Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer
“Hammering Down a Cult Classic”
2022 was home to great and downright awful shows, but ‘Devil is a Part-Timer’ wasn't the only one making the latter category shine at its brightest. ‘Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer’ was a title that made the magazine Young King Ours GH hit everyone's radar in the late 2000s. The show featured a premise as absurd as the one in Assassination Classroom. While everyone thought such an alien scenario would go down the drain quickly, things turned out to be very different.
I think what makes Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer get the upper hand over a title like Assassination Classroom is the fact that it blends in reality and fantasy so well that you can't help but understand almost every character's motivation and intention of doing certain things and how they do them. So everyone was hyped when the anime was about to air 2 years ago. But, given how we have developed a habit of ruining every great title, some people thought it was about to go the same way. Fast-forward two years, and no one even remembers the title, and the ones that do just wish it never existed in the first place. What went wrong, and why did such a success on paper fail to become a strong contender for the Anime of the Year spot? Let's find out!
Do you know how some anime adaptations get the short end of the stick regarding production? NAZ Studio broke that stick into even smaller pieces with this one. The 2022 adaptation of Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer feels like it was produced with pocket change and a prayer. When you look at other shows from the same season, like Lycoris Recoil or Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, this adaptation feels like it came from a different era entirely - and not in a good way. The production committee seemed to have their priorities all mixed up, like Samidare's plan to save the world by destroying it. They had this goldmine of source material but decided to treat it like fool's gold. The storyboards look rushed, and the animation quality fluctuates more than Yuuhi's motivation to be a hero. It doesn't even get me started on the art consistency. It's like they were trying to speed up the production process while blindfolded.
Lacking Almost Everywhere
As I mentioned, Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer is a great manga series. However, the anime adaptation is lacking in almost every department, which is evident from the start. Now that Blue Lock season 2 has begun, I can draw the analogy, and you will understand precisely what I am saying. The animation doesn't feel like it's there, and for a manga series like Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer, a PowerPoint slide show just doesn't work at all. Here, I'll let you decide for yourself.
‘Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer’ is about this mage Animus who aims to destroy the world with his biscuit hammer, something that's very visible throughout the entirety of the series. Of course, no one would use something like a biscuit hammer just for show, right? This calls for the Beast Knights, who are to protect both the planet and the princess from peril and save everything at the end of the day. Yuuhi Amamiya, an average college student at best, is caught up in this mess right after he comes face to face with Sir Noi Crezant, who's a talking lizard and a knight of justice at that, too! Now Yuuhi Amamiya is the new lizard knight and must fight alongside other beast knights to prevent the princess and the planet from dying at the hands of the evil mage.
But you know how typical college students can be; Yuuhi Amamiya pays no heed to this whole mess and returns to his daily mundane routine. But he starts to take things seriously when a golem attacks him out of nowhere. He has to since his neighbor, Samidare Asahina, is the princess in question! But the princess doesn't think like a princess since instead of aiming for Animus, she wants to destroy Mother Earth. In the middle of all this, Yuuhi Amamiya has to decide what he's supposed to do while fighting his demons. Now, that's a great story, no? But you know what makes it worse? It is an anime that lacks everything! There's no animation; as I just said earlier, the action is pretty lackluster, and the pacing is just something we would never expect from an anime that's a recipe for overnight success.
Horrible Pacing
Do you know how some of these titles have beef with their pacing? At times we have One Piece traveling at the pace of a snail while others, like Tokyo Ghoul, progress by the speed of light, skipping anything and everything they can, just to piss the fans. Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer falls somewhere in the middle, but that does not imply "normal pacing." The show brings us the best of both worlds, with the episodes hopping between the paces of the hare and the tortoise, if that makes sense.
Sometimes, the show can make you sleep, while at others, a blink is all it takes to miss a critical point in the story. This goes hand in hand with a million hits on the rewind button just to follow what's happening in the anime. This can get frustrating at times, and you think you're better off just reading the manga, which I highly recommend since it's a great read, to be honest. Plus, the anime sometimes cuts around the edges, which makes some of the most iconic scenes fade into nothing, especially if you know nothing about them. That's because fans of the manga are already throwing a fit. After all, their favorite gag or panty shot didn't deserve the respect it deserved! That sounded a bit weird, but you get my point, right?
Opening Following the Ending Theme Route
I'm sure you've noticed that the ending themes usually follow the slide show route, right? By that, I mean that ending themes are primarily snapshots of characters staying still or moving around with the music since no one focuses on the ending theme. So, the guys at the studio are just managing their budget well. But Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer turns the tables and showcases an opening theme that's nothing but different scenes from the show, one after another just staying still or progressing from one frame to the next, which makes us wonder why they decided to come up with that junk in the first place. Honestly, they could've skipped the whole opening sequence, and that would've saved them from the backlash that followed since people would be too busy complaining about the rest of the show even to notice something like that. I know it's very wishful thinking, but I can't imagine the idea here!
Though the voice acting is excellent, you can feel the emotion and energy behind some of these lines, which gives them a lot more meaning and impact. That’s the only good part about the show, which makes it even worse for the anime adaptation of Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer. Did they make all their budget rain on the voice-acting department? That just doesn’t sound very wise, does it? However, it might be that the voice actors are being paid peanuts, and they just managed to do a great job regardless; in this case, I appreciate the time and effort they’ve put into this series! I’m sure they were fans of the manga like me! Here's the thing - amidst all this chaos, some good stuff is hiding in plain sight. The soundtrack by Tatatsugu Wakabayashi tries its hardest to pick up the slack, like how Yuuhi keeps fighting despite his initial reluctance. The opening theme, "Gyoko" by Half time Old, brings that raw energy you'd expect from a series about fighting golems and saving the world. At the same time, "Reflexion" by SpendyMily wraps up each episode with a surprisingly fitting melody that makes you wonder why the rest of the production couldn't match this quality.
But the real MVPs here? The voice actors. Man, these folks deserve combat pay for the heavy lifting they did. Junya Enoki makes Yuuhi feel real—you can hear the character's growth from an apathetic college student to a determined warrior in every line. Naomi Ozora brings Samidare to life with the right mix of whimsy and determination. And Kenjiro Tsuda? This guy turns a talking lizard into one of the most memorable characters in the show. That's talent right there. It's almost painful how good these performances are, knowing they're trapped in such a lackluster adaptation. Look, I get it. Adapting manga to anime is tough. However, the gap between the source material and this adaptation stretches more expansively than the crater that biscuit hammer would make. The original manga by Satoshi Mizukami is a storytelling masterclass, elevating it above the anime's clumsy attempt at adaptation.
Through careful character development, the manga transforms Yuuhi from a hate-filled, disconnected college student into a genuinely sociable warrior. Each member of the fifteen-person cast receives the same meticulous attention, crafting personal arcs that rival those found in much longer series. The relationships evolve naturally, whether it's the complex dynamic between knights or the growing bond between Yuuhi and Samidare. While the artwork appears simple at first glance, it packs a punch where it counts. The minimalist character designs burst with personality, and the innovative "holding field" power system creates dynamic combat scenarios that the anime couldn't capture. Every panel serves a purpose, from the creative layouts during battle sequences to the subtle expressions in quieter moments that convey volumes without words.
What sets the manga apart is its masterful balance of elements. It weaves slice-of-life moments seamlessly with shonen battles, making the "Power of Friendship" trope feel earned rather than cliché. The story tackles mature themes about growing up and accepting adulthood, wrapping them in a nostalgic framework that feels like an adult reflecting on their youth. Even the most outlandish plot points ground themselves in emotional authenticity. It's like comparing a gourmet meal to instant ramen—sure, they're both food, but one has more love and attention poured into every ingredient. If you're thinking about experiencing this story, do yourself a favor and pick up the manga. Your imagination will choreograph these battles and emotional moments far better than what we got in the anime.
Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer is not a good watch, plain and simple. The manga is one of the best titles I’ve ever read, so it’s a shame since the anime could’ve been so much more significant if they didn’t make it the way it is right now. I can see it becoming a good watch for fans of the manga series since you can plug up the holes that the anime ends up leaving every other episode or so. But suppose you’re diving into the anime without any background knowledge. In that case, you’re bound to get confused and even frustrated, given the anime just does an abysmal job regarding its execution. So, I advise picking up the manga and going through it all, then maybe diving into the anime. For the rating, I believe anything higher than a four would be unfair to the manga. The anime has already done the manga dirty, and it’s our responsibility to do the anime dirty at this point. By that, I don’t endorse any Twitter hate or death threats, as I know you guys can get a little too crazy at times, and we don’t want anything like that happening because of something that we said. Ultimately, it is a form of media and entertainment, and we are providing the best advice we can. If our description of the title piqued your interest, we recommend picking up the manga and seeing what it is worth. I’m sure you’ll all like it!
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