The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 21 (light novel)

The Devil is a Part-Timer! Light Novel #21

by Satoshi Wagahara, 029 (Oniku) (Artist)

With the Devil King Castle closed and the war between the humans on Ente Isle resolved, all that remains for Maou and his friends is to mount an assault on heaven. But before that, there’s something he needs to do-get dressed up to visit Chiho’s father and do the right thing. As the final battle fast approaches, Emi can’t help but notice that the Devil King seems to be in poor health… What hidden truths await Maou and company in heaven? Can they really take down a god? And if they do, what will become of their lives in Japan?  

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Humor, Light Novel, Comedy, Magic, Graphic Novels

312 pages, Paperback

First published April 24, 2014

Reviews

[Myprideismysentence · Rating 1 out of 5]

:/

[Sheepy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good volume, reading the backstory of all the demons has been great and the next volume will be just as good I can feel it!

[Danielle Dawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

With this volume, we're finally caught up with the anime. I'm looking forward to actually reading new content from here on out! And it feels here that they take a bit more care in providing some much-needed character development for a few members of the cast that took a bit of a backburner role in the series.

[Syrech · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ending a series of 21 books is never easy, and I find this one quite hard to evaluate, as some parts of the novel are at least average and others seems to be hastily introduced and dispatched, specially thinking in the relationships between the main characters.

The general plot is more or less solved and explained, without big surprises and dramatic effects, sometimes being a bit predictable. For the characters, except some points, there aren't any surprises either and in some ways it's a bit sad, but in general the ending of the story is not too bad.

Onto the spoilers

The idea of the structure of the novel is quite surprising, the story starts three years from the final event and go back and forth explaining the actual lifes of Maou and company, and the final battle with Ignora and Camael. The concept is interesting but sometimes hard to read, as some chapter seems not well linked between then.

The final encounter with Ignora is good and bad at the same time. The conclusion is rather good but after reading the whole story you would expect a bit more about Ignora, not just being only a crazy scientist obssesed with her goal.

All the romantic plots are awful, the marriage between Kisaki and Sariel quite disturbing (stalk your crush until she notices you, a great anime classic), Ashiya is completely absent in the whole book, Rika just get a lately past development of character and Suzuno is just cast aside in the again too classic harem anime plot.

The worst comes with the trio Maou, Chiho, Emi. Without any surprises Maou and Chiho, the couple with the least romantic interest of the whole story, ends together, with Emi loving Maou from the distance and this one didn't noticing it before Chiho told him, because again, male characters are all blind to love and dynamics of relationships.

And after a hastily introduced (absurd) reason for the demons being unable to feel love without great sickness, of course Emi decided to end her mission of slay the Demon King taking away Maou's powers (with a very convenient last minute magic sword) and transforming him in a regular human who now can love Chiho without problems, justifying it by saying that the suffering that Maou had inflicted to human souls cannot be forbidden so easily. The fact that Emi's father is alive, all her friends are alive, that demons had to invade the continent because they would starve to death in their world, that after defeat a lot of them were massacred by human forces and that in the end all of them are, like the angels, human beings, worth nothing in her judgement. Seriously, after the expected Chiho-Maou couple, worst part of the end of the story without doubt.

[Miss Ryoko · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. This series had such potential, but the further along it goes, the more flat it falls. The beginning of this volume was somewhat interesting... the rest was boring.

I can't decide if I want to finish reading the manga or just watch the anime and call it good. I'm sure the anime is more entertaining... but I'm currently reading the Negima series (38 volumes) and I've been reading it for over a year because it's just so boring. And now that I'm living through that, I don't know if I want to waste more time reading this series hoping it'll get better (though it's not nearly as long as Negima... yet.... both the light novels and mangas are currently still being published so who knows how long this series will get). Perhaps when it is completed, I might revisit it...but for now, I just don't care enough. I'll probably check out the anime though.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still enjoyed this series but Emi and Rika were done dirty. The story set up Emi x Maou after the anime and was a major reason why a lot of us kept reading, but then the author builds up Chiho to be super girl and save the world while Emi basically ends up a single mom. Maou and Chiho get together but it doesn’t feel final since the author inserts these hints of lingering feelings and a harem ending while Maou remains dense and oblivious while Chiho’s development is just weak. The last vol does fine with the larger Ente Isla story but jumps back and forth to three years in the future and just drops stuff like Sariel and Mayumi having a baby. We get a backstory for Rika but she and Ashiya never get together. Supposed to be getting a sequel series which hopefully can improve things.

[Kayleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely wonderful ending, exactly how you should take down God and win the girl!

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is where I'm increasingly annoyed at the translation, because the devil hasn't been a part-timer in quite a while! (Is he a "working devil king"? Sure!) Capitalism says it's *probably* a bad idea to have a bunch of dissimilar things with similar names, though, like Cells at Work! and Bros at Work! and The Devil at Work! ...hmm.

This is still Alciel's/Ashiya's flashback to how he started serving under Maou, getting to the point where Baby Satan finally grew up and oh no, he's hot... :O



I mean, I expected him to be SOMEWHAT attractive, since Chiho fell for him in his human form pretty quickly (it's strangely difficult to tell what characters are "supposed" to be attractive/unattractive in-universe unless they're deliberately drawn with snot dripping out of their noses and whatever), but he actually looks pretty dang gorgeous here! What I recall of his "initial" devilness was after he had been rather battletorn, I think—so, broken horn, a bit broader/heavier, definitely older, vs. here he's peak youth and... *physical* maturity, anyway. Probably what they were going for, at least.

Anyway, the story is still mostly just Satan going around and trying to recruit everyone he fights, using his heretofore unmentioned ability to just copy whatever others are doing. Maybe it was mentioned before and I just missed it. That WOULD explain how he would be able to so quickly move up in the MgRonalds ranks, though.

Not a lot else to say about it—flashbacks have that downside of we already KNOW what happens at the end, so most of the dramatic tension is gone. It's really only interesting in seeing, for instance, Lucifer/Urushihara complain that Satan used to be his height but then had a HUGE growth spurt in ten years, haha. Otherwise, I don't know... lots of military tactics and so on, but I can't really follow it that well, since it's trying to describe the movements of THOUSANDS but only a few characters at a time ever appear due to the limits of hand-drawn media. I mean, what's there is a good effort, but I'm totally going to forget what happened without this review. Heck, I forgot what happened in the prior book (though part of that is I have never found and read the books in order).

Recommended for anyone following the series and unable to wait for the anime to catch up, I guess. It's not really a compelling series, otherwise.

[David Doel · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are more volumes in this series but this is my last. It is just as well because the story seems more contrived. Also, I'm tiring of the Church being the source of the real bad guys. I do understand that the representatives of Christianity behaved awfully in Japan (and in America as well) so the regular role of bad guy assigned to the Church in manga is richly deserved.

I do have three volumes of the high school version of this series that I will read next.

[Justine · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting continuation, though the threat was resolved too simply in my opinion. I would have preferred having an actual fight. Also, the fanservicy aspects continue to be kinda weird and annoying.

Honestly, the second half with them trying to take down the bad business people was much more interesting.
I liked to see the relationships developing, even though the stuff he did is still being underplayed (I know it's a comedy, but still)

[Johnathon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb entry in the franchise that finds the Devil King taking on another would be rival, this time with his trusty bicycle and mop. Wagahara delivers another fun story that finds taking the Devil King not only dealing with monsters but also shady sales reps. The art is equally cartoony and fun, making for one of the more entertaining mangas on the stands.

[✮ StELt DaRk ✮ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5

[Yisselle Bello · Rating 5 out of 5]

STOP MAKING ME WRITE REVIEWS!!

Curse you Amazon. Just let me give it five stars and that’l be it but noooooooo. TWENTY WORDS REQUIRED. Gosh.

[Amanda Setasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, I normally hate fan service chapters, but this was done in a hilarious way with great storyline.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this story line

[Andrea Hubbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25/5 Stars

[bookwitchradio · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume catches up to the first season of the anime, and it's a little different, which I like. I'm excited to go to Volume 6!

[Sheepy · Rating 5 out of 5]

And there it is, the last volume containing all the anime content so after this it's new content!

I'm so excited!!

[Solace Winter · Rating 5 out of 5]

It continues to be adorable and fun.

[✿ K.B ✿ · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's just passing the parcel of favour between Emi and Maou and not only them all the characters.🤦🏻‍♀️ I think I'm dnf-ing it after the next volume if it doesn't pick up much. Idk. I'm bored.

[Lucas Loaysa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this and in 7th grade after I finished the anime and I never read another volume but it wasn’t even that bad… I should probably keep reading but I’m lazy

[Daphne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know why I originally gave this 3 stars. It's certainly not a 5-star read, but it's definitely a solid 4-star read. This concludes the end of the first big story arc, and I think it was done very well! It had a lot of action, but it was also super, super funny, which is what I was looking for.

The characters's personalities are becoming more distinct, and I feel like I'm finally starting to get to know them. Chiho is still adorable, and Suzuno is still precious, but they now have their own distinct personality traits that set them apart from the rest of the group. I think that Maou's character is really interesting. You can see Emi and Suzuno having to deal with how different he is than they imagined. They know him as the evil, powerful Devil King, but Maou on Earth is just a slightly dweeby, easily excitable MgRonald's worker. I'm so excited to see what is done with his character because he has so much potential.

This series is getting better and better, and I really wish the manga was published more often! I know that the manga is light years behind the light novels, but now that I'm committed to the manga, I don't really want to start the light novels. (I say that now, but watch me read all of them by the end of the year...)

Original Review
This was definitely a transition volume. The first major arc was completed near the middle of this volume, so the next few episodes were filler and seemed unnecessary. They were still funny though, so it was still enjoyable.

This volume marks the end of the anime series, so from here on out it will be a new story for me. Yay!

[Scott Mattson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally Not only does this volume finish the story, but it's also the first Light Story series I have started to have an ending and I finished it. The story is told in alternating parts. The First part is The devil Mao, and his various allies storm heaven and attempt to save Ente Isla. The second part is set a few years after the first part is settled. The alternating chapters of part a and part b was confusing at first. The Climax to the story was like the rest of the story not a lot of action with most of the action being off screen, while the main character are doing something else. All the storylines are resolved maybe not to the best ending, but an ending.

[Mariána K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good solid backstory episode volume

It's been so long since the last volume came out but I honestly couldn't remember where the last one ended. So when I started reading this when I was very confused. Apparently it's a flashback to the time when Satan is building his army. A c i e l is telling the story as he recounts how he came to know Satan through conflict. It's a very interesting story, and really shows Satan's personality being consistent. Unfortunately, it cliffhanger ends right when the climactic dual is about to begin at the end. So we're going to have to wait some months before we get to see the super cool showdown between our two favorite demons... Sigh.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first third of the story is an exciting battle between Maou and the archangel Sariel, where Suzuno has to choose sides between what she has always considered to be "good" and "bad" but under an entirely different set of circumstances. I continue to be entertained and impressed with the uneasy alliances formed from very different factions on Ente Isla and with the ways in which characters are forced to re-evaluate their values and morals in a more relative light. The series is subtly thought-provoking in that regard.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say. While the ending isn't as bombastic and ultimate climax as people expected, I found it quite enjoyable and ultimately true to the story.

The story is about the devil and the hero waging war on the heavens of Ente Isla and freeing alas ramus family. It also jumps to the future three years later at the end of every chapter. I feel it isn't final but left open. As for the choice, it feels right. May will still be there for Alas Ramus and her mom and be able to explore his feelings for chi. It was good. I just wish the story didn't have to end. I will miss it.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The action in the beginning was cool. I'm kind of annoyed by how casual Maou is about danger. I know it's supposed to make him cool, but it's a little boring and makes him a little to perfect.
The last two chapters were great. I wish the kimono girl (sorry) would be deleted to make room for Urushihara and Ashiya.

[Roxanne Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well that was certainly a good conclusion to the series, where pretty much everything gets solved. I would have liked more of an epilogue on Ente Isla's side, but the way the epilogue was weaved between the present action was interesting.

[Selena Pigoni · Rating 5 out of 5]

And with that, we've covered the anime.

[KathleenB · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the personal conclusions, but the plot wrap up was pointless and the back and forth between now and three years ago didn’t work well.