Akuto Sai is an orphan raised by a church who plans to become a great priest one day. Everything seems to be going so well at first: He possesses great magic power, is planning to go to school at the Constant Magic Academy, and even made friends with the Class Representative Junko Hattori on his first day. However, when Akuto goes in front of the vocational raven to determine his future, the raven proclaims that he will become the next Maou (a.k.a. "Demon King"). The original Demon King who appeared 100 years ago sought to tear apart the current order of the world and was so powerful that he nearly succeeded before he was finally brought down, so this is not a good thing.As expected, this revelation quickly spreads around the school, but Akuto can't see himself becoming the next Big Bad of the world, so he does everything in his power to convince his friends and classmates that he won't become the Maou. However, a string of unintended consequences follows as Akuto's actions only dig that metaphorical hole deeper. As the story goes on, he ends up gaining a harem of followers ranging from a young fanboy to a robotic private detective who all have their own reasons for wanting to see whether or not Akuto will become the Demon King.Originally a series of light novels, Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou has received both a manga and anime adaptation. The anime aired in the spring of 2010.Character sheets found here.The anime can be viewed legally on Crunchyroll here.
Absurdly Powerful Student Council: In all senses. Not only do they wield ridiculous political power within the school, but they manage to hold off most of an army during the final battle. It helps that they're a vampire, a werewolf, Dr. Frankenstein (represented by the character piloting a Frankenstein themed mech), and a witch.
Accidental Pervert: Akuto, about the normal amount for his genre and character type.
Adaptation Decay: Both the manga and the anime to the novels. The anime fails to really elaborate on the setting and more complex plot points of the novel in favor of generic ecchi and harem hijinks, which renders the last arc almost completely incomprehensible while the manga removes many of Akuto's more badass and ruthless character traits that set him apart from a typical Light Novel protagonist in favor of turning him into a more generic shounen harem lead, and also almost completely ignores the original story and personalities of the other characters altogether.
Adaptation Distillation: The plot of the manga is almost completely unrecognizable when compared to the novels.
Arranged Marriage: Between Akuto and Junko, at least until he screwed it up by being Oblivious to Love. Her family didn't take it well and her retainers attempted something along the lines of a Shotgun Wedding.
Balanced Harem: Even the OP and the ED are careful to give equal screentime to all girls.
Barehanded Blade Block: Slightly averted, as Akuto manages to do this once in the anime with his bare hands, but a good deal of blood ends up falling on his face from the attempt.
He also manages to catch a rather large axe aimed at Hiroshi with just two fingers gripping the blade.
Berserk Button: Anytime a villain threatens one of Akuto's friends, but especially the largely innocent Keena. Ooh boy does even mentioning hurting her throw him into an Unstoppable Rage.
Also Junko's little sister should be noted: Normally she is just a sweet pop idol, but give her a sword and confront her with a monster and, oh boy, you will feel sorry for the monster.
Big Damn Heroes: Korone in Episode 7. Same goes for Hiroshi/Brave.
Just about ALL the female cast members in Episode 11.
Big Eater: Keena, especially where rice is involved.
Black and White Morality: Hiroshi tells Akuto that there are usually two "dons" in the school: the "visible don" (currently held by Junko) who fights for everything that's good and just and tries to keep fellow students on the right path, and the "invisible don" (unknown, but hinted to be Fujiko) who secretly deals in forbidden black magic and tries to tilt fellow students towards the dark side.
Black Comedy Rape: Fujiko first by all the female students under the influence of the drugged rice then later by some sort of tentacle/snail monster, though it doesn't get very far before she blows it to kingdom come.
Characterization Marches On: In spades with the manga to the anime; the only characters that are remotely the same in both are Korone, Keina, and Hiroshi. In the manga:
Akuto can actually be seen as more aggressive and doesn't back down from fights as much to prove he's not the Maou.
Junko's Tsundere tendecies are toned down and is a lot nicer then in the anime.
Lily is VERY hotblooded and in her first appearence she fights (and BEATS) Akuto in no time flat.
Chekhov's Gun: Towards the beginning of the third episode, Kena rambles on about how much she loves rice, how it can bring happiness to the world, and how she's not allowed to have a rice cooker so she wants to stash it in Akuto's room. Korone suggests using a chemical weapon launcher to cook the rice instead. Later on, when the entire school is attacking them, Korone pops out of nowhere and fires her weapon, now filled with rice, in order to save the day.
Clark Kenting: Hiroshi after drawing the sword that Only The Chosen May Wield (see below) and becoming a Superhero known as "Brave". After defeating the giant sea cucumber he changes out of his hero's costume and tells everyone he was rescued by the said hero.
Clingy Jealous Girl: Junko shows this subtly from time to time, and Korone goes into this mode one time while under orders to seduce Akuto.
Closet Sublet: Korone stays the night in Akuto's closet.
Clothing Damage: Happens to just about everyone, but Junko gets it worse than everyone else.
Color Coded Characters: As can be seen in the picture above, each of the main girls has different colored hair and hairstyles to differentiate themselves from each other.
Combat Medic / Deadly Doctor: Korone has a special gun that can be used to administer medicines to friendlies and poison to foes. Later she even uses it to make it rain rice, just like Keena wanted.
Cooldown Hug: Akuto manages to pacify Junko's rampage for a moment by grabbing her into a hug during which he blurts out his Love Confession (see below), but the solace doesn't last long.
Crap Sack World: Lets face it, if your future big bad is evil because of good intentions and a "High Priest" is also an assassin you get shades of this.
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Akuto is a reasonable, nice guy who despises violence, but should you succeed in making him angry...
Cycle of Revenge: If what the anime says is true, every hundred years or so the gods make a new demon lord so he can be killed and the cycle basically repeats each and every time, who knows how long this has been going on.
And despite hitting the universal Reset Button and the end of the anime series, he's still destined to be the Demon King!
In Akuto's case, he has immense powers and has control over monsters, but because of the prophecy that he's supposed to become the Demon King, almost everyone's scared of him, despite anything he tries to do.
In Yuuko's case, she was bitten by a monster when she was younger, and got infected with some of their mana/blood. As a result, she can sense when monsters are nearby, but it also makes her a little scared of them as well (except when she's on tv to fight Akuto's "demon army" apparently). She also develops a rather nasty looking vein in the back of her neck.
Department of Redundancy Department: The official English title, "Demon King Daimao," means "Demon King Demon King." Though it's not like the direct translation ("First from Behind Demon King") makes much sense either... In truth, in the novels it's very meaningful; since "ichiban ushiro" can mean either "first from behind" or "last in a line", Akuto is always in that position when somethiong happens. In the anime, it only happens at the future test (he is the last one tested) and when seating in the classroom (before the arrival of Korone, that took seat inmediatly behind him).
Fearless Fool: Keena. So much so that she has no problem using an enormous black dragon as a bed.
Femme Fatale: Eto Fujiko. She'd like to be The Vamp, but since she shows the potential to be redeemed (or at least have her Black Magic antics mitigated somewhat), this trope fits her better. By far the most sexual character in the show, not only in her intentions towards Akuto, but also having been on the receiving end of a Love-Potion fueled student orgy/gangbang (mostly off-screen) *and* the attentions of some horny tentacle monsters.
Foot Focus: In episode 4 Ms. Tori throws her shoe at Miwa and hits him in the face with it. The next shot is a close-up of her wiggling her bare foot, along with Akuto looking a bit disturbed by what he just saw.
Full Frontal Assault: Junko attacks Eiko stark naked, during the Hot Spring scene. Since Akuto is also present things go slightly differently than she planned..
Food As Bribe: In the manga, Korone will do practically anything for doll-shaped pancakes.
Fundoshi: Junko wears a variant of this instead of conventional panties.
Gainax Ending: The closer you get to the anime ending, the more and more confusing it becomes.
Genki Girl: Keena, particularly when it comes to rice.
Getting Crap Past the Radar: In Episode 6, after Korone undergoes a "personality shift" and wakes Akuto up first by elbow dropping him in the groin, she then tries a vigorous footjob. In the next shot he is on the floor facing away and there is an open box of tissues on the bed...
There is also the whole Keena jerking off the sea cucumber in the same episode and Junko getting a face full of slime that the sea cucumber released as a result.
Good Is Dumb: Everytime Akuto tries to be a nice guy, it turns out he's getting closer to becoming a demon lord.
God Is Evil: Have your gods ever called a hit on an innocent person?
Groin Attack: Akuto suffers from one at the hands of Korone, of all people.
Gunship Rescue: The Black Crane. Subverted, as it actually helps Peterhausen recover and gets crashed by one of CIM08's agents shortly after.
Healing Shiv: One of the first magical items we see Korone using is a medic gun. It shoots healing lasers.
Beside Yui and Mio, two other members of Afterschool Teatime voice two members of the student council: Azusa as the vice-president and Mugi as the android secretary.
Hitler's Time Travel Exemption Act: Bouichirou went forward in time to kill the reincarnation of the Maou and/or become one himself. It didn't work out that way when Bouichirou was killed and Akuto hit the universal Reset Button anyway at the end of the show.
Innocent Fanservice Girl: One of Keena Soga's powers involves personal Invisibility, but she can't conceal any clothing, so when she has to become invisible she just goes in her birthday suit.
Instant Armor: Hiroshi's 'Brave' suit, a sleek suit of MagitekPowered Armor designed for anti-mage combat - in fact, it's specifically designed to make the wearer a match for a Maou. It collapses into an oversized wristwatch when not in use and is activated by verbal command. Sound familiar?
Instant Expert: Akuto who apparently mastered his powers pretty well a day from when they started to manifest.
Well, as long as it doesn't require him to not explode/break things.
Hiroshi after getting his Superhero Power-Up. Subverted somewhat, as he had an AI guiding him on weapon use.
Kill The Ones You Love: Junko actually ends up killing Akuto in Chapter 15 of the manga.
Knight Templar: Junko veers towards this moreso in the Anime then in the Manga.
Hiroshi as "Brave" may be heading in this direction as well.
Large Ham: Mr X. Being a ham is actually the basis of his power.
Laser-Guided Karma: In the anime, when Keena says something that causes the lynch mob Junko's assembled to turn on her as well, she pleads with them that they've misunderstood and should listen to her explanation, then asks Sai to say something. He points out that he's been trying to say the exact same thing to her almost since he arrived at school, and that they're unlikely to listen any more than she did.
Love Confession: Akuto blurts this out to Junko while she's in a rage, mainly to try and calm her down.
Love Letter Lunacy: Happens in the 2nd special episode. Junko decides to write a love letter to Akuto because she can't say it straight to his face, but finds herself too embarrassed to write the letter as well. So Yuuko does it for her, and makes the letter rather blunt (to the point of lampshading Junko's being a Tsundere) further embarrassing Junko. Hilarity Ensues when Eiko finds out and steals the letter to use it to blackmail Junko.
Love Potion: Fujiko tried to get Akuto to take one that would make him fall in love with her alone. Keena accidentally made it so that everyone else in the school (the female students, apparently) fell in love with Fujiko instead.
Luminescent Blush: Junko is getting more and more prone to this around Akuto.
Manipulative Bitch: Fujiko is secretly planning to use Akuto's power for her own goals.
Secretly? Hell, Akuto himself notices, and even lampshades it:
Akuto: But you're the sort of person who doesn't do anything without first calculating personal benefit...
More Dakka: The Black Crane airship in episode 10 works on this principle. Not that it helps them any.
Well it's not like more dakka could have stopped the helmsman from driving the ship straight into the ground.
Motormouth: Korone's speech rate gets accelerated a bit when she's in Tsundere mode.
Ms. Fanservice: Above and beyond the call of duty, Fujiko Etou, who throughout the show has had no less than three dialogue scenes in her lingerie and is the go to character for tentacles.
Her and Junko, who gets Clothing Damage at least once per episode.
Nay Theist: Akuto repeatedly denigrates belief in gods and says they "are just a system". Later, we find out he's right, and he destroys the system. [spoiler:In the novel it's revealed that that fact is common knowledge and that the reason many strive to become High Priests is to influence that system for their own good.]
Naughty Tentacles: Fujiko's monsters quite often and to the detriment of her clothing.
Ninja: An entire clan of them. Yuri Hoshino/Yuuko Hattori is a ninja idol singer, with a bit of Spider-Sense.
Noble Demon: It's hard to believe that Akuto can be a Demon King considering he tries his best to be a good guy.
Not So Different: Akuto and the last Demon lord both have the same goal, which makes us wonder if we're getting the whole story here.
Ojou: Fujiko is the leader of the school's discipline committee, an expert in magic and medicine, and has her own fan club (composed of boys andgirls).
Obfuscating Stupidity: The final episode of the anime hints that Kena's Cloud Cuckoolander personality was just a front, and that she was really a reincarnation of the last girl who made a contract with the previous demon lord. Occasionally her past self takes control at the subconscious level without her knowledge.
Off Model: One of Keena's hands seems a tad bit too small when Yamato lays her down in episode 12.
One Dialogue, Two Conversations: When Akuto goes to visit Junko's father, he doesn't realize that the reason for the visit is a marriage interview, rather than just a typical meet and greet. Junko however, thought he knew, and their conversation is pretty ambiguous until she secretly meets with him in his room at night.
Only a Flesh Wound:When she gets shot square in the back, Korone just shrugs it off despite the blood dripping down her body.
Only The Chosen May Wield: Episode 7 reveals a sword kept in a shrine built by Hiroshi's grandfather which can only be drawn by a "True Hero".
OOC Is Serious Business: At the end, the student council member who always says "guga" says something other than "guga".
It's because of the effects of the Retcon (see below).
Our Dragons Are Different: Peterhausen, a giant dragon who's the Demon King's best friend. Like Akuto himself, not that bad of a guy apparently. Also, our dragon breathes DRILLS.
Panty Shot: All the times, as well as a Fundoshi variation. Korone's activation pull cord is located right above her buttocks, which leads to this trope being invoked regardless.
Person of Mass Destruction: Akuto. He can't help it for being a destined Demon King, and demonstrates it by blowing up a classroom, and soon after that, creating a 50 foot wide crater, both just from DEFENDING HIMSELF!
Power of Love: In Junko's case it can wipe out small armies.
Punny Name: You just know that a poor guy's journey to be a hero of good and kindness is going to be a bumpy one when his name "Sai Akuto" can literally be read as "Ultimate Villain", "Saiakuto" (最悪人), if read phonetically.
And Hiroshi seems to be a bilingual pun/play on the word "Hero" (think "HEROshi"), as befitting the Legendary Hero of his town that he became.
Rage Against the Heavens: Despite being raised by the church, Akuto had trouble believing in God. Now that a God is purported to be ordering an assassination against his friend, From Bad to Worse it goes.
Random Power Ranking: In the manga, Akuto is told he ranks number two on the academy's "Most Evil" ranking.
Razor Floss: Brave has this as one of his weapons.
This could also apply to Akuto, who refuses to perform the role that the demon lord was supposed to do, which was attack humanity with a bunch of demons, then merge with the law of identity and recreate humanity
Required Secondary Powers: If you ignore the bad press, getting to be a Demon Lord seems to be a pretty sweet deal: lots of girls, tons of neat powers, and a '''dragon'. Too bad he's still getting a hang of that whole "controlling your insane levels of power" thing.
Satan Is Good: Akuto Sai who is The Demon King and a nice guy
Schizo Tech: welcome to the year 3000. Humanity has created magic, has magic based mag-lev trains, can create androids, created a nanomachine based power-armor that can use plasma weaponry and has created an omnicidal maniac singularity that creates a genetically engineered human once every 100 years to try and wipe out its creators. All this, and yet the best the military can field when it comes to taking down the Sai Akuto is a legion of soldiers armed with .50cal machine-guns, swords and samurai armor, as well as a massive flying battleship.
Screw Destiny: Akuto is trying to do this with regards to his future career as the Big Bad. Emphasis on trying.
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: The student body really seems hell bent on alienating Akuto, don't they?
Ship Tease: Aside from the Love Confession, there's also the fifth episode where Akuto "choses" Junko seemingly on instinct.
Shipper on Deck: By episode 7, Korone declares that her new "mission" is to get Akuto married to a "woman from a good family", and even goes as far as to bluntly ask him to marry Junko, who becomes embarrassingly horrified by this and runs away screaming.
The "emergence rate of demon beasts" report shows an Ohmu.
The student council has the same kind of lineup as the four lead girls of Renkin San-kyuu Magical Pokaan, if you count Riri's hat. You also have a werewolf, a vampire, and a robot. But both series are probably making a shout-out to a 1960's manga called Kaibutsu-kun, where the four characters were male instead of female.
The Reveal: Hiroshi is destined to be the Hero, and Keena is the reincarnation of the Law of Identity.
Testosterone Poisoning: The anime ventures into this in the later episodes, presumably due to having to condense the sudden onset of plot in the novels into lots of shirtless Akuto shouting.
Thanks for the Mammary: Akuto on Keena; thanks to her invisibility spell Akuto had to feel around find out what was holding the supposedly floating bento, and his hand ended up on her breasts.
In episode 5 after subduing the demon wolf who's actually one of the student council members in disguise, Akuto ends up holding Junko with his arm wrapped around her assets (and while they're both naked). Cue a Luminescent Blush when she realizes it.
Underestimating Badassery: It is said that he's going to be a Demon King and a small demonstration of his power has been witnessed, yet there are still those that insist that they can take him on.
Wait'll the delinquents get a load of Peterhausen. It'll be a race to see who turns their pants brown first.
Unwanted Harem: While the anime seems to play this straight at first, this is then subverted when really, the only character to even make a move is Junko.
Wingding Eyes: Junko routinely gets swirly eyes after being knocked out from Akuto's power backlash.
You Can't Fight Fate: Akuto wants to become a high priest and help people out. The problem is that destiny likes screwing him in return, thanks to his lack of experience in school politics and shaky control of his power.
Hiroshi was predicted to be The Chosen One, which conflicts with his friendship with Akuto.
0% Approval Rating: Despite being a really nice guy, Akuto simply cannot convince people that he is not a Demon Lord. Every action he takes, for good or for ill, is viewed as a devious plot to further his own power (which, ironically, it usually does).
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