Opening songs
OP 1 - Mukaikaze (YOHKO)
Ending songs
ED 1 - Unknown Vision (Akino Arai)
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
Episodes: 12
Having your daily dose of anime is a must if you're an otaku, and more times than not you'll be running into some shit that's different once in awhile. "Maoyu Maou Yusha", or just "Maoyu" is one of those anime. Well actually my statement may be just a state in opinion, because I've never really watched much medieval themed anime. It brings a surprisingly good amount of politics into play, as well as some other themes that are common in medieval themed stuff, like war and trade. Overall it mixes well with the mini harem that's going on with our hero, and while I do find the character naming to be ridiculous, it doesn't really hold the anime back in any way. "Maoyu" is an interesting anime, and it also shows that medieval themed anime have some really cool stuff going for them. Just brace yourselves for more of those half assed romance moments.
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| This is the demon king. Yes, the DEMON KING. |
The opening song is "Mukaikaze" by YOHKO. It sounds all whimsical and cool, honestly, not something very fitting, considering the themes of the anime. It still works to some extent though. I really like the song, with its uplifting tune and country-like feel...its something I can dig, no problem. The ending song though, I don't really like. "Unknown vision" by Akino Arai is another one of those super slow and soft songs...those that make me fall asleep. Not that its a bad song by any means, its just a song that I don't really dig. I don't dig songs of this genre anyway.
Rating: 8.0/10
I enjoyed myself with "Maoyu", quite a fair bit in fact. Once again, this may be my inexperienced side playing a huge role here, as I don't see many animes with themes as unique as this. Having the anime take place in a medieval setting plays a big part I believe, as most of the time, many settings in mainstream anime wouldn't allows such unique themes to take place. While having a harem is one of the selling points, its many of the other things that really make "Maoyu" stand out. The relationships between humans and demons, and how one wants to halt everything using politics and complete welfare. It sounds boring, but its actually not only immensely interesting, things get really intense at times. To top it off, we have a really powerful and likable hero, though he doesn't get to do much most of the time. But when he does, things get real, and its a pleasure to watch.
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| And that's all she wrote! |
The anime stars the hero as the main character. He has no name, everyone just calls him hero, and in Japanese, that's Yusha. As with all heroes, their job is to defeat the demon king, and that's what he did. he went to the heart of the demon world, looking to end the reign of the demon king, only to find a beautiful woman starting back at him, saying "Hello!". This woman introduces herself as the demon king, and that's what they call her as well. In Japanese, the demon king is called Maou. Maou eventually calms Yusha into a cease fire, and explains to him about her intentions to end the war without fighting. Yusha doesn't buy it at first, but after tons of explanations and talk about possibilities, he decides to aid her in her goal to end the war without conflict. With the hero and demon king working together, they aim for a rather ironic, but peaceful resolve.
And that's that folks. "Maoyu" is different in a good way, and definitely something worth watching if you haven't already. Its one of those animes where story plays a huge part in everything, so it feels just right for all audiences. I'm still not too sold on the whole romance thing going on...Well there is SOME romance, but it doesn't feel full fledged when you put it next to other real romance anime ("Clannad" and "Mashiro Iro Symphony", just to name 2). Still a great watch overall.
Peace.
