Anime Review: Can a Human Magician Bridge Two Warring Worlds?

The Strongest Magician in the Demon Lord's Army Was a Human

Have you ever felt out of place somewhere? Perhaps people with no similar interests surrounded you or even understood the first thing about you? At the same time, you could have been placed in the middle of the century’s biggest group of unlikely misfits and felt right at home. Life is like that sometimes; we may get along with people we never thought possible and perhaps even develop new interests or perspectives. Regardless, what’s important is not losing sight of your true self but also being open to change for the better, because nobody is perfect. As you forge on towards your original objectives, just imagine how creatively your path may branch out and lead to new horizons…

“The Strongest Magician in the Demon Lord's Army Was a Human,” also known as “Maougun Saikyou no Majutsushi wa Ningen datta” or “The Maou Army's Strongest Magician Was a Human,” is a 12-episode TV anime series that aired from the 3rd of July until the 18th of September in Summer 2024. The series was produced by Pony Canyon, KlockWorx, Asmik Ace, Futabasha, Yomiuri TV Enterprise, Bit grooove promotion, BS Asahi, and Happinet Phantom Studios, and brought to life by Studio A-CAT. The main staff behind it includes Matsui Yuuko, Yarimizu Yoshifumi, Ozawa Fumihiro, and Honda Hikaru as producers. This series of 23-minute episodes features the genres of action, adventure, and fantasy, alongside the themes of isekai and Reincarnation. Gating of PG-13 for teenagers 13 years or older, it was even released in Blu-ray and DVD formats as a box set on the 29th of November 2024.

The anime is based on the manga of the same title, which began publication on the 23rd of August 2019 and is still ongoing. It is the work of author Hata Ryousuke and artist Anajiro, getting serialized in Monster Comics. An alternative version with the same title was released as a light novel on the 30th of September 2016 and is still ongoing. While it is the work of the same author, the artist for this version is KUMA.

The story is centered around protagonist Ike, who, just like the title suggests, is a human living amidst Demonkind. He studied the art of magic under the tutelage of a powerful demon warlock named Romberg, growing up possessing knowledge about an ancient but advanced civilization that had once ruled the entire land. This upbringing, combined with his innate talent for magic, allowed him to swiftly rise up the ranks in the Demon Lord's Army and even get to the level of leading his own brigade to score consecutive victories against humanity with demonic flare. All of his success was achieved while keeping his identity as a human secret from the demons around him, but he knows all too well the consequences he’ll have to face if this secret ever gets out. Regardless, Ike has a clear goal in mind and is committed to confronting the immense perils necessary to achieve it. As surprising as it may seem, his ultimate objective is to find the means for humanity and demonkind to coexist in peace, which also means putting an end to the cruel war that has been waged for far too long.

The oversaturation of the Isekai genre is nothing new, and a good show among them is quite rare. Everything is so generic, and the titles keep getting longer—so much so that the basic premise of the story is in the title itself. This is the story of a human who can disguise himself well enough to become a part of demon society; he is OP with regards to magic, which puts him in a good position among them, but his end goal of uniting humans and demons is unwavering. The tale of a human who gets adopted by a kind-hearted demon is nothing new either, and in this case he is even taught a good deal of magic. Ike is so good at it that he receives the support of a demon sorceress, so from the onset it is made obvious that this man is just built different. He even becomes a leading figure in the demon army while maintaining his fatal secret and keeps up the status quo for as long as he can. Sadly, his ultimate ambition of creating peace for all is trifled by the "needless" war to determine which race is superior, and demons are pretty egotistical by default. He is both Lawful Good and Lawful Evil minced into one, and there’s nothing else he seeks in life.

The story progression is basic. Ike’s journey toward peace is littered with many rivalries, alliances, battles, drama, fan service, and predictable filler episodes that don’t contribute much to the overall story. There’s no major overarching plot here either, but the inclusion of so many completely irrelevant episodic plots makes the watch more irritating. Meanwhile, even the Demon Lord, who is a very young-looking girl, seems to have a minor crush on the MC. She is certainly not the only one with such feelings. Another giant pitfall is the useless and excessive exposition and the near-thoughtless dialogue that manages to be both superfluous and dumb at the same time. Even as we approach the later episodes, there is a major lack of tension because even Ike’s identity has a human quality that holds little narrative significance.

This man doesn’t seem to take his own life-and-death-determining disguise seriously, and he never faces truly threatening opponents either. Apparently he has kept up the secret-identity thing for 20 years but is seen casually removing his mask and is careless enough to be discovered by a random maid of all things. Next, there are tractors and spies amidst this bitter war, but they are all introduced during their revelations, making little to no impact and leading to random twists that nobody can care about. Finally, is it just me, or does Ike certainly not feel like the strongest magician in the demon lord’s army, by any means? It’s just that his opponents are all dumb and incompetent, so he has no issues triumphing over them. Furthermore, the difference between humans and demons isn’t addressed either, so on what basis is this “strongest” built? I certainly don’t know, even after watching the whole show.

Since I already spoke about Ike, let's look at the supporting cast in the character department. Everyone is just one-dimensional and hilarious in their own unique way… not the positive kind. The Demon Lord, also known as "Dairokuten Demon Lord," resembles a manifestation of Chaotic Evil, yet her teenage-like tendencies lead her to behave more like a Lawful or Neutral Evil character. Don’t get me wrong, the girl does an impressive job as the demon spokesperson sitting at the top and loves giving commands to her subordinates, especially Ike, to do stuff in her stead. Yes, she is very lazy and lacks the menacing presence exuded by a proper demon Lord. Next up is the Maid Girl, Satie, who is a Chaotic Good character and one I found to be moderately likable for doing her role justice in the least. Meanwhile, everyone else is a total waste of time and resources, being there just because the plot requires them to and doing nothing of value. Furthermore, the setting and world-building are complete failures, so you cannot relate to these characters.

The antagonists are dangerously incompetent. For example, Ike possesses a mind-reading ability but chooses not to use it on multiple occasions because of “reasons.” He then proceeds to explain this ability to his foes, who, despite knowing it, make stupid decisions to act on their thoughts, only to be shocked when the MC finds out. Nest, the harem element, feels so forced, inorganic, and unnecessary here. We have the naive and defenseless Satie constantly getting saved from “evil rapists” by the heroic MC. The unnervingly flirty Witch Cefiro, who doubles as a mentor, has a mysterious past tied to Ike but does nothing of value outside of exposition dumping and making plot armor tangible with her truly OP powers. Then there’s the succubus Lilith, who has nothing better to do than follow Ike around and beg him for the act, overall adding nothing to the show besides fanservice.

The Art and Animation department is as neglected as the rest of the show; it’s like everyone working on this job wanted to be done with it fast and move on to better projects. Both the 2D and 3D visuals are just horrendous, from the monsters, effects, spells, and so on. Even the character designs are bland and forgettable; you've seen it once, and you've experienced it a thousand times. I’m not even going to start about Ike looking like the most generic Isekai male MC ever. Granted, most of the girls look either cute or hot, but there’s nothing else there. The battle scenes are poorly animated with an uncomfortable amount of still frames and CG that makes you want to walk away.

The only positive thing about this show is the Sounds and Music department. The show here completely wastes the superb talents of composer Kohta Yamamoto-san, whose work is truly legendary. The opening theme is "Ctrl C" by Kohta Yamamoto, and the ending theme is "I still" also by Kohta Yamamoto, featuring Maya Akechi, both of which are decent works if used on a better show. The OSTs are also excellent pieces, but to me they sounded like inferior versions of Attack on Titan’s soundtrack with a demonic twist. The voice acting is also mediocre, which is a compliment considering the lackluster characters they worked with.

Overall, “The Strongest Magician in the Demon Lord's Army Was a Human” is an irredeemably awful anime with nothing besides the music going for it. Stay away from this show unless you are a devoted watcher of Isekai determined to watch every single one of them for whatever reason.