Hataraku Maou-sama! (The Devil is a Part-timer!) – 11

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Holy giant hammer!  This episode of Hataraku Maou-sama! reveals more of Suzuno’s background as an Executioner of the Inquisition.

While finding out more about Suzuno is great and all, I really want to know more about the Sentucky manager, Sarue Mitsuki.  Who exactly is he?  Clearly, he knows about Suzuno’s mission to kill Maou, but how did he find this out?  Is he working for the Church, or the Inquisition, or someone else?  When do we get to find out who exactly he is?

Maybe this is because I’m an American living in a society of rigid black-and-white ideals related to morality, but I always love when a character in an anime gives an impassioned speech in favor of forgiving or showing compassion toward the enemy.  Chiho’s attempt to explain to Suzuno why she cares for Maou, and why he can’t be completely evil, is remarkable and awesome.  And it definitely brings up a lot of questions.  Did Maou have an ulterior motive to trying to take over the world back on Ente Isla?  Was there really an important reason for him to do that, like Chiho suggests?  I’m sure most of us have just been assuming that he’s a demon, so of course he would want to rule everything.  But how would feelings about him change if we knew his reasoning?

Finally, death scythe guy shows up again, and in fact does turn out to be the Sentucky guy.  He’s clearly an angel, at this point, and claims to have a power called “the Wicked Light of the Fallen,” which can nullify all sacred energy.  Yusa seems to know what this means, although we aren’t explicitly told.  We can deduce that it means that the Church thinks Yusa has fallen from grace in some way, probably because she hasn’t killed Maou yet.

I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me that Orba is alive.  I was just sort of hoping he wasn’t, I suppose.  But if he’s still alive, does that mean he’s still pulling the strings?  Is he the reason Suzuno is so determined to actually kill Maou?  Is he somehow pulling the Sentuky guy’s strings, as well?  It honestly wouldn’t surprise me, since Orba was originally the one interested in taking Yusa out.

The tension is building toward an awesome climax!  Definitely looking forward to the next episode!