Score: B

I really wasn’t expecting going into the new season that this show would be the first one that I’d have something to talk about. Yet here we are. The Summer season is getting underway and have a few things to say about Isekai Maou. No doubt for me and anyone else an important element will be how much of the fanservice/ecchi content works or whether it goes too far. For me it didn’t go too far and I can live with this much. Fanservice isn’t a terrible thing in and of itself. But whether the show is any good or not depends on the cast and the story. So far I’m enjoying that aspect of it. Diablo is another overpowered character, but he’s a person underneath that. And Rem certainly sells the emotional journey she’s been through already with that terrifying entity sealed away inside of her.

Diablo in some ways is a pretty average overpowered main character. But he’s average in a way that I’m comfortable with. He’s understandable if not relatable at times. The fact that he does get set off when being called useless trash did make me appreciate the guy a bit more. Sure he’s been dropped into this world, but not going to lose that low self-esteem any time soon. May have been able to use the game to vent his frustrations and feel some sense of accomplishment, but hardly going to solve all his problems. None of this is particularly original, but I like the guy. His hesitation to comfort Rem with a hand on the shoulder felt pretty human. He can verbally play the role as Diablo, but hard to do the softer things like comfort someone when you struggle to interact with others naturally.

While Overlord had the MC play up a front for the sake of survival and not being turned on, this one is more personality based. I can believe that someone could have issues communicating with people to a point where they have to play a role in order to manage it. Considering he has been sent there as his game character it seems reasonable enough for him to turn to that character’s personality to carry him ahead. What makes it work for me though is the constant monologue. We’re just inside this guy’s head all the time and can see how he’s really feeling about his situation. I found it funny at times seeing him regretful about how he might come across to people, but not being able to communicate otherwise.

In terms of the tone I like that they can play it silly a lot of the time, but also transition into some serious parts when appropriate. Such as Shera just straight up refusing to deal with Diablo carrying off Rem for ‘interrogating’ and procrastinating on going up to the room to do anything about it later. I oddly found it kind of hilarious, but it was also logical for her. They’ve got those rebounded collars. Probably for the best that she doesn’t get involved in something like that. Perhaps also being optimistic enough to think it won’t kill Rem anyways…but probably just looking out for her own wellbeing. Kind of curious what her background is since she can’t be part of this main trio for the sake of goofing around. I’d expect a similar level of seriousness to the situation Rem is carrying.

And yeah speaking of Rem they sure loaded her up with a tough background. For all the over the top aspects of the interrogation scene, they didn’t play her actual situation for laughs. A genetic sort of curse where her family is passing along the responsibility to hold the soul of a terrible entity is a pretty serious issue to be dealing with. In a sense each person in that position has no choice, but to have children but curse that descendant with also carrying on the soul. There’s no option of just living a quiet life. If you die by accident “hello apocalypse.”

It makes sense that her safety is a serious concern, but I also get Rem wanting to get strong enough to take care of herself. Bad enough to live such a stressed life, but also being treated like a spectacle would be rough. And if she wants to fight that demon lord herself…would need to get stronger anyway. If nothing else I liked that the MC did give a damn about this whole thing. Even if accepting that he’s somehow within that game world or a world similar to it, the reality is that person next to him has lived one difficult life to this point. And here’s where being OP is ok for me. He can actually throw out a line about defeating Krebskulm, because he should be up to that task. This is a useful purpose he can use his insane power towards.

Honestly it was kind of fun watching Diablo just smoke that Salamander and put that guy in his place. A moment where he could appreciate just how powerful he is compared to everyone around him. Sometimes just nice to have a show where things are treated in a straight forward manner. Diablo keeps his act up and yet does try to avoid a conflict. When things are pushed he takes in the power gap that currently seems to exist and ends things while ‘trying’ to keep the damage to a minimum. And as someone who enjoyed Konosuba…gotta say Diablo throwing around an “explosion” attack was satisfying. At least the Salamander can say he tied with a cool line being thrown at him XD.

Not going to say this is going to be the deepest show of the season. But at least the first episode was pretty enjoyable as a whole. There was fun to be had, some potential for over the top action moments, a main character who is a fairly likable person overall, the main girls are solid so far, and hey throw in some fanservice because as a whole the show isn’t going to be constantly serious anyways. I don’t expect to cover the whole show this season, but I did want to talk about the first episode a bit. This isn’t going to be Overlord serious or dark. It is going to be more of a fun ride and one I’ll probably enjoy.