The Demon Girl Next Door 2

The Demon Girl Next Door 2

The Demon Girl Next Door 2 anime series cover art
The Demon Girl Next Door 2

Season Overview

The Demon Girl Next Door 2 (Machikado Mazoku: 2-choume / まちカドまぞく 2丁目) is the second season of The Demon Girl Next Door. It’s also very similar to the first season. I rated both seasons the same. But, I slightly prefer season 2 over season 1.

The biggest difference between the two seasons is the introduction of more characters. This is why I like season 2 more. The new characters are actually better than the existing characters. I like Shamiko and Momo enough. But, the new characters are way better.

I kind of want to say that this season also focuses a bit more on the plot. But, I’m not sure if that’s actually true. Shamiko and Momo continue trying to figure out the mystery of the town’s past. What happened to Sakura? Why was Shamiko’s father sealed in a box? You know, things like that.

With that said, I don’t feel like the plot progressed any more in this season than it did in the first. I’d still consider the majority of the season to be slice of life content. And, that’s also my biggest complaint with the series. It has an interesting story but that story isn’t the main focus.

Of course, that’s kind of to be expected. The source material for The Demon Girl Next Door is a 4-panel manga. It’s not exactly the best medium for writing a deep and complex story. In fact, I’m surprised that the story is as involved as it is.

But, I don’t want you to think that I watch this series for the plot. The slice of life content is definitely the draw. Still, since there is a somewhat interesting plot, I’d like if it progressed a bit more. It feels like a bit of a waste as-is.

New Characters

There are 3 new characters in this season of The Demon Girl Next Door. Though, 1 of them only appears at the very end of the season. If a third season ever happens, I’d expect her to play a larger role at that point.

Anyway, the first of these characters is the Manager. The Manager is a tapir demon who runs a restaurant in town. He’s just a talking tapir that walks on 2 legs and wears glasses. At some point during the season, he convinces (tricks) Shamiko into working for him.

One of my favorite things about the Manager is that he’s not a humanoid tapir. He’s actually a tapir that stands upright. And because of this, he always has back pain — his spine isn’t designed for upright locomotion. It’s the little details like that which make him entertaining, to me.

Lico teaching Shamiko how to be a waitress from the anime series The Demon Girl Next Door 2
Lico teaching Shamiko how to be a waitress

Along with the Manager, we also have Lico. Lico is a fox demon who takes the form of a fox girl. Yes, she’s humanoid, unlike the Manager. Lico is my favorite character of the entire series. I wish she was around from the very start. But, at least she’s here now.

Despite working for the Manager, Lico’s really the one in charge. The food she makes has magical — sometimes psychedelic — properties. And she uses the threat of feeding her food to the Manager as a way to keep him in line.

The final new character is Ugallu. Ugallu is the spirit that Mikan’s father sealed inside her. She’s the reason Mikan has the curse that causes misfortune upon those around her. I’m not a huge fan of Ugallu’s design and we don’t know much about her as a character yet. But, she could be a good addition.

An Exhausting Watch

I’m pretty sure I mentioned this in my review of the first season. But, The Demon Girl Next Door is exhausting to watch. It’s not an anime I can throw on at the end of the day and relax while watching. And that’s not something you’d expect from looking at it.

I’m sure you’ve experienced an anime like this before. Sometimes, there’s so much going on that you have to concentrate so as to not miss anything. In the case of this series, it’s the dialogue — and therefore subtitles — that you have to concentrate on.

My main problem with this is that the payoff isn’t there. There are many anime that I have to devote my full attention to while watching. Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju is one example. It doesn’t have fast dialogue, but the dialogue is all very important.

Shamiko admiring Momo's dark-side outfit from the anime series The Demon Girl Next Door 2
Shamiko admiring Momo’s dark-side outfit

In a series like Rakugo, the payoff is the ability to follow the story. In The Demon Girl Next Door, the payoff is usually something as simple as getting a joke. The payoff isn’t worth the concentration. So, why not simply pay less attention to the series? Surely that’s the obvious answer.

To an extent, yes. But, the problem with that is that if you aren’t keeping up with all the jokes in this series, why are you watching it? It’s a comedy series. I doubt many people are watching it for the plot or anything else.

And so, that’s the real issue with The Demon Girl Next Door. It’s a good anime. But, even with the slight improvements that the second season brings, it was never an anime I wanted to watch. It always felt like a commitment. And after watching each episode, I wanted to take a break from anime.

Conclusion

The Demon Girl Next Door 2 is a 7/10. If not for the Manager and Lico, I would have rated it as a 6. But, those two really carried the series. I loved their interactions with both each other and Shamiko.

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