The Misfit Of Demon King Academy – Season 1 Episode 1 Recap & Review

A Magical Start?

Boasting some gorgeous animation, a simple story and a pretty enjoyable opening episode, The Misfit of Demon Academy gets off to a good start for what should be a really entertaining set of episodes to come.

The idea of a big magical fight to show off the power of Anos is a little cliched and it does pose a particularly challenging problem going forward – if Anos has this much power then where is the conflict coming from?

Alongside that, the fantasy elements do feel well-worn but there’s an undeniable charm that feels like it could grow into something a lot more exciting further down the line.

The main plot line revolves around a Demon King who was a revered tyrant and wiped out many Gods and men over the years. However, he soon became tired of conflict and in a bid for a peaceful life, decided to reincarnate 2000 years later. This gets us up to scratch with where the story takes place, as Anos arrives at the academy and finds his descendants lacking the necessary magic power thanks to a diminishing amount of magic in the world.

Episode 1 of Misfit Of Demon Academy begins with a hopeful magical student called Misha arriving at the Academy and meeting Anos. Together, they head inside with the other students where they begin the practical test one by one. First up is Anos who effortlessly wins his fight against Zepes and continuously brings his opponent back to life with a resurrection spell – something he calls the 3 second rule.

After taking part in the aptitude test, Anos invites Misha back to his house where he reveals the good news that he got into the academy. After a meal to celebrate (and plenty of quirky scenes with Anos’ mother believing Misha and Anos are romantically involved) the duo head out under the moonlit sky.

Only, they come unstuck when Demon Lord Leorg approaches out the shadows and confronts Anos. After the incident involving his brother Zepes earlier in the episode, he’s out for revenge and determined to put Anos in his place.

Unfortunately things go awry and Anos walks away unscathed after a brilliant display of magic. “Listen up, the Founder is back.” He utters, allowing a wry smile to cross his lips as the episode ends.

The Misfit of Demon Academy does adopt some pretty standard tropes for this sort of anime, including Anos’ Mother squealing and fussing over Misha, and Anos having a crazy amount of power and playing the invincible trope. Alongside that, a lot of the first episode feels quite cliched but it’s balanced out by a couple of well-placed jokes and some pretty good world-building.

The animation looks great too and the thin lines and character models both combine to make this an anime worth sticking with in the future to see how the story plays out. As someone who hasn’t read the source material, I can’t comment on how faithful this is but I’m definitely intrigued to see where the series goes with these characters.