Series Synopsis:

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.

Volume Six:

The disc opens with Yuri and Greta returning from their adventures in the resort town. They bring back the wounded Hube, a member of the human tribe who was exiled 20 years ago and attacked the Demon King in the previous episode. No one in the castle is happy to see Hube back again, but under Yuri's orders they tend to his wounds.

The young king gets a history lesson when he asks why everyone hates Hube so much. Due to some rash actions that Hube took on the battle field in the last great demon tribe-human war, a demon village was razed to the ground. Hundreds were killed, including one of the best magic users from the demon tribe, Lady Suzanna Julia von Wincott.

Wrapping up the problem of what to do with Hube, Yuri finally accepts the fact that he's the demon king and comes to grips living in another world. Of course, as he comes to accept his situation, he gets transported back to the real world.

This volume also reveals a lot of secrets about Yuri's origins. How he got to the human world, why he was sent there, and also why Conrart is so protective of the young ruler. A great episode that explains a lot.

When Yuri returns to the demon world, is isn't because the demon tribe wants him to come back, an enemy has pulled him back for some nefarious purposes. Luckily, the religious order in the demon world notices the trickery and are able to pin-point where Yuri will turn up. Conrart, Ginter and Greta rush to meet him, and get to him just as all hell breaks loose.

This was one of the best volumes so far. Not only does it revel a lot of the back story, but the show also takes a darker turn. Things aren't as light and care free as some of the earlier episodes. People are getting hurt and the stakes are very high.

Though it's darker, the show starts getting really interesting too, with mysterious forces after Yuri and the humans preparing for war. Though previous volumes have been good, they weren't nearly as engrossing as the episodes on this disc. For the first time with this series I was really wishing that there were more episodes included after I finished the four on this disc.

This is a solid show with some good stories. There were some fun surprises in this volume and the story has taken on more continuity than it previously has. There are a few references to earlier story lines that makes the show more textured and adds some to the show.

There's also a good amount of humor in the show, though it's not a comedy. One of the highlights of this disc is the race between a giant panda bear and a gargantuan koala. If the idea isn't odd enough, the race it self is very funny.

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 on this disc is a gallery of line animation from the series.

Final Thoughts:

This is the best disc so far in this series. They answer a lot of questions and fill in some of the background to the show, something I was wondering if they were ever going to do, and start the next major story arc that should bring us to the end of the series, three discs hence. The show, always light and enjoyable, has become a bit darker but also much more engrossing. If you've been watching up to this point, you'll really want to pick this disc up. A strong recommendation.