The Devil Is a Part-Timer!! Season 2

Episode 5

Unfortunately there's not a lot to say with this week's entry as it is more of a transition episode from one arc to another. We get a nice follow-up from the final scene last week between Gabriel and Sariel, where we learn that the current crisis is connected to the previous one, with Sariel originally coming to Earth specifically to get Emi's sword for the exact same reasons that Gabriel is. The status quo is going to be shaken up with Maou and the gang needing to change locations for the sake of survival. It's nice that the landlady continues to look out for the gang by giving them new job opportunities when they need to move out for renovations after all the damage caused by the angel battle, but it also makes me wonder who on Earth this woman is. She's very weird and eccentric and I kind of love her, but I can't tell if it's an oversight on the writer's part that no one's really questioning how she clearly knows more than the average person should about the present situation. Also, who leaves messages via VHS tape anymore?

The real star of this episode is actually Chiho, who displays a level of maturity and forward thinking that I wasn't expecting from her character when she was first introduced. Not only does she seem to be patient and understanding of the fact that Maou hasn't really given her an answer yet regarding her confession, but she seems to also be self-conscious about the fact that being the only normal human in the group means there is a limit on what she's able to do. Exploring that insecurity makes for a nice breather from all the more dramatic stuff that is going on in the show, and it raises the question of how she's coming to terms with the fact that Maou was a conqueror in the other world. I know it's very much a case that she only knows the Maou that she works with, which by all accounts is a very respectful and upstanding person, but I wonder if there will be a point in the series where she'll need to confront the darker things that he has done when he was a demon king. Will that force her to reconsider her feelings for him, or will we get any surprising twists to these very standard tropes? It's interesting to think about, as is the question of how seriously Chiho is treating Emi as a romantic rival. That said, Emi appears to be more or less fully adapted to her role as a mother, which is a very charming background detail. I genuinely have no idea where the show is going next, but the foreboding atmosphere that this episode ends on makes me think that we won't have to wait long to figure that out.

Rating:

The Devil Is a Part-Timer! Season 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.