Akuma Kun (2023), on Netflix, drew my interest because of its excellent animation, all soggy, decaying opulence, and because of its blatant buddy bond between the two paranormal investigators. Most of the anime we see on streaming services expect you to have known and loved the characters throughout your life, after buying the hundreds of manga, video games, comic strips, and tie-in toys and going to fan conventions to meet the stars of the live-action movies, but I'm going in fresh, with no research. Episode 1.1: "Demons."
Scene 1: A shabby office full of old furniture, books, papers, and weird bricabrac. A big-headed boy named Mephisto complains that a lanky, gray-haired boy summoned him to deal with a toilet clog, and then ate all of his ramen!
"It would have gotten soggy just sitting there, so I ate it," the boy responds, his nose stuck in a book.
"If you want me to come over, why don't you call me on the telephone instead using a summoniing spell?"
"You come faster this way."
"But I'm half human, half demon, so I never cross over properly." So Mephisto has been roped into becoming the Boy's servant, like a genie in a bottle?
The Boy is named Ichiro Umoregi, and titled Akuma Kun. Akuma is translated "Demon," but it refers to any type of supernatural being, and Kun is a diminuitive used for close friends and little boys, so "Little Demon." He is actually an adult -- everyone in this anime is drawn as a child. He is voiced by Yuki Kaji, top photo in Japanese, Michael Johnston, left, in English, and Aidan Vallejo, below, in Spanish. Both Michael and Aidan are gay.
Scene 2: Night. A young college student walks down a dark, deserted street. Suddenly a shadowy monster with glowing red eyes attacks!
Cut to a young woman named Hina walking toward the Millenarianism Research Institute. So a cult? Up a flight of wooden stairs to a courtyard with scary, ornate doors beyond. She enters a drawing room cluttered with creepy skeletons and skull candleholders. Mephisto enters from the kitchen, exclaims "We have a client! We can pay the rent!", and changes into a purple suit with a top hat and magician's cane.
So they live together? Then why does the Boy need to summon Mephisto?
Hina's case: Two of her college classmates died two nights ago, at exactly 2:23 am. And she discovered that three other people in the Kamichoufu Sector also died at the same moment. Also, she's been plagued by nightmares.
Scene 3: They arrive at Hina's house to conduct some research. The Boy immediately goes to her bedroom, angering her mother: "You can't just barge into a lady's room! It's rude!"
"Is this how your partner usually behaves?" Hina asks.
"He is a once-in-10,000 years genius, but he's sort of lacking in social skills." I'd put him on the autism spectrum. The English, French, and Spanish voice actors speak in a monotone.
Mom recovers from her shock and brings them tea, but the Boy demands hotcakes ( hottokēki), not pancakes (pankēki). He needs the sugar to get his brain cells active. "Ok...um...I'll make you some hotcakes, I guess." Ok, a little research. Hotcakes are thicker than Western pancakes, with a custard-like texture.
Scene 4: The Boy rates the hotcakes the 18th best that he's had.
Mom is a professor of European history. The Boy has read her book, Lives and Sins of Kings, and found her interpretation of the Medieval monarchy "banal." Way to insult your hostess, kid.
Hina tells them that the murdered people were all college students, but some went to other universities, and one had just graduated.
While Mephisto tries to discuss payment with Hina, the Boy looks under the bed and sees a red-eyed monster. No one else can see it. He draws a mysterious Eye in the Pyramid on a scrap of paper and tells her to keep it close. They'll be back tomorrow.
Scene 5: That night, while Hina is asleep, a red-eyed monster sneaks out from under the bed, but she holds up the Eye, and it vanishes.
Scene 6: Kamichoufou Odeon Cinema, a run-down theater near the Boy's office. Hina tells him about the monster. He suggests that someone is trying to keep them from investigating the case.
When he pinppoints the locations of the deaths on a map, it creates a pentagram. So someone is trying to protect the person or thing in the center. Hina recognizes the building: it's the home of her college friend Ichika.
As they approach the house, Hina reveals that her friend didn't know any of the murder victims, except as faces in the cafeteria. She belonged to a club with a "seedy" reputation. And she hasn't come to class in weeks.
The Boy suddenly decides not to go in. "Come by the Research Institute tomorrow."
That night the red-eyed monster appears again, but Hina has laminated the Eye and tied it to her wrist, so it can't attack. She doesn't even wake up.
More after the break
