Yuri Shibuya is a typical high school student.  He enjoys playing baseball, can sometimes let his temper get the better of him, and views school as a necessary evil at best.  One day after school though, he discovers that he isn't as typical as he thought.  While being picked on by some bullies, he's pushing into a rest room stall, his head is put in the toilet and it's flushed.  Instead of getting wet though, he actually gets sucked into the toilet and somehow gets transported to another land.

When people see his black hair and black eyes they proclaim him the Demon King, leader of all demons.  This isn't something he really wants or needs, but it's hard to turn down a kingdom.  Poor Yuri finds himself in a lot of trouble though, as word of his arrival has made the humans nervous, and caused them to launch attacks on demon villages.  Many of his followers are looking to Yuri to lead them in a fight to rid the world of humans.  It's not hard being a king, especially in a strange world where you don't know the rules.

There are a lot of problems associated with being the king:  People are jealous of his position, his enemies want to kill him, there are advisor giving contradictory advice, and his generals don't think a kid os qualified to make decisions.  Worst of all, there is a lot of paper work to do.

Demons in this world look and act like humans, but they each have a magical power which makes them more powerful than the humans.  This uneven distribution of power makes the humans very nervous, and when the Demon King appears, they are sure it signals the start of a war.  With humans gathering magician mercenaries the demon kingdom starts preparing for war too.  Yuri doesn't want to go to war, but it's hard to stop it once things get set in motion.

In an attempt to stave off the war, Yuri goes in search of the ultimate weapon, the demon sword Morgif.  This weapon is supposed to be unstoppable, and if he retrieves it Yuri hopes that the humans will back off in fear of it.  He has to find it first though.

This series has gotten off to a good start.  A sword and sorcery show, it avoids many of the stereotypes that often plague the genre and goes for a more complex world.  Yuri has the problems a typical king would have, and things aren't always as clear cut as they look.  Of course the volume ends with Yuri setting off on a quest, which is a little worrisome.  But even that feels different than the typical show and serves to add some adventure to the proceedings.

There are some comic elements to the show which work well and lighten the mood.  In one of the early episodes Yuri accidently proposes, without realizing it, to Wolfram, a young man his age.  If this isn't embarrassing enough, everyone from that time on refers to Wolfram as Yuri's fiancé, and Wolfram takes to playing the jealous mate whenever Yuri spends a lot of time with another man.  Yuri's puzzled reactions are always good for a laugh.

Another aspect that I liked was they filled in the background in short fashion, and though some people may not believe that Yuri is the real Demon King, viewers know he is.  I was glad they cleared this up right away because, lets admit it, the main character is always the chosen one or the true subject of the prophecy.  Since it really isn't possible to create much doubt on that front, I'm glad they settled the matter early on.

Audio:

This show has the original Japanese and an English dub track, both in stereo.  I alternated listening to these tracks, and while I preferred the Japanese track, I thought the English voice actors did a good job.  Both tracks were very clean and clear with no evidence of distortion or other audio defects.

Video:

This show is presented in an anamorphically enhanced widescreen (1.78:1).  The picture looked very good, with excellent color.  The lines were very sharp and the level of detail fine.  Digital defects were not noticed, with even chain link fences and other diagonal lines not showing traces of aliasing.  A very good looking transfer.

Extras:

This disc also features a clean opening, and text biographies of the major characters.

Final Thoughts:

Kyo Kara Maoh has gotten off to a good start.  Though this show has all of the trappings of a fantasy anime show, the program is just different enough so that people who have tired of that genre will enjoy it, as well as the fans.  The fact that Yuri sees things differently since he was raised in the human world adds a nice twist to the show, and also explains why he's so opposed to violence.  This series could still devolve into a standard fantasy epic, but there are enough grey areas in this first volume that I don't believe it will.  Recommended.