Hataraku Maou-sama! Episode 8

“Did you not find it at all strange that a pure girl like me who had just moved into the area would go to a man’s room like that and even look after him?!”

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Impression

Finally, a confession at last! Chi-chan must have been really worried about Suzuno if she turned up straight to Maou’s doorstep to find out what was going on – and with a very reluctant Emi in tow as well. I loved the way she confessed – instead of beating about the bush, she told him straight out that she loved him, with no frills. And her thoughts were surprisingly mature as well! Despite his past and everything he’s done as the Demon Lord, she’s making her own judgment on Maou and what he’s like as a person, even after everything Emi’s told her. I think her interpretation is fairly accurate – I’m not saying he’s a complete saint, but the Maou we’ve seen doesn’t quite fit with the Maou that Emi’s described, who sounds more like a bloodthirsty killer who would have gone back to Ente Isla long ago. Anyway, admittedly Chi-chan’s a bit paranoid about Maou getting stolen away by Suzuno, but you don’t often see such a clear, simple confession – simple enough for even Maou to understand, who’s spent a lot of the series pretty clueless about Chi-chan’s affections towards him. Come on, even Lucifer (of all people) pointed out the landmine when Maou invited Suzuno to work at MgRonalds. I’m glad Maou responded properly too, thinking over what it was like (as the Demon Lord) to have a high school girl fall for him. It’s infinitely better than Kodaka from Haganai, who would have gone: “Huh, what did you say?”

The romance was pretty much shafted aside for the rest of the episode, and was replaced by a revelation that Suzuno, or Crestia Bell, was actually from Ente Isla all along (surprise surprise!) and is an Interrogator from the Reformation, which (I think) is a faction of the Church. Surprisingly, she’s been thinking all along that Emi knows who she is – from their first meeting, she thought “getting close to Maou” meant mounting an attack on him, while in actuality Emi meant “falling in love with Maou”, which is what happened with Chi-chan. Now that we’re sure Suzuno isn’t out to capture Maou’s heart, I’m very suspicious that Alsiel falling ill (for 2 straight episodes now) was entirely due to her cooking, so that Maou’s most trusted general can’t help him in battle whenever Suzuno decides to strike. As for her allegiance…well, she’s definitely trying to restore order, and isn’t allied with the main Church faction (who are trying to kill Emi and are spreading word that she’s dead) but Emi has a right to be suspicious, especially with that dodgy assassin dude who turned up last week. Either way, for now I’m happy for Suzuno to keep acting as Maou’s Showa era neighbour who remains impossibly cute when baffled with electronics (“Wh-what else do you demand of me?!”)

I honestly didn’t think we’d ever go back to the newly opened Sentucky chain opposite Maou’s MgRonalds – I’d thought it was a one-time gag, but it looks like there’ll be more focus on it now that 80% of Maou’s customers have abandoned them. And with the creepy manager guy (who looks eerily like James from Pokemon) labelling Maou as an “exceptional human”, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had something to do with Ente Isla and was sent to track Maou’s movements, or is perhaps related to the assassin who tried to kill Emi. I felt so sorry for Chi-chan when he was perving on her…