Why Aren’t You Watching…The Devil is a Part-Timer!

It was just another day binging on Neflix when I found a show, an anime show, which I surprisingly didn’t know. Some of this Deadly Diva’s favorite finds have come from clicking a random recommended show the streaming service of the moment. This is no exception.

Based on a light novel by Satoshi Wagahara with illustrations by the artist Oniku, The Devil is a Part Timer! is a comedy/slice of life anime, with a lovely supernatural twist. With a mere 13 episodes, it is a low time-investment, but well worth it.

The series opens in the middle of a battle of biblical proportions–and that is not hyperbole. The Devil,  who’s name is Sadao Maou, is trying to take over the world of Ente Isla. All is going well until the church’s hero, Emilia, launches a counter offensive, driving back the devil’s forces. Facing imminent defeat, the devil, with his general Alciel, escapes through a portal to modern day Tokyo while being chased by the hero.

Don’t get caught up here. The epic battle is not where the beauty of this series lies. The real beauty is watching The Devil, Alciel, and Emilia navigate a world without magic, and more importantly without any marketable skills to support himself and his plans to return to Ente Isla. In Tokyo, Sadao Maou is not the demon king that he was in Ente Isla. In Tokyo, he’s more of an “every man” archetype, taking a part-time job at a fast food restaurant called Mg Ronalds (yep they went there). We watch as The Devil deals with issues many of us do – living within a budget, frenemies, unrequited love, climbing the corporate ladder, and determining your own path in the world.

Alciel morphs from demonic general into the platonic heterosexual house-husband, Shiro Ashiya. Emilia, known in Tokyo as Emi Yusa, balances her never ending quest to destroy Sadao Maou with her blossoming career as a call center agent. Eventually, their mystics pasts come back to bite them in their mystics bums. Really, who would have thought that portals could be reopened and more enemies could come through? Luckily for Sadao Mao and Emilia, these new arrivals seem to have the same difficulties adjusting to magical life as they did.

So if you are looking for a few good laughs with a healthy amount of action and magic, The Devil is a Part-Timer! will deliver.

You can it free and subtitled on Funimation and Hulu.