Hataraku Maou-sama! (The Devil is a Part-timer!) – 12

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This episode of Hataraku Maou-sama! is shocking, action-filled, and still elicits some laughs despite the serious nature of the events unfolding.

(I apologize for the late post about this episode; I was out of town at a wedding without access to the internet. Better late than never, right?)

We finally learn the identity of the Sentucky manager: Archangel Sariel.  For those of you not familiar with Judaic faith, Sariel is a princely angel and a great healer, one of the angels of death which guide departed souls through the spiritual world.  Of course, after the events of this episode, I’m sure we can agree this particular Sariel isn’t necessarily meant to be synonymous with the one from Judaic faith.

Apparently, Maou knew from the beginning who Suzuno was but let it slide because he’s a nice guy.  Aw, man, how can she think he deserves to die?  Especially after his awesome speech about how taking an ends-justify-the-means approach makes people like Orba no better than a demon.  (It’s true, you know!)

As per usual, the bad guys (or good guys?…well, Orba and Sariel) make huge miscalculations in their plan.  How could they assume that filling the sky with lights and stuff wouldn’t cause a panic that would allow Maou to obtain magic energy?  I can’t fault them too much, though, because this leads to another instance of Maou showing just how awesome he can be when he’s at full power.  The fight scene in this episode, much like the one between Maou and Lucifer a while back, shows that this anime isn’t just a comedy, but also an action series.  Several characters get to strut their stuff throughout this episode, which is great.

While the problem with Sariel and Orba has been resolved (hopefully for good, this time), there are still a couple of unanswered questions.  What is the Church’s real goal?  I mean, they went so far as to send not only an assassin from the Inquisition, but also an archangel to try to stop Maou (and apparently anyone else who stands in their way), which seems like a lot of trouble to go to.  For that matter, what is Maou’s goal, at this point?  Does he still want to go back to Ente Isla and rule?  Or is he content staying in Japan?

Since I don’t think we’ll get all these answers in the next episode (and simply because this anime is one of the best this season), I’m really hoping for a second season or at the very least an OVA or two (or three, or four, or…you get the idea).  But I’ll leave more of that discussion for my next review.