Overall Review: Maoyū Maō Yūsha

*Sigh* At least the backgrounds were pretty.

It was very easy for me to like this series when it started. It was easygoing, it was interesting and whimsical, and it looked like fun. On top of that, there was a very nice RPG aesthetic going on that drew me in, and the watercolor backgrounds (my favorite artistic medium; I love the impressionists) were borderline hypnotic. I liked that I didn't have to analyze the heck out of the characters and plot because, as much as I love that, blogging ten series a season means it's nice to have a breather show thrown in the mix. Finally, I liked that there was potential for a real romance instead of a harem. Even after I realized that this wasn't all that I'd hoped it would be, I still got enough enjoyment out of every episode that I thought it was worth it. Perhaps that had to do with the fact that I wasn't out to criticize or critique it as earnestly as the rest of my Winter titles, but eventually I had to come to terms with the fact that almost everything I'd liked about the series was becoming more difficult to enjoy.

I'm no economic mastermind (far, far, far from it) but I've always had a nagging sense that the economics in this probably aren't as sound as the series would like you to think. That might just be me being skeptical about the subject in general, but oftentimes it felt as though the characters were just spitting out random facts in order to confuse us, though that wasn't necessarily always the case. The problem with this approach isn't how accurate it is, but rather how difficult it is to get invested in as a viewer. Having someone preach at you, while occasionally interesting, does get old, and this series spends a lot of time doing that. More worryingly, it jams a ridiculous amount of plot lines into most of its episodes, which makes it harder to follow just how it is that everything fits together. All of the best episodes of Maoyuu were the ones where things slowed down and concentrated on one thing at a time, which just goes to show what a bad decision it was to try and cover so much material in only one cour.

The biggest self-inflicted problem, however, was the romance. I don't know how this was handled in the original source, but most of us really enjoyed the depiction of Maou and Yuusha as a pseudo-married couple in the first couple of episodes. It was a nice change from the usual romantic comedy formula, even if they hadn't confessed they were in love yet. However, the inclusion of a rival in Onna Kishi, as well as the lack of development in the initial relationship, made things much less interesting to watch. I held on to the vague hope that at least in the end, Maou would win, but unfortunately the series forces itself into a corner and makes some very bad decisions about how to end, making the entire series collapse in on itself. That being said, I don't hate this series or even really dislike it. It just disappointed me once it stopped being entertaining and turned viewing it into a chore. Perhaps this will be justified if there's a second season, but for now, I'm not particularly impressed with the way this series developed; at least the backgrounds remained gorgeous throughout, even if they were just a way to cover up for a poor budget.