Introduction
This one required a deeper dig into older creators and series then I was expecting. If you look at the art style behind this series, it starts to get a bit familiar. It's not just an older art style that was used a lot back in the 70's. This series is created by the mangaka behind a pretty famous series that got a reboot recently, GeGeGe no Kitaro and his name is Shigeru Mizuki. Now, that is a series that I haven't dug into yet for my own kind of lame reasons. Perhaps I should look into doing that sooner in the future. I already like the idea behind this guy's work.
The edition of Akuma-kun that which, which you can tell because I put it in the title, is the 2023 Netflix series. After looking at it and talking with some people who know Akuma-kun, it's a sequel series to the 1989 series. It follows the adventures of a genius child that pops out every once in a while called Akuma-kun and the character we follow is the adopted son of the Akuma-kun from 1989. With this newer one given a title that is tasked with creating the Millenium Kingdom. A place where humans and demons can live in peace together.
The Story Behind Akuma-Kun
This is a series that starts out as a normal sort of mystery series with some supernatural twists. A college girl named Hina visits the mysterious Millenarianism Institute run by the half demon Mephisto the 3rd who is excited to see her (for rent purposes) and Akuma-kun who seems very dismissive at first. She tells her story about her friend passing away and some other people attached to the person who also died the same day at the same time. So that leads to the investigation of this mystery and the level of know-how that Akuma-kun has with the occult as a warding symbol protects Hina from demons at night.
So that sounds fine and dandy until the reveal of the next episode where China has been dead the entire time and her entire presence was taken over by the very hot demon Gremori. It was that interesting twist which really set up the tone of this show. Some of it is to be expected, but puts the entire tone of the series with how interesting and gruesome it can be into perspective. Many episodic mysteries in this series are like that with unsatisfying endings that were doomed to just be there. There is also the mystery of the red nail causing supernatural conflicts which gives the show a main villain that challenges Akuma's humanity and connections that he's made.
Mephisto III vs Akuma-kun, Light vs Dark
When I first watched this and was introduced to these two characters, I thought this show would have Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson dynamic. Akuma-Kun is clearly the Sherlock in the scenario because he sees things no one else can and what Akuma-kun sees can be transferred to the audience through the eyes of Mephisto. That thought wasn't entirely right, but that means it's not wrong either. The two of them are two different sides of a coin. Akuma-Kun is the more pragmatic member that has to see everything logically and Mephisto III, as a half demon, is the optimistic one.
The two clash against each other almost all the time and neither of them are technically wrong. Though, their friendship is constantly on the balance. Not everything has the good happy ending that Mephisto III wants to see in every supernatural case, but enough cases are solved with a happy ending that it's viable. Same for the other way around and this show combines the two in a pretty interesting way. This show is the ultimate yin and yang because Mephisto grows up a bit by accepting the dark and Akuma-kun warms up to other people by accepting the light.
Hotcakes and Accepting Humanity
If there is a constant running gage that is seen throughout the series, it's Akuma-Kun's love of hot cakes. He demands some from the mother of their first client and constantly updates his top list of hot cakes as he goes to more restaurants that serve them. There is even one murder case that is solved because the restaurant at an apartment complex doesn't serve hot cakes. It's not until later on when this gauge goes a bit more in depth and it's connected to his backstory he barely remembers. The hot cakes are attached to his real mother.
Akuma-Kun is a mystery child that the original Akuma-kun found when facing the villain of the series. We know about Mephisto III because his dad married a human woman and the two are deeply in love. At the end of the series, there is still a mystery around Akuma-kun's origins but it doesn't matter. Akuma-Kun actually loves his adopted dad and actually has a more open and legitimate friendship with Mephisto III. No longer is he stuck into the world of books and cold logic. Sure, there is some tension but that push and pull does come with the job of facing the supernatural.
Magic, Body Horror, and the Supernatural
Ok, enough character stuff. Let's talk about the details. The grueling, grueling details. I mentioned how Akuma-kun is a supernatural horror show and I can't help but feel like this has some of the wildest bit of body horror that I've seen for a while. I say this as a person that just came off the second season of JJK. I think it has to do with this show's art style. It has a much more retro art style that people think more about animation for kids. So when a character you didn't expect turns into a horrific demon out of nowhere and has to be exercised, the tone shift hits really hard. When a person's heart is ripped out of their body, it's such a huge deal.
So there is that, but also Akuma-kun showing his connection with the supernatural by handing out seals that stops the stalking demon from attacking normal people. Or what about when he can use his magic circles to summon or freeze demons in important moments. Mephisto III, as a half demon, has a lot of different magic abilities that fit some important needs, but his power is half of his fathers because he is half human. It also becomes a bit of a point of contention over whether he would be useful or not because he is too human. Just something to think about.
Visuals and Conclusions
I've talked about the retro character designs in this show already and yeah, they are all very good. Very well defined with giving each character a personality that you can get just by looking at them. Those could be from facial expressions to how a person carries themselves. The backgrounds in this show are also really good and well detailed too. The monster designs are great and the direction of the show is pretty good at emphasizing the moments that need to be emphasized too. It's just excellently put together in general.
With a lot of those thoughts as well as it being a retro styled series being brought to the 2020's, I would highly recommend it. I think there are references to the original series that I didn't get, but it didn't affect my enjoyment of the series as a whole. It's a good character drama and an excellent supernatural series too. What else is there to say about it? Is it flawless? No, I would probably have given this show 24 episodes instead of 12. Still, that is a modern anime issue where everything needs to be short so you can get to the next series. This short one is worth your time.
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