Maou-sama, Retry! R

With Rabbi Village greatly expanding under the management of his subordinates Isami Tahara and Yuu Kirino, Hakuto Kunai can now resume his adventures while looking for items to counteract magic. He begins his search at the Prison Labyrinth in Rookie Town, where a secret laboratory deep within the dungeon gives him insight into technology that is far more advanced and dangerous than anything in the rest of the world.

Meanwhile, Rabbi Village has gained unwanted international attention from the newly formed Queendom of Xenobia, which wishes to drive a wedge between the Holy Kingdom of Light and the State of Right. But with Kunai's newly summoned aide, Akane Fujisaki, at his disposal, things may not go as the Queendom plans.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kunai, Hakuto Main

Tsuda, Kenjirou Japanese

Aku Main

Asakura, Momo Japanese

Elegant, Luna Main

Suzuki, Aina Japanese

Yukikaze Supporting

Tsuchiya, Rio Japanese

Kirino, Yuu Supporting

Hikasa, Youko Japanese

White, Angel Supporting

Uchida, Aya Japanese

Kirisame, Zero Supporting

Kumagai, Kentarou Japanese

Queen, Killer Supporting

Senbongi, Sayaka Japanese

Tron Supporting

Iguchi, Yuka Japanese

Eagle Supporting

Noguchi, Iori Japanese

Nagamine, Rieko Producer

Aizawa, Ryou Producer

Koga, Kazuomi Director

ASCA Theme Song Performance, Theme Song Lyrics

Reviews

Dec 14, 2024

CapitalCities

Recommended

It's a mixed bag that leans more on the side of popcorn entertainment if you’re willing to overlook some glaring flaws. For starters, skip the first two episodes entirely—they’re a poorly done recap of season one and add nothing of value. The drastic shift in art style is initially jarring, with a more cartoonish design that may throw off returning viewers. The original art style's take on female characters in particular is far superior with them having an air of maturity while also having room to be silly. However, once you get accustomed to it, it can be enjoyed (although I never got used to ... the MC's white cartoon face in scenes). Their interactions within the setting remain a highlight, and I found myself quite engrossed in the direction the plot was going. While it’s not groundbreaking and lacks the polish of stronger titles in the genre, the show succeeds in delivering casual fun for fans of isekai.

Beneath its cartoonish looks, the series tackles surprisingly “taboo” topics like rape, torture, and murder, setting it apart from fluffier peers in the same space. While this maturity doesn’t elevate it anywhere near to must-watch status, it does add a layer of depth that complements its darker themes. If anything, the show can be darker in season 2 than in season 1. Despite that, the show is best enjoyed as light, popcorn entertainment—perfect for when you want something fun but not overly demanding. Fans of the first season (like myself) will likely appreciate revisiting this world, but it’s not one you’ll find yourself rewatching unless a sequel materializes. Ultimately, Maou-sama, Retry! R delivers a decent continuation, as long as you temper your expectations.

TLDR: If you enjoy overlord-style nation-building with the cast of characters there, then you may enjoy this. Just don't look too deep.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Nov 12, 2024

Eleiyas

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (7/12 eps)

I gave the original season a 7/10, which was slightly higher than the average score; It was complete and utter trash, with some of the worst art and animation I've seen in anime, although overall, the season was held-up by just how trash it was. "So bad it's good" comes to mind.

This season is actually worse, because it simply has no real redeeming qualities.

After 7 episodes it's hard to even describe what's happening, the story seems to keep jumping around all over the place without any idea as to what it's actually trying to convey. It really doesn't help that the first 2 episodes ... are mostly recapping season 1 and have some weird pre-reincarnation explanation thing going on that goes nowhere and don't really end up explaining anything.

The art and animation are extremely "generic isekai", which means it doesn't have that same comedic trashiness the original series did either. A lot of the characters have also undergone severe redesigns here, losing any charm or "waifu-ness" the originals had. Even the "girly-boy" (referred to as such in S1) has been turned into an actual girl here (she/her pronouns used).

The only thing even remotely holding this up so far, is that the writing is incredibly tongue in cheek and doesn't take itself seriously, which is thankfully a holdover from the original series and more props to the original manga/LN writer.

Currently, this show is between a score of 4 or 5 for me, sitting on the fence between mediocrity and being plain bad. I'll keep watching out of morbid curiosity, but I wouldn't recommend this to most.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Dec 15, 2024

KANLen09

Not Recommended

Demon Lord, Retry! R - Wait a minute, this isn't the Maou-sama, Retry! that we remember from time past...what's going on?

In my own thinking, there is kind of an unwritten rule when it comes to shows and their continuations: the further development of the story plot and its characters into something that we are already familiar with, and no tampering of anything that is outside of its picture. Yet, in the current landscape of the AniManga industry, we have shows like The Promised Neverland diverging from its story to become one of the most infamous examples of a rushed plot. And in this season, this ... can be debated if novelist Kurone Kanzaki's Maou-sama, Retry! a.k.a Demon Lord, Retry!'s series is intended to be as such, but it's quite the confusion that, ultimately, to loyal fans like myself who've really enjoyed Season 1 despite its low-budget aesthetics, it feels like a slap in the face for that dissonance alone.

For starters, if you're thinking that Retry! R is continuing the adaptation of the LN as Season 2, then I'm sorry to disappoint you that it is wedged in a weird spot that can be hard to get around. Despite the sequel adapting Volumes 3 to 5 of the LN, it's the decision to follow the "revamped" manga under the "Retry! R" name that just adds to the confusion to let people who've watched Season 1 think that they're watching something else instead of what is supposed to be THE continuation of the original source material. In actuality, it's just the differential marketing for the manga adaptation of the LN under a different name, but the story actually remains colloqually the exact same.

And boy, what a convoluted story does the sequel bring to the audience, thinking that Season 1 was produced on the cheap and that the sequel can improve things further. You definitely can feel what the sequel brought: its "revamped" Midas touch, and it's just all sorts of messed up. There's just nothing redeemable about this whatsoever, in any shape or form.

God, where do I start with the bad outings of Retry! R? Demon Lord Hakuto Kunai now transforms from a badass bamboo lord to an oversized, fat, plump lord that nothing about him resembles his character to that of Season 1. The cute and adorable Aku is nowhere to be found, and in her place stands Luna Elegant dealing with the intricacies of kingdom politics with being on-screen more with the shenanigans of Hakuto still dealing with his troubles. To add to the matter, Hakuto's NPC summons become more prevalent, but their usefulness only matters towards the plot that needs immediate intervention with clear threats to be dealt with. And this plot, it's all over the place with no recourse nor explanation that would only serve as the basis for knowledge wars against people who understand and people who don't (and I fall under the latter). The saying of "too many cooks spoil the broth" definitely rears its ugly head here, and too many "notable" characters are there for God knows why they're there in the first place, for the bigger of the plot picture that's like a puzzle that has numerous pieces to link together but could not do so for the life of thee.

I'm even as baffled to say that despite being a bigger studio than the one that came before it, the combined efforts of Season 1 handled by Ekachi Epilka and director Hiroshi Kimura is leaps and bounds better than what 3rd-rate director Kazuomi Koga and studio Gekkou have given us for these 3 months. What a difference 5 years makes, but for the very worst, and why the decision to remake parts of Season 1 with updated visuals is beyond me. And don't get me started on the music, because it's comical-like circus BGM was the constant white noise that we're all questioning: whose idea was it to add such constraining MIDI-level music on top of just about every scene used that is mind-numbingly jarring? Not even the OST is worth noting, let alone being forgettable and perfectly skippable.

What a sequel Maou-sama, Retry! R a.k.a Demon Lord, Retry! R is, and has become, and will be a permanent reality that we cannot unsee anymore. Stick to the original source materials, LN or manga-wise, and please stay at least an Isekai portal away from this horrid mess of a byproduct of a decent and enjoyable prequel.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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