Still watching random old stuff behind the scenes, but anyway...
Maoyuu Maou Yuusha - 2
You know, I thought this was alright. Not great, not terrible. Just alright. Comparatively speaking, you could argue that the first episode had better execution and worse content (though I still didn't dislike it as much as some around here apparently did). I guess the initial emphasis was placed on selling the product rather than on anything else...and probably for a good reason too, as cynical as it may be.
This one goes in exactly the opposite direction, more or less, despite the presence of maids (surprisingly not nearly as bad as I thought they would be). It's rather easy to criticize the sloppier technical merits, on paper, but I found most of the contents to be acceptable build-up for whatever is going to happen further down the road. A lot will depend on whether or not there is a good enough payoff for all this in the end.
It's still going through purely introductory material, no doubt, yet I also felt the two main characters gradually came across as slightly better people this time around. It does seem like they won't have the extraordinary level of interpersonal banter that those who watched Spice and Wolf may expect, but I find they're becoming less annoying even within their archetypes. That's a step in the right direction, if nothing else. In terms of voice acting....I like Maou better than Yuusha. The rest of them are fine, I suppose.
Having said all that, I'm not particularly interested in criticizing the accuracy of the economics used here, at least not as a serious subject of study. I can simply appreciate them as part of an attempt to create a slightly more complex RPG/fantasy world than what is usually found in most anime. If the resulting situations are interesting, I don't mind if they slip up on the exact details.
