JBC's はたらく魔王さま!(The Devil is a Part-Timer) It's the final week!

Hmm that may actually be the stem from 飛びさる (飛び退る), to leap/jump back

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It's discussion time!

If you've been following the schedule, then you should've finished chapter 1 by now. Starting this week we'll be starting the second part of the book. In the meantime, those of you who'd like to share their impressions so far (e.g., questions, predictions, theories, parts they simply didn't get, etc.) or let the group know about the pacing (or any other aspect regarding the group).

Let’s encourage each other to finish this book! Your participation may be the catalyst that prevents a discouraged member from dropping out before the end!

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Not sure that that’s what you were going for :stuck_out_tongue:

Anyway, spoiler time, so instead of a wall of blurred text, I will put everything behind

details

So, yeah, I enjoyed the first part, actually. In particular, it was a nice change of pace from the last book :stuck_out_tongue:
I found the description of Maou and co’s world a bit more difficult than the rest, but overall it was a nice read. I think I finally understand the appeal of “light” novels.

Anyway I really got exited with the “fight” scene, where they are just being sniped down by magic. So there’s someone around who can use magic; maybe a different type than the one they are used to, who knows (well, I do). Also, the scene just after where she stays at her place gave me hope for some good rom com. Hero + Maou, sounds good to me.

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Thanks for catching that. I edited my post. I feel sometimes spending so much time studying Japanese affects my English. haha

My impressions, etc.

The start of the book was a doozy! I started late and was a little behind at first, so it took a while to find time to catch up in time. The background coming up to the meeting of the hero and Maou was a bit dense.

One part I found interesting was the difference in lifestyles between the demons and the hero. When Emi first saw the conditions the guys were living in, she really made them feel like they weren’t doing anything at all. I wished they did a flash back scene for Emi so that we could figure out how she was able to adjust to being thrown into a different world.

Another question I had was about Emi’s motivations. Knowing this new world essentially rendered Maou somewhat weaker than his former self and that she’s noticed a change in his behavior, why couldn’t she just leave him alone? I understand it’s her duty to destroy him, but couldn’t she just continue her silent surveillance?

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Some more details

Well… she was not exactly observing him until he manifested himself to her. She knew approximately in which area he was, but that was about it. Once he made contact, and she was sure of her target, she thought of making a move. As for why she had to make a move, well, she has “good” reasons (aka not very hero-like reasons), but that’s a topic for another day.

What I wonder, though, is how he could not notice it was her.

  • he can sense magic just like her.
  • contrary to Maou and Ashura, she was human to begin with, so her appearance cannot have changed so much.
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I’m still reading, and still behind, but I will have time to read this week so hopefully I will have a chance to catch up.

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Summary

Yeah but she fought him in a suit of armor though right? And I don’t remeber (still behind) but isn’t it that, it’s not until they use the magic that they can sense it? So if she’s just walking by he wouldn’t know until she actually summoned some magic.

The thing I love most about this story is how happy moa is with living a humble life and working at a fast food restaurant. XD

Still catching up so I’m sure if this is part of the anime only, or if it just hasn’t come up yet, but she had a pretty big and personal reason to want to kill him. If I were I would have wanted to kill him as well.

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Summary

You mean that they need to use magic to sense others’ magic? Or that they can only sense active magic use?

I don’t think it’s the second one, since that’s how she recognized him, and he was not using magic at the time. Active magic usage can be sensed from a longer distance though (based on what happens in a later part).

Well, true, but (part 3 spoiler) the only armor she has that is described in the book does not hide her face. That being said, it was a minor version of her usual armor, so she might have worn something more covering at the time I guess it makes sense, though.

It just hasn’t come up yet.

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Summary

Well from what I remember there have been a couple people disguised as regular people and they couldn’t tell their true identity until they revealed them selves and broke out into a fight.

Summary

I see, the armor in the anime hides her face. In fact, it’s implied she was a man until she revealed n the human world. So there was a bit of a surprise when you find out she’s a women.

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Response

I’m pretty familiar with the story as that I’ve seen the anime version of this book. I’m sure that there’s some differences between the versions. I’ve noticed a couple with regard to the order of events in the beginning. My question referred namely to the point when she asked him whether he intended to return to Inte Isla again. He told her that he did, but I didn’t really see the point of her confronting him in the first place. She could’ve continued to monitor his activity until she felt satisfied about his motives. Obviously there are other things at stake. And truthfully, the story probably wouldn’t be as interesting if she didn’t interfere the way she did.


To those reading along

Besides @Scaso and the others who have pipped in discussion, are there any others who are still reading along? It's okay if you don't have anything to say, but I'd like to know if the pacing is okay or not. I don't see a point of pushing forward if we're leaving a large percentage of people behind. If you could take a moment and let us know? @NickNickovich, @fl0rm, @brrricane, @Ernovace, @Snowflying, @Momoiro. (I've only called out to those who've indicated someway that they're participating either in the main book club page or on this thread. So if there are lurkers that like to chime in, please do!)
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Somehow it looks like your tags did not work?
@Scaso @NickNickovich @fl0rm @brrricane @Ernovace @Snowflying @Momoiro

About your response:

Some more stuff

Ah, I see. Well, it did not particularly surprise me. Based on her observation, it seemed like he didn’t want to (and I honestly believe he is in denial about the situation, especially after what happens at the end of the book…). If he had confirmed that he didn’t want to leave, she would have probably believed him… He was not aggressive and she (probably) wants to go back as soon as possible, so it seems like an optimal course of action :man_shrugging:

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yeah i’m still here, and behind, but i had a couple hard weeks at work that didn’t leave me any time to read. I’m starting to catch up now, and will hopefully be back on track by next week.

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I had paused it due to JLPT prep but will begin reading it again now.

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I am still reading, but slowly, because I am quite busy at work at the moment.

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I’ve been meaning to respond but haven’t been in front of my computer much the past few days. The pace is fine for me and I just started the second section of the book today.

I don’t have much to say as far as the content goes though since I watched the anime a few years back and generally remembered what happened in the first part of the book. That will probably change the further into the book we get. I was happy to find that I understood enough of it for (at least some of) the humor to come through. It’s a nice change of pace from the more serious stuff I usually end up reading.

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Summary

does anyone else think that is it a bit strange the police think Mao and Emilia’s fight is a lover’s spat? I think the knife would make them assume a mugging or something at least.

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Summary

But it’s a kitchen knife specially made to not stab people. And one from the 100yen shop too, so not even that sharp/sturdy. That would be a very dumb kind of mugging…

Looks much more like a quarrel between lovers to me too, actually. Like she just grabbed whatever “weapon” was at hand… Of course, it would have been easy to dispel the misunderstanding, but she wasn’t able to explain for comedic effect. Also, it would probably have made the situation more complicated (“soooo, you were really trying to kill him?”)

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Summary

yeah, you are probably right, it might just be the place I live leads me to view any bladed weapon as more serious than a spat.

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Response to Scaso

I think the fact that Emi is young woman and Mao is young guy also played into the image that it was a lover’s quarrel. The inappropriate weapon also contributes to that image as well. I think if the roles were reversed, the image would have most certainly been construed as robbery or worse. Nevertheless the fact that the situation was written off as just that is troubling from an objective standpoint, though.

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I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve been enjoying the story so far. I wish had more free time to read, because then I would read further ahead. Though I enjoyed the anime (I watched it some years ago), I think nothing beats the power of the imagination to set the stage for what you’re reading.

Has reading this been enjoyable for you? If so, what has made it enjoyable? If not, what has made it not so enjoyable?

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