The Devil is a Part-Timer! Volume One begins the adventures of the Devil King, his right-hand man, and a hero from another world.

The Devil is a Part-Timer! Volume One
Written by: Satoshi Wagahara
Publisher: Kadokawa Corporation
English Publisher: Yen On
Release Date: April 21, 2015

In another dimension called Ente Isla, the Devil King Satan is stopped by Hero Emilia before he can conquer the world. Satan, along with his right-hand man, Demon General Alciel, drift into another world: modern day Japan, specifically in Tokyo. They have taken on human bodies and their ability to perform magic is limited. Through hypnotism, Satan learns about Earth and about the things he and Alciel need to do in order to survive in this world. Satan takes on the identity of Sadao Mao, while Alciel takes on the identity of Shiro Ashiya.

Satan gets a job at MgRonalds in order to earn money for the two of them to live on, and he quickly works his way up to an A level position. Chiho Sasaki, one of Mao’s co-workers, develops a crush on him.

Satan discovers that the Hero Emilia also ended up in Tokyo. She is now going by Emi and works at a call center. Emi is determined to do what she can in order to defeat Satan, but situations and circumstances work against her.

In addition to establishing the characters, Volume One also has a storyline of frequent earthquakes hitting Japan, with Chiho being affected by them more than other people. Mao and Emi also find themselves being stalked by a mysterious person, who they believe has also come from Ente Isla. The volume reaches its climax with a confrontation with two people who come as a surprise to both Mao and Emi.

I started reading The Devil Is a Part-Timer! Volume One after watching the first two seasons of the anime adaptation, so I’m going into this knowing a lot of what to expect already. For the most part, the first section of the anime’s first season was a rather faithful adaptation of Volume One… with one exception. Right near the end of Volume One of the light novel, Emi learns who her mother is. However, in the anime adaptation, Emi doesn’t learn this piece of information until right near the end of the second season. I found it rather intriguing that this revelation of important information was pushed so far back in the anime adaptation. My only thought is that the light novel hadn’t gotten far enough for the anime studio adapting it to realize that Emi’s mother would become important, so it was cut due to ignorance.

And since I was coming into the light novel after seeing the first two seasons of the anime, I was picking up on some things in this volume thanks to the knowledge I have of the story from the anime. For me, these were “ah-ha!” types of moments.

However, I should probably be looking at The Devil Is a Part-Timer! Volume One from the perspective of someone who hasn’t seen the anime adaptation. Honestly, I don’t think you need to have seen the anime in order to find enjoyment in this story. There are some great lines of dialogue and character interactions taking place throughout this volume. While the story is a humorous one overall, Wagahara knows how to incorporate drama and more serious moments without them feeling out of place. As the volume goes on, the story becomes more and more engaging.

029 (Oniku) is the artist behind the art that appears in Volume One. The art is well-done, although the character designs aren’t what I’m used to seeing from the anime. The art in the light novels give the characters a more “youthful” look than their anime counterparts. This isn’t a bad, thing, though, especially since the character designs in the light novel came before the character designs for the anime. There’s a “cuteness” to the light novel’s art that’s enjoyable to look at.

If you’re already familiar with the anime, I would still recommend reading The Devil is a Part-Timer! light novel series. And I think readers who aren’t familiar with the anime but enjoy humorous stories that are “reverse isekai” in nature will also find appreciation for this light novel series.

Additional posts about The Devil Is a Part-Timer!:

Advertisement