Warning: Spoilers for The Strongest Magician in the Demon Lord’s Army Was a Human episode #1!
Summary
Crunchyroll’s decision to launchtheir summer lineupwithThe Strongest Magician in the Demon Lord’s Army Was a Humanwas a risk that has yet to prove skeptics otherwise. Of course, a lot can change after the first episode, but it would be disingenuous to say that no thought goes into how a season should begin or that the chosen entry doesn’t have any impact at all on how viewers feel, and the direction ofThe Strongest Magician in the Demon Lord’s Army Was a Humanisunderstandably worrisome to those who aren’t sold based on how the first episode ends.
The immediate appeal ofThe Strongest Magician in the Demon Lord’s Army Was a Humanis thatthe identity of the protagonist, Ike, can be discovered by the demon lordwho is the enemy of humanity. There’s a tense scene where the two actually meet for the first time to help underscore Ike’s unfortunate predicament, which effectively gets this message across. And yet, by the end of the episode,Ike is moved far away from those discerning eyesto a place where he’s in charge and those who work for him are nothing more than awed yes-men.
The focus is now on how he carries out his missionwith less of a chance of him being exposed. As mentioned earlier, a lot can change the next episode, but so far, it’s unsettling to have Crunchyroll begin with a series that’s marketed as a dark fantasy, which normally has an abundance of conflict, andhas solved it by the end of the first episode.
Based on the novel series by Ryousuke Hata; produced by Studio A-Cat
Ironically, a recent shojo anime actually explores this dark dynamic much more effectively, which is even more absurd when considering howThe Strongest Magician in the Demon Lord’s Army Was a Humanis a seinen, which are notoriously thought to be darker and more violent, especially when compared to shojo. Some might even be surprised by the fact that the human and non-human eponymous characters from the shojo in question,Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts, are betrothed, so a lot of the interactions are romantic in nature.
Regardless, the shojois very similar toThe Strongest Magician in the Demon Lord’s Army Was a Human.The king, Leonhart, poses as a full-fledged beast when he is in fact half-human, which could greatly damage his reputation, or worse, since his kingdom is at odds with humanity. Although he has successfully hidden his true identity for years, the fact that Leonhart decides to marry rather than slaughter his human sacrifice Sariphi constantly puts him under additional scrutiny from the entire world of beasts and demons.
That said, like Leonhart, Ike finds himself in the same predicament. A powerful female demon was first made aware that Ike is a human, and the latest addition is now a human female servant who serves Ike personally to help preserve his secret. The fact that the female demon, unlike Ike’s servant, can expose him at any time adds some tension, but so far, she is much too amused by his predicament and has gone out of her way to protect him. Moreover,she doesn’t seem to accompany Ike to his last-minute relocation.
Meanwhile, Sariphi sways Leonhart into being more benevolent and kind throughoutSacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts. A great deal of every episode involves Leonhart having to perpetually justify his benevolence to his subjects, increasing the suspicions of some of his harshest critics. The more nuanced situations even involve those who love their king and whose increased desire to overthrow his human princess (and possibly him by extension) is done in what they believe is in Leonhart’s best interests, even if his majesty might not share that opinion.
Even though all this can still happen inThe Strongest Magician in the Demon Lord’s Army Was a Human,the fact that the first episode already seemingly removed Ike from this type of nuanced scrutiny doesn’t quell the skeptical opinions of viewers who are already critical of this early direction in the series - and of the entire Crunchyroll summer season. Of course, the case can still be made otherwise since thethree-episode rule has indeed been proventime again. Regardless, like Leonhart himself, the fact thatThe Strongest Magician in the Demon Lord’s Army Was a Humanis the first anime of the season forCrunchyrollnaturally increases the scrutiny of and critique from everyone - and it doesn’t bode well.
