Akira Ōno is a regular guy who works at a company that manages an online game. He often plays the game as his character “Maō” (Dark Lord). But one day, when he logs on, he is whisked into the game’s fantasy world as his character. There, he meets a one-legged girl, and begins his adventures alongside her. But as he is a powerful “Dark Lord,” various nations and holy maidens journey to defeat him, and he stirs up trouble everywhere he goes. – ANN
Streaming: Funimation
Episodes: 12
Source: Light Novel
Episode Summary: Akira is just about to shut down the server of the online game he manages. It’s been a good 15 years, but it’s time to move on. Just as the clock strikes midnight, Akira sees a flash of light. When he comes to he finds himself in another world, dressed suspiciously like his character Hakuto, the Demon Lord of legend.
He meets a little girl named Aku as she’s being chased by a demon. Hakuto’s skills are such that he makes short work of the beast. He sees Aku as a benefit to him – since she’s a local, she can help him navigate the landscape. He makes a try at finding a way back home; unfortunately the wishing shrine he finds is almost out of juice, and his wish to go home turns out to be invalid anyway. The shrine’s Idol does leave him with a frightening tool, however; a ring filled to the brim with evil power. After closing off some loose ends in Aku’s village, the two start making their way toward the capital.
Impressions: Readers will know that I’m not a huge fan of the isekai (“other world”) genre (or its relative, “trapped inside of a video game” a-la Sword Art Online or similar). What once was a vehicle for character growth has now become a way for characters to go on a power trip, whatever form that may take. That doesn’t necessarily mean the genre is bankrupt, but it takes something special for me to get interested and very little to put me off of something.
My disinterest doesn’t mean I can’t recognize relative quality levels between entries in the genre, however; even at the most rudimentary level there are some major distinguishing factors that I look out for. The first one is how tolerable the protagonist is. This usually ranges across a scale from “misogynist ass-hat” to “over-imaginative teenager” to “world-weary adult.” Akira/Hakuto (I’ll refer to him by his Demon Lord moniker going forward since it might get confusing otherwise) definitely falls into the latter category, considering that he’s gainfully employed in his “real” life and somewhat cynical about stories that mirror the exact plot he’s currently experiencing. While I’m a fan of adult characters, I feel as though his age doesn’t matter much here; the setting is otherworldly enough that experience with the environment is more of a factor than maturity. In any case, Hakuto passes as very tolerable at this point.
The second thing that I notice is how self-aware the property seems to be. It’s been a trend lately for isekai protagonists to reference the many tropes of the genre, and this series seems to be no exception. Hakuto comments sarcastically to himself that he ought to have read a few more light novels as “education,” and the next episode preview references the ubiquity of the very tropes that the first episode drew from freely and willingly. I think this approach can be funny, but it’s definitely no longer fresh; while I hate to be the person saying “if it’s been done to death, then why not just write in another genre?” I feel like I’d be exhausted writing in a popular genre in which my cynicism for it was leaking out through the mouths of my protagonists. In any case, this episode reveals its self-awareness throughout. Though it’s not a deciding factor, I don’t find it to be a positive attribute and wish these series would tone things down a bit.
The third and probably biggest factor for me relates to misogyny. Unfortunately, because so many recent entries in the genre build their stories around the power fantasies of their male protagonists, they often incorporate plot points, actions, and ideals that are specifically anti-woman. Whether that’s the “slave” trend that’s been horrifyingly common recently, or simply an overabundance of characters who are undermined via creepy, voyeuristic fanservice or sexualized violence, there are some issues built into the formula that don’t appeal to me in the slightest. This episode is refreshingly free of that kind of content, which is nice for a change. Looking at the cast list I have no illusions of this continuing; many if not most of the other characters I see pictured are cute girls and beautiful women, and that can sometimes indicate a propensity toward those kind of aforementioned problems. But Aku, the girl introduced during this episode, is treated relatively well as a character.
Mostly this series seems pretty average to me, and not something that I’d go out of my way to keep watching. I am sort of intrigued by some very brief imagery from the episode and from the series’ ED animation. Just as the clock is about to strike 12, and right before a bright light flashes, there’s a reflected image of some meteorites falling outside. I’m not sure if that’s meant to be literal, if it’s some indication of the magic transporting our protagonist to his other world adventure, or if it’s symbolic or something, but it caught my eye just enough to get me wondering.
While this story really isn’t to my taste, I think people who are fans of this genre could do much worse than this series. While it’s a little bit in love with its own snarkiness and self-awareness, it’s entertaining enough without straying into gross-out territory.
Pros: Manages to steer clear of nastier content. The protagonist is more decent than some.
Cons: It’s very self-aware about genre tropes, which has become overused.
Content Warning: Child abuse (rocks thrown at a child).
Grade: C