The Misfit of Demon King Academy

Episode 1-2

“In which our hero yeets a castle.”

Let's get this out of the way right at the start, The Misfit of Demon King Academy is a power fantasy to the nth degree. Even two episodes in, the pattern is clear to see: Someone foolishly challenges our reincarnated demon king, Anos, and he effortlessly curb stomps them into oblivion. No matter their plan or powers, it's like infants trying to fight a green beret. This is not an anime based around “will he win?” but “how will he win?” And if you're into this kind of setup, The Misfit of Demon King Academy is incredibly cathartic.

The first two episodes are designed to introduce our three main characters—and through them, the fantasy world.

Anos is the stereotypical RPG demon king. He unified the demonic forces and invaded the lands of the humans, gods, and spirits—forcing the three other races to unify against him. However, with time, he came to the conclusion that the war could not be won by either side—not without resorting to genocide, anyway. The hatred between the two sides was too great. Moreover, he was sure that even if the demons were wiped out, the humans would soon turn on the gods and spirits—before finally resorting to war amongst themselves.

So when the hero and his allies arrived for the final battle Arnos had a proposition: basically a 1000-year timeout where each race would be isolated—allowing time to wash away all the enmity. All it would take is all his magic power—and thus his life. Of course, being the greatest of demons, death would only be a temporary thing. Thus, the story as a whole takes place 2000 years later after his reincarnation.

After aging himself to young adulthood (surprising his parents), he finds himself invited to try out for a demon academy whose sole purpose is to find the reincarnated demon king. However, he soon finds out that the demons are far weaker than they were in his time—with only a single girl, Misha, even being strong enough to sense his power.

What's interesting about Anos is that, while he has no intention of hiding who he is or bowing down to those in power, he has no intention to rule. It's clear he is having fun in his second life in this now peaceful world—a peace he created. Likewise, he enjoys the novelty of having a true friend and two doting parents.

Strong to the point of being invincible, he has no need to worry about things. Even the very fact that his true name and personality seem to have been twisted in the eyes of history is nothing but a puzzle for him to explore at his leisure. And if people look down on him for being a “misfit” and can't see his true power, that's their own problem—though he'll rectify that mistake if pressed. But for the most part, he's perfectly happy to simply coast through his new school life.

Misha, while hundreds of times more powerful than most of her peers, is the black sheep of her pureblood demon family. Forced to wear a “non-pureblood” uniform and treated as nothing compared to her older sister, she is isolated to the extreme—well, except for the butler who basically treats her as his own daughter.

Of course, all this changes when she meets Anos—who finds the idea of purebloods laughable. Even when her sister, Sasha, reveals that Misha is a magically created doll of sorts, Anos doesn't care in the slightest. It's obvious that he is her first friend and that she treasures him.

What's interesting about Misha is that despite the unfairness of her life, she shows no resentment towards her family. Rather, she wishes to reconcile with her sister despite how horrible Sasha treats her publicly—hinting that they were close when they were young. And this is more than enough to get Anos to help out.

Which brings us to Sasha. If Misha is the calm and collected Kuudere, Sasha is the fiery Tsundere. She's the queen of the class and one of the most respected purebloods in the academy. But this is somewhat of a front. While she does care about protecting her family name, deep down, it appears she wants two things: to reconcile with her sister and to find someone equal to her. Thanks to Anos—and him chucking her castle in a war game—she is able to achieve both of these goals. However, it's clear that there is more to her story that will be explored in the coming weeks.

All in all, this is a great way to start the story. We get some solid world-building, set up the main mystery for the story—i.e., why Anos has been forgotten by history—and are introduced to a likable trio of main characters.

...And, most importantly, we get to watch a pompous ass get blown to pieces and resurrected over and over again—which is pretty much this series in a nutshell.

Rating:

Random Thoughts

• You know, maybe automating your tests without any kind of teacher supervision is a bad idea.

• Anos' parents have the perfect attitude for their situation. “Our boy grew up seconds after birth? Cool! He wants us to uproot our lives and move to the city to be with him? You got it! He's introducing his harem to us? I'll make the food!”

• I love how Misha sees all this crazy, long lost magic, and never questions it. It's not important to her. Only her friendship with Anos is.

• I wonder how Misha felt watching the two brothers kill each other—given how badly she wants to have a connection with her own sister.

• I like how Sasha discards her ego when faced with Anos' power. She doesn't splutter and bluster about things being “impossible,” she simply understands she is outmatched, and still has the guts to lead her troops in a final desperate attack.

• I also like how Sasha loses control of her eyes whenever emotionally pressed—it gives insight into her true thoughts.

• The magic contract thing seems very important to this series—which makes it all the more suspicious that Sasha made her contract with Misha and not Anos.

• It's fantastic how they never needed to explain creation magic with words. We see it in action when Anos and Misha are ambushed and then again when Misha makes three castles during the test.

• I wonder if origin magic being unable to harm the power source of that magic is an intentional callback to Slayers or just a coincidence.

The Misfit of Demon King Academy 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.