If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord

If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord

If It's for My Daughter, I'd Even Defeat a Demon Lord anime series cover art
If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord

Overview

If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord (Uchi no Ko no Tame naraba, Ore wa Moshikashitara Maou mo Taoseru kamo Shirenai. / うちの娘の為ならば、俺はもしかしたら魔王も倒せるかもしれない) is a light novel adaptation in case you couldn’t tell by the length of the title.

However, this time around, although it’s set in a fantasy world, it isn’t an isekai. All the characters of the series were born and raised in this world — at least as far as we know. But at the same time I’m sure there are people who call this series an isekai just like they do to DanMachi.

It’s kind of a shame that we’re so used to having all these isekai anime shoved down our throats each season that we’ve forgotten what normal fantasy series are. I think I even saw someone refer to Goblin Slayer as an isekai. No. Goblin Slayer is dark, high fantasy with no isekai strings attached.

Latina wearing pink bows from the anime series If It's for My Daughter, I'd Even Defeat a Demon Lord
Latina wearing pink bows

Here’s the thing, though. If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord isn’t an adventure series. It’s a slice of life series set in a fantasy world. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but it definitely doesn’t take full advantage of everything the fantasy genre has to offer.

When all is said and done, this is really just a story about some guy and his adopted daughter who he thinks is the cutest thing in the world. The fact that he’s an adventurer and she’s a demon doesn’t play that much of a role. I think we only see one person who hates Latina because she’s a demon. It’s generally a non-issue.

Characters

There are really only two characters that matter in this series, Latina and Dale. For some reason MAL lists Rita as a main character too, but she just runs a tavern with her husband. I’d call her a supporting character, not a background or main character.

Anyway, Latina is the star of the show, both in terms of the actual anime and at the Tavern where she lives and works. Aside from Dale, all the other rough and tough adventurers who frequent the tavern also have a soft spot for Latina.

As a member of the demon race, Latina has an affinity for magic. This is where I would normally discuss her abilities and future potential with it, but they don’t matter since this is slice of life. What does matter is that Latina only knows defensive magic and she was taught by Dale not to use magic to hurt anyone.

Somehow Dale is an even less interesting character than Latina. It’s stated that he’s the strongest adventurer in town, but that doesn’t really seem to be too impressive of a feat since nobody seems to care. Other than that, Dale’s character revolves around one thing, Latina.

He’s completely obsessed with Latina to the point that he doesn’t want to continue his job as an adventurer because it means time away from her. However, he also knows that he needs his job as an adventurer so he can make money and buy things for his daughter.

I think Dale might actually be the most annoying character in the series. He’s always either obsessing over Latina or complaining that he’s wasting valuable time that could be spent obsessing over her.

Who is this Series For?

This is really the big question. There isn’t any real conflict or plot progression, so it does seem to be focused on the slice of life audience. However, I think there’s more to it than that. Have you heard about the sub genre of anime that aims to convince single Japanese people to get married and have kids?

That’s what this anime seems to fall into.

Now, I don’t believe that’s a real genre, but the conspiracy is that it’s the Japanese government’s way of fighting the aging population. But when you look at the series from that perspective, it all makes sense — sort of.

Latina wearing blue bows from the anime series If It's for My Daughter, I'd Even Defeat a Demon Lord
Latina wearing blue bows

If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord doesn’t feature Dale having a child of his own, but it does feature him adopting a child from another race. Could this be a parallel to adopting a child from another country? Is the author trying to show us how great adopting kids is?

It’s a decent attempt if so, but there is one huge flaw. The episodes are 22 minutes long, and by the end of each one I was past my Latina threshold. Kids may be good in short segments of time, but if you have one for real then that’s a 24 hour commitment I’m not ready to make.

Good try, but I’ll pass. I don’t think what amounts to an advertisement for having kids is ever going to change my mind.

Conclusion

If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord is a 3/10 from me. It definitely wasn’t the worst anime around, but it was always a struggle to get through each episode. I also never looked forward to watching each new episode and often had to do something else while watching it to keep myself from boredom.

Have you watched this series? If so, did you finish it? What rating would you give it overall? Let me know in the comments. And if you enjoyed it, let us know why.

Click the like button ❤ down below if you found this review to be helpful. And follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama to be notified every time a new post goes live. Also, there’s a Discord server for those of you who want to come discuss anime. (Un)fortunately, this probably isn’t going to be an anime anyone will want to discuss with you.

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