Makai Ouji: Devils and Realist - 09

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Things get real in this episode of Makai Ouji.  A battle breaks out between Heaven and Hell, leaving William unguarded and vulnerable to potential ecstasy.

Fortunately, William being such a die-hard realist pays off, in that Kevin is incapable of completing the ecstasy ceremony because of it.  Who knew that William’s dogged determination to remain a realist, despite the obviously supernatural phenomena occurring around him, would actually be a useful trait and not just an amusing quirk to make the show more interesting?  For a moment, I was pretty sure that Kevin would be a nice guy and do the right thing—that is, not try to force ecstasy on William.  I guess he’s more afraid of Michael than determined to do the right thing.  Honestly, who can blame him, given the way Michael treats him?

It looks like William finally got a hold of Solomon’s ring, although nothing has really happened with that yet.  I’m still under the impression that he’ll regain his memories of being Solomon and all that if he puts the ring on, so I’m waiting for that.  It should definitely make for an interesting scene when this happens.

Kevin’s flashback scene is pretty great.  It’s nice to see more of Solomon again and nice to get some further background on how Kevin ties in with him.  It would be nice, though, to get more of Solomon’s story at a time, rather than getting these bits and pieces occasionally.  Not only are these scenes usually pretty short, but it’s hard to tell exactly what order any of these flashbacks go in chronologically.  (Perhaps the manga is better at this; I haven’t read it yet.)

With only three episodes left, I’m not sure Makai Ouji can be sufficiently wrapped up by the end of the season.  This episode actually seemed to move a little fast to me, and in order to sufficiently explain the backstories of all the characters and bring everything to a close, the pace would have to increase even more.  The backgrounds of Sytry, Dantalion, and William/Solomon, at the very least, need more explanation.  At this point, I’m sort of hoping for a second season in order to get through all of these plot points without completely messing with the pacing.

Makai Ouji Episode 10 Preview

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