The Witch Of Destruction
The Misfit Of Demon Academy has a serious Mary Sue problem. Or in the context of this fantasy anime, an “Anos Sue” problem. The trouble with making an impossibly strong protagonist means you’re constantly asking a really important question – how do you defeat that which seemingly cannot be defeated? As someone who hasn’t read the source material I can’t comment on how closely aligned this anime is to the manga but there’s a definite sense that Anos is far too powerful and it’s difficult to see where the drama or tension will come from with his character. Before we get to the crux of the drama however, we begin in the Mythical Age as Demon King Anos decides to join forces with Hero Kanon and sacrifice himself for peace. He puts his trust in the Hero and allows the human to plunge his sword deep into his chest. Closing his eyes for a few seconds, when Anos awakens he finds himself taking the form of a baby able to speak coherently to his parents. Back in the present, Anos is cast as the misfit at the academy. Determined to prove them wrong, Anos shows off his incredible power infront of his dumbfounded teacher Emilia Rudwell. With a competition coming up, she begrudgingly allows him to compete despite being a hybrid. Working opposite him though is the self-declared Witch Of Destruction, Sasha Necron. Unfortunately all of their classmates decide to join Sasha over Anos and the only one willing to stick with him is Sasha’s sister, Misha. This doesn’t go down too well with Sasha who eventually challenges Anos to a duel outside class. A week passes and the competition begins, with the winner declared as the person able to maintain Gyze the longest or by knocking out the opposing King. Anos makes light work of his opponents, barely breaking a sweat as he destroys Sasha’s castle and overcomes all of her classmates with a single blast of fire from his finger. Sasha is initially angry at what’s transpired but eventually comes round to their agreement and agrees to work with him. Just before they leave and head back to his house for food, Anos tells Sasha she possesses a lot of power, evident from the glint in her eye he noticed earlier in the episode. After sharing a meal at Anos’ house, she suddenly leans forward and kisses him. However, this could cause problems going forward given Misha admitted to liking Anos earlier in the episode. Are we getting a love triangle along with the impossibly strong hero? We’ll have to wait and see as this week’s slice of anime bows out. The Misfit Of Demon King Academy looks like it’s gearing up for a love triangle between these two sisters and Anos but beyond that it’s still not initially clear what the end-game is here with this fantasy anime. The aesthetic is as good as it was last week though and there’s a consistent effort visually to make everything stand out and shine. Unfortunately The Misfit of Demon King Academy’s story fails to inspire that same level of enthusiasm. It’s still early days yet though and there’s plenty of time for this one to turn it around. In the meantime, this follow-up episode sadly isn’t as strong as last week’s premiere.
