Episode 2 Rating: B
Episode 3, 4 Rating: B+
In my Preview Guide entry for episode 1, I had mixed feelings about this series and the seemingly-stereotypical path it was going down, but I did recognize some potential positive points. In the three episodes since then, those positive points have blossomed and been joined by some unexpected elements, gradually turning this into one of the season’s most welcome surprises. And the series is accomplishing this despite not doing anything all the different or special.
Indeed, a lot of what transpires in these three episodes feels very familiar. Zakan is very much cut from the same cloth as Takuma/Diablo in How NOT to Summon A Demon Lord: a powerful sorcerer who’s such a social misfit that he has no normal friends or clue how to talk to girls (or really anyone else), which commonly results in him coming off as more gruff than he intends. He’s actually a more decent guy at heart than he gives him credit for, though, and is determined to do right by Nephy rather than treat her as property, which results in his behavior being markedly different with her around. There are clothes to buy for Nephy, honest money to earn to pay for them, and new foods for both of them to try. On a more serious note, because sorcerers are persecuted by the Church in this setting, there’s conflict to be had there, too.
One fact which helps set this series apart a bit is how cloyingly cute the interactions between Nephy and Zakan are. Nephy is a gorgeous character design to begin with, and her reactions to things – especially how she blushes in her ears and twitches them when happy – are thoroughly adorable. A good dynamic also starts to form between them as they both get more comfortable with each other, which is especially evident in episode 4. The real turning point, though, comes in episode 3, when Zakan has to fend of some Church knights who have become convinced that he’s behind a spate of recent kidnappings. That’s when the truth about why Nephy refers to herself as a Cursed Child starts to come out: she’s a true mage in an environment which only knows sorcery, and quite powerfully capable in a pinch because of that. (The relationship between magic and sorcery in this setting seems to be somewhat similar to how it works in The Ancient Magus’ Bride – one of the many similarities between that property and this one.) She’s had a rough time in life because people haven’t understood that, and in a surprising move, she reveals that she’s not above taking some satisfaction in the kin that had long mistreated her getting slaughtered. But none of that is a problem for Zakan because he can relate; his life was pretty crappy, too, and he would have conducted the slaughter himself in Nephy’s situation. As the story pushes into episode 4 and he starts formally instructing Nephy in magic, there’s a growing sense that Zakan is as ideal a fit for her as she is for him.
The story shifts more to plot and word-building with the second half of episode 4, as the first half of the title finally comes into play. Apparently Archdemon isn’t just a title in this world; it carries literal, rather than just figurative, power. Zakan’s not the most powerful sorcerer among the candidates to fill the recent vacancy in the Archdemon ranks, but he has an unusual talent which could eventually make him among the greatest of sorcerers, and the other Archdemons recognize that. But they also give the very distinct sense that choosing Zakan is as much about keeping a potential future threat close at hand. Though that certainly ensures that Zakan will be powerful enough to survive anything, he also recognizes how this could endanger Nephy, leading to a heartbreaking but predictable major plot twist.
For as serious and heavy as some aspects of the series are, though, it has a pronounced light-hearted side, too. The one good joke in the first episode proves not to have been a fluke, and the series is arguably at its most entertaining when it leans into its cutesy humor. The closest the series has gotten to fan service is the sputter-worthy first outfit that the winged clothing story proprietress puts her in, but even that is, in a sense, adorable, too. The biggest concern at this point is some troubling signs of the artistic quality not holding up, but that isn’t yet to the level of being a significant distraction.
An Archdemon’s Dilemma will probably never be regarded as one of the season’s prestige titles, and that’s fair. However, it is proving to be a solid mid-tier performer, to the point that it is now a priority view for me. I may not end up reviewing this one every week, but I feel certain that this isn’t the last time I’ll be talking about this series.
USA Anime 