Summary:
Haters gunna hate, yet somehow, I watched each episode 3 times and felt it got better each time. Based on the tags of 'ACTION' 'COMEDY' and 'FANTASY' attached to the show it has the first and last in spades but is lacking in the Comedy department. Don't be misled, it's not a parody nor is it as self-aware as something like KonoSuba. The show also has a pompous, self-aggrandizing, cocky and absurdly Overpowered Main character... which is precisely how you'd expect a scathing comment would start yet this character was written with that exactly in mind. The show manages to plant necessary information for its plot points sometimes multiple episodes in advance and executes all the main plot triggers it sets leaving little behind that isn't particularly useful. This is especially well noted as while a growing number of shows have filler and wasted time this is kept to a minimum throughout the show. Animation and Sound are, at their worst, up to par but generally above average and I found on rewatching the show that the non-diegetic sounds worked excellently at seamlessly enhancing entertainment value. However, some of the 'diegetic' sounds (read: attempt at singing) were cringey and probably better off left out with only the final use being best described as 'average'.
Plot and concepts: As far a story building blocks go it's a reasonably typical "Magic Academy"/"OP Hero" styled affair with the twist and hook being that we are observing from the demons side as the reincarnated Demon King himself. Given that a role or perspective reversal can often be refreshing I welcomed a change from always being on the 'Hero’s' shoulder. While it didn’t get into exploring the nitty-gritty of being a demon lord or what it is to be 'Evil' it does reasonably well establish not to judge a race based on its name. The 'Demonic' race depicted is an, albeit weak, demonstration of how our perception can be shifted by being shown the other side. While I will freely admit that this show doesn't explore in-depth any themes that can be easily related back to the real world I will leave with my opinion that this isn't necessary to make an enjoyable or engaging story.
Plot Execution:
Overall plot twists were well executed and were successfully able to blind-side the viewer even after being well hinted at upon rewatch with a minimal amount of truly unnecessary filler. As mentioned previously there isn't any attempt at breaking the rulebook or deep-diving any themes however it's my opinion that while the envelope wasn't pushed the executed elements were done to a high enough standard that the story was able to have taken what could have very well been a boring copy/paste show and keep the viewer's attention and engagement. As far as whether this will entertain others, I have little doubt that those who pay attention and enjoy this genre of show (Magic Academy/OP Hero) will find this show very worthwhile. During re-watching I was able to pick up 1 minor plot hole which could be a result of over-analysation on my part however for the majority of viewers there will be nothing to worry about as by-and-large it is free from contradictions and major holes. Though do bear in mind that being the nature of the MC to be overpowered the use of Deus-ex-Machina and what some would call plot-bullshittery do get served in large dollops.
Characters:
While there are no 'new' character tropes nor are any 'mould-breaking' I didn't find them to be egregiously generic or bland. Most characters got fleshed out to a reasonable extent where the viewer could understand the motivation for their actions. I also found that most actions taken seemed mostly consistent with their displayed personalities and traits. Again I feel it necessary to reiterate that while the envelope wasn't pushed the executed character tropes were filled out to a sufficiently high standard that the characters never really felt bland, boring or like they were acting out of character to push the story forward. Some characters, especially in the latter portion of the show from the Human faction could have done with some more development, screen time and action however with only 13 episodes at the show's disposal I can understand the decision to potentially decrease side character development in favour of completing the story overall.
Audio-Visual:
I have very little qualifications with which to commentate on the Visual side of the show as I'm personally not that well attuned to art styles nor do I commonly notice animation glitches that often. However, Silverlink is reasonably well known for decent quality animation and this title does not appear to be the exception. I will applaud that every 'source' that was shown when casting magic had a unique design which was a nice touch and that there was consistency moving between episodes with design elements. This even extends to spells that are reused (Gatom, Gyze, Asla etc.) additionally scene re-use was rather minimal and, if a location was reused there was typically new art drawn. Moving to the Audio aspect, the non-diegetic soundstage was well mastered and typically never felt like it overpowered the characters while speaking or during action scenes. As for diegetic sounds, I found that while reasonable this is where some improvements could be made. Some SFX for spells were rather generic as were several other 'interaction' type sounds (metal on metal, spell breaking etc.) Finally, we come to the massive --BUT-- in this category and that is the 'Fan club' and their songs, this diegetic 'sound-track' (if I dare call it that) truly makes one wish they were deaf and I almost died from a cringe-induced cardiac arrest. Luckily, if you're not someone who enjoys non-idol cast members singing this only happens 3 times in the course of the show with the final time being a large step above the others as it's more pushed into the BGM and less focused upon. That being said, for my personal enjoyment of the show, I'm willing to mostly overlook this due to how well the non-diegetic sounds were mixed in and were able to modulate and change the feel of the scenes in addition to it only being egregiously bad 2 of 3 times.
Overall, did I enjoy the show? Yes, very much, as did my watch partner.
Do I recommend the show? Absolutely, especially for those that enjoy overpowered MCs. For those that don't like an OP MC then you're probably in the wrong place.
Is it a 'must-watch' or 'required viewing' show for everyone? Nah, no way, for people like myself it scratches an itch you didn't know you had but it's certainly not a show for everyone, especially not those looking for a deep plot or commentary on social or story themes.
PS: Score weighting here includes point removal for singing and will vary from personal rating.
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