It’s been a while since I commented on an animé so here goes. I just watched Demon Lord Dante (魔王ダンテ). Overall, this one rates below middling for fairly poor production values and a somewhat predictable story. However, don’t make your decision to watch it or not based on that simple rating.
It starts off typically slow with fairly low quality animation including enough panning stills to be noticeable but not so many that it makes the show unwatchable. My experience was further complicated by pixelation arising from the video on demand service I was watching but this was relatively minor, only causing momentary distractions during action scenes.
The first two episodes noodle around setting the stage for the action. The third episode takes a semi-unexpected twist. Then, the plot sort of noodles along for a few episodes introducing characters, dumping the protagonist into random situations, and generally following the formula for a reluctant superhero story. To this point, it’s okay as far as the story goes. I was reminded somewhat of Death Note, half expecting the main character to turn out to be the villain. I was also reminded somewhat of Paranoia Agent, expecting an indecipherable plot twist at the midpoint.
It turns out the midpoint plot twist was a little from column A and a little from column B. The protagonist does not turn out to be the villain – God does. Yes, that’s right. God is the villain. (Which, truthfully, is not spoiling anything as that becomes at least intuitively obvious early on.) The indecipherable plot twist actually turns out to ultimately make sense though it does cheapen the impact of human deaths throughout the story.
Now it’s fairly obvious that this is not headed for a fairy tale “And they all lived happily ever after” ending by about the tenth episode. (Well, it is for anyone who has watched enough animé.) But still, there is hope for at least a reasonably happen ending for the survivors up until the middle of the final episode at which point the plot takes yet another twist, one which is somewhat reminiscent of Texhnolyze with the exception that it is actually possible to figure it out without watching it eight thousand times. In this case, it could be considered a “happy” ending since our protagonist and his sister turn out to be Adam and Eve, at least after the world in which the apocalypse just happened simply vanished when they refused to fight at the end. Or maybe time rewound. It’s hard to say for sure. As endings go, however, there are much worse.
It is interesting that the story progression is somewhat similar to Saikano, though with much less emotion wringing tragedy through the latter half of the series, with most of the death being confined to anonymous or semi-anonymous extras or people the audience has come to despise. Even the end is somewhat similar, though Demon Lord Dante provides the surviving pair a lush world to live on.
I mentioned the twist ending of Texhnolyze. In fact, I would suggest that the overall quality of both series is about the same. However, Demon Lord Dante is eminently more watchable, with better pacing, clearer exposition (to the point of being painfully obvious in some places), and a world and plot that at least makes some sense in retrospect.
Like Paranoia Agent, Demon Lord Dante starts out with an obvious situation analogous to L’il Slugger. Like in Paranoia Agent, the actual culprit turns out to be less obvious fairly quickly, but still makes some sense. Unlike Paranoia Agent, the entire story doesn’t take a dive off the continuity cliff at the midpoint (though, in fairness, Paranoia Agent is a psychological thriller featuring characters of dubious sanity while Demon Lord Dante is an epic apocalypse story).
Overall, if you are able to put aside your expectations and enjoy a story despite the technical flaws in its execution (and apparent low budget), Demon Lord Dante is worth watching. On the other hand, if you get hung up on minor nits with production or are unable to accept the story on its own merits without letting your preconceptions interfere, don’t watch it. Also, if you’re looking for a shining example of the perfect animé, don’t watch it. No doubt if you are such a person, you are disappointed by just about everything you watch. And by all the powers of the universe, if you are going to pan the series, at least have the grace to watch it to its conclusion before commenting (as one commentator has) that nobody should ever watch it.