The second volume of Kyo Kara Maoh manages to avoid the sophomore slump that many series fall victim to.  The series is progressing well with the plot moving along at a good pace.  Things have not become bogged down or fallen into a predictable routine which all too often happens.  The program is developing nicely, and the five episodes that are included in this disc are well worth checking out.

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 in this land 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.

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.

As this volume starts, Yuri and his advisors are nearing the lake where Morgif is located.  It crashed to earth 15 years ago and fell into a lake.  The lake has been boiling hot ever since, and the locals refuse to go near it.  When Yuri touches the lake though, it doesn't seem too hot to him, more like bath water.  He dives in and after a bit of trouble manages to retrieve the powerful sword.

The only problem is that Yuri doesn't know how to use its power.  The legends say that it has to be charged with a human soul, but where can he get one without killing someone in cold blood.  While they are trying to figure that out, Yuri applies for a job and discovers that he's been recruited as a gladiator to fight in the arena.  Can he survive even with the demon sword.

When he returns to the capital, Yuri has more problems to worry about.  Not only are there his regular duties to look after, but someone has broken into the royal treasury and stolen the Demon King Gem, a symbol of the office.  Yuri sees his chance though and heads the full scale investigation that he launches.  Of course, the theft could be just a diversion, one so his enemies can kidnap him.
 
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.

This is a good show.  There is a nice mix of drama, adventure and comedy.  The show doesn't take itself too seriously, but it also isn't too irreverent.  I like the fact that they portray the problems of being king in a semi-realistic manner.  Yuri has a lot of paperwork to do, and in addition there are enemies both foreign and domestic.  Not only does Yuri have to worry about the humans attacking, but there are disgruntled nobles from his own kingdom that he has to worry about.
 
This show is pretty funny too.  My favorite joke occurred when Yuri was fighting in the coliseum with Morgif.  To access the sword's immense power, Yuri jumps high into the air in typical anime fashion and screams "Morgif Semon Sword PUNCH!"  The music swells...and nothing happens.

I also liked all of the ways that they came up with to remove the cursed headband that the Demon King's aide accidently put on.  These hair brained schemes were really funny, but not as amusing as the way they finally removed the cursed object.

The only thing that bugs me about the series is the way that Yuri's hair changes color from black to red and back again throughout the series.  His black hair is the reason that people identified him as the Demon King, and it's a little odd seeing him with red hair.  I think it's just a stylistic thing, but it doesn't work for me.

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:

The only extra that this disc has is an animation gallery of 24 images.

Final Thoughts:

I was glad to see this series evolve more with the second volume.  It avoided the sophomore slump that so many shows fall into.  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.  I'm happy that this show hasn't turned into the standard fantasy epic. It does something new with the genre, and that is very refreshing.  Recommended.