Warning: If you have not read “The Devil is a Part-Timer! Volume 12” by Satoshi Wagahara, don’t read this review unless you don’t mind spoilers!
I’m back with another book review, and this time I’m reviewing “The Devil is a Part-Timer! Volume 12” by Satoshi Wagahara! Here’s a summary so we know what it’s about:
“The angel Laila has finally revealed everything she has been hiding—enraging Emi, as both the Hero and Laila’s daughter! Driven by her fury at discovering the truth about her past, Emi tears out of Urushihara’s hospital room, leaving Chiho and Suzuno to track her down. In rosier news, MgRonald kicks off its delivery service! Mounting the company scooter, Red Dullahan I, Maou is soon speeding all over the neighborhood, though Emi’s family issues weigh on his mind. What will happen if he finds himself caught between a mother and her fiery daughter?!”
Plotwise, there is little development in the main plot, but the slice-of-life aspects of MgRonald and just surviving day-to-day life in general help fill things in for this volume. I also liked that it focused on Emi and her complicated family issues, which helped Emi’s development of her softer and less composed side. I think it’s a consequence of what happened in the previous two books, but it felt really fresh and somewhat unexpected too, that plus how Maou handles the situation.
I also found the conversation between Gabriel and Maou to be interesting, as they discuss whether it’s really a good thing to rely on the ‘hero’ or ‘savior’ to do all the work in helping the world, as well as how grating it can get for said ‘hero’ or ‘savior’ in their point of view. I can’t say too much about this part of the book due to some semi-major spoilers, but it’s definitely food for thought.
However, I still find it odd that Maou still sees Emi as an enemy, especially given all the times that they’ve worked together at this point. It’s obvious that Olba is the one “Big Bad” of the series as proven by the past three books for sure, especially given the backstory reveal in Volume 11, so I’m hoping that these two can get past seeing each other as enemies and start seeing each other as genuine friends, not just frenemies or the like. Yes, both Maou and Emi had bones to pick with each other from their past history prior to the events of the series as well as things that happened during this series so far, but at this point it’s just best they put things aside, work together, and take down Olba.
Overall, I’m rating this book 4 out of 5 stars taking these into account:
3.5 out of 5 stars for plot.
4.5 out of 5 stars for character interaction and relationship developments.
4 out of 5 stars for individual character development.