Kyo Kara Maoh! Season II - The Complete Season Set (a J!-ENT Anime DVD Review)

Kyo Kara Maoh! Season II – The Complete Season Set is excellent! Fantastic characters and story!

DVD TITLE: Kyo Kara Maoh! Season II -The Complete Season Set

DURATION: 975 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: 16:9, ENGLISH DOLBY DIGITAL 2.0, JAPANESE DOLBY DIGITAL 2.0

COMPANY: Studio Deen/GENEON/FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: 13+

Release Date: July 21, 2009

Based on the Original Story by Tomo Takabayashi

Original Character Designs by Temari Matsumoto

Directed by Junji Nishimura

Music by Yoichiro Yoshikawa

Character Design by Yuka Kudo

Anime Production by Studio Deen

Featuring the following voice talent:

Takahiro Sakurai/ Yuri Lowenthal as Yuri Shibuya

Toshiyuki Morikawa/ Doug Erholtz as Conrad Weller

Kazuhiko Inoue/ Mike Davis as GÃ¼nter von Christ

Akio Otsuka/ Jackson Daniels as Gwendal von Voltaire

Mitsuki Saiga/ Mona Marshall as Wolfram von Bielefeld

Miyata Koki/ Grant George as Ken Murata

Masako Katsuki/ Kristy Pape as Cecilie von Spitzweg

Masanori Takeda/ Marvin Lee as Josak

Yukana/ Lara Cody as Ulrike

Hiroaki Hirata/ Richard Cansino as Lord Geigen Huber Grisela

Unsho Ishizuka/ Terry Roberts as Stoffel von Spitzweg

Yasunori Matsumoto/ Doug Stone as Raven

Minami Takayama/ Michelle Ruff as Anissina

Risa Mizuno/ Joan-Carol O’Connell as Susannah Julia von Wincott

Masaki Terasoma/ Kirk Thornton as Adelbert von Grantz

Motoko Kumai/ Reba West as Greta

Hiroko Taguchi/ Mia Bradley as Giesela

Kazuhiro Nakata/ Dave Mallow as King Belar

Shinichiro Miki/ Tony Oliver as The Great One

Soon after locating “Hells Fire on Frozen Tundra”, one of the Four Forbidden Boxes, in Francia, Yuri and his team are captured by Big Cimaron’s army, led by none other than Conrad! Yuri is deeply hurt by this betrayal, but to make matters worse, King Belar of the Big Cimaron suddenly shows up, ordering Conrad to execute Yuri. With Yuri out of the picture, Belar can easily conquer the Great Demon Kingdom and control the whole world. Conrad must make a decision- but it may cost his own life!

Kyo Kara Maoh! is a series that centers around Yuri Shibuya, a seemingly normal boy that accidentally gets sucked into another world and learns that he is destined to become the next Demon King of the Great Demon Kingdom. He faces alot of challenges considering it is a different world and the fact that he now has this heavy responsibility of becoming the next Demon King, but he manages to overcome all of the challenges thrown at him. Because of the differences in cultures of Yuri’s world and this world, there are humerous consequences that ensue including his accidental marriage proposal to Wolfram when he slapped him across the face. Yuri’s goal as Demon King is to unify the Mazoku(Demons) and Humans of this world and collect the Four Forbidden Boxes scattered throughout the world.

Kyo Kara Maoh! Season 2 starts off right where Season 1 left off. Yuri and his team find one of the Four Forbidden Boxes: “Hells Fire on Frozen Tundra” and must defend it against Big Cimarron. Throughout the season, there is the main story line of finding all four of the Forbidden Boxes, but there are also many humerous side episodes that fill out this 39 episode 2nd season. With so many great characters and a great storyline, Kyo Kara Maoh! Season 2 will find many fans both male and female.

“Kyo Kara Maoh! Season II” focuses on the following main characters:

Yuri Shibuya – Half Human, half Mazoku. The main character of this story. He has black eyes and black hair. He was pretty much a normal guy who one day found one of his friends, Ken Murata being bullied by three bullies. Sadly, he wasn’t able to save him and instead, he ends up getting a swirly in the bathroom by the three bullies. However, that somehow sends him into the Great Demon Kingdom (And from there on, whenever he falls into the water he goes back and forth through the worlds. However, it is at the most inconvinient times…). From there leads his various adventures in the Great Demon Kingdom including an accidental proposal to Wolfram when he slapped him in the face. He is a very loyal person who thinks with his heart first, and is slowly becoming someone that everyone in the Great Demon Kingdom can approve of being the Great Demon King. He uses the demon sword Morgif that only he is able to use.

Conrad Weller – Half Human, half Mazoku. The second son of Cecilie and the son of the human: Dunheely Weller. Is very protective of Yuri. He is a very skilled swordsman and views things slightly differently than his brothers because he is part human. Has a connection with Julia.

Wolfram von Bielefield – Mazoku. The youngest of the three brothers and the son of Cecilie. Is very proud and is rather beautiful, but is also rather childish. He like Gwendal was against Yuri becoming the next Demon King… but he gets slapped by Yuri which in this world means a marriage proposal. Since then he slowly has feelings towards Yuri, even though most of those feelings are through him calling Yuri names and belittling him. Just like his brothers, he feels an obligation to protect Yuri… and becomes easily jealous if anyone else becomes too close to him.

Gwendal von Voltaire – Mazoku. The oldest of the three brothers that are the sons of the former Great Demon Queen. He is rather serious most of the time but seems to have interesting skills like baking…

GÃ¼nter von Christ – Mazoku. He is the Yuri’s teacher and seems to be rather infatuated with him… he ends up being used as a guinea pig in most of Anissina’s experiments.

Ken Murata – Race Unknown. He is Yuri’s friend from Earth, who happens to also be the reincarnation of the Great Sage that served the Great One many years ago. He tends to be a slightly mysterious individual. He is very loyal to Yuri but also very loyal to The Great One.

The Mazoku:

Cecilie von Spitzweg – Mazoku. The mother of the three brothers and the former Demon Queen. As soon as Yuri became the next Demon King, she was freed of her duties and able to go on her free and easy quest for love. She seems rather airheaded at times, but she is rather intelligent and is very caring especially when it comes to her sons.

Jozak Gurrier – Half Human half Mazoku. A spy of the Great Demon Kingdom and a long-time friend of Conrad.

Anissina von Karbelnikoff – Mazoku. She is an inventor that lives in the castle and is a childhood friend of Gwendal. She likes to use Gwendal and GÃ¼nter as guinea pigs for her experiments.

Ulrike – Is the child-like priestess that recieves word from the Great One.

Adelbert von Grantz – Mazoku. He was Julia’s fiancee. He holds bitterness to the Great Demon Kingdom because of the loss of his love.

Susannah Julia von Wincott – Mazoku. She is a very kind soul who had connections with Conrad and Adelbert. She is tied with Yuri in a very special way.

Lord Geigen Huber Grisela – Mazoku. He hated humans at first but eventually falls in love with a human woman and changes his outlook. He will do anything to protect Yuri.

Stoffel von Spitzweg – Mazoku. Cecilie’s older brother who was banished from the castle. His nephews don’t trust him and he is constantly trying to get into good graces with Yuri…

Raven – Mazoku. Stoffel’s aide and Cecelie’s childhood friend. He is rather smart but on the other hand will do anything for Stoffel.

Greta – Human. Yuri and Wolfram’s adopted daughter.

Giesela – Mazoku. Was a close friend to Julia and is GÃ¼nter’s adoptive daughter.

The Great One – The first king of the Great Demon Kingdom. His soul looks over the land even now and the Mazoku do as he commands thinking it is for the best.

The Non Earth Humans

King Belar – Human. The ruler of Big Cimaron. Will do anything to get his way and to take over the world.

Dunheely Weller – Human. The father of Conrad and one of Cecilie’s many loves.

The Earth Inhabitants

The Shibuya Family: Shoma, Miko “Jennifer”, and Shori– Yuri’s parents and older brother. Shoma is a Mazoku and his mother is a human. Shori, his older brother is rather protective of his younger brother and is constantly saddened because Yuri won’t call him “Onii-chan”. Shori who is also half human and half Mazoku seems to have his own special destiny that awaits him.

Bob – Mazoku. Saved the Shibuya brothers when they were younger at one point. A mysterious figure that has the connections with the Demon World…

JosÃ© Rodriguez – A mysterious doctor that has connections with Conrad. He likes Akihabara.

â€œKyo Kara Maoh! Season IIâ€ features a total of 39 episodes on nine DVDs. Here is a spoiler-less summary of each episode:

DISC 1:

EPISODE 40- For Our Bonds – Yuri and his band successfully obtain the “Hells Fire on Frozen Tundra” but an unforeseen obstacle stands in their way…
EPISODE 41- Conrad’s Return – Despite the return of Conrad, he is placed in a cell and under the watch of Francia guards.
EPISODE 42- A Distant Promise – Yuri and Murata go back to Earth and Shori recollects the time he first met Bob.
EPISODE 43- Baby Panic at Covenant Castle! – Back in the Great Demon Kingdom there are preparartions to celebrate the births of all the babies born within the last year. But somehow the events turn into baby vs dragon…?!
EPISODE 44- The Phantom Girl – Ulrike collapses, meanwhile in town a young girl who looks like Ulrike causes havoc displaying mysterious powers.

DISC 2:

EPISODE 45- The Betrothed versus the FiancÃ© – Stoffel tries once again to get closer to Yuri. This time he tries to introduce him to a Princess, however it seems she has an interesting link to Wolfram.
EPISODE 46- The Priestess in the Forest – Yuri and the others hear word on the possible location of the final box: “the bottom of the mirror” and check it out.
EPISODE 47- Proof of Life – We get to see into the past and see Gwendal when he was young and his interactions with Conrad’s father.
EPISODE 48- Big Cimaron Strikes Back – Sensing a trap from Belar, Gwendal decides to meet with him alone but Yuri soon goes after him anyways but apparently Belar wasn’t the only one after him…
EPISODE 49- The Lion and the Wolf – Adalbert kidnaps Yuri, but it’s not for the reason that everyone thinks.

DISC 3:

EPISODE 50- My Beloved Julia – Adalbert learns the truth about Julia’s fate.
EPISODE 51- Revenge Fiend? Maxine – For honor and to be able to go back to his homeland, Maxine goes after Yuri… Again.
EPISODE 52- Conrart Standing Tall – Yuri looks into a ramen bowl that happens to be a Demon Mirror and gets sucked into the past and meets Julia.
EPISODE 53- Dear King Yuri – GÃ¼nter decides to go see the world.
EPISODE 54- The Holy Sword and the Demon Sword (Part 1) – Hearing that someone with the Holy Sword is causing trouble, Yuri and the others go to find Alford, but instead find someone else with the sword.

DISC 4:

EPISODE 55- The Holy Sword and the Demon Sword (Part 2) – Conrad and Alford go to stop the man who stole the holy sword.
EPISODE 56- The Shadow Begins to Move – A mysterious man shows up at a ball held at the Covenant Castle and Wolfram disappears.
EPISODE 57- The Creature From the Darkness – Yuri and Wolfram are captured and being taken to Big Cimaron but are rescued by an unlikely person…
EPISODE 58- The King of Chaos – Yuri and Wolfram manage to rejoin Conrad and the others and Yuri suggests to talk to Belar…

DISC 5:

EPISODE 59- Demons, to Earth – The Great Demon Kingdom decides to send a search party for the final box to Earth.
EPISODE 60- Big Brother’s Anguish – The Demons are enjoying their time on Earth but Shori is distrusting of them.
EPISODE 61- Another Demon King – The group goes to Switzerland to find Bob and clues on the whereabouts on the fourth box.
EPISODE 62- Entrusted Hope – Bob doesn’t give the group a very warm welcome and tells the Demons to go back home.

DISC 6:

EPISODE 63- Showdown! The Demon King vs. the Boney Corps – The animals in the Great Demon Kingdom start acting strangely and the Flying Bone Tribe seem to be making their way to the castle in large numbers…
EPISODE 64- The Return of Snow GÃ¼nter – Yuri accidentally pours poison on GÃ¼nter’s head and in apparent death, Snow GÃ¼nter and O-Kiku GÃ¼nter appear…
EPISODE 65- The Traveler Through the Snow – Yuri goes to try to find the “The Leaf of Minadia”.
EPISODE 66- The Power of Feelings – Yuri and the others head back to Earth and even though no time should have passed while they were in the Great Demon Kingdom, one hour has passed on Earth. They go to Bob for help and to find a way back to the other world.

DISC 7:

EPISODE 67- A Bridge to Tomorrow – Yuri, GÃ¼nter and Giesela go to investigate something that is getting in the way of the construction of a bridge.
EPISODE 68- The Age of Glory – A glimpse into the past of the Great One and the Originator.
EPISODE 69- What Must Be Protected – Shori gets blown away to the Great Demon Kingdom.
EPISODE 70- The Forgotten People – Something happens to Wolfram and mysterious assassins appear, endangering everyone.

DISC 8:

EPISODE 71- Big Brother’s Big Rampage – Sensing Yuri is in danger, Shori uses the powers he just recieved but something unforeseen happens…
EPISODE 72- That Which is Sealed – The boxes’ seals are falling apart and an ominous cloud hangs over the Tomb of the Great One.
EPISODE 73- Dark Pulsation – Wolfram mysteriously attacks Yuri and the keys are stolen.
EPISODE 74- The Controller of the Truth – The one who comes out of the sealed box isn’t who they were expecting…

DISC 9:

EPISODE 75- The Sun and the Moon – Yuri is determined to fight the Great One and save Wolfram but another unexpected event awaits.
EPISODE 76- Within the Darkness – Yuri must face off with the Great One in his inner psychological world.
EPISODE 77- The Descent of the Demon King – The last box is finally opened…
EPISODE 78- Until the Day We Meet Again – Yuri has to make a decision to stay in the Demon World or go back to Earth.

VIDEO & AUDIO

Kyo Kara Maoh is presented in 16:9. The animation is very high quality and is beautiful. The character designs are great. For audio you have the option of either Japanese or English. There are only English subtitles available.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Disc 1 had Textless Opening and a Fan Art Gallery, featuring the winners of the Kyo Kara Maoh! art contest held by Geneon and Animenewsnetwork.com
Disc 2 had Textless Ending. Otherwise, all of the discs have Geneon Previews.

I am very new to the Kyo Kara Maoh! Series but I have known about it for quite sometime. I did some research before watching the second season, as I had not seen the first season and the first thing that stood out for me was… There are SO many characters. So many that it’s actually rather hard to keep them all straight at first, but I quickly was able to catch on because each of the characters are so interesting.

I must admit though at first I didn’t know what to think… The Great Demon World, mazoku vs humans, Yuri and Wolfram being engaged because of a slap in the face, so many characters (most of them male), so many random side stories… There’s so much going on, but somehow it all fits in well together and once you get used to having so many characters, overall this series and this season are very interesting to watch. Not to mention the first episode of this series I ever watched was the first episode of the second season which is rather serious, compared to most of the season. After a couple of episodes, my mind was able to take in everything that was going on.

One of my favorite episodes are episodes 42 and 43. I love that someone named “Bob” pretty much is one of the most powerful beings on Earth. Also I just really enjoyed the humor in this episode with the baby vs the dragon. Another series of favorite episodes I had were the ones when all the main characters(Mazoku included) go to Earth and experience life on Earth. I actually enjoy the overall humor in this series. It’s all pretty smart humor, nothing too overdone in that sense. There are alot of ridiculous situations: The differences of customs in the Great Demon World vs Earth (ie: the fact that Yuri slapping Wolfram indicated a marriage proposal instead of a gesture anger), the fact that Yuri falling into any form of water can result him to go into one world to the other, poor Yuri being dressed up as a girl when he was a child, Yuri having an endless amount of male admirers, etc… There are so many great moments and quotes in season 2 as well.

Because of the wide array of characters, there is also an array of great seiyuus to give voices to those characters. Many of my favorite seiyuus appear in this series including Akio Otsuka, Minami Takayama, Toshiyuki Morikawa, and Kazuhiko Inoue just to name a few. The English dub in this series sounded great too.

I think this is a series that both male and female audiences. Guys can enjoy the humor, action, and adventure and female audiences I’m sure will enjoy the vast amount of bishounen characters this series provides. Not only that, I’m sure some female fans will also enjoy Wolfram’s jealous fits when it comes to any other person stealing Yuri’s attention…

Bottomline: Despite so many characters and so many things going on, this series makes it work and after you get to know the characters and the basic storyline, you’ll find yourself wanting to find out more and seeing more.

This is a must buy for those who are fans of the series but I think those who are looking to find a new series would enjoy this one too. Even though I would recommend everyone to get the first season first for any series but especially for this one since there are so many characters that coming into the series starting this season may be overwhelming. Despite that, I really enjoyed this season and this series and I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of the episodes.

Viewers will not be disappointed: this series has a great story, great humor and best of all it has fantastic characters!