The Fall 2024 Anime Preview Guide

Demon Lord 2099

Fused Era Year 2099—Shinjuku. The dazzling prosperity of this massive city-state conceals a lurid darkness just beneath its surface. It is here—in this megalopolis that represents the pinnacle of human development—where the legendary Demon Lord Veltol makes his second coming. To rule this brave new world, he will have to take hold of the future for himself.

Demon Lord 2099 is based on the light novel series by Daigo Murasaki with illustrations by Kureta. The anime series is streaming on Crunchyroll on Saturdays.

Demon Lord 2099 was one of the trailers that caught me off-guard during this season's Trailer Watch Party. What looked like yet another riff on the usual demon lord reincarnation gimmick actually seemed to be infused with comedy as we watch Demon Lord Vetol Velvet Velsvalt resurrection go awry. It seems to be playing in a similar pool as The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, except the current world is a cyberpunk fusion of modern Japan and Vetol's magic-fueled origin world.

To enjoy Demon Lord 2099 properly, you have to realize that it is not taking itself seriously. In one beat, the villain can monologue about betraying Vetol to become the de facto "Demon Lord" of this world, and in the next, his assistant proposes merchandising opportunities for their rabbit-like magitech mascot. While Vetol has barely gotten his wits about him in his new world, the key art suggests he will eventually adopt more of the "culture" (video games, UNIQLO t-shirts) as the series progresses. If the "plot" takes a backseat for more fish-out-of-water shenanigans, I'm not complaining.

The key factor holding back Demon Lord 2099 is its workmanlike animation from J.C. Staff. Mid-shots of the complicated character designs can look only a few steps above rudimentary, and more exaggerated facial expressions could really sell the comedy better. The CG assets are worse, wherein one shot of a sci-fi skyscraper of stacked cubes looks like something out of Minecraft. Nothing is actively falling apart, but there are obvious places where the presentation could be improved.

I'll stick this one out for a few more episodes to see if it can sell the humor consistently, and hopefully, the animation can stay functional enough.