Kyo Kara Maoh is another one of those shows that FUNimation has rescued from obscurity due to Geneon's departure from the anime world. Lasting for three seasons in total, the series proved to be quite popular in Japan and enjoyed some moderate success here in the States. However, when Geneon went under they left fans of the show hanging with an incomplete release of the second season and nothing of the third. While the second season has been released by FUNimation, before we check that one out it's worth going back and looking at the 39 episode first year and see what it's all about.

In case you missed it, you should know that Kyo Kara Maoh is kind of goofy and a little unique. The show begins in our world and focuses on the daily life of a high school student named Yuri Shibuya. Yuri is your average baseball loving kid who has the misfortune of helping out a classmate in need when some bullies start harassing him. The tables are turned on Yuri and he winds up getting a face-first look at the inside of a toilet as he's flushed away to another world. I bet that's something you don't hear every day!

What Yuri finds on the other side of the toilet is a whole other world entirely. It's a strange world full of fantasy elements such as magic, demons, and swordplay, and Yuri needs to be a quick study if he wants any chance of living through the experience. You see, as he appeared within the Demon Kingdom with his black hair and eyes, Yuri has been dubbed the new Demon King. Yuri has never really been in charge of anything, let alone a kingdom of demons, and when the humans of this world attack he becomes a leader of a nation in a time of war. That's no small task for someone who hasn't even graduated high school yet!

As he's dragged through the hierarchy of the Demon Kingdom he's introduced to a bevy of people that become his subordinates. He doesn't understand the culture, the kingdom is full of pretty men, and he just really has no clue as far as what's going on. At one point early on in the first season one of the demons insults his mother, to which Yuri slaps him across the face. This is apparently how demons propose marriage and before you can say "what the hell?" Yuri finds himself engaged to some guy named Wolfram. Needless to say things aren't going so well for him at this point.

During the early moments of Kyo Kara Maoh Yuri grows up a bit and realizes that he wants to accept the responsibility of being ruler in order to bring peace to the land. In order to do so, it's deemed early on that he should get a legendary sword that can only be wielded by the Demon King. Naturally he goes on this adventure and bonds with some of his followers along the way. The show feels like a traveling buddy anime at this point, though things don't necessarily work out exactly like you'd think they would.

Eventually, despite Yuri's efforts, war comes through between the humans and demons and there's a lot of fighting and stuff that he has to deal with. It's entertaining because he still has the mindset of a teenager, but some of the jokes and plot points are rehashed quite a bit around the midway point of the show. It leaves the show feeling a tad tedious as a degree of monotony slows the pacing down and worn out jokes become filler in the dialogue. It's never quite enough to kill the whole experience, but it definitely leaves an unsatisfying taste in your mouth as you watch it. There are moments of brilliance here and there, but they are mostly towards the beginning and end of the season. The rest is kind of underwhelming.

It's a shame that so much of Kyo Kara Maoh felt contrived and familiar somehow. The show's premise is original enough and the characters are fun to watch, but something about the show just doesn't quite sit well. The pacing feels off, the plot is cliché at times, the jokes deadpan quite a bit, and ultimately the season seems to be a little too long for its own good. Ultimately I have to say that I did have a good time though, despite these flaws. Yuri is great as a lead character, there's a great deal of continuity here, and the action feels pretty solid as well. The lackluster midsection of the season isn't quite enough to drag the whole experience down and in the end I'd easily recommend this title to anyone who loves fantasy anime.

Kyo Kara Maoh! is presented on DVD with the original 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer that Geneon put together for its DVD release. The discs have more or less simply been repackaged and the quality remains in tact, so you don't have to worry about strong compression artifacts or the like. I mean, there are 39 episodes on nine DVDs here, you can't actually jam that onto four discs like we've seen lately but I digress. The image here is sharp, colorful, and shows no signs of aliasing whatsoever. I did catch a few glimpse of grain in the darker areas of the program, but in fairness I really had to look in order to find them. Overall this is a solid transfer and one that does the show justice.

English and Japanese 2.0 stereo tracks are what you're going to get from this show. Neither is a technical marvel by any stretch of the imagination, but they both serve the content well enough. The sound was clean and free of flaw, though the lack of directionality on the soundstage was definitely a letdown in some parts of the show. The dubbing quality for both tracks is admirable as well and in all honesty I didn't prefer one track over the other which is a rarity.

For bonus features you're going to find clean animations, trailers, a promo for the show, and some art galleries. These are the same features that were included on the original Geneon DVDs, so if you own those there's really nothing new to get excited about though it's nice to know that the features weren't omitted from this release.

Kyo Kara Maoh is an interesting show with lively characters, a fun premise, and a lot going for it. The series built up quite a following in Japan and after watching the first season it's easy to see why. There's a lot going for it and ultimately I had a good time. Unfortunately the show has some flaws that it works through around the midpoint, but that's the important part; it works through them. Sure you'll feel the episodes drag as the pacing dips and jokes are rehashed, however, the fact remains that the show's a blast at the beginning and at the end. It's easy to overlook the flaws and give this one a smooth recommendation. Now the only question is, how does the second season stack up?

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