English Dub Season Review: Demon Lord, Retry! R Season One

Demon Lord, Retry! R is an anime adaptation of Amaru Minotake’s continuation of Kurone Kanzaki’s light novel series, Demon Lord, Retry!.  It is directed by Kazuomi Koga, with Katsuhiko Takayama handling the script and Gekkō producing the animation.  Minori Homura handled the character designs, and Supa Love composed the music.  The opening theme song, “Ashita Sekai ga Owaru Toshite mo” (Even if the World Ends Tomorrow), is performed by Asca, while the ending theme song, “Clanssi:c”, is performed by MIMiNARI and Yuho Kitazawa.   

Demon Lord, Retry! was another addition to the everlasting RPG harem isekai anime collection that made its way to the screens in 2019.  It chronicles Akira Ono (Jessie James Grelle), the administrator and creator of the MMORPG game called Infinity Game.  As he’s about to shut down the game’s servers, Akira finds himself transported into the game by an unexplainable phenomenon as its character, the demon lord of the Great Empire, Hakuto Kunai.  While seeking answers about his mysterious arrival, Akira/Kunai confronts the sociological issues of the Kingdom of Holy Light and the Satanist cult, causing problems throughout the land.  Additionally, he develops a hot springs business with the help of numerous allies like Aku (Natalie Hoover), a shy girl with heterochromia eyes, and Luna Elegant (Kristen McGuire), the youngest of the Holy Maidens.

Demon Lord, Retry! R is the continuation of the series that picks up where the season one finale left off.  While Aku, Luna, and Kunai’s summons watch over the hot springs resort, Kunai journeys to search for a solution to counter magic attacks while confronting more problems involving the game’s kingdoms.  One of them has Luna venturing to rescue her childhood friend, a demihuman named Eagle, who was last seen in the first season’s flashback.  Kunai also assists the S-Rank adventurers Organ (Emi Lo) and Mink (Amanda Lee) in traveling to the Demon Lands to defeat Organ’s father, Archfiend Belphegor.

Truth be told, Demon Lord, Retry! R was my first exposure to the Demon Lord, Retry! manga as a whole.  At first, I thought it was another standalone anime involving harems and isekai, but it was actually the title of the show’s second season, evoking my concerns about being inexperienced with the source material.  So, I took the time to watch the first season in preparation for Demon Lord, Retry! R, and I thought it was fine.  It won’t blow people’s minds regarding its formulaic harem isekai blueprint, but it’s also not without its mildly amusing moments that held my interest, even the ones that were a bit risqué.  The animation by Ekachi Epilka was respectable, and the characters were serviceable in their straightforward personalities, including Kunai, who seeks to avoid violence whenever possible despite having OP skills.  With that experience in mind, I assumed that Demon Lord, Retry! R would provide a similar level of averageness in its quality.  Unfortunately, after watching the first few episodes, that didn’t appear to be the case.

The second season started with two recap episodes that were abridged versions of the anime’s first season but with a different animation style.  “ReTry” retold Akria Ono’s first encounter with Aku after being transported into Infinity Game, and “ReStart” reflected upon the characters’ backgrounds as Kunai’s hot springs business continued to grow.  On the one hand, the first two episodes were helpful in getting newcomers up to speed with the anime’s narrative without viewing the first season beforehand.  However, they would still have to watch the season to get more context on its characters.  On the other hand, for those who have watched season one, the two episodes were pointless and dragged-out fillers that didn’t advance the second season’s plot until the third episode, “ReCycle”.  But, even if it did progress the plot in its third episode, Demon Lord, Retry! R lacked the proper powers to maintain my interest in its aimless narrative and weak humor.

The first season took an interesting approach to the isekai harem genre by having Kunai run a hot springs resort in the village of Rabbi amid his confrontations with his enemies.  While it followed the usual elements seen in similar anime, the hot springs plot point certainly caught me by surprise, making for a rather diverting experience.  Demon Lord, Retry! R reintroduced the resort in the first three episodes, with Kunai’s two NPC summons, Yu Kirino (Katelyn Barr) and Isami Tahara (Eric Rolon), defending the village from Lord Dona’s men.  But afterward, it was quickly abandoned in favor of focusing on Kunai and Luna’s personal journeys, leaning more into the genre’s by-the-numbers elements compared to the first season, but with less fun and invigorating moments to elevate its underwhelming plot.  Even Yu and Isami were never mentioned again after the third episode.  However, it did introduce viewers to another NPC summon, Akane Fujisaki (Hayden Daviau), whose appearance is a headstrong and joyful 16-year-old otaku schoolgirl.  Besides her duel against Skewer in “ReQuest”, Akane didn’t offer much in her stubborn personality to serve as a humorous substitute for Kunai’s other two summons.

The second season is also known for focusing more on its supporting characters than Kunai in several episodes, mainly Luna.  With Kunai being the show’s protagonist, this surprisingly new direction can get pretty irritating for those expecting him to be the main focus.  Fortunately, it often compensates with its exploration of the supporting characters.  A prime example of this is Luna, whose narrative arc concludes in “ReUnion”, with her finding and rescuing Eagle from discrimination after pursuing her role as a High Maiden.  Considering that it started with Luna’s flashback in the season one episode, “Madam Roars”, “ReUnion” was a respectable conclusion to Luna’s desire to reunite with her childhood friend.  Unfortunately, Kazuomi Koga’s direction of the episode’s emotional impact was surprisingly tame regarding the stakes and unfitting music.

One noticeable change you may have realized in Demon Lord, Retry! R is the animation style.  Unlike season one, which was animated by Ekachi Epilka, season two was produced by Gekkō, emphasizing its alterations in the presentation and character designs.  Demon Lord, Retry! R was the fifth anime adaptation produced by Gekkō, after producing adaptations of My One-Hit Kill Sister, TenPuru, Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again, and A Nobody’s Way Up to an Exploration Hero.  While it didn’t look too bad, it’s not enough to call it a necessary upgrade for the series, especially when referring to the action, animation style, and depth.  Like season one, the animation style goes for more of a comical approach than action-packed, which would’ve been fine if the slapstick and presentation aspects were a bit more effortful or, in this case, funny.  The character designs in season two also did well in matching the ones from the first season, but the new design that caught me off guard was Yu Kirino, who looked slightly pudgier than her slim appearance in season one.  After watching this season, I prefer Yu’s design in season one more. 

Demon Lord, Retry! was a watchable harem isekai anime that mostly succeeds in its entertainment values instead of revitalizing its familiar ideas.  Its second season, Demon Lord, Retry! R, attempted to copy that similar success with a different presentation, but it ended up being a disappointing downgrade in the process.  There are a few occasions where a sophomore season improves a show with its storytelling, stakes, and character development, especially ones from the anime department.  Sadly, Demon Lord, Retry! R isn’t one of them, as its aimless and formulaic narrative, subpar humor, and mediocre direction resulted in it being an inferior patch to this already fine game.  In short, it’s game over for the anime’s sophomore season.