Thursday, July 22, 2010
Farthest at the Back: Demon King! (Ichiban Ushiro No Daimaou)
I won't deny the fact that I enjoy the comedy genre a lot especially when mixed in with dirty humor. It really kicks my funny bones when something serious turns crazy, awkward and smutty at the same time. Ichiban Ushiro No Daimaou provides my favorite mix of rib-tickling anime genres: Ecchi, Harem, Comedy. Much like my first favorite of its kind - Love Hina - but in a different setting this time and more mature content. The exact english translation for its title is Farthest at the Back: Demon King though I've seen in wikipedia it reads just Demon King Daimaou.
"Farthest at the Back" since the main character of the story Akuto Sai, whose future occupation has been predicted to be "Demon King" was assigned to be seated at the very back of the classroom. Akuto though, determined to prove the divination on his future occupation is inaccurate, tries his best to do good deeds and give good ideas but to no avail since he always gets misunderstood. Even his very first friend (and love interest later on) Junko Hattori, whom he had made a pact never to break each others' ideals, feels betrayed and her feelings being played on, although later in the run, she develops strong feelings for Akuto.
Akuto Sai. He may look dandy but life ain't easy for this dude since he is future Demon King.
Junko and Akuto make a pact to make the world a better place without breaking their ideals. Under the Suharist oath which Junko makes with Akuto by striking her sword on its scabbard, they are bound to their ideals. Lest they break it, they will have to kill each other.
Hiroshi Miwa, one of Akuto's classmates, was moved by his strong character when he spoke in front of the class despite the rest of the class feeling, it was more Demon King-like and daunting. Hiroshi looks up to Akuto as his "Aniki" or big brother much to Akuto's dismay because it seems more like a "delinquent-underling" sort of thing.
Korone is one of my favorite characters. She is stolid and impassive and shows very little emotion. Korone is a Liladan - an android - ordered by the government to observe and monitor the future Demon King's activities 24/7. She always carries a small bag in which she pulls out various guns, tools and weapons, sometimes stuff even bigger than her.
What made me like this character is the 'green' air of comedy surrounding her. She enjoys teasing and doing ecchi stuff in front of Akuto in order to test his responses.
Despite being unexpressive most of the time, Korone occasionally shows interest, curiosity and delight on certain things. This is one of the rare occasions Korone showed emotions all throughout the series. Look at how cute ... ... her smile is. :)
The cutscenes in each episode also provide viewers with a bit of comic relief. It usually shows Akuto watching television and when something crazy, usually smutty happens, he turns it off. Just look at how delighted Korone is while threatening little Hiroshi with a ruler. :)
Other supporting characters in the anime include the school's student council (left to right) the cat girl Kanna, the bat girl, Michie, the weird one who only speaks "Guga", Arnoul and the cute student council prez who also has the hots for Akuto, Lily.
This was one of my favorite scenes where I literally ROFLOL'd. Don't worry about Mr. Sai. He just happened to see something "spectacular" *chuckles*.
*SPOILER*
The whole cast of main characters (left to right): Junko Hattori, the mysterious yet gluttonous Keena Soga, Akuto Sai (he did become Demon King but don't worry, that's just half the story), the wannabe Demon Queen, Fujiko Etou, Korone and Hiroshi Miwa. On the background, though quite indistinct, is Peterhausen, the Demon King's mighty black dragon minion.
Being a self-proclaimed otaku, :) I also found it fascinating that the Seiyu (voice talents) of K-ON! (one of my favorite anime)'s main characters, also provided the voice talent for this series only with the exception of Ritsu's Seiyu, Satou Satomi. Hikasa Yoko for Junko (man, I love her voice), Toyosaki Aki for Keena, Kotobuki Minako for Arnoul (though mostly she only spoke "Guga") and Taketatsu Ayana for Michie the batgirl.
Storyline-wise this may not appeal to many anime connoisseurs since in my opinion, the story itself and the character backgrounds are quite inconsistent and I feel the story is quite rushed and the general idea cramped over a too few 12 episodes. But if you're a big fan of the ecchi and comedy genre (not to mention harem), or just want to have a good laugh, this anime would probably suit your tastes, like mine.
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