The Devil is a Part-Timer Light Novel, Vol. 6

The Devil is a Part-Timer! Light Novel #6

by Satoshi Wagahara, 029 (Oniku) (Artist)

The fast-food joint that the Devil King calls his workplace has reopened, now with a hip café space upstairs--the perfect chance for the overlord of all demons to earn a few new certifications and work his way up to management. Meanwhile, Chiho, whose love for the Devil King remains doggedly unrequited, discusses ways with Emi to learn how to master the Idea Link, a skill that could let her telepathically communicate across worlds and call for help whenever she makes contact with a nefarious demon...or angel, for that matter. Suzuno steps up to serve as her teacher...but her choice of training areas (a public bath) leaves the others to question her sanity. It's the sixth volume of this low-wage high fantasy, where soap bubbles fly and everyone may come out less than squeaky clean!

Genres: Light Novel, Fantasy, Manga, Slice Of Life, Humor, Japanese Literature, Romance

248 pages, Paperback

First published October 10, 2012

Reviews

[~Cyanide Latte~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best way I could possibly sum up my feelings on this sixth light novel for The Devil Is A Part-Timer! is in the way I have continued to screech at my friends "SO MANY THINGS ARE HAPPENNNNIIIIINNNNGGG." My enthusiasm and love for this series doesn't seem to recognize any bounds at this point.

I've said this so far in all of my other reviews, but if you're a fan of the 13-episode anime series for this and you're considering picking up the light novels, I highly, highly recommend them! The events of the anime only cover what happens in the first two light novels and the story continues to grow in depth and scope and become richer with each installment.

So in this volume, Maou's beloved MgRonald's is not only open again, but now the new MgCafé on the upper floor promises to add new challenges and opportunities for both him and Chiho as they resume work at their job. Amid this, we learn that not only is Ms. Kisaki somehow exceptionally gifted as a trained barista, but we see just a little bit more underneath her professional demeanor as a bit more of her personal life and individuality are shown during her moments of stress.

However, that's not the only thing going on. Chiho has taken the initiative to consider the Idea Link power that she has tapped into before with Albert Ende of Ente Isla, as well as the Holy Force she was temporarily given in the previous light novel, and asks Emi and Suzuno if they would be willing to teach her how to use the Idea Link on her own. The two are initially reluctant, but relent when Chiho makes it a point to say she wants to be able to contact them or Maou in the event she is yet again taken hostage against her will or finds herself in trouble, without having to worry about relying only on her cell phone. The initial strides of this training take place in a public bath with much screaming on all of their parts in order to generate a steady flow of Holy Force (with Emi and Suzuno experiencing some A-Cup Angst™ scattered throughout.)

Meanwhile, the two Ente Islan ladies have additional worries on their minds in the wake of the last two light novels, and have taken it upon themselves to keep tabs on Maou for his own safety, lest more angels show up to cause trouble or more errant demon generals pop in and take it to mind to kidnap Maou back to Ente Isla to prop up as a figurehead. They figure this is the most of their woes and don't anticipate needing to do much during Maou's shifts, as they expect most demons would be reluctant to make a move when Sariel is lurking across the way from MgRonald in his Sentucky Fried Chicken. However, things get more stressful when Chiho has to break it to them that Sariel's gotten kind of zombie-like since Ms. Kisaki banned him from MgRonald, and they try to find a way to get the cocky angel back to normal.

This is probably where I really started to enjoy this light novel. It managed to keep a largely light tone and still make some phenomenal impact as Sariel gets roped into this mission to train Chiho in the use of Holy Force and the Idea Link, under the hope of potentially having a good word put in with Ms. Kisaki so he might be able to see her again. Sariel is still a bit of a creepy pervert, but seeing him pull a near-180 and become an ally of this ragtag band with much of his previous menace just gone was nothing short of a delight. Gradually his motivation to help becomes a bit more genuine beyond hoping to be able to interact with Ms. Kisaki again, and he proves to be rather helpful in this particular light novel when the demon Farfarello shows up more than once in an attempt to forcibly persuade Maou to come back to Ente Isla.

Farfarello himself seems much like a combination of Camio from the fourth light novel and Ashiya in his behavior, albeit a bit more explosive in temperament. As a character, he didn't leave a serious impression on me, but I would wager that's because he's not supposed to. The more striking aspect of his appearance on Earth and his actions actually have to do with his companion, a small child called Erone. Erone seems quiet and at times, robotic in his actions and speech, until we later learn he may be a part or fragment of the Gevurah Sephiroth. His interactions with Alas Ramus prove the two are connected, and like her, he seems to be very innocent-minded, though with not nearly as much autonomy as Alas Ramus has. Between the mystery of Erone, and this light novel dropping the heavy tidbit of information that there are two different generations of angels in Heaven (characterized separately by red eyes in the first generation and purple in the second, with Lucifer still being something of a mystery between the two generations,) things just keep getting heavier and more richly layered as the greater plot continues to unfold between the books. I am loving every second of this and Wagahara does an excellent job of pacing the greater plot and conspiracy-mystery of Ente Islan lore and politics alongside the seemingly more mundane backdrop of the characters just trying to make it through more hurdles and challenges in their day-to-day lives.

Ah, but that's not all. Another huge part of this novel deals with Emi acting out of character. While we don't go through a lot of it with her, we witness Emi struggling on the side to come to terms with what she thinks now that she knows her father is actually alive, her mother seems to be pulling strings behind the scenes, and much of what the Church brought her up on is a fabrication. She is torn as a result about how she really feels towards Maou and her mission now, and I have no doubt we'll continue to see her emotional turmoil bring about changes in her. Meanwhile, Suzuno's already suspected most of that, and is working to puzzle out the truth about the relationships between humans, demons, and angels. Again, neither of these are things that get focused on for long lengths of time, but when we do get reminded of them, these plot points hit hard!

There's also...eugh, hints again at an Emi-Maou ship, which I don't really care for and never will, but whatever, I guess.

I doubt much of this review has made a lick of sense, but I'm just so so so excited to get to the next book when I can and I am falling more and more in love with this story! Seriously, I highly recommend it!

[Su · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly Good!

I’ve been a fan of the series at least a good year or two, starting out watching the anime and then moving into the light novels when I couldn’t wait any longer for a potential second season. Since the knowledge Emi had dropped on her from Gabriel last installment, the series has gone from a “light” novel to something with much more depth that the earlier installments didn’t quite have. Of course, in the previous books the scope of this story was clearly hinted, and anyone who wanted to was easily able to read all the spoilers they wanted and more, but I still wasn’t expecting the delivery in this one! I think the forward progression of the series and its subtle but important shifts in tone can be appreciated by anyone following this story, if even only casually.

[Riri Kazami · Rating 5 out of 5]

As Maou x Emi Lover, I feel that Maou was really comfortable with Emi.
Thank you Alas=Ramus-chan.

I liked that in every volume we got detail answers about heaven and Tree of life and also got another mysterious question haha

[Todd Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another nice entry in this light novel series.

[Kayleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant twist and very deep ideas for something so fun!

[Alec Rebert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series so much. it's comedy and start are so fun to read about...can't wait for more

[Abi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Relationship comments: Emi and Maou are officially a ship now! I can actually see them together now, where before it was just wishful thinking. Although, I've come around to Chi more now in the past three books, and I like her more now. I'm not sure who Wagahara plans for Maou to shack up with, honestly. Emi, who he has such potential with, or Chiho, who has actively liked him since the start of the series, and is shaping up into a strong young woman? They both have changed recently, and I'm not sure of the author's plans, like, at all. I personally prefer Emi, just because I always have, but I'm not entirely opposed to the idea of Chiho with Maou, as she is maturing. However, Maou did say that Emi was cute!!

Seriously, though, Emi spends a lot of time working through her (deservedly) complicated feelings about everything, especially what direction she wants to take now. Does she want to kill Maou, now that she knows her dad is alive and she's lost her primary reason for revenge? Because she doesn't really care about Ente Isla anymore, seeing as they turned their backs on her. I think she's even more confused now, lol, because at the end of the book, Maou declares her one of his demon generals (Emi, Suzuno, and Chiho, plus the original generals Alciel and Lucifer). He then tells her that she can follow him around and see if he's changed, and if she still wants to kill him. Plus, as Maou bows the the higher power of Kisaki, maybe she can put her subservience under Maou? I got that impression from the epilogue, although it sounds a bit ridiculous as I write it. At any rate, Emi and Suzuno sound like, from their conversation in the epilogue, they're going to spend a fair amount of time reflecting on the demons, and if they're changed, and how they feel about that, and what it all means to them. So I look forward to that.

This book did the job of humongous character development for a variety of characters: Kisaki, who previously wasn't all that developed, Emi, who got a lot of world-shaking new information in the previous book, Chiho (we learn her heartwarming plans for world domination, where all her friends can coexist peacefully, plus she learns how to utilize holy force in a rather entertaining way, especially when Suzuno asks her if she wants to marry Maou, lol) and Maou, as he figures out how to conquer the world - differently.

We also get some nice plot details revealed, and meet Alas Ramus's counterpart, a kid named Erone, one of the Sepirah, who is for some reason working for the demons. Also a demon chieftain, under the Malawhatever, named Farfarello, falls to Maou (like, in admiration and renewed subservience) after seeing him in his full glory and properly hearing his plans. Also talking to Chiho, and seeing an interesting power trick that Emi and Suzuno pull to get Maou to Devil King up. It was highly emotionally satisfying to see Maou actually being the legit Devil King, and saying that he hasn't forgotten his people, and wants to conquer the world differently than he did last time. Happy sigh. Oh, and Alciel actually pulls some real demon general sounding stuff out for once, and makes some super smart points. Not that I thought he was stupid, but we've never really seen him properly strategize before. It's a nice followup to the first real battle scene we saw him in, in the previous book. I want to see Rika soon, by the way. Oh, and we get some serious info on the angel front, as we learn that there are 2 distinct generations: the red-eyed first gen who are pre-OG Satan taking over the world, and the purple-eyed second gen, who were born after that. Lucifer seems to not fall into either category, as he's as powerful as Gabriel, and knew the OG Satan, but also has purple eyes?

Overall, this is my favorite book so far! I really loved the third one, what with the introduction of Alas Ramus and all, but this one has surpassed it. We've gotten a lot of wonderful character and plot development, and it's still funny and heartwarming. Honestly, I can't recommend this series enough. It's wonderful! 5 stars.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume felt quite middle-of-the-road to me, and was the one that took me the longest to read so far. There are definitely interesting subplots going on, but I didn't find the overarching narrative to be that captivating here. Still, the characters are charming like usual and remain the drivers of the series, making it still very much worth a read.

[Creativeimaginator · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ending was adorable. Hopefully as the story progresses, it can stray away from the whole "Chi gets kidnapped, let's go rescue her!" - plot line. Still love Chi regardless.