Dhruv Sharma
When anime lovers talk about ‘Shinmai Maou no Testament’, they often refer to it as a ‘High School D X D‘ clone. Considering its presentation, character design and, to some extent, even the basic premise, the show is very similar to ‘High School D X D’. The only difference between them is that ‘Shinmai Maou no Testament’ has a whole lot of fan service. Now I would be lying if I claimed that the show is not enjoyable at all because it has elements of fun but it offers nothing more than that. All the other aspects of the show are just bland and predictable. There are many other similar anime shows out there that are better, one of them obviously being ‘High School D X D‘.
The story of the anime is very generic and fan-service being quite obligatory in this genre, it becomes downright annoying. Even when it comes to ecchi, there is a certain extent to which fan-service is tolerable. There is a very fine line between ecchi and Hentai but ‘Shinmai Maou no Testament’ seems to have crossed that line. But then, I wouldn’t really blame the producers of the show for including so much Hentai to it, since it is more or less of an “indirect” element of the story itself. Clearly, an attempt has been made to make the fight scenes more interesting but that fails to cover up for the other evident flaws.
So I wouldn’t really say that it is a terrible anime but I wouldn’t call it great either. The main characters aren’t too bad but the supporting ones fall flat completely. Most plot points are very predictable and have no uniqueness to them and even the shounen styled battles are very typical. A little more development of the other characters, that come off as one-dimensional, would have made the show so much better and so much more enjoyable.
Even the various plot twists in the anime that scream “here’s something that might keep you interested” is only good enough to drag you to a new episode. After bingeing on the 12-episode mini-series, instead of going all “wow” about it, I was left with an unsatisfied feeling that asked for more of it. More, not because it was really interesting but because it did not reach its full potential. Anyone who is mildly interested in typical harem shows with shounen battles will be able to get through this show. For others who seek more values from an anime and like to watch shows that offer something fresh to the table, this one will be nothing but disappointing. So now the big question: would you go for a new season of the show? I definitely would because even though the second season wasn’t all that great, it did turn out to be much better than the first one. This means that with a new season, there is a possibility that we might get an anime that lives up to its true potential.
Shinmai Maou no Testament Season 3 Release Date: When will it premiere?
‘Shinmai Maou no Testament’ season 1 released on January 8, 2015 and came to an end on March 26, 2015. This was followed by a 1-episode OVA released on June 22, 2015 that continues the story of the first season. After this, a season 2 was released on October 10, 2015 that went on till December 12, 2015, featuring a total of 10 episodes. This was again, followed by an OVA aired on January 26, 2016. Last year, another OVA titled ‘Shinmai Maou no Testament Departures’ was released on March 28, 2018. Since then, we haven’t really heard much about it.
Now from what it looks like, the franchise is still ongoing because the first season only covers three installments of the light novels and the second one has adapted the next four. This means that there are still 5 more volumes of the light novel left that can be adapted into another season. While the odds seem really high, we can’t really confirm anything yet because there have been no official announcements regarding this. Since an OVA was recently released, it is too soon to expect any official statements as of now. But we can surely expect ‘Shinmai Maou no Testament’ season 3 release date to fall sometime in 2020 or 2021. We will update this section as soon as we hear more.
Shinmai Maou no Testament English Dub:
The English Dub of ‘Shinmai Maou no Testament’ is available on Crunchyroll, Funimation, and AnimeLab.
Shinmai Maou no Testament Plot:
‘Shinmai Maou no Testament’ revolves around Basara Toujou who learns the hard way that his father has decided to get married for the second time when he suddenly runs into his stepsister inside the bathroom. His father brings home two young girls and Basara has no choice but to accept them as his own family members. One of them is a curvy redhead named Mio and the other one is a petite silver-haired girl named Maria. But as soon as Basara starts accepting this new reality, his father leaves him with the girls and travels overseas for some work.
Soon he finds out that the two girls are demons; Mio is the Demon Lord’s only daughter and Maria is her servant. After this, Basara is forced to confess that he was once a member of the “Heroes” clan that is known for slaying demons. But instead of misusing his powers, he decides to take care of the two girls and tries to protect them from any potential harm. He even makes it official by signing a master-servant contract with Mio to keep an eye on her at all times. But now, with the Heroes watching his every move, he must somehow protect his family and somehow manage to stay loyal to his clan as well. He’ll have to face many hostile demons and also some member of the Heroes Clan in order to protect Mio and live up to the contract that he has signed with her.
Shinmai Maou no Testament Characters:
Basara Toujou
Basara Toujou is the main protagonist of the show, who was once a member of the Demon hating Heroes Clan. He now lives with two of stepsisters even after knowing that they are both demons. Basara is a tall good looking young man who has brown messy hair and green eyes. When he transforms into a member of the hero clan, his eyes change color and he acquires a gauntlet and a silver colored sword. But when he is his normal self, he wears simple shirts with plain colored jeans and dark shoes. After having served as a Heroes Clan member for too long, Basara now has many battle scars all over his body. Two of these scars are on his left arm and one is an X-shaped mark on his right arm.
Basara keeps having this really disturbing repetitive nightmare wherein he sees an old cloaked man slinging his sword and a little girl crying. Overall, he’s a chilled out laid-back guy who manages to stay calm even in the most awkward situations. Even when he is involved in the most dangerous fights, he never loses his cool. He is a big believer in the idea of “family” and that’s the reason why he instantly accepts the two girls as his own. He also has a very strong sense of justice and is willing to do nearly anything for the people he loves.
Mio Naruse
Mio Naruse is a Demon Princess who is next in line to become the Demon Lord herself. She is the only daughter of the previous Demon Lord and has acquired all of his supernatural powers after his death. She realizes the truth about her heritage just 6 months before she becomes a part of Basara’s family. Along with her, even her servant Maria is unofficially adopted by the family.
Mio is a short, young and an extremely attractive girl who has the most beautiful pink colored eyes. She has long crimson hair that almost reaches her waist and for her age, she is extremely curvy and slender at the same time. She is often seen with clothes that fit her form and often emphasize on her curvy figure. She usually remains calm and does not talk much when she’s around people. But she has these random outbursts of energy when she is faced with inappropriate situations, such as finding adult magazines under Basara’s bed.
Maria Naruse
Maria is a succubus who is responsible for taking care of Mio. Maria has a really cute face with silvery hair and deep purple eyes. When she turns to her demonic succubus state, she wears a very revealing outfit but otherwise, she is seen in a fairly normal black gown. She is always found teasing other people and does not care about how serious a situation is. She even takes pride in trying to make even the gravest situations a little lighter through her silly humor. She is known to be the most problematic member of the family because of how brutally honest and direct she is about everything that is on her mind.
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