Demon Lord 2099 is Entertaining

Article at a glance:

• Demon Lord 2099 combines fantasy with a futuristic cyberpunk vibe, with Shinjuku feeling a lot like Night City from Cyberpunk 2077 and using genetic implants to enhance magic.
• Veltol’s struggles as an outdated immortal in 2099 make him interesting, and the show nails a mix of comedy and serious moments, though it’s a bit heavy on exposition.
• Despite a limited budget, the art and soundtrack elevate the show, especially the banger of an opening theme. Definitely worth checking out if you’re into this genre mashup!

This is one of those shows that I unexpectedly ended up liking. Demon Lord 2099 may not be revolutionary, but it has some cool concepts and is an entertaining show overall. I can see where it draws inspiration from and like the unique amalgamation of troupes. Despite mostly being a comedy, it has some serious moments that hit hard. Yes, I do have a few complaints but honestly, this show is just better than it has any right to be and I do think more people should check it out.

So welcome back to another first impressions article. The fall season has been great so far and some shows managed to surpass my expectations as if that was even possible lol. But yeah, today we are talking about Demon Lord 2099 so let’s get started.

What do I think of Demon Lord 2099 so far?

First off, I love the unique blend of fantasy and sci-fi. The city of Shinjuku in this anime reminds me of the Night City from Cyberpunk. There are even more similarities to Cyberpunk 2077 in this anime as humans having genetic implants is commonplace now. The difference is that implants in this anime are used to shorten the process of casting magic. Our protagonist, Veltol is immortal and he was resurrected 500 years after his “golden age”. He now finds himself in the 2099 Shinjuku and his spells and stuff are outdated.

He can’t even get a proper job because he can’t get an implant. Most jobs in Shinjuku require you to have an implant. So well, he decides to become a streamer lol. Also, I swear the Vtuber they keep showing in this anime is Tokoyomi Towa from Hololive. That aside, while I do appreciate the lengths the show goes to do world-building, one thing I don’t like is how exposition-heavy the dialog is at times. I know things like that can’t be helped in most cases but I hope they turn that down a bit in future episodes or find a better way to exposit.

Aside from that, my complaints are minimal. The characters have been interesting so far. Oh, and the art is great. This show could’ve looked so amazing with a better animation budget. Even now though, it still looks great because of the art. The soundtracks are nice too, I really like the opening and ending themes. The opening theme in particular is a banger in my opinion.

That is all for now

So yeah, go check out Demon Lord 2099. Its blend of humor and dark tones is nice, I love how it has a blatant Dark Souls/Demon’s Souls/Bloodborne reference in episode 3. I like what the anime is going for and I am curious to see how the plot progresses. With that said, I will take my leave here. See ya!

Also, check out this week’s VN recommendation here!