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Makai Senki Disgaea is an adaptation of the first game in a series of games that has taken the RPG gamer community by storm, combining wit and intriguing combat mechanics to keep players entertained for weeks on end.

How much from the original is left? Hardly anything. Is that a bad thing? Not really.

The story of anime diverges heavily from the very beginning: Flonne finds Laharl sleeping in a garbage dump, far away from the castle. However, this allows watchers already familiar with the source material to discover something new, albeit unexpected, given that the trailers promised a more faithful adaptation. However, seasoned players will get ... exactly what they expect: more of the characters they've grown to know and love.

Makai Senki Disgaea is heavily episodic with little interaction of individual plot points up and until the ending, which is a good suit; the show, as does the source, relies heavily on quirky humor delivered in a lighthearted style. The changes made to the overall storyline thus does not affect enjoyment in the least. While delivering new content is one of the strengths of this anime, I cannot help but feel that character development was rather lackluster. This was balanced out, though, by the three final episodes stringing the way to the ending beautifully.

Despite the lack of development, the cast is and stays unique, which is partially owed to the source material providing a fantastic point to start from. The most memorable exchanges between the characters have been kept. It is most difficult for all but the most demonic of watchers to not feel any connection to the characters and not getting dragged along for the ride.

Surprisingly, the potential for fan service was barely harvested, which is a nice touch; jokes just cannot be delivered as well if there are panties on-screen every few minutes. However, if were to make you think that the show takes itself too seriously, I must disappoint you, as the animation suggests otherwise. Horribly clunky and off-model visuals for even the lowest of low-budget anime, the interaction between characters, which is the heart of any comedy, can only be described as an accident. The less-than-stellar animation did not ruin any scenes per se, yet it is noticeable enough that it is at times detrimental to the overall experience.

Good though the art style may be, which was a straightforward copy of the design in the game with more color to it, the contrast with the backgrounds is insurmountably large. At times, a truly beautiful view, albeit not even close to scenery porn as seen in Aria: The Animation, causes a jarring contrast to the protagonists' actions. This stark difference in quality is further amplified by the soundtrack, which consists of remixes of tunes heard in the game and a few well-made original pieces that did truly help the visuals along and set a fitting atmosphere at all times.

The soundtrack deserves far more recognition than it does – it is difficult to obtain by now, but every single track is worth finding someone still selling the soundtrack CD. While the voice acting was neither remarkably good nor bad, it was good enough to go under the radar and the seiyuu did fit their respective roles; the opening and ending are standard “show the characters off and promote some J-Pop band” tunes with visuals that any seasoned anime watcher could expect.

Once one is able to see past the glaring problems with animation, however, Makai Senki Disgaea presents itself as a light comedy. Unfortunately, this means that those who were looking forward to great fighting scenes will be disappointed; seeing some battles is a reasonable expectation if one keeps in mind that the source material is heavily based around combat. The few scenes of that kind are short and use sub-par special effects to make up for the visuals, which is a failed attempt at damage control.

The anime is a must-watch for anyone already familiar with the source material and everyone looking for a one-cour show to watch between seasons, though it is not worth your time when you already have a long plan-to-watch list. However, once all the gags have been delivered, watching the series for a second time will be quite boring as the novelty of it wears off quickly. Nonetheless, Makai Senki Disgaea is a fun ride that is neither exceedingly good nor horribly bad.