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Demon Lord, Retry! (TV).


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Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Wed Jul 03, 2019 1:35 am Reply with quote


Season 01: Demon Lord, Retry! (TV)
Season 02: Demon Lord, Retry! R (TV)

Source: Light Novel (ongoing @ 9 volumes, written by Kurone Kanzaki, illustrated by Kōji Ogata [1st edition], Makoto Iino [2nd edition])

Demographic: Seinen

Animation Studio:
Season 01: Ekachi Epilka
Season 02: Gekkō

Genres: action, adventure, fantasy

Themes: isekai

Plot Summary: Akira Ōno is a regular guy who works at a company that manages an online game. He often plays the game as his character "Maō" (Dark Lord). But one day, when he logs on, he is whisked into the game's fantasy world as his character. There, he meets a one-legged girl, and begins his adventures alongside her. But as he is a powerful "Dark Lord," various nations and holy maidens journey to defeat him, and he stirs up trouble everywhere he goes.

Air Date & Platform:
Season 01: July 3, 2019 (Wednesday)
Available on: Crunchyroll

Season 02: October 5, 2024 (Saturday)
Available on: Crunchyroll

Episode Count / Runtime:
Season 01: 12 episodes
Season 02: Pending

Total: 12 episodes

[EDIT: Fancy opener stuff added. -TK]
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15573
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Thu Jul 04, 2019 5:49 am Reply with quote
Episode 1

I guess that I liked the first episode, although I am having a bit of a hard time telling what exactly the tone is going to be like. What exactly his relationship is as playing the bad guy, how he may act, and why he might feel compelled to live up to it. Also, that is one of the weirdest mullets I have ever seen. The little girl is cute though, although a little overplayed that apparently she was so ostracized despite handling so much of their dirty tasks.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4157
PostPosted: Sun Jul 07, 2019 2:08 pm Reply with quote
Episode

A Light Novel isekai adaptation that points out that it's a typical isekai Light Novel plot? At this point, are Japanese people surprised when they log onto an online game and are not transported into the game or into another world?

Anyone else groan when the guy managed to obtain his "administrator privileges"? Notice that as the game designer, it could have taken an interesting approach as the guy takes apart the world from the inside out but since they just stop short of out and out creator cheat codes by doing "player character but with godly buffs"... which is sadly just the same as a "high" level player character....

I figured I'll stick around until the Bunny Girls... because anime Bunny girls are always a plus somehow... but I didn't even notice the girl was supposed to be one legged, I just thought her other boot was untied. Wait, the anime settles on "injured", whatever that means. Piggyback rides for the most part for now?
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Spastic Minnow
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Joined: 02 May 2006
Posts: 4630
Location: Gainesville, FL
PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2019 8:34 am Reply with quote
DuskyPredator wrote:
Episode 1

Also, that is one of the weirdest mullets I have ever seen.

truly Mullet Mao-sama, Re90's!
I'm sure I've seen "that one" before. As I kinda said in the preview guide talkback, I'm pretty sure I recognize it from a character from 90's superhero comics. It's very 90's Keith Giffen (minus the shoulder pads and pockets).

But I see nothing "good" coming from this show. Power fantasy and a an apparent cast of lolis.
..yet I keep watching them, something very diverting about this junkfood.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11588
PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 2:26 am Reply with quote
Animegomaniac wrote:
Anyone else groan when the guy managed to obtain his "administrator privileges"? Notice that as the game designer, it could have taken an interesting approach as the guy takes apart the world from the inside out

I think someone pointed out in the PVG that the world he is in is not the game world he created. He seems to be a character out of an urban dystopic fantasy, which explains his hair and clothes, and the speculation is that it was his character from that game that was intended to be summoned to this world, and he kinda got dragged along with it. This may also be why he's so overpowered. This system recognizes him as an administrator, but otherwise doesn't know how to deal with him. Hell, it apparently sees his cigarettes as a player character!

And who knows, maybe he will do some dismantling from the inside out.
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Spastic Minnow
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Joined: 02 May 2006
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 12, 2019 11:51 am Reply with quote
Yep, you gotta admit that Mullet Mao is really giving Isekai Cheat Magician a run for its money in the "generic crap isekai of the season" competition.

We get it, everybody loves you and your poodle cut! Demons don't stand a chance, girls and girly boys want to be with you... or be in you... or have you be in them... and men and fat ladies want to buy you drinks. And your soap is wicked awesome!

And when I start noticing crap art, you know you gotta be bad because I'm really very forgiving. Wasn't there a bit where he went full-halibut in this episode and had all of his facial features on one side of his flat face?
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
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Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Mon Aug 12, 2019 8:22 pm Reply with quote
Artistically speaking, this series is the bottom of the barrel. However, I've also found it to be silly fun and consistently more entertaining than ICM. (In fact, I'm only keeping up with the latter because Funi's site is blocked at work and CR's isn't, so I can watch it while eating lunch.)
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15573
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Wed Sep 18, 2019 11:53 pm Reply with quote
Episode 12 (finale)

Alright, I think that I oddly have a lot to talk about this show, despite seeming to be worth that.
Did I like it? Yeah, kind of enjoyed it.
Is it good? Probably not, not really what I would call a good show.
Does it have problems outside of something like quality? Yes, I think it does.

Firstly, my understanding is the main character, the avatar that he was forced into to be the titular demon lord, is some idea of being cool. Even if not who he is on the inside there is some idea that this is a cool person you can look up to a bit, and I find some problems with that. Outside of that awful haircut, which keeps making me think he has floppy dog ears, I have a problem with his smoking, something I can't imagine seeing as a problem for some years. Not the mere fact that he smokes, a trait obviously used to make him look cool, but how it is done kind of makes him feel like a douche, lighting up in situations that are kind of inappropriate. It didn't really hit me as hard that he keeps lighting up around a small child, and generally around other people that probably would not appreciate the second hand smoke if they knew its effects, but he literally does it in a restaurant with people eating. Clearly the trait is kind of shallow, since he seems to never even finish a cigarette, seemingly putting them out soon after lighting it, but there should be some understanding that these are not really the things that should be seen as acceptable.

The next problem I had, is kind of around the character Yukikaze, the character with the witch hat. Ironically most of the characters in this show are kind of so bland, that Yukikaze is one of the more interesting characters, on top of I think looking kind of cute. Yukikaze is cute, but they also happen to apparently be male, clearly be with the male equipment, along with being a big pervert, where they have to make sexual innuendoes and things sexually charged. I honestly have no problem with in concept such a character, ignoring that they are a little young, but the way the character is presented is as totally as a man despite the female design, who I think wants to trick men into sleeping with him to fill his ass or something. It kind of comes off as transphobic to try and say these boys are dressing up as girls, don't think of themselves as such, and trying to trick (straight) men into sticking it up the butt. It is like the definition portrayal of the slur of "trap", it is kind of problematic and I can only imagine will have people in the anime community continue to use the slur. And it feels like it could have been such an easy fix if the show stopped shoving a sign in saying "actually a man", and have Yukikaze keep their sexuality while calling themselves a girl/maiden (whatever), because that is the way they portray themselves. They even say something about wanting to get pregnant or something.

Maybe segueing into the main fetish this show seemed to have, butts. Especially with the holly maiden character who seems about as weird about it with how she gets spanked, and can't get enough of saying if he is after her butt again, or not happy about it. It having to be brought up even when he has the little girl, Aku, sitting on his lap. This mixed in with the girls being a bit too young, the holly maiden clearly an immature young teen, and a bit too much little girl worship of Aku. I don't have too much of a problem when things like fetishes can be done well, but the show was kind of more clumsy than it thought it was.

In general I think the show thought that it was smarter than it actually was. Thinking that it is so smart with things like having to put up appearances, changing persona, designed characters, and using modern sensibilities and invention. It kind of just feels like a lesser version of Overlord, which I also think never quite reached the levels it wanted to with its themes. Like how there is this plot of wanting to bring an influential women over to their side as to promote things like their bathhouse. Their plan seems to be that they show her soap, that could be readily available, and they force her through a gauntlet of different baths that sound kind of gimmicky, and she buys in. Rather than it feeling like they showed her the power of modern bathing technology, it just feels like they manipulated her into a scam of things that smell nice, and feel kind of nice after a few hours. Just an all too shallow sell of things that feel like gimmicks, where having smooth skin while rubbing oils on it would be enough.

This show is not alone these kind of problems, with the other current airing isekai anime being as bad in places or worse, such as trying too hard. Kind of feels like it would all have more impact if it felt like he logically convince others that there is a better way to do things. Not quite him telling the lord that she would get more "pocket money" if she let him do what he wants with her land and people. The bunny people kind of still kept as things with how they are perfect content with saying rabbit tics, rather they not being happy about how they were treated as lesser, or him wanting to correct their perception of themselves. The same with Aku, who I think thought that she had become the (maybe even sexual) slave of the demon lord, without question. I think that it tried in places, but I don't think it reached a respectful level.

Anyway, I give a rating of Decent (6/10), I didn't really lose my time with it, but I would hope it could have done a lot better. It's to be continued bit, does kind of look like it plans to release more.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11588
PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2019 10:18 pm Reply with quote
Aah, I have a nostalgic soft spot for mullets, so I like his character design, even if I'm alone in this. Smile

There have been a lot of anime this season with protagonists or other characters that smoke. I wonder if they and/or mangaka are being paid under the table to include it. But given the retro feel of this character, it doesn't feel out of place for him.

I'm not going to list everything wrong with this or I'd be here all day. But I actually did like his father-daughter relationship with Aku, which still felt mostly ok to me in spite of the framing of it sometimes as quasi-sexual. Maoh himself clearly never saw her that way, so I didn't either. As for every other female character, including the transgirl, oy. :/

But overall, I didn't hate watching it. Looks like the new Hero guy at the end is someone he recognizes from the other game? By the time they do another season, I'll have forgotten what was going on here.
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15573
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Mon Sep 23, 2019 1:01 am Reply with quote
Gina Szanboti wrote:
I'm not going to list everything wrong with this or I'd be here all day. But I actually did like his father-daughter relationship with Aku, which still felt mostly ok to me in spite of the framing of it sometimes as quasi-sexual. Maoh himself clearly never saw her that way, so I didn't either. As for every other female character, including the transgirl, oy. :/

I think that it was better than what If It's for My Daughter, I'd Even Defeat a Demon Lord did with its little girl character. That one tried to be more wholesome by not really having anything sexual, but kind of got creepy in places where how clingy (touchy maybe) the father character got, and the framing of the girl's feelings for him. Also trying too hard to be cute, while really there should not be much to do that. All the outfits changes in "For my daughter" were weaker compared to the scene, where in here he did not understand the value of money and she ended up overdressed in a princess like outfit, as a stark difference to her previous poverty.

In terms of Isekai, I do think that it has been better than the Cheat one and the Mother one, one being one of the most generic isekai that I have ever seen, and the other I would kind of lean on wasting potential and not having any dang nuance. Arifureta maybe beating it, but that felt it was trying much harder to be edgy.
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SomeHero



Joined: 29 May 2018
Posts: 53
PostPosted: Tue Oct 01, 2019 5:11 am Reply with quote
You absolote Right About this Season Isekai Stuff. Mom: to Bossy and Controlling and such, and almost all Charakters were so - so ( i had a Little Crush on Wise, the not so wise Redhead) but at the end even Mune (Melty) seems like an more Interesting Charakter, even if she was Insane. Arifureta: was both dark and funny, but then they overdoing it with ,he, lets throw another Girl at him`. Not to mention some confusing Skips in the Plot. Cheat Magican: was an waste of Time. The only interesting Things in it where Myura (and maybe Airi)
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smurky turkey



Joined: 30 Jan 2022
Posts: 2635
PostPosted: Sat Sep 28, 2024 11:26 am Reply with quote
Huh, that was a weird first episode. At least, I think it was episode 1? I am a bit confused since the episode is almost entirely a recap/repeat of some of the first season yet slightly different regarding some details. The episode ended with a summary of the latter events of the first season so I guess episode 2 will be all new stuff.

Anyway, the first season was a guilty pleasure so I will watch the second one though the animation is not all that great. The music is also a tad loud in comparison to the voice acting at times.
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minamikaze



Joined: 20 Jan 2008
Posts: 253
PostPosted: Sun Sep 29, 2024 4:17 pm Reply with quote
smurky turkey wrote:
Huh, that was a weird first episode. At least, I think it was episode 1? I am a bit confused since the episode is almost entirely a recap/repeat of some of the first season yet slightly different regarding some details. The episode ended with a summary of the latter events of the first season so I guess episode 2 will be all new stuff.

Yeah, when watching it, I was starting to think this was a remake of the first season instead of a continuation, until the awkward 60 second summary of the first season at the end. It looks like except for the main character, all of the returning characters have been recast, which is a little disappointing.
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BalmungHHQ



Joined: 11 Feb 2006
Posts: 444
PostPosted: Sun Sep 29, 2024 4:59 pm Reply with quote
Well, Demon Lord Retry R is based on the manga adaptation of the original, not the light novel (which is what the first anime was based on).

It's a weird situation where this is "Season 2", but it's not adapting the same thing as Season 1. So you'll have some slight differences in setting/presentation (probably part of why they did the recap, I imagine), and especially character designs. The LN and manga were both being made around the same time so a lot of characters have totally different interpretations between the two, from what I can tell. I'm guessing that's also probably why they recast everyone except the lead. They aren't entirely the "same characters" anymore, even if they still functionally play the same role in the story.

A very unique case of adaptation going on here.
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smurky turkey



Joined: 30 Jan 2022
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 05, 2024 12:01 pm Reply with quote
It really is a weird adaptation so far. In the first episode we had a different start to then get a repeat of the first or so episode of the previous season and we also got a quick summary at the end. One would expect the second episode to then continue on but instead it is also mostly a recap. This time it filled in the situation regarding the Saint sisters and some other stuff. The animation quality also took a bit of a dive.

So yeah, not sure what to expect right now.
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