The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated!

Episode 9

Episode 9, “Saurva Can't Catch a Break…” is automatically the best because everyone's unlucky, utterly hapless demon Saurva is back, only to run into Jahy, her greatest foe. The episode starts with Saurva desperately trying to dodge the Dark Realm's second-biggest baddy… all while luxuriating with some expensive shampoo and soap, which Jahy immediately starts using without a lick of consideration. I suppose this makes up for my lack of bath-related content last episode, huh?

This is, of course, just the start of Saurva's unending streak of bad luck in episode 9, though we really don't spend much time after this with her. Instead, we follow Jahy as she, and I quote, goes to “[a] huge-ass store to buy a weapon to take down that magical girl!” It's also during this little vignette of sorts that we're treated to one of the best series of gags so far: Jahy attempting to not buy every single thing she finds in the local department store which… god, what a trial. It's like watching an animated version of myself walk through IKEA. I feel absolutely called out and I do not like it, though I do like Jahy.

If I had one complaint about this episode, it's that I want more Saurva content. I mentioned waaaaaaaaaaay back in episode 4 that Saurva was one of my favorite characters, and potentially the best girl, because she's just so relatably unlucky (who hasn't experienced the mundane bathroom misfortunes of slipping on soap and getting half your shampoo used before you even get a pump in?) and the actual pitiful character in the series. What we get of her in this episode is nice, but I think it's a bit misleading to name the episode “Saurva Can't Catch a Break…” when the bulk of the episode really is spent watching Jahy make a string of very poor purchase decisions.

All in all, episode 9 is a solid episode which, once again, demonstrates the simple fact that you can have a bath episode without a ton of boob nonsense and nudity gags thrown in. In fact, this bath episode feels like a regular trip to the bath house, albeit with a few jokes thrown in. I really feel like The Great Jahy is considerate in how it frames its largely female cast, and rather than just turning this show into sexy times with Jahy, it's leaning into the absurdity of a twenty-something demoness trying to survive on planet Earth.

So much of the joy of Jahy comes not from the overarching plot of “get Jahy back to the Dark Realm”, nor “get Jahy lots of mana crystals”, but from the show answering the question “What would a super cocky demoness do if they got yeeted to Earth, lost their abilities, and had to live like the rest of us?” The answer has been the past nine episodes, each of which has solidified Jahy as a millennial icon, an adult just floundering her way to the next point in her life, even if that point is something as fantastical as returning to the Dark Realm. Then again… I kind of want Jahy to continue her life here: maybe fully in her adult, actual form, but definitely with the community she's shaping in her new life as Earth's resident demoness.

I say it every week, but honestly, The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated! remains a really fun show. Come for the comedy, stay for the very relatable protagonist: it's all good, and now that your watchlist is open for Fall 2021, it's not too late to jump on the Team Jahy bandwagon!

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The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated! is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Mercedez is a JP-EN localization editor & proofreader/QA, pop culture critic, and a journalist who also writes for Anime Feminist, where she's a staff editor, and But Why Tho?. She's also a frequent guest on the AniFem Podcast, Chatty AF. When she's not writing, you can find her on her Twitter or on her Instagram where she's always up to something.