The Winter 2023 Anime Preview Guide

The Misfit of Demon King Academy II

Despite their appetite for destruction, even demon kings sometimes tire of all the blood and chaos. When Anoth reincarnates in the hopes of a more peaceful life, he ends up going to school with his descendants in his old castle 2,000 years later. But with magic on its last legs in this era, no one can assess Anoth's actual power.

The Misfit of Demon King Academy II is the second season of the TV anime based on Shu's light novel series and streams on Crunchyroll on Saturdays.

Richard Eisenbeis
Rating:

You know, despite reviewing every episode of the first season here on ANN and genuinely enjoying the series, I have to say I never expected a second season of The Misfit of Demon King Academy. After all, everything was tied up pretty well at the end of the season, with the false demon king's goals and true identity revealed—as well as those of the manipulative puppet master looking to take advantage of the chaos.

And while I'm happy that the show is back, I have to say that this wasn't a very good season premiere. Oh sure, we got some great scenes of Anos being Anos—i.e., an unstoppable badass that doesn't play by your rules even if you're a god—and many of the characters from the past arcs of the story make an appearance. We even get the continuation of Lay and Misa's relationship and a cute moment with Anos, Sasha, and Misha. It's because of all this that the episode scored as high as it does.

The problem is that the rest of the episode is kind of a hot mess. There is just so much thrown at us. Anos killing gods, Shin's relationship with the Queen of the Spirits, the search for a god-child capable of killing Anos, the class learning that Anos is the real Demon King reborn, the planning of a festival to announce Anos' rebirth to the world, and, finally, the Four Dark Kings and the rebellion against Anos' peaceful era... I mean, it's a lot to take in—especially with all the proper nouns and new characters introduced. Honestly, this feels like three episodes crammed into one.

In the end, I really hope this was either an isolated mistake or was done for the sole purpose of giving the rest of the second season room to breathe. Because if the rest of the episodes are this hectic, I'm afraid we'd have been better off with no second season at all.

Our boy Anos is back! Who else could kickstart the second season of his own show but casually murdering the God of All Creation not once but twice over the span of thousands of years, all without breaking a sweat? Indeed, the most basic pleasure of The Misfit of Demon King Academy is watching Anos lord over his opponents with completely earned smug satisfaction while he dismantles the elitist and bigoted world that he has been reborn into, which is very much intact. While he may have lost his original voice actor, Anos hasn't lost any of his ridiculous charm, which explains how his coterie of cute anime girl sidekicks seems to be ballooning to the size of a small moé army.

Speaking of “ballooning,” perhaps the one major drawback to this premiere is how bloated it can feel with all of its exposition. Between introducing (and then reintroducing) NousGalia, showing us the flashback to Anos' time as the actual Demon King, setting up the arrival of the Evil Royals, and giving some screentime to the many allies that Anos secured throughout last season, there isn't a whole lot of time for Misfit of Demon King Academy to do anything but breathlessly whisk us through as much setup and talky-talk as possible. Outside of the two (admittedly very satisfying) scenes of Anos killing NousGalia/Erdomaid DittiJohn, there isn't a lot of action or anything to break up all of the table-setting, either. I like the setting and plot details of Misfit just fine. Still, I think the show is at its best when it doesn't waste too much time pretending that it is telling an all-time great fantasy epic and instead lets us enjoy the spectacle of Anos overpowering and outthinking any idiot that dares to challenge him.

Still, it's nice to see all of the guys and gals of the Academy again, and all of these new baddies and their absolutely ridiculous names seem poised to provide a solid challenge for Anos and the crew to overcome. Like the last time this show was on the air, nobody will mistake Misfit of Demon King Academy for high art, but so far as shamelessly satisfying cartoon junk food goes, you could do far worse.

I want something very simple out of this show: to watch Anos Voldigoad pull off ridiculous feats with a deadpan voice and a distinct lack of panache. Not coincidentally, I am also here for him killing any gods who are about to impregnate women against their will, which makes the first three minutes of this episode remarkably satisfying. The Misfit of Demon King Academy is one of those stories that I shouldn't like on paper, but it is just so shameless in being exactly what it is that it's almost endearing, and the second season seems ready to pick up where the first one left off some time ago. It's also very nice that it does not waste time on recapping past events; season two jumps right in more or less where season one left off, trusting that we have either read the novels or rewatched the first season in the intervening years and therefore do not need to be brought up to speed. That, of course, means that this is absolutely not recommended for newcomers; if you want to experience Anos in all his ludicrous glory, you really need to have seen season one first. But if you've been waiting for him to spout more lines about how he wouldn't die even if you killed him, you're in luck because that seems exactly like what we're going to get.

The most significant development in this episode is that Anos is officially revealed as the demon king from 2,000 years ago. Not everyone wants to accept this, naturally, something Anos takes with his usual good graces (and a little bit of near murder), but with this established for the cast in general, that means that Anos and his believers can get right back down to the business of saving the world again. He's unequivocal that he has no interest in ruling at this point; he's just there to ensure that the world remains peaceful. That brings us to the second central plot point of the episode: somewhere within the Demon King Academy is his nemesis, the Child of God. If all of this sounds a little too biblical, I wouldn't worry too much; it's more that the story is taking terms out of Abrahamic religions and transferring them to its specific mythology. What's most alarming is that 2000 years ago, he told the woman he saved that gods don't just die, so the child lurking around may be more of an issue than anyone is anticipating.

Even though we jump right back into the story, this is set up for what's to come. The latest iteration of the war has started before Anos realizes what's going on, and his friends and followers are quickly in mortal danger. Sisters Sasha and Misha are probably the best off because they have been the closest with him, but it doesn't look like anyone's necessarily going to come out of this unscathed, so it's a good thing that Anos has that handy reviving spell. But even with the danger quickly building, Anos hasn't lost his swagger, and since I can't be the only one who's here for that, I think this is a very solid beginning.