Devils and Realist Review
Warning: The following review may contain spoilers. If you wish not to know some events in the story, or simply don't wish to find out what happens in the series, please leave the page, since I don't want to damage a watching experience for you.
With that said, thank you, and onto the review:
Sometimes, there are shows where I've heard a lot about them, so I know what to expect when I watch them. There are other show I've seen before, but don't know enough of them, so I jump in without looking too closely at the plot. This series that I will be reviewing today was one I had no clue existed until I saw it one day on Anime News Network.
I was really interested in seeing it, but it was postponed for a few months due to other shows, and the fact that it wasn't available for legal streaming besides Crunchyroll. That is, until Sentai Filmworks licensed it, and it was up on Hulu. I was super ecstatic, and watched it nearly right away, give or take a few weeks.
In the end, this show was pretty good. The characters, mainly on the demon side, were pretty interesting, and it was very easy to get engaged on what was going on. There were some laugh out loud moments, and the show's more serious undertones came to light very well.
Although, it's not without its problems. Some episodes felt disjointed and odd, one story element is mentioned over and over again to the point of annoyance, the animation dips in quality in a couple of episodes, and the ending feels very choppy and awkward.
Let's begin our interesting tale, boys and girls:
Overall, I really liked William as a character. he did have some great moments, only made more great by his realist views. I also liked how he did believe in demons over time, rather than not believing in them at all. Though, whenever the demons asked him to choose them so that they could help someone, he always refused. XD
Dantalion's up next, And our first demon:
Dantalion is the Grand Duke of Hell, commander of the 36 armies, and is one of the candidates most likely to replace Lucifer as ruler. He is the 71st out of Solomon's 72 pillars, and is often followed by two bat familiars with one being white and the other black, Their names are Amon and Mamon, and they appear from time to time, and only once in their human forms.
Dantalion became a demon after making a contract with Lucifer, and is Lucifer's only contractee. This makes him the demon's descendant, and has enough power that could surpass the Four Kings. Although, he can only use a limited supply of it if he fights. When he transfers to William's school, he is known as Dantalion Huber, and participates in a lot of sports, which makes him popular in the jock crowd.
My opinion on Dantalion is mainly just a good one. While I do like his character overall, and he does have some good traits, he seems just a tad bit stereotypical to me. I think we've seen at least a couple characters that have had the same personality as Dantalion, though without the demon lineage of course. I wasn't attached, or as interested in him as the other 2 main demon candidates.
Onto Sytry now:
The funny thing is, I was trying to find this somewhere in the anime series since I saw it on the back of Sentai Filmwork's DVD. However, I couldn't find it. Oh well, at least I found the picture. :3
Sytry is a fallen angel, which makes him a pure blooded demon, and is Solomon's 12th pillar. As well as being a viscount, he is the candidate to become the successor to Hell's throne by Baalberith, another one of the 4 Kings of Hell. There are possibly some incest things going on between the two, maybe. If Episodes 7 and 11 did show that a bit, but moving on.
Sytry is a very effeminate character, which means he has some feminine features. While attending William's school, he goes under the name Sytry Cartwright, and even has his own fan club! While there, he mainly eats candy, and does manage to dress up during the school's culture festival in Episode 10.
If you haven't guessed already, Sytry is my favorite character from this show! I don't know why I was suddenly attracted to him, but I guess it's because of his charm. Though I would have liked to see him do more, I still found the mood improving whenever he was on screen, and I honestly like his personality.
Camio's the last main character we need to talk about:
Camio has a couple of qualities different to the other main candidates to the throne. The first thing is that he has some backstory involving one of the dorm leaders at the school. Secondly, he isn't as impatient as Dantalion and Sytry to be William's Elector. In fact, he never really asks him about it. nor threatens him either with the deals of "saving someone if you choose me." like I mentioned in William's section.
Anywho, Camio is Solomon's 53rd pillar, and is half-demon, as he was born from a human mother. Thus, he actually has secret powers that could eventually surpass that of the Four Kings. He is the candidate of Beelzebub to become Hell's new ruler. His human appearance and name also are the least suspicious out of all the demons, going under Nathan Caxton. He is the head boy, which means responsibility,
Overall, I liked how Camio got a little development in his past. Sure Dantalion and Sytry got a little with Solomon too, but having Camio have a bit of development with someone important in the school just intrigued me. It's kind of sad that some of the other characters don't get as much development, as some of them do seem interesting.
The other characters in this anime include William's friend who is obsessed with demons, and he also helps him out from time to time. His father is also the founder of a famous tea company, and unlike William, he isn't the best person in school. Other demons include Gilles de Rais, my favorite side demon who also gets a backstory, various other demons, the 3 left of the 4 Kings (Baalberith is stereotypical and nothing special, Beelzebub is used for comedy purposes mainly, and Samael just appears at the end). We also have Michael and Kevin, William's steward who becomes a priest at the school, and is actually the angel Uriel. For more sides, we have Dantalion and Sytry's butlers, other prefect, another priest who is actually an exorcist, and the dorm mother who had the backstory with Camio that I mentioned earlier. And our last 2 are just side angels: one under Uriel's command, and the other related to Gilles de Rais.
Overall, this series has some good animation. I didn't say incredible or amazing, because it does has its faults. Some facial expressions have the tendency to look very odd and deformed, and at various point, black lines are visible around the characters, much like that screen-cap from my Highschool DXD New review (1-6). The main example is from episode 3, after Sytry is knocked down from one of Ernest's attacks. As he lands into a pillar, you can see thick black lines around his hair, and the animation looks slightly deformed.
Regardless though, there still are great moments in the show, especially when Sytry and Baalberith have conversations in Episodes 7 and 11. The lighting is fantastic, and it just looks very polished.
This show was surprisingly pretty good. I wasn't expecting anything worth of a masterpiece, but I was still bracing myself for something entertaining. Good news is that the show manages to pull through with that, despite its problems.
I'm not expecting a second season anytime soon, and that ending proves my point. So perhaps I'll start the manga?
Score: 7.5/10
Positives:
Fascinating story.
Good main characters.
For the most part, great animation.
Engaging.
Some voice work is awesome, but mostly okay.
Fun moments.
Negatives:
Some characters do nothing.
Elector plot point brought up too many times.
Final episodes feel rushed and cluttered.
Forgettable score.
Sometimes, there are shows where I've heard a lot about them, so I know what to expect when I watch them. There are other show I've seen before, but don't know enough of them, so I jump in without looking too closely at the plot. This series that I will be reviewing today was one I had no clue existed until I saw it one day on Anime News Network.
I was really interested in seeing it, but it was postponed for a few months due to other shows, and the fact that it wasn't available for legal streaming besides Crunchyroll. That is, until Sentai Filmworks licensed it, and it was up on Hulu. I was super ecstatic, and watched it nearly right away, give or take a few weeks.
In the end, this show was pretty good. The characters, mainly on the demon side, were pretty interesting, and it was very easy to get engaged on what was going on. There were some laugh out loud moments, and the show's more serious undertones came to light very well.
Although, it's not without its problems. Some episodes felt disjointed and odd, one story element is mentioned over and over again to the point of annoyance, the animation dips in quality in a couple of episodes, and the ending feels very choppy and awkward.
Let's begin our interesting tale, boys and girls:
Story
Much like Black Butler, this series takes place in the 19th century, though it's never specified when. William Twining, a young genius scholar from the famous Twining family, discovers that his family is unable to pay his tuition due to going bankrupt. Add this to more trouble when he heads back to his mansion and accidentally summons a demon in his basement. This demon, named Dantallion, reveals to William that he is in fact the Elector, which is the person who can choose the interim ruler over Hell, as Lucifer is in a deep sleep. He is also a descendant of King Solomon, who has powers over the demons who were his 72 pillars, Dantallion being one of them.
Due to William being a realist, he doesn't believe in demons, and outright refuses to become involved. However, besides Dantallion, two other demons pop up at William's school, wondering who will be chosen as Hell's temporary ruler. Meanwhile, back in Hell, and don't forget Heaven, more powerful rulers find out about William, and of his heritage, and plot many ways to use him or claim him for their own. Pretty soon, problems abound, as now William is stuck between the war of Heaven and Hell!
So yeah, this story isn't too cluttered or confusing. It's pretty easy to get into, and in the beginning, it's actually quite good. However, don't expect the story to remain this way, as it does manage to falter due to problems.
One of the things that the characters LOVE to remind you of constantly is how William is the Elector. And that's fine, as it is a main plot point. But what about having it reminded to you ad nauseum?
Yeah, that's what happens. It's as if this show still thinks you don't know about this, so it reminds you about 5 to 10 times each episode, especially later on. Not only does this get annoying, but it does dwindle the enjoyment just a little bit.
There's also the final 2 episodes which are my least favorite out of the series. The high ranking demons decide to bring William to Hell in order to protect him. During a argument, a ring that we've seen before that is claimed to be a Twining heirloom falls off of William's fingers, which is then recognized by the demons as Solomon's Ring of Wisdom. When William re-applies to his finger, it causes Solomon's soul to awkward from the ring, and it possesses William.
Huh, I believe we've seen William putting on the ring before and nothing happening, thank you very much. Add to the fact of Solomon's power being OH SO MAJESTIC that no demon can overcome it, Solomon forgetting that Dantallion exists for added melodrama, and Lucifer coming out of his deep sleep. Yeah, this is such a great finale for sure!
Yeah, these final 2 episodes feel so disappointing compared to the series overall, it's pretty sad. But let's not forget the yaoi undertones! I actually kind of liked them (I have a weakness for yaoi anyways, so that's why) and they didn't take away the main plot from the series, which was nice,
I'm going to move on to the characters now.
William is the modern day reincarnation of King Solomon, though unaware of this. While being the orphaned son of a noble British family, he is also highly intelligent. He has been at the top of his class for 3 years straight, and is also considered a prefect (yes, that term does exist). Through his family bankruptcy, he still has dreams of being able to produce more high class behavior in his school and for his future, though being still concerned about his tuition.Due to William being a realist, he doesn't believe in demons, and outright refuses to become involved. However, besides Dantallion, two other demons pop up at William's school, wondering who will be chosen as Hell's temporary ruler. Meanwhile, back in Hell, and don't forget Heaven, more powerful rulers find out about William, and of his heritage, and plot many ways to use him or claim him for their own. Pretty soon, problems abound, as now William is stuck between the war of Heaven and Hell!
So yeah, this story isn't too cluttered or confusing. It's pretty easy to get into, and in the beginning, it's actually quite good. However, don't expect the story to remain this way, as it does manage to falter due to problems.
One of the things that the characters LOVE to remind you of constantly is how William is the Elector. And that's fine, as it is a main plot point. But what about having it reminded to you ad nauseum?
Yeah, that's what happens. It's as if this show still thinks you don't know about this, so it reminds you about 5 to 10 times each episode, especially later on. Not only does this get annoying, but it does dwindle the enjoyment just a little bit.
There's also the final 2 episodes which are my least favorite out of the series. The high ranking demons decide to bring William to Hell in order to protect him. During a argument, a ring that we've seen before that is claimed to be a Twining heirloom falls off of William's fingers, which is then recognized by the demons as Solomon's Ring of Wisdom. When William re-applies to his finger, it causes Solomon's soul to awkward from the ring, and it possesses William.
Huh, I believe we've seen William putting on the ring before and nothing happening, thank you very much. Add to the fact of Solomon's power being OH SO MAJESTIC that no demon can overcome it, Solomon forgetting that Dantallion exists for added melodrama, and Lucifer coming out of his deep sleep. Yeah, this is such a great finale for sure!
Yeah, these final 2 episodes feel so disappointing compared to the series overall, it's pretty sad. But let's not forget the yaoi undertones! I actually kind of liked them (I have a weakness for yaoi anyways, so that's why) and they didn't take away the main plot from the series, which was nice,
I'm going to move on to the characters now.
Characters
There's some pretty interesting characters, characters who are mainly in the supporting roles, characters who only appear once, and the characters who do jack squat. Mainly with the angel Micheal, as he only appears in 1 episode, and then goes back to Heaven to plot some more schemes. These scenes never really go forth anyways, so let's not talk about him.
First up, William:
Overall, I really liked William as a character. he did have some great moments, only made more great by his realist views. I also liked how he did believe in demons over time, rather than not believing in them at all. Though, whenever the demons asked him to choose them so that they could help someone, he always refused. XD
Dantalion's up next, And our first demon:
Dantalion is the Grand Duke of Hell, commander of the 36 armies, and is one of the candidates most likely to replace Lucifer as ruler. He is the 71st out of Solomon's 72 pillars, and is often followed by two bat familiars with one being white and the other black, Their names are Amon and Mamon, and they appear from time to time, and only once in their human forms.
Dantalion became a demon after making a contract with Lucifer, and is Lucifer's only contractee. This makes him the demon's descendant, and has enough power that could surpass the Four Kings. Although, he can only use a limited supply of it if he fights. When he transfers to William's school, he is known as Dantalion Huber, and participates in a lot of sports, which makes him popular in the jock crowd.
My opinion on Dantalion is mainly just a good one. While I do like his character overall, and he does have some good traits, he seems just a tad bit stereotypical to me. I think we've seen at least a couple characters that have had the same personality as Dantalion, though without the demon lineage of course. I wasn't attached, or as interested in him as the other 2 main demon candidates.
Onto Sytry now:
The funny thing is, I was trying to find this somewhere in the anime series since I saw it on the back of Sentai Filmwork's DVD. However, I couldn't find it. Oh well, at least I found the picture. :3
Sytry is a fallen angel, which makes him a pure blooded demon, and is Solomon's 12th pillar. As well as being a viscount, he is the candidate to become the successor to Hell's throne by Baalberith, another one of the 4 Kings of Hell. There are possibly some incest things going on between the two, maybe. If Episodes 7 and 11 did show that a bit, but moving on.
Sytry is a very effeminate character, which means he has some feminine features. While attending William's school, he goes under the name Sytry Cartwright, and even has his own fan club! While there, he mainly eats candy, and does manage to dress up during the school's culture festival in Episode 10.
If you haven't guessed already, Sytry is my favorite character from this show! I don't know why I was suddenly attracted to him, but I guess it's because of his charm. Though I would have liked to see him do more, I still found the mood improving whenever he was on screen, and I honestly like his personality.
Camio's the last main character we need to talk about:
Camio has a couple of qualities different to the other main candidates to the throne. The first thing is that he has some backstory involving one of the dorm leaders at the school. Secondly, he isn't as impatient as Dantalion and Sytry to be William's Elector. In fact, he never really asks him about it. nor threatens him either with the deals of "saving someone if you choose me." like I mentioned in William's section.
Anywho, Camio is Solomon's 53rd pillar, and is half-demon, as he was born from a human mother. Thus, he actually has secret powers that could eventually surpass that of the Four Kings. He is the candidate of Beelzebub to become Hell's new ruler. His human appearance and name also are the least suspicious out of all the demons, going under Nathan Caxton. He is the head boy, which means responsibility,
Overall, I liked how Camio got a little development in his past. Sure Dantalion and Sytry got a little with Solomon too, but having Camio have a bit of development with someone important in the school just intrigued me. It's kind of sad that some of the other characters don't get as much development, as some of them do seem interesting.
The other characters in this anime include William's friend who is obsessed with demons, and he also helps him out from time to time. His father is also the founder of a famous tea company, and unlike William, he isn't the best person in school. Other demons include Gilles de Rais, my favorite side demon who also gets a backstory, various other demons, the 3 left of the 4 Kings (Baalberith is stereotypical and nothing special, Beelzebub is used for comedy purposes mainly, and Samael just appears at the end). We also have Michael and Kevin, William's steward who becomes a priest at the school, and is actually the angel Uriel. For more sides, we have Dantalion and Sytry's butlers, other prefect, another priest who is actually an exorcist, and the dorm mother who had the backstory with Camio that I mentioned earlier. And our last 2 are just side angels: one under Uriel's command, and the other related to Gilles de Rais.
Animation
The animation for this series was produced by Dogakobo, who also produced the animation for series such as 11eyes, Majestic Prince, and one show currently airing this season known as Plastic Memories.
Overall, this series has some good animation. I didn't say incredible or amazing, because it does has its faults. Some facial expressions have the tendency to look very odd and deformed, and at various point, black lines are visible around the characters, much like that screen-cap from my Highschool DXD New review (1-6). The main example is from episode 3, after Sytry is knocked down from one of Ernest's attacks. As he lands into a pillar, you can see thick black lines around his hair, and the animation looks slightly deformed.
Regardless though, there still are great moments in the show, especially when Sytry and Baalberith have conversations in Episodes 7 and 11. The lighting is fantastic, and it just looks very polished.
Sound
The score for this anime was produced by Hiroshi Takaki, who has also composed the scores for the recent Pretty Cure series, starting with DokiDoki, and other shows such as Denki-Gai and AKB0048.
To be honest, I can't really remember the score from this series. Sure, there were some pieces that had something interesting about them, but the majority of the pieces weren't noticeable, and some are similar to others I've heard before.
Now onto the seiyuus' performances in this anime. For the most part, they're average. There are some good performances, but my favorite ones are from Takuma Terashima and Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, who both managed to show off some range!
Highlights go to Takuya Eguchi, Jun Fukuyama, Takuma Terashima, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Tetsuya Kakihara, Kousuke Toriumi, Sachi Kokuryu, Hiroki Yasumoto, Kensho Ono, Yu Kobayshi, and Mitsuki Saiga.
Now onto the seiyuus' performances in this anime. For the most part, they're average. There are some good performances, but my favorite ones are from Takuma Terashima and Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, who both managed to show off some range!
Highlights go to Takuya Eguchi, Jun Fukuyama, Takuma Terashima, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Tetsuya Kakihara, Kousuke Toriumi, Sachi Kokuryu, Hiroki Yasumoto, Kensho Ono, Yu Kobayshi, and Mitsuki Saiga.
Verdict
This show was surprisingly pretty good. I wasn't expecting anything worth of a masterpiece, but I was still bracing myself for something entertaining. Good news is that the show manages to pull through with that, despite its problems.
I'm not expecting a second season anytime soon, and that ending proves my point. So perhaps I'll start the manga?
Score: 7.5/10
Positives:
Fascinating story.
Good main characters.
For the most part, great animation.
Engaging.
Some voice work is awesome, but mostly okay.
Fun moments.
Negatives:
Some characters do nothing.
Elector plot point brought up too many times.
Final episodes feel rushed and cluttered.
Forgettable score.
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