The Misfit of Demon King Academy II

Episode 7

Well, it's only been about six months since our last new episode, and while this isn't the most exciting episode, it is a decent one for easing us back into the story. Simply put, this episode consists of 22 minutes of exposition, with Anos and his friends practically doing nothing as far as the story is concerned. Oh sure, Zeshia searches for the book with the missing page, and Misha and Ray follow Shin and Reno on their date. But no one interferes with what's going on, even when the Nosgalia-possessed Eldmed attacks Reno and Shin.

More than anything else, this episode is meant to help us connect the dots between the mystery of the gods' secret plan and the creation of Misa. It details what happened to Shin and Reno after Anos' sacrifice. It's your typical star-crossed love story—though not entirely for the reason you'd expect. It turns out that Shin isn't a demon but rather a demonic sword. While he has a soul, he doesn't have the capacity for love. Of course, Reno aims to prove that wrong, as she's had a crush on him for a while now. It's a cute little love story but nothing to write home about.

Beyond that, there's not too much that's surprising here—most of what happens is what you'd logically expect. Nosgalia/Eldmed lays the groundwork for creating an enemy capable of killing Anos while Anos and the others set up their stable time loop—you know, so that everything will happen as we've seen it happen and end up sending them into the past.

That said, we learn some interesting things along the way—like what happens to spirits that go against their legends. While spirits have a legend that defines them, that doesn't mean they don't have free will. So, while going against their nature is self-destructive, they can still make that choice. This highly implies that Misa can do the same. At the moment, she appears to be more or less on auto-pilot as Avos, but should the old her be awakened, she should be able to choose whether or not she wants to live as Avos or die as Misa, at the very least.

All in all, there's just not much to say about this episode: it's a prolonged info dump. However, after half a year, it's not a bad way to get back into things.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• The missing page of the book was no doubt missing in the present because Anos and friends will take it in the past. Stable time loops be like that.

• Huh. So Reno births some spirits directly, and others just spontaneously spring into being.

• I liked the game of tag scene. It shows that Reno is smarter than she lets on. If Shin doesn't realize the trick, she gets one wish from him. If he does, then at least she gets him to touch her.

• I was disappointed that Misha and Lay didn't talk more during their mission. They are rarely paired together, and this was a great chance for character development between them.

The Misfit of Demon King Academy II is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.