A Devilish Slapstick Comedy (Dropkick on My Devil Review)

Genre: Comedy

Rating: PG-13

Studio: Nomad

Episodes: 11 plus an OVA

Available on: Amazon Prime

Overview:

Jashin, a devil from the depths of hell is summoned by a girl by the name of Yurine Hanazono. The two of them are now stuck with one another in Yurine’s tiny apartment. Yurine has no clue how to get Jashin back to hell whilst Jashin plots out the various ways to kill Yurine so she can be freed.

Review:

Dropkick on My Devil seems like the perfect kind of series for myself. I, am a huge fan of the comedy genre and I live for slapstick comedy. I was raised on that type of comedy and it’s always been at the centre of my humour. Hence why shows I hold anime such as Gintama in such high regard.

Dropkick on My Devil however completely overdid it on the slapstick side of things. The punchline for this anime is a continuous stream of Jashin-chan getting brutally beaten by Yurine. Slapstick comedy and comedic violence are great when done in moderation but this anime just took the concept and worked it to death. Dropkick on My Devil pretty much only used this as the punchline for their jokes and it got old fast. I have to admit for the first time in my life I found the comedic violence, often too violent. I’m not someone who is to flinch away from violence in anime but some of the sadistic acts which Yurine performs on Jashin-chan were just too much and made me squirm more than laugh. Sure Jashin can regenerate because she is a demon but even demons don’t deserve such torture.

The anime did occasionally break the forth wall which gave me a good chuckle. If they had ran more with this concept and split the comedy up more into different areas like forth wall breaking then it could have been far funnier.

The plot of this anime was poorly done. The opening scene to the anime is a extremely brief introduction to how Jashin ended up being summoned by Yurine. It was so quick that if I hadn’t already read the synopsis to the series previously before starting it I would have been questioning what was going on with them and their violent relationship. More time could have been dedicated to giving an introduction to the characters and their situation instead of just dropping me into them sat around the table in Yurine’s apartment.

The characters were more than problematic. Jashin is an awful main character. You can have an annoying, obnoxious character who can also be a fun, likeable character but Jashin is both of these and is completely unlikable. There are moments in which she seems to portray some kind of real feeling and human emotion which are quickly passed off as her being a manipulative ass. Sure, she is a demon from the depths of hell but I’m sure Satan himself is nicer than she is. Hell, he even sent her a present at one point so she could grow legs. Yurine is no better in my opinion. She was overly abusive to Jashin to the point where it’s just not funny. I’ve seen horrible, sadistic characters done much better than Yurine.