Kyou kara Maou!, Hataraku Maou-sama! Recommendations
Both have black-haired demon kings as the lead, both with an axious, devoted silver-haired attendant. Both stories explore the conflicts between demons and humans. Both have a solid grasp of humor and story moving the plot forward. Both have exclamation points in the title. Eeeeey?
Kyou Kara Maou! begins when normal Japanese boy Yuuri Shibuya is flushed down a toilet (yes, literally) and is transported to a fantasy land filled with 'costumed' citizens who speak a strange language he can't understand at first, is determined to be the next Demon King, and is put in charge of a massive feud between his people the demons and
that world's humans. Yuuri is a pacifist by nature, though he exhibits awesome power when injustice occurs and his demon side takes over. Coincidentally, he also ends up engaged to a pretty blond boy who hates him and surrounded by erroneously handsome young men who protect him and offer him advice (or rein him in, as the case may be) in times of strife.
Hataraku Maou-sama! felt like a crazy reverse!verse of the former to me, in which the solemn lead who is decidedly not a pacifist is transported to modern Japan, where he gets a job as a fast-food worker (the exact opposite of a king), has to learn to pay bills, and struggle to accept humans instead of burn their homes to the ground. It was hilarious to watch and compare the two, having been a huge fan of KKM back in my youth. The story is equal parts funny and serious, with good intrigue behind the scenes and a cast that at first felt simple on the surface, but all had a good heft and hidden depth to them. It explored the human/demon conflict from a less idealistic side, and I enjoyed that moral questioning throughout.
Both shows are great fun on their own, though KKM's beginning episode animation definitely hasn't aged well (it gets better as the budget increased). I really enjoyed both, but I get a kick out of comparing them intellectually as a similar but reversed story.
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