You're Being Summoned, Azazel

Jigoku-n3ko★ 9

Azazel-san is the funniest comedy you never saw. Small wonder, since in every one of its tiny episodes it manages to offend pretty much everybody and everything. If you're not touchy about religion, toilet jokes and gallows humour you will laugh your arse off. Story: Apprentice witch and detective assistant Rinko Sakuma summons loser lust demon Azazel to help out with her work. Unbelievably gross situations ensue. The story is pretty much episodic, with each arc covering one standard episode or two episodes in the 12 min format this anime uses. The humour is outrageously absurd, the jokes are coming at light speed so thatyou might miss one if you blink. Many times you need to multitask your eyes to get everything that is happening in both background and foreground. There are tons of gimmicks and tricks and twists on popular tropes to keep you laughing well into the wee hours of the morning. Characters: This anime shines in the character department. Despite being a comedy, each and every character feels unbelievably real and three-dimensional. In its tiny running time, this anime has produced lifelike characters the likes of which many full-time 24-episode shows failed miserably at. Let's take a look… Azazel is the star of the show, obviously. A loser demon of lust, he suffers much bodily harm at the hands of his summoners. His antics and gross habits generate not only laughter but also sympathy. Just stop and think about how difficult it is to make a repulsive character like this appear sympathetic and yet, there he is! Sakuma Rinko is the kind of well rounded female main character more anime should have. She's not there to provide dumb fanservice or be a damsel in distress: she actually does things, gets in trouble but digs herself out. In all the mayhem she is the most realistic character, there to anchor the viewer. Akutabe is Rinko’s immoral boss and master demon summoner. He is so delectably badass and wickedly deadpan you can never get enough of his evil ways. There is also a multitude of extra demons and angels and each and every one of them is hilarious. I will leave it to you to discover their absurd powers and characters. Animation: Very pretty work courtesy of Production IG. Check out all the details they cram in. Sound: Now, this should get top score. The music underlines many jokes and makes them even funnier and the sound effects are spot-on. I've noticed that in comedies this is much easier to do and yet, this anime uses its music to the utmost. Plus, a special mention must be made for the exceptional work of the seiyuus. Now, I don't usually bother with talking about seiyuus since most of them do great work but holy sh!t, every seiyuu was amazing here. It's easy to see they had tons of fun working on this anime. OP: I still have this song as a ringtone on my cellphone. ED: you only get to hear it once but it's fun. Overview: You should definitely check this out if you liked the randomness of Gintama’s humour and are not easily offended by toilet humour and blasphemy. Else, enter at your own risk.

fesc★ 7

”Yondemasu-yo, Azazel-san” is a comedy anime by Production I.G, known for Ghost in the Shell and Kimi ni Todoke, amongst others. The premise is pretty simple, but very functional. A detective called Akutabe summons a demon named Azazel, and the story follows him, his assistant Sakuma, and their various demon helpers as they solve cases and engage in depravity and lasciviousness. Because the humor ranges from mild to Detroit Metal City-level swearing, visually almost grotesque gags, and numerous mentions of bodily waste. All the demons (unsurprisingly) have some sort of perverse gimmick or vice, and the show pulls no punches when it comes to exploitingthese. Compared to the only other I.G comedy I have seen, Cromartie High School, the humor is very different, though that mostly has to do with the source material. I have not read the manga, nor have I been able to locate it, but I think the anime does a pretty good job on its own of delivering a story that at a few points made me surprised at how involved I had become. Still, it’s nothing to write home about for the most part, but the humor, though juvenile, is great. The shortness of the episodes make it good for sporadic watching, and I joined in late, but marathonned the first five episodes without noticing it. The animation is mostly decent, with a couple of scenes with slightly above average fluidity. What makes the show stand out a little, though, is the overall design and expression of the characters. It’s very similar to Sgt. Frog in its simplicity, and while there is not much detail in the appearance of the characters, their over-the-top reactions and facial mimicry reinforce the gags, and do an effective job of bringing the characters to life. The other thing that brings them to life is the voice acting. The show has a great cast, featuring Kobayashi Yuu (Undine), Nakai Kazuya (Salamander), Kamiya Hiroshi (eBeelzebub) and Namikawa Daisuke (Akutabe). They all give it their best, and do a wonderful job of giving the characters identity, making them lovable (or even more detestable) and they all fit their roles like a hand fits a glove. If you’re of the opinion that all anime needs to have at least two subtle messages hidden in the plot, and that comedy you don’t consider high-brow is worthless, then you should not watch this. If you liked for example Detroit Metal City or Panty & Stocking (with Garterbelt), then you would probably like this. For everybody else, you’re likely to get a couple of chuckles out of it.