「神の授業」 (Kami no Jugyou)
“A Lesson by God”

Ahh Maou Gakuin, to say I’m a fan of this series would be a bit of an understatement as between deadpan comedy, solid characters, and half-decent story we got a first season adaptation which went above and beyond the usual light novel fantasy shtick. So how well does the dark horse of resurrection do a few years down the line? Pretty much as expected.

Given this is a sequel to the first Maou Gakuin recap and filler should not be expected and indeed that is what we got with this opener. In spades. You want an idea what this series is about, preview and the first season are there for all the information needed because I’m not going to spend much time on refreshers since this opener doesn’t either. Pretty much Anoth (Umehara Yuuichirou) is the demon king resurrected, a guy who proved himself through good old fashioned ass kicking and manly charm, and a man who thanks to the passage of time has learned to temper the more explosive parts of his nature as two cutie pies can more than attest. It’s not to say Anoth has completely forgotten who he is at heart, but there’s more than demonic shenanigans now at play under the surface of the overpowered super serious mystery man.

Of course for all Maou Gakuin remains the same it also, well, remains the same. While sequels of this sort always require a level of familiarity before viewing (thus the reason for lack of overview) this one admittedly took that to heart as we jumped straight into the latest arc involving children of gods, recalcitrant demon middle managers, and teachers again being more than they appear at first glance – all with the dual features of source material rushing and chopping that ubiquitously plague these sorts of adaptations. Even for me it was troublesome following along to the rapid pace of events and new/old character introductions here, showing unfortunately that this season will again be as much about marketing the source material as much as continuing the series for already loyal fans. Not to say it’s going to run off the rails right away obviously, but keeping expectations in check is definitely advised until a few more episodes are under our belts.

And as for more personal matters – i.e. the change in Anoth’s voice actor – so far there’s not much problem on that front. While Umehara Yuuichirou is no Suzuki Tatsuhisa, he certainly has the demeanor needed for the likes of Anoth, and at least in the serious moments thus far slots in nicely for viewer expectations. Given this VA switcheroo was always the main concern of this sequel the acting stability here is nice relief, and though we have yet to see how the more comedic moments play out with this change, so far I’m not seeing many problems when those bits come around. Considering how much this episode rushed through things I’ll take that as a win all things considered.

Overall while mostly in line with expectations, I cannot deny that Maou Gakuin’s second showing so far leaves a little to be desired. For all the fun of seeing its cast back on screen again, for all the satisfaction of knowing Anoth is set for another bout of deadpan hilarity, the pacing already present invites some concern that the fun of the first season may be lost in the chase for source material marketing and reaching a pre-defined cutoff. We’ll just have to see what the next few episodes bring to the table.

Preview