Devils and Realist

魔界王子 devils and realist (Makai Ouji: Devils and Realist)

8.0(1)

OtakuDen

7.0(45,002)

MAL Score

Ranked #4923

Popularity #2104

Comedy
Fantasy
Mystery
Historical
Mythology
School

Episodes: 12
Duration: 24 min per ep
Aired: Jul 8, 2013 to Sep 23, 2013
Status: Finished Airing

Synopsis

Seventeen-year-old William Twining is a proud young noble who trusts in modern science and his family name—until he discovers the Twining estate is bankrupt, putting both his education and refined lifestyle out of reach. Ransacking the manor for anything of value, he uncovers a sealed chamber and inadvertently summons Dantalion, an imperious Grand Duke of Hell.

With Lucifer fallen into a mysterious slumber, the underworld is thrown into unrest: only a human “Elector” can choose a temporary ruler, and demons are desperate to sway the decision. Dantalion insists William is that Elector, a descendant of King Solomon with authority over Hell itself, but William rejects the idea outright, clinging to rational explanations even as he’s pulled into a growing struggle between Heaven and Hell.

Otaku Consensus

Devils and Realist lands as a polished but modest Doga Kobo occult-school comedy: Chiaki Kon's direction and Michiko Yokote's series composition get the most mileage from male-cast banter, the William-Dantalion-Sytry-Kevin chemistry, and a finale many viewers singled out as stronger than the middle stretch. Its ceiling is capped by soft pacing and a reluctance to turn its Solomon, angel, and demon mythology into sustained narrative momentum, while the irreverent treatment of Christian figures is divisive enough to be a deal-breaker for some viewers.

Why You Should Watch

Watch it if you want bishonen occult politics served as banter-first school comedy rather than tragic fantasy. Its appeal is in the friction: aristocratic manners, butler service, demon pride, angelic menace, and a protagonist whose refusal to buy into the supernatural keeps scenes comic even when the mythology gets grandiose. The AniList profile tells the truth about its texture: primarily male cast, demons and angels, historical flavor, school setting, and light BL-adjacent teasing without becoming a romance. It scratches the same surface itch as Black Butler's foreign Gothic pageantry and the factional heavenly-hellish intrigue that fans compare to Angel Sanctuary, but in a shorter, lower-commitment 12-episode package. Choose it when you want ornate names, smug smiles, and supernatural nonsense without grimdark weight.

Key Characters

W
William Twining(VA: Takuya Eguchi)
William's appeal is his extreme rationalist stubbornness, which turns supernatural pressure into deadpan comedy rather than standard chosen-one awe.
D
Dantalion Huber(VA: Takuma Terashima)
Dantalion is the series' swagger engine, a proud underworld aristocrat whose chemistry with William drives much of the show's fan-favorite bickering.
S
Sytry Cartwright(VA: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka)
Sytry adds the elegant, prickly rival energy that gives the male ensemble its josei-friendly balance of hostility, vanity, and comic timing.
K
Kevin Cecil(VA: Jun Fukuyama)
Kevin's butler role gives the series a steady contrast to its louder supernatural personalities, making him a key part of its school-and-servant aesthetic.

What Makes It Stand Out

1
Doga Kobo produced the 12-episode adaptation with Kikuko Sadakata serving as both character designer and chief animation director, which fits the show's emphasis on polished bishonen expressions and uniformed ensemble staging over action spectacle.
2
Director Chiaki Kon and series composer Michiko Yokote shape the material as an occult comedy of manners: the strongest scenes often come from verbal clashes, status games, and character entrances rather than lore exposition.
3
AniList's tag profile is unusually specific: Demons, Josei, Primarily Male Cast, Foreign, Historical, Angels, School, Butler, and Cute Boys Doing Cute Things all sit above or at 60%, accurately flagging it as a pretty-boy mythology comedy with light BL-adjacent fan appeal.
4
The series' reputation is structurally lopsided in an interesting way: web commentary repeatedly praises the finale and the hidden larger plot, while negative reviews tend to target the slower middle episodes and the sense that the mythology never fully pays out.
5
Hiroshi Takaki handles the music, while Dantalion's voice actor Takuma Terashima also performs the opening and ending themes, giving the series a direct link between its lead demon presence and its musical identity.

Fun Facts & Trivia

Fun fact 1: Devils and Realist aired in Japan from July 8, 2013 to September 23, 2013, finishing as a compact one-cour TV anime rather than a long-running supernatural adaptation.
Fun fact 2: The anime comes from original creator Madoka Takadono and original character designer Utako Yukihiro, with Kikuko Sadakata translating the designs into the TV animation style.
Fun fact 3: Its reception numbers show a niche but visible title: MyAnimeList lists it at 6.99 from 44,988 votes with popularity rank #2104, while AniList records a 64/100 score and 208 favourites.
Fun fact 4: The user-review spread is unusually wide, running from 2/10 condemnation to 10/10 enthusiasm, with the biggest split revolving around whether the cast chemistry compensates for the light, sometimes slow plot.
Fun fact 5: The production credits include Noriko Izumo on sound effects and Hiroshi Takaki on music, a reminder that the anime's Gothic-comic atmosphere is built through more than just character design.