stone River in Tantei Opera Milky Holmes), Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Sitri (Kirito in Sword Art Online), Tetsuya Kakihara as Camio/Nathan (Natsu in Fairy Tail), Mitsuki Saiga as Solomon (Phantom in MAR), Jun Fukuyama as Kevin/Uriel (Lelouch in Code Geass), Hiroshi Kamiya as Michael (Araragi in Bakemonogatari), Keiji Fujiwara as Baalberith (Sven in Black Cat), Sachi Kokuryu as Astaroth (Fran in Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn), Shinnosuke Tachibana as Beelzebub (Tomoe in Kamisama Hajimemashita), Akira Ishida as Samael (Gaara in Naruto), Kousuke Toriumi as Gilles (Kiba in Naruto), Hiroaki Yasumoto as Baphomet (Sado in Bleach), Motoki Takagi as Isaac (Mamoru in Shin Sekai Yori), Yu Kobayashi as Eligos (Ayame in Gintama) and Mikami Shiori as Lamia (Akari in YuruYuri).

I don’t know about demons needing somebody else than their kind to elect someone to lead them. I thought it should have always been the case of the strongest and baddest coming fore to the front and wipe the ass out of whoever is in charge before taking control. Why did Solomon start this ‘tradition’? Beats me. It is something that dumb people like me won’t understand. So much so it got me thinking if he was so wise, why didn’t he bring peace on Earth seeing he easily fought and won battles even in a reluctant state. That is much harder to achieve? Maybe. Dumb people like me won’t really comprehend anyhow. Really. Gods, angels, fallen angels, demons, halfies and humans can be a very complicated mix. It’s like throwing all the dangerous and toxic chemicals in one big flask, then watch and wait for it to go boom. Thank God there are no vampires and werewolves. Yet. If I really have to go through all this crap and sh*t, I think I’d rather fall into ecstasy of watching my animes for eternity. Now I have a reason-cum-excuse to tell others why I continue to watch animes even if it doesn’t bring any good to society in general. Because it brings me joy.