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The Misfit of Demon King Academy II
Episode 5

by Richard Eisenbeis,

How would you rate episode 5 of
The Misfit of Demon King Academy II ?
Community score: 4.3

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Is there anything more badass than having a casual conversation while your enemies fruitlessly attempt to burn you alive?
While last week's episode gave us all the pieces to figure out what was going on (and the first few minutes of this episode put them together for anyone who didn't do so on their own), this episode is largely devoted to showing the extent of the problem and what Anos and his crew are going to do in the immediate future.

Misa, now controlled completely by her spirit half—i.e., the legend of Avos Dilhevia—is bringing about the pureblooded demon fantasy of an ethnic purge in Dilhade. Empowered by her, the purebloods are now able to drain the mana out of any mixed-race inhabitant of the nation. Moreover, the more one believes in Avos, the more they are influenced by Misa, to the point where fanatics are basically mind controlled by her. Worse still, those central to the legend of Avos Dilhevia, like the Seven Demon Elders, are forced into those roles regardless of their own wills.

That said, Misa does have one crucial weakness. The legend that empowers her also limits what she can do and what she has control of. Because of this, the biggest threat to Misa is Anos' sword Venuzdonoa. As it does not appear in either Anos or Avos' legends (because no one who saw it lived), it is not under Misa's control. And if the sword can kill the god of time, it shouldn't have any trouble dispatching a legend. Of course, the same goes for Anos himself as well, and thus begins a race for the sword where the winning side would have a marked advantage in the battle to come.

This episode also revisits a villain from the first season: Anos' teacher Emilia. When last we saw her, she made the mistake of trying to kill Anos' mother. Of course, as we see in this very episode, death is far too lax a punishment for any who dare to attack Anos' loved ones. Since Emilia was a fanatical pureblood supremacist, Anos not only killed her but also forcefully reincarnated her as a mixed-race demon—and even ensured she would continue to be reincarnated as one even if she killed herself.

As Avos' purge commences, Emilia is forced to learn the hard way that, even though retains the soul and mindset of a pureblood, no one with the same supremacist mindset she had will accept her as such. But that's only part of what makes her reject her past belief system. The other part is the fact that the one person willing to help her as she's being drained of her life force is the woman she tried to kill—Anos' mother. In the face of such pure kindness, even Emilia is willing to risk her life and take a hit to protect her.

And just as Anos punishes those who attack his family, he rewards those who protect them—even Emilia. He even agrees to give her back her old body and let her join Misa's side, if that is what she truly wants. But while Emilia longs for the life she once had, she now knows it was a delusion. Not only was her past stance foolish and cruel but it was built on a lie. Having seen all that she has, Emilia knows deep down that Anos is the Demon King of Tyranny reborn. And now, trapped in a body not her own, unable to be reborn with a fresh slate, and unable to even see the world as she once did, Emilia must not only come to terms with her circumstances but also find a new reason for living. But luckily for her, being surrounded by kind and optimistic people like Anos' mother and father might just be the perfect place for that.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• It's great to see that Anos just basically says “don't worry, we'll figure it out” and everyone immediately calms down and becomes optimistic. That is exactly the level of trust they should have in him after everything that has happened so far.

• Dark Kings Eges Code and Kaihilam Jiste started as this season's villains but they are now Anos' most likely allies. They were blackmailed into helping the Spirit King (and have no love for him or Misa) and were known to be Anos' reluctant allies in the war rather than his subjects 2000 years ago—meaning the Avos mind control should have no effect on them.

• Here's my wild theory: Venuzdonoa is no longer in the capitol. When Anos summoned Delsgade to the spirit realm to pass the test, I'm betting Shin snuck in and stole it.

• I think Shin trying to trap Anos in the spirit realm was an attempt to keep both Anos and his daughter alive and safe. I mean, if they can't encounter one another, they can't fight, after all.

• I wonder who controls Delsgade should a fight break out—Anos or Misa? Either way, since Misha can make her own Delsgade, I'm not too worried for our heroes.

• It was nice to see that the general from last season and some of his men were able to resist the mind control since they recognized Avos as the true Demon King in the final battle last season.

• I'm always brought back to that scene in the first season where Misha and Sasha are asked if they believe that Anos is the Demon King of Tyranny reborn and they respond that “belief” has nothing to do with it—he simply is. It's no surprise that Misa's mind control doesn't even phase them.

• The interesting thing about Misa is that her non-spirit half 100% believes that Anos is the real Demon King and Avos isn't. I'd be shocked if that doesn't play a large role in a future episode.

• I have a feeling that what we're seeing is only a part of the gods' plot—Misa is in no way their endgame.

• If the title of the next episode is anything to go by, it looks like we're set to learn about Shin and Reno's post-Anos lives—and hopefully discover how Leena connects to everything.

The Misfit of Demon King Academy II is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Richard is an anime and video game journalist with over a decade of experience living and working in Japan. For more of his writings, check out his Twitter and blog.



Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.


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