Completed: Maoyu

True story:
One day my friend wanted a breakfrom the piles of homework she had so she came to my place so we could marathon some Natsume on a decent sized screen.
When she got here we talked about how there are a few real gems this season and while looking at the list we discussed what we liked and disliked of all the shows we tried.
I point to Maoyu and she goes.
"ugh, i got halfway through the first episode and closed it.... i just couldn't take anymore of that crap"
I burst out laughing, she explains exactly where she stopped and once i catch my breath i simply say
"you stopped before it got good"

she thought i was kidding but Maoyu isn't a bad show at all. however to that same token it's nota great show either. i told her if she couldn't get through ep one don't bother but the show as a whole is more of a social commentary then anything else... unfortunately the first ep makes it look a little fanservice heavy.... it's not.

SO.... Maoyu aka Maoyu maou yuusha
it's a show about a hero who has gone to fight a demon king.... who ends up being a demon queen of sorts and instead of fighting they end up making a deal to find a way to end the war through things like agriculture, trade and trying to have demons and humans live in harmony... the demon king knows the war is just a ruse in order to get the capital to seem rich and she is simply trying to break that monopoly and bring peace.

The good:
it's a different take on a fantasy setting... the focus is more on creating things then destroying them. the idea that humans are so hell bent on the war is cause they are essentially uneducated and fighting is all they know, however they have the capacity and the drive to learn and change their ways.
Hiroshi kamiya was instantly recognizable as the merchant and i love his slightly sinister yet still trickster like voice.
the intro and ending songs are lovely, both detail every event that happens in the show but through different styles and it doesn't end up spoiling anything.
the art style while a bit floaty for my taste is well excuted and i love the watercolour feel to the backgrounds.... there is some didgy CG but nowadays when isn't there.
considering how this anime originated it has some really strong and interesting female characters who aren't just there for fanservice... even Maoyu with her mounds of useless flesh isn't used as a way to entice others but more a way for her to so how insecure she is despite being an all powerful demon king.

The not so good:
There is an ongoing trend for short shows to not give characters names.
Maoyu translated to Demon king
Yuusha is hero
Onna kishi is female knight.
i kinda hate this trend.... it probably originatedcause japan loves their punny names and this kinda just skips the middle man.... but ugh i just don't like it... but to be fair it never deters from the story.

The bad:
The first episode has a completely different tone from the rest of the series and as i mentioned before it may scare some people off cause it makes itself out to be this show that pokes fun at the fact that Yuusha is a virgin and Maoyu has large breasts that she's self conscious about.... and it's just not... it's a tale about people learning to grow up and maybe try something other then fighting to achieve peace.
The ending kinda sucks, i can't imagine the show ending any other way.... but it just needed a bit more closure in my mind. 
There is a lack of chemistry between a few characters so it made me think "why should i care" in some situations.

the show is good, not great but i didn't begrudge the time i spent watching it. if you are curious give it a shot but try to at least watch 2 episodes.
again everything this season i watched is on crunchyroll, it's free though the last episode wont be free till next week.

okay plans for the day!
Paint!
Finish Aaron Pogues new novella!
and then maybe some fire emblem... pretty close to the end.
See you in a bit (cause the novella wont take much longer)