From first impressions, this anime looks like another trash power fantasy magical harem high school anime. And in essence, it is. The characters are unnatural, the plot goes for nonsensical twists and everything is just generic.
But
But
If you take in what is actually happening and look below the surface of its lackluster elements, you will find an anime that is ridiculously dumb in everything it is trying to do. It is so dumb, it is glorious.
Let’s start with the formalities: Anos as the demon king gets tired of constantly winning, so to stop the pointless war, he lets the hero kill him so that Anos gets reincarnated two thousands years later to live a peaceful life. What he instead finds is a demon society that is peaceful but way weaker than two thousand years ago. Seeing that it is his duty to serve his people, Anos enrolls into the Demon King Academy, an academy that trains students for that one day one of these students can become a Demon King. Anos, the Demon King, entrolls into this Academy, but due to Anos being too powerful his power can’t be measured, thus he is labeled as a misfit. So begins the journey of the Misfit Demon King in the academy alongside his first friend, the sweet girl, Misha.
Honestly, for how the eventual setting very standard is, the set-up is genuinely interesting. A king getting reincarnated, seeing his own kingdom being weakened two thousand years later is enough of a driving force for some good interactions, and boy are those interactions fun.
Anos is our protagonist, and on paper he should be really standard: An OP underdog which is always right but still relatable, but in reality it is that exact description minus the relatability. Anos is an OP character who is always right. No matter what he does, he always has intentions of getting to his goal. He always wins the match and the other always gets stumped by Anos’ power. If a bad guy does bad stuff, Anos gives the bad guy a proper punishment. And Anos has fun with it too: Every single frame he is in he has a smug face, showing that he knows that he is always right. I love Anos, he is straightforward, loves to be an asshole to bad guys, is nice to good guys and always looks smug while dominating opponents. With Anos being such a good character, it is no surprise that everything in the anime revolves around Anos.
What really makes this anime great for me tho is that the most ridiculous stupid things happen, but everything is taken 100% seriously. In episode 2, we see Anos pick up a whole-ass castle, fidget spin it on his finger and then throw it like a basketball. Everything in this scene, from the direction to the music, is made so that there are no comedic elements involved, the scene is directed like we are genuinely supposed to think this is the coolest shit ever. The whole anime is directed like this: Bad guy thinks he can take on Anos easily, Anos pulls out some ridiculous bullshit, direction makes it seem like the coolest thing ever. The lack of self awareness in Misfit of the Demon King Academy makes it so that you can’t take anything serious of what is happening, and it is hilarious. I looked forward to each episode to see what Anos would do this time, and each episode had something deliciously ridiculous which is taken 100% seriously by the anime.
So is this anime a comedy? Well, there are some genuinely comedic moments in the anime, like the scene when Anos is born, but the truly comedic moments are the ridiculous scenes which are taken 100% seriously. It is hard to really judge if this anime is unintentionally funny or intentionally made ridiculous to make it funny, but whatever the intentions were from the makers of this show, the end result is all the same: It is ridiculously stupid, thus ridiculous fun.
I am not even gonna talk about the mediocre side-characters or its average production values, because this anime clearly shouldn’t be judged on those terms. Misfit of The Demon King Academy is a borderline comedy. It stupid ridiculous plot and action scenes makes it one hell of a fun ride, and it is a ride that I can recommend.
If you can turn your brain off while watching an anime and can just appreciate the ridiculouslessness of situations, then you should absolutely watch this anime. If you are here for a genuinely good show, look elsewhere.
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