Overall, Demon King Diamo is a mediocre anime that doesn’t really hold a candle to more mainstream titles like Attack on Titan or Demon Slayer. However, it does achieve a lot in its short run. I was pretty frustrated with all the “Fan Service” in the show, and I found the characters to be pretty one-dimensional or cliche. With the show only lasting 14 episodes, it isn’t easy to have genuine character development like Killuah in Hunter X Hunter. But, back to the fan service… it was quite intensive. Intensive to the point where I would definitely not recommend this show to anyone new to anime in fear of scaring them away from the genre permanently. Every character, even the male character Hiroshi, swooned for the protagonist Akuto.
What did the show have to say? It touched on topics such as God, creation, and destiny. Along the lines, it talked about what is good. Not extremely different from the themes in Angel Beats. Moreover, this show was heavily influenced greatly by Harry Potter and the Matrix. Harry Potter in terms of the school for magic, the train station…etc. And the matrix in terms of the cycle of anomalies. Neo is analogous to the demon king in this case. IE: an anomaly created by the “system” which is meant to rebel and eventually fail– thus somehow keeping balance.
But, the conundrum faced by both shows is the question of whether it is better to go along with a corrupt system in the name of justice or is it better to destroy the very fabric of the system and rebuild but along the way cause a lot of death and destruction. In the series, the protagonist appeared to be a just character, determined to be a force of good. However, he was fated by a magic hat-like thing (exactly like harry potter) to become the demon king. It isn’t clear if the system ie god is making the prophecy and ensuring it comes true or if it is actually just a really good best guess. However, seeing that the predictions have never been wrong, it suggests that these are actually pre-determined fates. Whether this is because humans have no free will or if it is because the system is enforcing these fates is yet unknown. Nevertheless, it is an interesting shallow dive exploration into this concept.
In the end, the protagonist Akuto defeats his foes and gets to face god. But he didn’t end up killing god. Instead, everyone’s memories are slightly altered after the grandiose grand battle, and they start attending school again. The hat was placed on the protagonist’s head, and guess what: he is fated to be the demon king again. I feel like this illustrates the cyclical nature of human existence. Or maybe he is fated this way because he hasn’t finished his task to change the system he desired to change.
Another interesting thing to note is that although the “system” was a superintelligent AI that protected humans from other species that would kill them if discovered, the AI/system was made out to be a God by humans. People prayed to it. It enforced its will upon the people. And even the representation of it in the final battle made it an actual god-like entity rather than a computer system. If it was actually a computer system, it looked very divine as a white ball of light in a temple-like structure. This makes the parallel to Angel Beats, where purgatory was no more than a computer system that they were in– meaning that they could hack into it. But again, this narrative as God as technology vs. God as something incomprehensible to humans is interesting. Shows like Death Note have a God as a divine being, where Demon King Diamo and Angel Beats have god as a mere technological system. Moreover, there is a distinction between polytheistic and monotheistic beliefs within certain anime. Death Note had polytheistic deities, where Full Metal Alchemist had a singular god. This could also be due to the fact where the shows take place: Death Note taking place in Japan where Fullmetal Alchemist took place a german like country. We could also put the technology into this scale. If God is merely technology created, there is no singular God; in fact, there is no God as we know it in western society. If there are technology ruling humans, there could be other systems ruling other races of people. Or other simulations with their own gods.
But anyhoo, I’ll give that show overall a 6/10. There was way too much fan service. The plot tried to go deep but only scratched the surface. It gleaned over a broad scope of topics regarding God, power, and destiny. But, most of the big picture themes were saved for the last few episodes.