Restoration Plan No. 16 – “The Dark Lord Doesn’t Hold Back!”
Hmm.
This week, The Great Jahy had more fun bouncing old characters off the new ones. I couldn’t wait to see how two number one fans of the Dark Realm’s Number Two would butt heads. I was not disappointed! Druj and Kyouko are shaded mirror images of each other because they’re both masochistic in their own ways. They both claim to have the focused favor of Jahy, and they’re both ruthlessly competitive in collecting mana crystals. I enjoyed how they grudgingly earned each other’s respect in their new rivalry for Jahy’s attention. Curiously, Druj did not recognize the Magical Girl as the destroyer of the Dark Realm. I wonder if only Jahy and Maou know who Kyouko is. Druj also did not find it odd that a human had magical powers. That could be a sign of cultural expectations because all demons have demonic power to different degrees. After months of living in the human world, Druj should know how Kyouko is a rare specimen.
As The Great Jahy presented Druj’s adversarial clash with Kyouko, I saw no character development. We saw how the Aryan demon of lies influenced people and animals to collect red shards for her, but there was nothing new internally. The new event for her was acknowledging a worthy rival in Kyouko. That was tough in itself because of Druj’s demon supremacist views against humans. This contrasts with Saurva, who worried about her traps hurting a human. Poor Saurva. She’s a device intended strictly for comedic fodder. Her character is also static, as we can see that she’s too kindhearted to replace the Dark Realm’s Number Two.
The more thought-provoking scenes came when The Great Jahy rubbed the two new characters against each other. If there would ever be an anime equivalent to The Odd Couple, making a magical girl the roommate of the demon lord she defeated would be that premise. The story of a younger sister-type character having an adventure as she delivers her older sister’s forgotten lunch is conventional anime too. I loved how The Great Jahy used that sequence of events to start showing us how Maou acts and thinks when she’s alone.
To Kyouko’s eyes, Maou is a miniature 食っちゃ寝 (くっちゃね, kucchane – living idly, doing nothing but eating and sleeping). But she knows that can’t be the whole story because of how Jahy treats her and Maou’s mysterious powers too. In The Great Jahy flashback of how Maou became the leader and the god of the demons, it was clear that Jahy only partially understood her Dark Lord’s intentions. Kyouko interprets the story as Jahy and the demons spoiling her with food and “living sacrifices.” However, Jahy gave us foreshadowing for how the rest of the season’s plot will play out.
While Jahy never heard the Dark Lord speak for herself, confirming that Jahy did to Maou what Druj does to her, Jahy never saw Maou act selfishly. If demons wanted to give her bowls of fruit and fresh dragons, she wouldn’t say no. But Maou has a plan, and she’s still working on it in the human world. There are hints in The Great Jahy that Maou is helping Kyouko behind the scenes. Kyouko’s classmate noted that the unlucky girl hadn’t been in as many accidents recently. Kyouko’s mood also improved, allowing other students to approach her. These slight changes could be from Jahy claiming ownership of the crystals in Kyouko’s house. That could explain the positive change in Kyouko’s fortune. However, that doesn’t explain Maou following her around to stamp out beings of light approaching her! The appearance of an energy entity with ears (hair tufts?) was a welcome moment of plot development from The Great Jahy. I instantly wanted to know what happened next.
Heh.
Here we go, here we go! Druj will go postal on Kyouko! Hahaha! Kyouko is such a stalker! She just followed Jahy to her regular update meeting with Druj. Jahy-sama versus Jahy-kun! The audacity of a human calling the Dark Realm’s Number Two her friend! Oh, man. Kana Hanazawa, Druj’s voice actor, has a wide range for all the screaming going on here. The Great Jahy has no say in this contest of wills. Amazing. Druj doesn’t recognize the form of the Magical Girl. Fun! Druj’s demonic transformation puts her into the gothic-lolita outfit she always wears. Who will win this nonsensical game of collecting crystals in ten minutes? Oh, crap. They stiffed Jahy with the bill again! The Magical Girl gathers crystals at the scenes of catastrophes. That makes sense. Plus, she rescues people and puppies at the same time. The Aryan Demon of Lies influences people and animals to gather shards for her. It’s a tie! Grudging respect for new rivals. Of course, neither of them remembers to come back and pay Jahy’s bill. No dining and dashing for the Great Jahy!
Hey, it’s Saurva again. Let’s see what stupid plot, er, ingenious invention she devised to remove Jahy from the demon ranks. Chompy-kun Mk 1-3... The first one is bronze, so I deduce there will be silver and gold versions. Problem number one is not a gigantic affectionate Shiba Inu. It’s an invulnerable clingy human! Aw. Saurva is the second biggest sweetheart of The Great Jahy. She doesn’t want to hurt random humans. She needn’t worry about this one. Terrible. Saurva sabotages herself again, and neither Jahy nor Kyouko noticed her either. I hope she gets a gratifying scene of recognition before the season ends.
Sweet domestic bliss in the Jingu household. Not. This little tan girl eats everything and doesn’t pick up after herself. Maou distracted Kyouko, causing her to forget her school lunch. Ha! And, uh oh! Maou followed Kyouko to school! Did she want Kyouko to make her more food? Aw. Maou can’t get the words out. She’s adorably frustrated. Has anyone ever heard her speak? It looks like Kyouko is the first person in The Great Jahy not to put words in her mouth. Maou annoys Kyouko with antics, but she enjoys the company. Oh! Maou came to school to bring Kyouko her lunch. Except the short Dark Lord has rice grains on her face... She tried to help.
Later, Kyouko asked Jahy to tell her about Maou’s past. She can’t understand how a tiny, lazy, hungry girl could ever have been a Dark Lord. According to Jahy, Maou was the size of a mountain. The Great Jahy visited her on top of her dinner table! It was Jahy’s idea to make a castle and throne room for her. Kyouko thinks this is how Maou became spoiled and idle. Hmm. Jahy’s tone became serious. Maou has never done anything selfish. There was always an altruistic reason for her actions. Except for sleeping and eating all the time... Right on cue, a being of light, with ears, approaches Kyouko. Maou destroyed it with a burgundy flash! We have a mysterious plot point! Maou keeps her movements a secret from Kyouko, though. She’s still a voracious slug to her eyes.
Next time, Jahy has trouble sleeping. Did her noisy, guitar-shredding neighbor come back?
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