DVD Review: Kyo Kara Maoh! Season 1
Geneon, FUNimation Anime Based on Tomo Takabayashi Novels
Aug 8, 2009
The bishonen comedy Kyo Kara Maoh! (Today I'm the Demon King! in English) became a casualty of the Geneon collapse in late 2007, when the anime producer ceased production of all titles. That meant the 2nd season remained unreleased on DVD, and the series canned after its 3rd season.
Now FUNimation is hoping to spark a KKM revival by releasing the series on DVD. Season 1 is an off-beat, fantasy romp with plenty of bishonen (pretty boy) characters and boy-love implications.
Junji Nishimura Directs Geneon/FUNimation's Kyo Kara Maoh!
When baseball-obsessed Shibuya Yuri tries to stop some bullies from tormenting his pal Murata Ken, the bullies decide to shove Yuri's head into the nearest toilet. However, Yuri gets flushed away (hee-hee) to a fantasy world – more specifically, the Demon Kingdom of Shin Makoku.
In short order, Yuri finds himself (a) crowned King of the Demons and (b) engaged to be married . . . to a spoiled young nobleman named Wolfram von Bielefeld.
Despite Yuri's protests that he's not interested in men, Wolfram takes the engagement very seriously, throwing hissy fits every time Yuri even looks at another woman and sneaking into his bed wearing a frilly nightgown. Assorted hijinks ensue.
It's worth mentioning here that "demon" in the context of KKM means a very attractive man who can wield elemental magic. The majority of the main cast are men who, at best, can termed "metrosexual" and at worst . . . you'll have to watch to find out. To paraphrase Desdemona from Ann-Marie MacDonald 's Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), "Does anybody in Shin Makoku sail straight?"
KKM is not short of laughs and the dialogue is lively and witty: gotta love the trio of female servants calculating the odds of which man will land our hero. Thankfully any chibi-style freakouts are few and far between; it's far too easy for anime to overuse that convention (looking at YOU, XxxHolic!).
The emphasis here is on zany fun: there is some violence but almost no bloodshed. Yes, there are suggestive elements but the sexual hijinks are hinted at rather than displayed, and naughty bits are discreetly covered up.
The DVD transfer is solid with no obvious problems in either image or sound. The animation is decent with attractive character designs, but there are some signs of cost-cutting. There is plenty of camera panning across static images, especially during action sequences. However, there are no obvious issues with the artwork or character movements.
DVD Extras
Other than the typical previews plus textless opening and closing songs, there are concept art and image galleries and a "memory slide show." And that's about it.
The Final Analysis
Kyo Kara Maoh! doesn't take itself terribly seriously, and deserves to be judged in that light. Homophobes may balk at the abundance of bishonen and boy-love connotations in the plots (more shouen-ai than full-on yaoi), but more open-minded types will find a lot to like. As of this writing, it's still unlikely that the series will get a 4th season; if you're already a fan (or become one after reading this review) there's a petition happening here to get the KKM renewed.
Overall, Kyo Kara Maoh! Season 1 is a light-hearted romp with engaging characters and a surprising number of laughs. It gets a 7/10.
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