Akuma-kun – Season 1 Episode 8 “True Intentions” Recap & Review

Episode 8

Mahiru asks Akuma-kun’s help as he wants to become a demon to beat a bad guy. Akuma-kun says it’s an interesting request, but he throws the boy out of the institute. Mio was sure they would get help, but now they must find another way. 

Takekuma, a new client, shows up at the institute and says his friend needs help. Iketani was bullied as a kid because his dad was foreign, but he and Takekuma were always good friends. When Takekuma went to his house to play games, a creepy shadow appeared and scared him. 

Mephisto and Akuma-kun go with the client to Iketani’s house, and the children follow them. Mephisto realizes that but says it’s better to not do anything, as trying to deal with Mio would only complicate things. For once, Akuma-kun agrees with him. 

They get to Iketani’s house and, when they open the door, he is sitting on his sofa with an ominous aura creeping over him. It bursts out of the room and starts attacking Mephisto. The half-human uses his ice spell with Akuma-kun’s help, but it doesn’t work, so they run away. Mio and Mahiru love the fight and decide to talk to Mephisto’s father, as he is a demon.

They get to Mephisto II’s home and ask him how to become a demon. He doesn’t seem inclined to talk about that and is almost sending the kids away. However, Mio says she’ll only leave when he tells her how he met his wife. He says it’s all because of Shingo and starts the story. They got married after they watched one of Director Ei’s movies, which Mio finds very romantic. Mahiru lashes out, saying he only wants to know how to become a demon.

Mephisto II says he won’t talk about that and commands the children to go to their homes. However, when he’s taking a walk, they start following him.

Mephisto III and Akuma-kun go back to Iketani’s house with a plan to deal with the devil Eligor, a beast who feeds on conflict. When the demon leaves the house, it steps on a magic circle that makes him disappear. However, Akuma-kun isn’t confident it’s going to work, and Eligor comes back moments later.

Eligor wreaks havoc and almost kills the protagonists, but Mephisto II arrives at the right time to stop it. He uses powerful ice and lightning spells to trap and destroy the demon. Iketani comes back to normal and says he’s sorry. Everything happened because he pulled a very rare card in a game and, in the past, he promised to give it to Takekuma.

After everything, Mahiru still says he wants to become a demon to fight a bad guy. The characters find out the bad guy is his mother’s boyfriend, who has been abusing the family for a while now. Mephisto II and Akuma-kun discuss the subject, saying child welfare will take care of Mahiru and trying to understand why that happens.


The Episode Review

The great fight at the end and the focus on new characters are a needed change of pace. Mephisto II always uses the same set of powers almost in the exact same way and it never works. So seeing his father conjure powerful attacks that destroy the monster is very cool. Also, Mahiru and Mio bring new jokes that haven’t been done before. 

The resolution of Takekuma’s case is quite dumb, but that’s what makes it funny. At moments, the anime doesn’t lean so much on the joke as it should, but that doesn’t ruin the situation.

It’s Mahiru’s plot which has a big problem. It is a sensitive subject and should be treated with more attention and care. Instead of covering it for around 2 minutes at the end, it’d have been better to give it more time. Also, probably someone so insensitive as Akuma-kun isn’t the right person to be discussing that, mainly if he’s gonna do that shallowly.

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  • Episode Rating
    (2.5)
2.5

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