The Misfit of Demon King Academy #09 – The Mystery of Hero Academy

Posted on by phoenixrising88

Hi everyone. Welcome to Anime Asterisk!

We have arrived at a new arc! And with it, comes a new adventure.  On today’s episode, we are finally going to see things from the human side as Anos’ class makes the trek to Hero Academy. What mysteries will await them there? Let’s find out in today’s episode recap of The Misfit of Demon King Academy Episode 9: The Mystery of Hero Academy.

Episode Recap

Mythical Age – Anos versus Jerga

Episode 9 begins with a flashback to the mythical age. In Gairadite, the human capital city, Kanon creates a barrier around the city as Anos approaches it. Angry, Kanon demands to know where Anos hid his troops and argues that Anos is crazy to attack the city along. Anos calmly tells Kanon that he is not here to fight and wishes to propose a cease-fire. In disbelief, Kanon argues that Anos of all people shouldn’t talk about peace. But Anos argues that humans and demons alike wish for peace and asks what Kanon really wants.

Before Kanon can answer, Kanon’s master, Jerga (CV: Akio Ohtsuka) appears from behind him and starts attacking Anos. Punching through Anos’ shields, Jerga proclaims that there can never be peace so long as Anos is alive and beseeches Kanon not to listen to Anos’ lies. Touched by their general’s words, Jerga’s troops lend him their power. Empowered, Jerga declares that he shall kill Anos to get revenge for his family and comrades’ deaths. Summoning a small spirit ball, Jerga goes to punch Anos in the gut. Suddenly, there is a splatting sound as Anos punches through Jerga’s chest.

Saddened, Anos reminds Jerga that humans also killed his mother. Ending the fight, Anos invites Kanon to his castle if he is interested in listening to his proposal and teleports away. As Anos leaves, an angry Kanon rushes over to his master. Reassuring Kanon that he will be fine, Jerga instructs Kanon to reassure the troops by falsely claiming that he has driven off the Demon King.

Unsure, a doubtful Kanon questions his master if everything will really be over if he defeats the Demon King.  Filled with hatred, Jerga tells Kanon not to hesitate because there is no way they can coexist with demons. Dying, Jerga vows that he shall never forgive the Demon King and promises to wipe out the demon race, whatever the cost.

The New Teacher and the Field Trip

Back in the present, Anos, Sasha, Misha, Lay, and Misa are walking to school together. As they are walking, Sasha berates Misha for not waking her up on time. Misha tells her that she did try numerous tries, but Sasha didn’t wake up no matter what she did. At school, Anos’ class receives a new substitute teacher, Menou Historia (CV: Ai Kakuma), who informs them that she is taking over for Ms. Emilia. Settling the class down, Ms. Historia announces that they will holding inter-academy classes with the Hero Academy in three weeks’ time. And, that they will be attending with the third years.

Hearing the news, Anos grows suspicious as everyone gets nervous. Ms. Historia reassures the class that these have been in the works for quite a while, but they got the go-ahead rather quickly. Still nervous, some of the class asks what is a hero is. So, Ms. Historia gives a brief lecture on the subject.  She then starts explaining about the Heroes’ Troop Magic and asks if anyone knows what it is. Anos replies with the correct answer, Asla, and explains the difference between it and the Demons’ Gyze. He also further explains the powered-up version Asc.

Excitingly replying that Anos is right, Ms. Historia announces that there will also be a Gyze versus Asla exam during the inter-academy classes and reminds everyone to study it. As the fan union cheers, Ms. Historia suddenly recognizes Anos as the Misfit and admits that he knows quite a bit about heroes. Anos slightly boasts that he did see more of his fill, back during the Mythical Age. After class, Anos ponders to himself about the Hero Academy. Suddenly, Sasha comes up to him and tells him that they have study hall for the rest of the day. Understanding, Anos asks all his friends to accompany him.  Misa asks what they are going to do and Anos explains that they are going to train.

Training Session

During the training session, Anos doesn’t hold back and pummels everyone. Since Lay has no sword, Misha crafts one for him to train with. Though that sword gets easily broken. After the training session, Anos meets up with Melheis in the fan union tower and queries about Gaios and Ydol’s condition. Melheis informs Anos that they have been successfully resurrected and that his suspicions about their altered sources were correct. Hearing that, Anos presumes that the other three Demon Emperors are also likely possessed and working for Avos Dilhevia.

Turning to Melheis, Anos wonders why his source wasn’t completely taken over like the others. Melheis replies that he does not know, but suggests that Avos might not have had enough subordinates to fuse with him. Anos suggests that that thinking might be a trap. Agreeing, Melheis warns Anos to be careful during the inter-academy classes. He explains that he has had suspicions about that place.

Curious, Anos asks why the Hero Academy was built in the first place. Melheis explains that it was originally created to nurture individuals who could help contribute to the nation, but it seems to have created an elite class for reincarnated heroes in recent years. Melheis then wonders why would they hide their reason for only gathering and training resurrected Heroes. Anos wonders that too.

Looking down from the window, Anos spots Lay waving to him. Ending the meeting, Anos goes to Lay and brings him to his treasure room in the castle ruins. Looking at the swords, Anos tells Lay to pick whichever sword he wants. Spotting a broadsword, Lay chooses The Unique Sword Sigshesta. Smiling, Anos lets Lay test it out on a statue of Melheis and explains its abilities to him.

Getting nostalgic, Anos reminisces on Shin and tells Lay how he mastered every sword in existence.  Anos then admits that Lay reminds him of Shin. Curious, Lay asks if he is Shin’s reincarnation, but Anos confesses that he is not sure yet. Asking if they promised to meet again, Lay is told that they did. Anos allows Lay to keep the sword. As Lay leaves, Anos recalls the promise he made to Kanon.

Day of the Field Trip

Three weeks later, all the students gather for the field trip. Using a messenger owl, Ms. Historia announces the rules for the trip and tells everyone that they must make to Gairadite within ten days, otherwise they will not be allowed to participate in the inter-academy classes. Ms. Historia then announces the start of the exam.

As the students start leaving, Anos’ team contemplate which route to take. However, Anos has an easier solution and instantly teleports everyone to Gairadite. Though his teammates aren’t exactly thrilled with Anos sucking the fun out of traveling together. Since they are already at Gairadite, Lay suggests that they split up and explore the city. Agreeing, Misha, Lay and Misa head off to the fan union to help the other club mates reach the city. While Sasha and Anos head to check out something.

Inside the city, Anos and Sasha spend some time sightseeing. Smiling at the happy children, Sasha asks Anos what he wants to check out. Anos explains that he wants to investigate the Hero Academy. Sasha sternly cautions Anos not to cause any uproars, since they still have the classes to attend to. Suddenly, Sasha is thrown off by Anos’ compliments, making her embarrassed and almost accidentally destroy the city. Helping Sasha regain her composure, Anos makes Sasha promise to help him if his eyes are ever exposed to unreachable danger.

Hero Academy and Jerga Kanon

At the Hero Academy, Anos and Sasha initially have trouble entering the academy. However, the two are soon allowed in by a friendly third-year student name Eleanor Bianca (CV: Sayumi Watabe). Inquiring about what they are doing at the academy, Anos states that they have arrived early to research their hero legends. Impressed, Eleanor gives the pair a guided tour of the academy and leads them to the library.

In the library, Sasha and Eleanor almost end up in a tense argument about the validity of their varying legends. More specifically, about how Kanon supposedly defeated Anos and created the walls, when the truth is that Anos had asked Kanon to help him sacrifice himself to create the barrier that separated the various realms. However, before Sasha can argue further, Anos tells her to calm down as he understands the reasoning behind it.

Apologizing, Eleanor is asked by Anos about the Demon King’s name. Eleanor responds by saying Avos Dilhevia’s name. Understanding, Anos asks Eleanor about the elite Heroes class. Eleanor happily explains that the elite class Anos is talking about is called the Jerga Kanon class. She further explains that there are four reincarnations of Kanon within that source. Each one has one of Kanon’s seven sources within them. Anos then explains their purpose to Sasha.

Impressed, Eleanor is again asked by Anos if those reincarnations of Kanon have different memories. But before Eleanor can answer, a blue-haired student appears on the nearby staircase and asks which memories are flawed. Anos asks who he is and the student introduces as Ledriano Kanon Azeschen (CV: Ryohei Kimura), the owner of Kanon’s first heart and a member of the Jerga Kanon class.  A red-haired male student then appears and introduces himself as the owner of Kanon’s third heart, Laos Kanon Jilfor (CV: Makoto Furukawa).

Unimpressed, Anos remarks that he is doubtful that they are Kanon’s reincarnations because Kanon only had one true source and guesses the rest were duds. Pissed off, Laos suggests they duke it out as a greeting and tries to attack Anos. However, Anos blocks the clast and sends Laos flying. Before the fight can continue further, Ledriano calls Laos off. Apologizing for his friend’s rude actions, Ledriano requests that they withdraw for now.

Agreeing, Anos and Sasha leave with Eleanor. Before they leave, Leadriano asks Anos to introduce himself and he does. Outside, Eleanor apologizes for the fight and admits that Anos is strong. Slightly disappointed, Anos admits that that show of power is nothing compared to the real fights he had with Kanon. Hearing that, Eleanor asks if Anos was reincarnated from someone who knew Kanon too and Anos replies that he was. Pulling Anos aside, Eleanor tells Anos that the Kanon he knew might be gone, because he was murdered by a human.  

Impressions

So this was a pretty interesting episode. I like the new teacher, Ms. Historia. She seems a lot different from Ms. Emilia and I feel like she will treat Anos better than the others do. We also got to see things from the human side and the different interpretations about what happened two thousand years ago. I feel like this episode is especially poignant considering all the racial protests that are currently going on with Black Lives Matter.
 
The fact is we live in a diverse world. But sadly, not everyone can see that. All of this discrimination we see on TV and hear about in news reports, all of that stems from hatred, fear and a lack of understanding. When we see something foreign or unknown, we naturally fear it and shy away from it. We even label it or grow to hate it, because we cannot understand it or don’t even want to understand it. But, we are awakening into a new age, so we need to find the courage to want to understand. Why do some people hate others for being different from them, how do we overcome this, what can we do to helps other understand? These are crucial questions that we need to asks ourselves.
 
To be honest, I hate racial inequality and status inequality and the negative idea that we can never coexist together because we are different. It is sad that some people don’t see that it is through our differences that we can experience so many wonderful things. We can experience a variety of culture and traditions, taste different foods, watch different movies, enjoy different festivals because everyone has different tastes or systemic beliefs. I don’t agree with everything, but I do know that It is our differences that make us special and help bring us together. It is anime that helped me learn that being different is not a negative thing. It only seems that way when you think of it in that way. So let’s explore how this idea is presented in Maou Gakuin.
 
In Maou Gakuin, most of the discrimination and hate comes down to individual perspectives and interpretation. This racial divide that heightened the war was caused by fear and hatred. Now, we don’t know the circumstances that led up to the war, so it could the humans who started or the demons or some unknown third party. It could even be the murder of Anos’ mother that caused it. We don’t know.
 
But, from the humans’ perspective, it is clear that they believed they were the ones in the right because, to them, demons were the monsters who killed their loved ones. Their hatred consumed them until they wanted to annihilate Anos and perhaps the entire demon race for revenge. However, as Anos also argues, the humans are also responsible for the continuation of the war because their hatred has caused the needless death of his mother and the countless other innocent loved ones of the demons too. Its also possible that demons feared humans because they were foreign on some level too.
 
This difference in their perspectives led to the development of different interpretations of their history. Now, we know that Avos Dilhevia is somewhat responsible for twisting history or at least plays a role in it. But as Anos also argues history may have been twisted to make both sides feel at ease. In the Hero Academy’s case, they argue that Kanon was the one who killed Anos and built the wall. While the Demon Academy argues that Avos sacrificed himself to create the wall.
 
However, if we combine their two histories, we get to see a third truth. The truth is both interpretations are indeed correct, they are just different facets of the same truth because as we now know: Kanon killed Anos on his instructions, so that Anos could sacrifice himself to create the wall. They are both the creators of the wall. By doing so, they were finally able to see past their differences to reach a mutual understanding. Which I confess, is probably what set people off and made them create their own interpretation of history in the first place.
 
This leads me to my final argument. Even though something may seem different, one could find that the other person or race share some similarities with you too. Take Anos and Kanon for example. They both share a lot of similarities. They were both leaders and representatives of their people. They both desired to protect their loved ones, detested war and wanted to create a permanent peace. They both enjoyed fighting and often had to use cruel methods to achieve their goals. But they were both sincere and true to their ideals. The only difference between them is that while Anos was free to be himself, Kanon was constrained because his desire for peace with the demons conflicted with his people’s desire to annihilate the entire race. It was only when he was with Anos that he could find the courage to be true to himself and agree to help build the walls.
 
At the same time, we are the same. Anos and Kanon are the same and this is true for their world and our own. Like with some demons, I’m sure there were also some humans who equally desired peace with the demons. But could never say it out loud, lest they be attacked. We can also see their similarities in the structures of their society like both races having a religion, traditions, cultures, food making processes and perhaps even similar politics. Both sides also shared a desire for permanent peace and just had different ideas of achieving it. What both sides needed was understanding and that comes from taking courage to learn about one another despite being scared. All said, I know that there is one wish that everyone longs for and that is our inherent wish to make a better world for our children to grownup in. Just so we can see their happy smiles.
 
Sorry for the rambling a bit and sounding preachy.  I didn’t intend to make so long. I just thought this needed to be said considering everything going on in the world right now. Well next episode, is the inter-academy classes. So let’s see if both sides are able to overcome their differences and get along. Though with Anos’ pension for trouble, I doubt its going to be that easy just yet.
Liked it? Take a second to support phoenixrising88 on Patreon!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.