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 Seven:

Things really start getting interesting with this volume. The plot thickens and the pace picks up a bit. Yuri is in quite a pickle. He tried to transport back to his homeworld but something went wrong and he stayed in the Demon world, but somewhere in the human kingdom. Hooking up Murata, a friend from middle school, the pair try to get back to the demon kingdom and in the process discover something dire. The kingdom of Big Cimaron, in cohorts with Yuri's old nemesis Adalbert, has been using their military power to extort troops from the smaller countries that surround them. They have raised a great army to defeat the demon tribe once and for all.

A large army isn't the only thing that Big Cimaron has in their favor. They also have a box. Not just any box though, but one of the four for forbidden "End of the Earth" boxes. These vessels contain an uncontrollable force that is not to be tampered with. Not only does Big Cimaron have the box but they also have the key: the arm of a member of the demon tribe nobility.

While trying to get this information back to the demon kingdom however, Yuri and his entourage get captured by Adalbert. The warrior has an interesting idea: to try out the End of the Earth box on the demon king even though it may destroy the entire world.

This is a very good volume. Things really start to move, especially in the final episode, and the machinations that have been going on in the background since the series began start to come to the foreground. Even with all of this momentum building up the show was able to throw in a new mystery or two, mainly the character of Murata. How did this person from Earth end up in the demon world, and why does he know so much about what is going on. He plays the fool sometimes, but seems to be much too comfortable in this other world and not nearly as unsettled as he should be.

Though it started out as a solid series, Kyo Kara Maoh has gotten much better as it plays out. The show has a good amount of action, some enjoyable characters and more than a little humor. (I loved what happened to the sheep when they fell off the ship.) A fun series that is ramping up for a memorable conclusion.

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 volume continues to build on the events from the last disc and the plot starts really picking up steam. Though some of the earlier episodes were light and amusing, now that the story has started to advance the show is much more enjoyable. Things are a little bit darker in these later shows, but this darkness adds an intensity that previous volumes have been lacking. If you were about to give up on this show, it's time to give it another look. A very strong recommendation.