Akuma Kun follows the titular genius boy working alongside a half-human, half-demon Mephisto III to solve preternatural murder mysteries. The series is currently streaming on Netflix.
Story
Akuma Kun is a once in ten thousand years genius and the second incarnation of Akuma, after his father Shingo, also named Akuma Kun. His partner Mephisto III, worries about the business side of things constantly.
Together, they work on murder mysteries and Akuma Kun uses the vast knowledge he has accrued from reading countless books, to summon demons and also send the demons back to hell.
Akuma Kun was abandoned as a child by humans and demons alike but one powerful and very ancient demon named Strophaia took him and raised him, along with trying to snuff out his humanity.
However, he was stopped from doing so by Shingo and Mephisto II. Shingo then adopted Aeshma — the name for Akuma Kun the second that Strophaia uses to refer to him.
Strophaia has returned and he plans to eradicate all of the physical world and use Akuma to do so. However, the genius boy now has humanity and love inside him that he uses to free himself from the shackles of self-doubt and destroy Strophaia.
Life goes back to the usual schedule as Mephisto III, Shingo, and Gremory the Demon are all saved.
Performances
The voice cast lends amazing talent and character to the show. There is a multitude of emotions, traits, and flairs that the characters exhibit in the story, all made possible and authentic by the voice cast, leaving little to nothing to complain about in that department.
Positives
The animation is delightful and eccentric much like the protagonist can be. The unrefined sketches used as the backgrounds are alive even when they’re just static.
The music used to dial up the creepy factor works really well and there’s no shortage of great tunes here.
The simple messages of friendship, love, and empathy are easily digestible and ideal for the younger audience as well.
The canonical continuity is pretty intriguing too and the characters, elements, conflicts, and motivations all lend significant mileage to the story, not to mention a great deal of hype.
The blend of cartoonish character designs and the more realistic ones is seamless.
Negatives
The show does deal in certain tropes that have gotten really old and trite and earn groans even in a Shounen anime series.
The case-to-case nature of the story is a great one and offers a number of different demons and supernatural cases, but not all manage to be creepy.
Many times the design of the demon is such that they seem a bit too caricaturized and even colorful at times. This takes away from the overall eerie vibes. The horror factor, all things considered, could’ve been dialed up further.
Verdict
Akuma Kun is an enjoyable binge dealing with all kinds of preternatural spooks and sinister demons. The characters are eclectic and well-written, the demons are fun to often scary, and the central plot remains one of the more exciting prospects.
Akuma Kun
Director: Junichi Sato
Date Created: 2023-11-09 13:30
3.5
Also Read: Akuma Kun summary and ending explained