Tremble, people of Earth! The Devil King is ready to attack!
The electronics store that is.
And maybe not so much “attack” as “buy”. But, you know, close enough, especially since we all know how much of a cheapskate Maou and Ashiya are.
But after the outing, the group gets some very bad news: Chiho has fallen into a coma. So now it’s up to everyone to figure out why she’s unconscious.
Considering The Devil is a Part-Timer! Volume 11 starts off with a shopping trip, the culprit is quickly revealed. Then they all split up to try to nail down the angels behind the scheme.
On Emi’s side, there is no battle, just a lot of talking. This happens right after the main characters split up, so it’s a bit disappointing for readers who are ready for the action. However, she learns some very important — perhaps life-changing for her — information, and fortunately, it’s not dumped in long or complicated dialogue. Meanwhile, Maou and Ashiya end up fighting, but who ends up really saving the day is a surprise. (Unless you’ve read the light novel, of course.)
Speaking of the light novel, while, as usual, the manga doesn’t cover every event, the volume feels snappy. It moves along at a fresh pace even though it technically is a bit light on the fighting and heavy on the dialogue. It’s like watching a long series anime with a filler guide: you may miss some interesting things, but you’re so glad not to have to sit through inane hours where nothing happens, you don’t mind a few minor flaws.
What’s also nice is that almost everyone gets a moment here. Rika realizes she loves Ashiya, and even Maou notices her feelings. Suzuno and Maou then have a discussion about Rika. This not only shows how far those two have come, but they bring up an excellent point about Rika. She’s the only one of the main group who is out of the loop, but is this to her advantage or disadvantage?
Lucifer has one of his rare instances where he does more than buy things off the Internet, and Emi needs cheering up from her “daughter” after all the revelations. Chiho’s role becomes apparent late in the volume, so it’s really only Ashiya who doesn’t shine in this volume. The manga does show that he and Rika would make a cute couple, so I’m sure we’ll revisit this potential couple later.
Otherwise, the other main visual highlight is seeing a couple of powered-up demons. As I mentioned earlier, Hiiragi does well at keeping all the information from just being too much for readers at one time.
I’m happy to say The Devil is a Part-Timer! manga is back in full swing. It’s got a little bit of something for everyone with actual plot progress, a solid change from the filler-feel of the last couple of volumes.