Hataraku Maou-sama!!

Season 2 of a show that aired in 2013... oh boy...

There are a lot and I do mean A LOT of issues with this one. First of which is that it's being made by a different company. Studio 3Hz which seem to specialize in chibi girls with overly large and vacant eyes!

- Headache 1, animation and art style.

While the difference in the character's style is a bit of a shock you will get over it as the series progresses. The animation however is the main issue. Overly exaggerated responses all the time, very odd angles that make them seem almost alien, poorly choregraphed fight ... scenes, cheap and dated animation, still shots to cut costs. Sad part? This gets worse past episode three, it's a nose dive past that point...

- Headache 2, Characters.

Lets get one thing straight. These are not the characters you know from season one. Someone dug up their corpses and Weekend at Bernied them.

Emi and Chiho have a crush on Maou and get flustered around him? Well now it's full blown Middle schooler panic every time he breathes the same air as they do!

Shirou plays the housewife role and is very frugal? Petty cash is his one and only concern in life now.

Maou teased Emi now and again? Well, have him call her flat chested out of the blue in the first episode. Very in-character for someone who's personality is "mature and responsible".

Combine this with exaggerated responses, voice actors shrieking their lines to match the animation and you have something very unpleasant on screen.

-Headache 3, Plot.

Season King was Isekaied to our world and works in a MC parody.

Season two = try to summarize it. I dare you!

The focus seems to be on the romance angle. The studio is also trying to turn Alas Ramus into the next Anya from Spy x Family. Just pushing the "oh cute widdle kiddie" angle. Sadly the art style and animation make her seem creepy and unnatural so.... ew....

Because the focus is quite literally "shipping" the story as well as the interactions between the characters suffer.


Summery.

This was cheaply & poorly made. They were clearly hopping to cash on on the property's name. If you are a fan of either the old show or the manga this will hurt you. If not then... why watch something this bad?

For those who have started watching this and those who are planning to watch this, it is important that you know that the studio who made this season is different from White Fox which had made the first season. Which lead to the changes in the character designs.

Studio 3Hz is the studio which has made this season, it is a studio which has done only a hand full of animations most of which are average. Which is why i believe that they are not experienced enough to make this project.

In the MAL profile for this anime we can see that there are several ... producers involved but they are mostly related to music or audio services, even after that I feel that they did not properly use the money properly for this project or just didn't use it because they knew this series was popular and viewers would still watch it no matter what quality they presented.

Bad points:-

1) The character designs especially that of the female characters is too different from that of the first season. Which really took away the cuteness from the characters and makes them look like different charecters.

2) The opening song is not as good as the previous season (Personal Opinion) even after having so many music industries producing it.

3) I know that an anime can't put everything which is in the manga or light novel (LN )into animation but there were some dialogs and scenes in the manga and LN which they skipped out on which i fell would have made it better.

Good points:-

1) Voice Actors (VA), the VA have done an exemplary job, making the story funny as the first season.

2) Related to the first point the audio quality of the overall anime is good.

3) Reaction scenes , some of the reaction scenes they drew have made the story more enjoyable.

I am a big fan of the series and have re-watched it a few times and even read the Light Novel and Manga, I wanted to see how it would get adapted this season, but this season just did not meet up to my expectations especially after waiting for 9 years. I don't know how many will read this or how many will agree with it but to me it was bit of a disappointment and can only hope the quality will get slightly better in the upcoming episodes. for those who have watched the first season and are planning to watch the 2nd hope this review helps.

It’s been a season of long-awaited sequels, with Classroom of the Elite Season 2, and Overlord Season 4 coming back after 5 years and 4 years respectively, and for this show, IT HAS BEEN 9 WHOLE YEARS since Season 1. It’s great that highly respected titles in the anime community are making a comeback after years of waiting, and that might inspire future sequels to come, for shows like No Game No Life, or Land of the Lustrous for example.

The Devil is a Part-Timer was a top-tier isekai I watched perhaps a year ago for the first time. It had a solid premise, good comedy, ... and was animated by studio White Fox, a rather top-tier studio. When Season 2 was announced, and that there was a studio change, to Studio 3Hz, I was skeptical, but of course I’d give it a try. The character designs were certainly a step down from Season 1 (which already didn’t have the greatest designs), and with time, the animation degraded immensely. It wasn’t just the production that took a nosedive though, the plot did too, and it became quite the snoozefest at times.

My grading criteria: Story: /25 Art: /10 Music: /10 Characters: /20 Enjoyment /15 Thematic Execution /20

STORY: 7.5/25

Was this show always this slow and was it really a slice-of-life? There were a few interesting plot points to be explored, but they never really went to solid detail with them. There was the introduction of a new character, Alas=Ramus, who was the new Anya Forger of the season in her cuteness, but where she came from, and who she really is wasn’t really explored well. I remember that Season 1 at least had some fight scenes and villains, but in this season, there was barely anything going to advance the plot, a lot of meandering, random romance elements, and not enough mention of Heaven or Ente Isla to keep things intriguing. This was not the show I remember, I don’t remember it being this boring.

ART: 3/10

The character designs don’t really feel like designs you’d see in a fantasy anime, but more like designs you’d see in CGDCT or slice of life show. They also looked very flat and round at the same time, which was weird. The fight scenes were very disappointing, with a lot of still imagery and janky movement. The production continued to degrade with time, and even simple movements became very awkward.

MUSIC: 6.5/10

Not very stand-out at all, OP and ED were your sub-par songs, and the soundtrack was quite unnoticeable.

CHARACTERS: 7/20

The characters were very flat this season, with not much development whatsoever. There was a huge emphasis on romance (even between side characters), and that was quite insignificant and unnecessary. With a weak plot, the characters wouldn’t be very good either obviously, and none of them really added anything to the table this season.

ENJOYMENT: 6/15

Quite the snoozefest at times, considerably more boring than Season 1.

THEMATIC EXECUTION: 7.5/20

I mean, the comedy is still ok, but everything else, such as the romance and action themes were in the mud this season. It’s mostly the bad production that hurts how the themes were executed, but the plot has really degraded as well, and with that, you can’t expect the themes to be done right.

OVERALL: 37.5/100

A huge shame honestly, 9 long years, and this is what fans got. Should this season have been made in the first place? Yes and no. There’s some nostalgia to be had here, but not much more than that, and with the supposed bad LN ending that fans were talking about from what I heard, right now, this series is in the mud, and that’s just incredibly unfortunate.

*SAD NOISES INTENSIFIES.* (REPOST.)

The fans have been waiting for 9 and a half years for a sequel... in exchange for this? NOT WORTH! You done messed up, Studio 3Hz. Everything about the show screams poorly constructed, from overblown reactions to bizarre camera angles to malformed appearances to cheap animation. It felt like the show was made in the early 2010s. You know you've fucked up when the sequel to KanoKari outperforms you. It makes me wonder if S2 should have existed at all.

Let's start with the obvious downgrade in art style and animation. While the differences in the art styles of the characters are ... initially shocking, they will fade as the story progresses and you will grow accustomed to them. However, most people would agree that the biggest problem is the animation. Episode 4 marked the beginning of the animation's demise. The animation appeared to be melting in that episode, especially during the entire Gabriel confrontation sequence, as not only was the art style changed. This episode appeared to have been produced by amateurs who were thrown together at random, and the episode was completed simply to have something to show for it. The unfortunate part is that the art style and animation only get worse as the show progresses, and I'm too lazy to list every flaw and discrepancy I've noticed. In general, the show was extremely difficult to watch and felt like a chore.

This season has squandered the characters and stories established in S1, making them appear completely inferior and those that are classified as Made in China, essentially cheap and off-brand product marketed at a low cost, as one might say. Majority of the casts in S1 received no development and have had their personalities degraded. Take Shirou as an example. In S1, his persona was built up to be that of a housewife, with being good with household chores and handling funds, being thrifty and all, but now he's only concerned with pocket change, and has turned into a nagging granny who no one wants to listen to. The comedy is simply not working, the characters aren't as amusing, and all of the gimmicks have worn out. There is none of S1's charm or wit to be found. The characters spent the majority of their time babysitting a random child named Alas Ramus thrown into the mix. The show literally transitioned from a show about magical powers and actions to a slice of life and romcom. What's worse is that the entire ordeal surrounding Gabriel was left unresolved and a new problem has already emerged. It is like throwing random ingredients into a hotpot and expecting it to taste delicious. Furthermore, a new romance angle emerged from what had previously been a subpar love triangle angle among the main casts, leaving us viewers perplexed as to what exactly is going on in the show. How are we supposed to believe that Rika suddenly likes Shirou and has a huge crush on him? Like where did the romance even sprung up from? It was as if I were watching a teen romance written by someone who has no idea what love works. Honestly the entire season felt like a filler and setup for a sequel, a throwaway basically. The show's finale didn't help matters either, as it was too anticlimactic, leaving many questions unanswered.

The only thing I can say about the show that I like is the sound, with the VAs doing their jobs with the roles their characters play, and even then, I find them irritating with the way the show tries to portray and present their characters. The OP and ED are nice. You'll become more invested in them as the season progresses. The show's audio is the only winner, and everything else is a loser.

The trailer alone should have been a warning sign for what was to come this season and to skip the sequel, but I chose to stick with the show, and this is what I got in return. DISAPPOINTMENT and more DISAPPOINTMENT. I considered dropping the show several times during its run, but decided to endure what felt like an eternity of anguish.

If you've just finished S1 of the show and are thinking, "Hey, I want to watch S2 to learn more about the casts and the story to see what happens", I recommend you don't. You'll be thoroughly disappointed, just like the majority of people, and this is coming from someone who loved S1 and doesn't mind mediocre art and animation in S2. This anime had so much potential, but it was sadly wasted.

PERSONAL REQUEST: PLEASE REPLACE THE STUDIO IN CHARGE.

After so many years, it finally came back!!!!!! However, it was unfortunately not as good as everyone hoped. Unlike the first season, this time the anime likes to fall flat at times, and the comedy, in general, isn’t as enjoyable. It kind of feels like it can’t choose when to be serious or funny at the right times, which wasn’t an issue during season 1, so this anime being underwhelming was honestly a bit of a surprise. Other than that the main storyline this season just kind of wasn’t that interesting.
Art: 5
This was kind of a letdown. For an anime with this much hype, ... you would think the art would be a little better. For starters, the music really wasn’t that good this time around as I didn’t really enjoy the opening, ending, or ost. Then there's the new character designs and art in general, yes it's a cleaner art style, but it makes the characters seem blander. The worst part though is the animation. At times it just looked downright bad. I just expected it to be better overall.
Characters: 8
The one saving grace for this anime is the cast. If the main group didn’t mesh as well with each other as it does, then this anime would've been a lot worse. The characters are still really enjoyable to watch and we get some development on them throughout the season, but unfortunately, the comedic timing on a lot of the jokes just wasn’t that good which makes me downgrade the score a little.
Story: 5
I’ve got only one word to describe the story this season and it's boring. Unfortunately, the serious directions that this anime tries to take dont hit that well, and with the antagonists being kind of goofy when the jokes dont hit, the show just becomes uninteresting and bland to watch. I really wanted more from this anime, but I can only give it 6 Yesod shards out of 10.

Sequel announcements are exciting. 2022 in particular got a lot of sequels and further seasons of many beloved & hyped franchises. We got AoT S4P2, Made in Abyss S2, Kaguya S3, COTE S2, RaG S2 and we still have Mob S3 and MHA S6 to end the year with. It might be an exaggeration but, 2022 is definitely a year of sequels. But out of all these announcements, what I really was excited about was for Devil is a part-timer S2. When I completed S1 almost a year ago, I pretty much left all hope that this would never get a sequel and I was ... thrilled when it got announced. And I'm really glad this got a S2 but I can't help but be a bit disappointed, since the series kinda lost its charm it previously had.

A lot of subtle changes were missing. One of the best things in S1 is that it gives personality to the characters with some small movements. Like that one scene in S1, where Emi moves her eye in sarcasm when Mao asks Bell to work for MgRonalds while not recognising that Chiho's feelings for him, which is hilarious and her dead face that follows that scene is hilarious too. But this doesn't exist in S2. Instead they gave some extra thick plot to Chiho's big rack which was already big enough in S1. And there's this shiny egg effect on female characters that you would see normally in something like an ecchi anime. These small & subtle things make you wonder if you're still watching the same characters. Emi, Sadou, Ashiya & Rika, these are all working adults who were portrayed as such in S1, now they look more like high schoolers which is off putting. These aren't the only things that bothered me. In episode 3, Sadou & Emi were talking about Ente Esla stuff while standing next to a normal human, which is weird that she didn't at least react to it. I don't remember talking shit about generic fantasy stuff like demon lords, angels and isekai being normalised in this world. Though its ironically normalised in the community.

Now all this isn't meant to say that this season is bad. The new moe-ish comedy has its own charm and Studio 3Hz is doing their best to deliver the fun. The VAs were still doing their good job to bring back our favorite charismatic & funny "Sadou Mao" the MgRonald employee, "Yusa Emi" the call centre hero, "Ashiya" the housewife General and so are the rest. And I see no problems in pacing or story so far. I heard there's some dispute among LN fans that the ending isn't good or something. I don't know anything about it but hopefully, they'll rectify that... hopefully.

While a bit disappointed, I'm just glad we got the continuation we wanted.

What in the frickety frack happened. What in the scribbledydoodyloo happened? Please, if you enjoyed season 1 of this show, stay far, far away from this monstrosity. This review will contain a few spoilers but honestly, I doubt it matters because nothing makes sense anyway.

Where to even start? Probably the art style and animation. Considering it's been nine years since The Devil Is A Part Timer's original release, me and probably many others were hyped to see an updated art style, along with smoother animations. Instead we got, well... Whatever this was? The art style looks more simple that it used to, and the character ... designs were never very detailed to begin with. It feels like I'm watching a children's show. Especially when the baby (is she a baby? or like a toddler? who knows, not me) gets introduced - I know children have a bigger head and all, but this child's head is about as big as Emi's entire upper body. I also feel like Ashiya took a big hit especially. Somehow the combination of his hair, face and posture in the new art style did him so dirty. He always just looks like a long noodle with eyes at any place except where they're supposed to be (okay, I might be exaggerating a bit there, but just believe me when I say this season is not a good look for him). Also - and we'll get to this once I start talking about the animation - clearly there was either no budget or time to do proper drawing. Why are their eyes so far apart in some frames? Why are the proportions so weird in others? Help, get me out of here.

However, if you consider the art to be bad, then the animation is very very very very very bad. I cannot tell you the amount of times I've taken a video of an animation in this series and sent it to friends just so they can laugh at me for still continuing to watch this dogpile shit of a series. Gabriel's head just completely changes size when he looks up a little?? Characters shaking is just them moving back and forth in a frame?? I'm so lost. I don't even know how to explain how bad it looks. Weird angles make the characters' faces just completely deformed and all their movements look like they've peed themselves and are trying to hide it. The fights (there are like, what, 3 in total? are painful to watch. Sometimes animations just completely get skipped; when Chiho sees something on the tv and then passes out, we don't even get to see her pass out. We literally see her react to the tv, and then we cut to her already unconsciously lying against the back of the couch in an awkward position. I just really cannot convey how bad the animation is for a 2022 anime with such a big name attached to it.

But, season 1 did a good job with the story, right? It was funny, had intriguing characters and a good plot, right? Season 2 is based on the same material so the story must still be good, right? Right...? Yeah no. Episode 12 is called 'The Devil and the Hero Focus on What's Happening Right Now' and I think the fact that they only start to focus on what's happening in the last episode pretty much sums this series up. Sure, there is somewhat of a plot, but it is executed so poorly that it becomes impossible to follow at some point. Who is trying to fight who? Is Olba still involved and if yes, how? What are the stones of Yesod or whatever they're called? Maybe these questions are actually easy to answer if you really tried, but at least for me this series failed to make me give a shit. Not only did I not care for the plotline, the comedy that made The Devil Is A Part Timer's first season so good has vanished. The jokes are still good in theory, but they don't land. It feels like while the first season was targeted at an audience that has some experience in part-time jobs or are at least in the age range to understand why it's funny to see the Devil work at the McDonalds, the second season was aimed at 5-year olds. The jokes were executed as if they were trying to copy the Teletubbies.

It probably doesn't help that the most important new character that gets introduced this season is a literal toddler. She is called Alus Ramus (that is her entire first name and dear god, does it get annoying at some point - imagine a supposedly epic moment where they have to yell out that whole-ass name? (Okay I've started nit-picking now but I assure you that this name is too long for its own good)). It got a chuckle out of me when she first appeared, but it didn't take long for her to become the most frustrating aspect of the series. She's never funny and I don't understand what the appeal is supposed to be. It is also impossible to tell how old/smart Alus Ramus is, because sometimes she barely knows words yet, but at other times she seems to grasp the situation perfectly and tell the gang what she thinks they should do.
The other characters luckily haven't changed too much in their essence. They are a little one-dimensional, but I can't say that's much different from season 1 and it honestly doesn't bother me incredibly. It would be nice, however, to get a little more grasp on their motivations. Is Maou trying to take over Japan? Is he trying to go back to Ente Isla and take that over? Does he just want to live a peaceful life in Japan? The question gets brought up several times, but is never properly answered for as far as I could tell.

The only redeeming quality for season 2 is really its sound. The voice-actors from season 1 reprised their roles in season 2, and thank the lord for that. They all did a great job and were the one thing that kept some emotion in the series. Though it did make the disparity between their skills and the awful animation even worse. The openings and endings were, well, decent - not much more to say about them than that.

All in all, it's sad to see a fun series like The Devil Is A Part-timer turn into this crap. Especially when fans have been waiting this long for its return. Unless you're a completionist that can't stop themselves like myself, I'd really recommend staying away from this one. Sorry to all the season 2 fans out there.

Is there a season 3 coming up? Yes. Is it likely to be better than season 2? No. Am I still gonna be watching it? Sigh. Yes.

Thank you for reading if you somehow made it to the end of this - have a good day :).

When The Devil is a Part-timer came out back in 2013 a lot of people loved it, mostly because they had never seen a reverse isekai before. It was otherwise nothing special, just another adaptation of a light novel and a 5/10 at best. For a decade many were constantly requesting another season, and were really excited when they finally heard it’s coming. No joke, they hyped the living hell out of this show before it came out. Then as soon as the first episode aired the entire community forgot its existence. How is that possible when they were so hyped up about it? It’s ... not because there were a lot of better shows for them to follow in the same season, because that’s what had happened with the first season as well (Attack on Titan came around the same time).

The answer is a lot funnier than that, it’s because what they were actually interested in was getting another season and not to actually watch another season. That’s what the mentality of always being hyped for more products leads you to. It’s not about liking the product. It’s about getting it and then be excited for more products. That it obviously not true for all products, as actually good series will be enjoyed by a lot of people. But in this case we don’t have a good show; we have yet another passable light novel adaptation.

And now for the actual problem with the show that has nothing to do with external stuff such as hype. The sequel is simply not as good as the first season. It had a different artstyle and alienated the older fans. Iit had a lower budget and drove away the newer fans. Its plot was dumber by including a comic relief baby that nobody liked. Its story moved away from the devil flipping burgers to whatever nonsense the author could come up with, which made the show to feel like any other plotless school comedy.

All that aside, the people who once liked it grew up, watched better reverse isekai during it decade of absence (let’s say, Recreators), and moved on with their lives. Even the most dedicated ones who bothered to read the ending of the novel found it to be terrible (mostly for the shipping not going the way they assumed) and also stopped caring about it.

So basically, everything was against this anime for not doing something better than the first season and the hype only enlarged the disappointment. Just another sequel that failed to live up to its expectations, the same way most sequels fail (One Punch Man season 2 anyone?). It was once again proven that there is no point in being hyped for what is to come, since it is almost certain that it will never going to be as good as you think it’s going to be. You should enjoy what you have now and in case there is more to come, you should have no expectations so you won’t be disappointed even if it’s worse, which it most likely going to be (hello there, Promised Neverland season 2). Screw being excited for stuff that haven’t come out yet, and screw theorycrafting regarding what you think will happen. The less you act like a monkey on heat, the more you will actually enjoy the final product.

This season was a huge disappointment. Hataraku season one was not a masterpiece by any means, but it was good at what it was trying to be. A nice mix of reverse Isekai, Slice of Life and a Mystery, all strung together by a charming cast, grounded humor and a wink of the creator.
Like this they were able to mask the problems and focus on the strong aspects of the show.


The problem with this season on the other hand is simple. Nearly every positive aspect of before is gone and replaced with a new negative one. Sadly this way, there is little left to ... hold the pre-existing demerits in check anymore, resulting in this disappointing product.
But let me explain it in a little more detail.



Anmation:
The very first thing you notice is the massive drop in animations quality and designs. Everything is very simplyfied, while the models are melting and limited to no animation is topping things off. It looks like a 10 year old Hentai and not a good one at that. Below average would be a compliment here.

Plot:
Out of thin air our heros get involved with a new plotline, that litterally materialized out of nothing and lands right infront of them. Introducing a ,,cute baby character" that just so happend to be related to 3 different main plotlines.
- One that comes out of nowhere and is completly irrelevat to the story
- The twist one that comes out of nowhere and isn´t expanded on
- The main one that comes out of the blue and isn´t explained
Even the Slice if Life episodes weren´t able to shine. With the mass of new, mostly pointless characters taking up screentime, the overload of established characters and annoying filler material, there is little place to place the fun part in.
On the surface it looks like something in season one would happen, but with no interconnection or heart in any of it.

Character:
The changes to the established characters were rather odd. At times it felt like the reactions were coming out of the wrong persons mouth, as if they simply had mistaken one for another. Or the emotions towards others amplified, but in an unexpected direction.
The stated motivation, background and their doing weren´t realy in line either.
It felt very off, more than once.

Humor:
Gone. None. Nada. Not a single joke or ,,funny situation" landed. Which isn´t great for a comedy.


Such a big waste of time and money. Do yourself a favor and skip this season. Just pretend the story ended in season one, that´s probably the best you can do.

The Devil is Running at 30fps.

Another finger on that cursed monkey paw curls after finally granting the anime community decade old wish for a second season of “The Devil is a Part-Timer”. We got it, but at what cost?

Well, the animation was the cost. It’s unavoidable to not notice the slightly stinky artwork and choppy animation by Studio 3Hz. From poorly animated fights to faces falling off models, the difference in quality compared to White Fox’s first season is almost deal-breaking.

Luckily though what it lacks in depth of artistry it manages to make up with charming characters. The voice actors still have it when ... it comes to performing their roles, especially Maou and Emi, and their impeccable comedic timing is still fun to watch. The introduction of Alas Ramus, the mysterious fruit baby and the fallout of her insisting that the Devil and the Hero are her mother and father was hilarious and perfectly sets up the season. I like how this affects Maou’s and Emi’s relationship too. Their complicated history and reluctant partnership are really interesting and I’m glad this season still builds upon it.
I’m not a fan of this season's main villain Gabriel, but I do wonder how much of my opinion of him is skewed because he always seems to be animated poorly. At the very least he’s mid-tier.

I can’t blame you if you were a fan of White Fox’s first season and after seeing this you dropped the show. I think it’s still a good show and the animation errors only really affected my enjoyment during fight scenes. They’re still the same loveable characters, just a bit less polished and with their eyes further apart.
I’m torn between giving this a 6 or 7, but I’m going to give it a very low:

7/10 Good-ish

Haiku review:

It has the same name
But all-wrong ingredients
Its flavor now gone

Prose review after five episodes (but it would take a Biblical miracle to pull this one out):

There was once a company called Bell and Howell. It was famous and had a sterling reputation. It made some of the best professional movie cameras ever. Before it was just Canon, in the U.S. it was Bell and Howell Canon. The company went out of business and now we see the name of Bell + Howell stuck on any piece of flimsy crap the just-this-side-of-swindlers want to sell.

There was once an anime called “The Devil Is a Part-Timer.” ... It was a brilliant parody of isekai even before isekai was a thing. Watch it today and it still carries the sparkle and hilarity it did when it was first released in 2013. It is a classic. Problem is, it ended in the wrong place, one episode after the logical season ending. No one knew why. Many of us hoped for a second season.

Now, as with Bell and Howell, the name has been acquired by some outfit that produced what could have been called “Scooby-Do is a Part-Timer,” though that would be an insult to Scooby-Do. This “sequel” has none of the charm, none of the excellent artwork and animation, none of the crisp acting of the original. The visuals are almost as if the Ex-Arm people made this monstrosity in 3D then flattened it to 2D. The faces are unblinking and expressionless or else anime cliché, with lip-flaps on vacantly staring fixed frames. There is no nuance of the sort that marked the original. “The Devil Is a Part-Timer” has been removed from this series in everything but name. Even Chi’s biganimetiddies have shrunk and the franchise manager has become a loquacious social worker instead of a character in a comedy.

The dub voice actors are terrible, possibly out of anguish over what they’ve been given to say. In the real “The Devil Is a Part-Timer,” I laughed continuously. Watching this sorry sequel, I cringed continuously and laughed not at all. The life has been sucked out of all the characters, and some new lifeless characters got introduced for no apparent reason.

This series is a huge disappointment. You can be forgiven for screwing up this badly only if your name is Anno. And he was working through his issues. Not that the people in this purported second season don’t have issues. They do, and they involve learning how to write, learning how to draw, learning how to animate and learning how to act. This is more “Squid Girl” than “The Devil Is a Part-Timer.” (Please, Lord, don’t let these people get their hands on “No Game, No Life”!)

Second seasons, even those that don’t take nine years to get released, have a pretty spotty history already. After a wonderful, legendary first season, KonoSuba got phoned in for the second season and two movies before finally recovering its dignity in the third movie. But this isn’t really a second season. It’s an inept imitation of what people who aren’t as good think would have been a second season had there been one. Even the memorable music has been replaced by some random unremarkable songs sung by random unremarkable anime singers, with immemorable OP and ED, though the latter makes a fan-art attempt to imitate that of the original season. For anime fans, “Yay! A second season!” is accompanied by a feeling in the pit of the stomach that there’s about an even chance that the second season will do nothing but disgrace the first season. That’s what happened here. A fine anime’s good name has been disgraced.

I gave it a 3 for nostalgic reasons. It deserves lower.

So shameful, as they say.

This season was kinda mid compared to last.

I will not bore you with the details, but realistically it was a letdown. There was way too much fight and devil scenes compared to the everyday life part.

Comedy was also hit or miss. Alus Ramus is amazing though and deserves most of the credit this season.

Animation is actually not too bad


OP still is quite bad
...
All in all super mediocre hopefully s3 is better


PS You should still watch this season since canonically it wont make since if you skip this season.

Characters are good they all had their own moments...
but yea that's really it
5/10
Thanks!
-CyanCheetah

TLDR; The story is fine, but the quality is really... really bad

While Hataraku Maou-sama is essentially a comedy anime, SS1 has real-good quality and solid fighting animation sequences. The show has a good balance of comedy and action blend, which is why people love it so much. After almost 10 years, it returned... just to disappoint everyone.

To be fair, I don't mind the new artistic style and understand the studio change. The new art has its charm also, if they do it right, some scenes are pretty good. However, oh boi, they ruined the anime. The overall art is sloppy and lacks detail, I can ... tell from EP4 that many faces are way off-model even in simple still scenes (not in-between).

The fighting scene is horrible... It's like the characters are just talking, not fighting. It only has beam shooting, simple slashing, and boring punching even in the last EP which is supposed to be the climax. There is no such excitement to be found here.

The problem is the budget and the studio is just a small outsourced one. If you check the end credit names, they're mostly Korean names. The people behind this are not passionate animators, they only finish it to get paid, which is... very sad. I don't want to blame the studio too much. The producer and harsh anime industry are to blame... honestly.

I gave 4/10 because it's below average.
I watch the show because the story and pacing are not that bad and I am a fan of Hikasa Youko and Touyama Nao voices.

I wouldn't consider dropping a show once it becomes a chore to watch. But I WILL drop it if it CONTINUES to feel like a chore to watch.

To be fair, I am tackling 5+ shows at the moment, and with every new episode release that I have to catch up with, I have to make decisions. Unfortunately, Hataraku Maou-sama S02 did not make that list.

I pretty binge watched Season 01 due to the Reddit hype revolving around Season 02. I found the show just okay.
But man, did Season 02 not hook me at all.

And I'm not sure who is coordinating the QC of ... these episodes, but there were more than one occasions where the animation absolutely tanks. It has been confirmed that these lesser episodes were outsourced. But all that tells me is that I should seriously feel bad for the animators, because the studio management is royally fucking them.

The characters are all great and the context of the show is... I guess interesting enough. But the stories have gotten pretty bland.

My lesson learned here is - Reddit very much tends to overhype shit and don't hop on the bandwagon just because "everyone else" likes it.

"Sorry, honey. Mama lost her courage for a minute."

-- the following is a discussion on how poor animation and misunderstanding can ruin something previously fun. very brief run through of events to illustrate bad pacing. reader discretion is advised. --

I've been late to the party for most recent anime events. I started my days with Sword Art Online around its release, but that's the only hype train I was apart of back then. In the years following, I frequently saw The Devil is a Part Timer shine brightly on Netflix pages and never gave it the time of day. I tried a few other shows ... and didn't really get gripped by the medium until last year, realizing how popular the original is. And, noticing that a second season was coming out, I gave it my time.

I really wish I didn't give the second season my time. It felt like Stockholm syndrome for the first few episodes. "It's not as good, but I don't understand why everyone else is complaining" was what I said to a friend those first few weeks. Then, it clicked.

Animation. My god, is it just oozing laziness out of every line. Characters are more like mannequins than actual living beings that the audience is supposed to feel something for. There's a close-up and someone is speaking. Yeah, it doesn't look great, but their mouth is in-sync so we've hit the lowest bar, great. The next frame has a different character speaking in a group shot, showing the other characters nearby. They have no life. They don't blink, they don't react, they simply exist to show that they're present for this dialogue. The entire frame was drawn once and each subsequent one in that scene has only the character speaking being altered. Even when there's a "lol funny reaction" expression, it takes a few seconds for the character to pump it out. A bunch of old animatronics that should've been sent in for maintenance, but have been left to rot for seven years. The action is brought down too with the all too common anime mishap of giant blasts of light and fights lasting mere moments - at least in the original there was a layer of comedy and stakes.

Misunderstanding. What made the original a lot of fun was character interaction between our two leads as well as the antics the entire cast found themselves in - light fish-out-of-water story with some serious beats lurking in the background. This season is way too convoluted and goes at a breakneck pace, leaving the fun behind. So much just 'happens' that we accept and move on to the next event in the blink of an eye. Hey we have every character acting as a shell of their former selves with their personalities boiled down to one or two aspects, whoa now there's a KID, raising them sure is hard (and we're her parents!??!?!), let's go to an amusement park, Emi's co-worker likes WHO!?!? (let's not talk more about that at all until the end of the season now please), another angel is here to kill us, oh he gave up but now MCRONALDS IS REMODLEING? HOW WILL WE MAKE MON-, oh a beach house to work at, hey that's a bird, the bird is now gone, let's work at Chi's family farm, another angel now, WAIT MY MOM!??!, let's buy a TV, it's over. What? Okay. That happened. Sure, maybe some comes from my inconsistency in keeping up, but binging a few episodes back to back I was surprised with the amount of stuff happening but also how... useless it all feels. I 'guess' Maou and Emi are closer now through Alas Ramus, but that's really the only development that happens and even THAT is insignificant - it doesn't feel different at all.

At least the original VAs came back, giving these robotic imitations some convincing material. I'm not actually against the idea of Alas Ramus, I think she's a decent addition that I at least can't recognize shortcomings with since she's brand new. I laughed a little, I think they're preying on nostalgia a bit too much with varying levels of success (ex: ED goes well, OP fails), and the episodes went by quickly.

I'm cheesed, this sucked.

Season 2 of The Devil is a Part Timer has been getting some pretty serious criticism from fans, and I think a lot of it is pretty deserved.

This season just lacks a lot of the charm the first one had, and that goes for almost every aspect of the show. The art style isn't bad, it just doesn't feel the same. The writing isn't bad, it just doesn't feel the same. The storylines aren't bad, they just don't feel the same. Etc.

The first season was carried by the absurdity of the the situation that the characters found themselves in. However, the honeymoon phase of that ... hilarious premise has long since worn off, and the show's inherent flaws have been on display as a result.

The comedy isn't landing as much, the characters aren't as funny, and all of the gimmicks have gotten pretty stale. The original wasn't all that great or anything, but it was a fun 13 episode anime. That's all it ever needed to be. I don't think this season really needed to exist.

It isn't completely awful, it's just pretty disappointing and uninteresting.

Some people have been waiting almost a decade for a sequel to The Devil Is A Part Timer and a lot of us feel the need to ask, how did it come to this? I normally wait until I am done watching all the episodes in a season before giving a review but I'm not confident the remaining episodes will change my mind much if at all so lets get into it.

Everything about this season is a major downgrade compared to the first season in 2013. The animation is a downgrade with a mediocre at best moe artstyle, the plot has downgraded from glorious comedy ... about Satan working in fast food to a generic romcom with isekai elements and the characters most of them get zero development from the first season and are downgraded personality wise.

Its truly a shame because its not in any top 10 lists for this Summer and no one talks about it. Even worse yet if you have the misfortune of being spoiled with the LN ending it makes you want to watch this season even less. S2 is not unwatchable levels of bad by any means but if you are going in to this season expecting the levels of comedy and expression from back in 2013 expect to wind up disappointed.

I like Hataraku Maou-sama first season and iam looking forward to seeing the second season but unfortunately I didn't like it. Because mc so weak in second season and main focused on emilly.character development is bad and new character entry is not satisfying this my first review so i hope you like it.I am writing this review specialy for mc is shown so weak.I don't know if you guys enjoy or not but I hate when mc is shown weak. Hataraku Maou-sama first season is well made but this is not my favorite. So guys what do you think about this ... anime please reply me.

Well, this felt like the series everyone was waiting for, doesn’t it? When I picked up this series recently, I had no clue this season was coming out, and after finding the first season as charming as I did, I was excited to see what came next for these characters. There certainly was—rather remarkably, considering the years between the first season and this one—the same, exact charm in this season as there was in the last, and because of that, I got to have a great time with these characters again. However, I do also feel like I was missing something this season, which is ... odd because, for all intents and purposes, it’s the same, silly, random series it’s always been. I suppose I was expecting a bit more to come from a second season than what did come from it.

I mean, there are certainly dynamics being explored with this season that hadn’t been explored before (the addition of a tiny, adorable child is proof enough of that), but in terms of what was going on the whole season—it felt a bit bland. I have to say, I didn’t think the first season of this series did terribly well with its balance of action versus the mundane, but I still found the more highly-paced sequences engaging enough to sustain my interest. To me, that was lost a bit this season, and the balance felt even more off. Now, that might just be preference in anime, so I think most people who loved the first season will love this one. Ultimately, I don’t think this series was meant to get entirely serious, so I can’t fault it for remaining a bit frivolous. Not everything was frivolous, mind you—I did see some good character development for certain characters that I thought was well done and did a lot to increase how connected I felt to the series and that particular person. I just wasn’t as engaged this season as I wanted to be. I think I’ll still end up coming back to this series, though, because, at the end of the day, it’s still super fun to see the ridiculousness of it all while hanging out with Satan and his friends.

tl;dr the sequel curse hit strong. lacks the charm and easy humor of the first season

Maybe it's just nostalgia but I swear I remember the first season being much funnier or at the very least much more noteworthy. And I mean from a content perspective it makes sense since by this point Maou & co are more adjusted to Japanese society, but it still means you don't get the same great reverse isekai laughs.

But honestly that's pretty minor compared to the extreme pacing issues. If it weren't for that I'd honestly have given it a 6 or higher. With a nicely sized group of ... core characters that are all quirky in their own ways without being too extra or annoying, the show still delivers an enjoyable experience overall with plenty of humorous moments. Hataraku Maou-sama!! starts out fine with the introduction of a mysterious new character who promises to be the catalyst for much of the action for the season, but then quickly becomes a token toon that sees little if any development at all throughout the disaster of a plot.

Instead, the viewer is given about 6 episodes worth of filler SOL of the MC doing some random part-time work that honestly could've been skipped with little impact on the story. Still, that would've been fine and dandy if it weren't framed on both sides by the other 6 episodes that feel like they belong in a different, more energetic and less SOL-esque show. The resulting show now feels rushed whenever the main plot is being advanced but slow and boring in the middle episodes when it isn't. It gets so bad that I was hardly able to follow the last episode at all.

I'd also like to mention that the tone of the show feels different. Season one was a more straightforward action/adventure anime. Season two feels more like a romcom with its strong emphasis on cute girls doing cute things. Still enjoyable sure, but for different reasons that fans of the first season may not appreciate.

Anyway, all that to say that if you watched season one and liked it you'll probably still enjoy this one. Just know that if you were looking for the same exact kind of enjoyment this will be a miss.