Blu-ray Review: THE DEVIL IS A PART-TIMER Delivers Funny Anime-Fast-Food

(If you thought curly fries were the most twisted thing in fast food, think again...)

This week, the hit anime The Devil is a Part-Timer will be released in Australia and New Zealand, courtesy of local distributor Siren Visual. Known for being champions of obscure or under-appreciated titles from the past, this release actually features a recent series, and gets the Blu-ray treatment.

In it, King Satan runs a fast-food business, which may not be a surprise for many. What is a surprise though, is that he is running it as an assistant manager of one tiny outlet, and seems to be quite a nice young lad. What's going on here?
Time for a review!


The Story:

During an epic other-worldly war between humans, devils and angels, the evil demon ruler King Satan and his general Alciel have to flee through a teleportation gate, ending up in modern-day Tokyo. To their shock and embarrassment, magic isn't automatically replenished here on Earth, meaning they have reverted to human forms with only VERY finite magic powers.

King Satan quickly using up what little magic he has left, to learn Japanese and forge papers, and is forced to take a job to earn the rent. But which big company employs unschooled youngsters, and offers them a chance at a career? Fast food chain McRonalds of course!

While Satan learns how to swap burgers and fry fries, several parties from his own world descend to Earth, to take him out once and for all. First among those is the half-angel Emi, King Satan's nemesis. When she meets her target, she is baffled: King Satan seems to be enjoying his human life, and is a generous, kind soul who goes out of his way to help others. Is this part of a cunning plan? And who keeps trying to kill Satan and Emi both?


The series:

Starting as a series of illustrated "light novels" by Satoshi Wagahara, The Devil is a Part-Timer has seen several adaptations happen to it since the books became popular. The story has been made into a manga in 2012, and last year the franchise made the jump to television as a 13-episode anime series by studio White fox, known for Stein's Gate and Jormungand.

Basically, it's a character-driven comedy with some action and romance thrown in. Each new character arriving out of the other world gets treated to a fish-out-of-water story-arc, while King Satan learns more and more what life as a human entails. Of course, him being closely followed by disguised warriors (male and female), and wooed by McRonalds colleagues, King Satan has no lack of attention. The Devil is a Part-Timer both pokes fun and cashes in on familiar harem and even yaoi tropes.

Not all the jokes land, and especially the corporate humor and satire could be a lot more edgy, but the series is undeniably funny. The female warriors stalking King Satan are invariably accused by Japanese humans as being in love with him, while the house-proud men he lives with in his "Bastion of Evil" (a tiny second-floor one-room apartment) cause rumors and embarrassment as well. Fan-service of the naughty kind is there too but is thankfully limited to the occasional boob-joke.

The strongest point here is in the characterization. King Satan is the ultimate Mr. Nice, constantly saving people, and always sacrificing whatever magic he gains by putting things right again after a battle. But the series is peppered with reminders about how evil a ruler he was on his own world, and while the attraction between Emi and him is there, her accusation that he killed her family never gets ignored, nor does he deny it.
If someone moves to a new place and honestly betters himself, how much bullshit from the past can you forgive him for? And when can you safely stop doubting whether someone's intentions are good or still evil? While hardly subtle, it works, and provides the tension which fuels the series.

The current anime only covers the first few novels, so there is room for a sequel. I hope it will get made, as I had a lot of fun with this series!


On To The Discs:

For this release, Siren Visual has partnered up with US company Funimation. The result is, for starters, that this release is coded for both region A and B, basically covering most of the English-speaking world, and then some. Another effect is that this release defaults to the English dub, the first title by Siren Visual to do so that I know of.
Shock horror! This surely must be one of the seven warning signs of the upcoming apocalypse?!

But the AV is great, albeit with the audio limited to English and Japanese 2.0 sound. English subtitles are there and very good.

For extras, we get clean (textless) opening- and closing songs, trailers, English commentaries on two episodes, and a funny item about the re-inventing of the alien language for the English dub. When Funimation got the rights to The Devil is a Part-Timer, they got a translation for the alien language spoken on Satan's homeworld, but nothing about the language itself. So for the English dub a new alien language had to be invented, and this disc contains a short and funny doc on how this was done, also illuminating a few aspects of dubbing I never knew about.


Conclusion:

While not exactly a classic, The Devil is a Part-Timer sure is fun. The satire never gets all that biting, the story doesn't get all that gripping, and the fan-service (thankfully) never gets offensive, making it all a bit middle-of-the-road at times. But the series looks good, is well-paced, and contains likable characters you get to care about.
The 13 episodes flew by as an easy snack but they left me hungry for more, and that's always a good sign.

Likewise, this disc isn't exactly loaded but definitely decent enough. Recommended!