Summary
The Devil is a Part-Timer!has broken into the US market, and we don’t mean by airing on television there in English. No, thispopular comedy manga and anime serieshas had an even better moment in the spotlight that is nothing short of perfect for the story itself. That’s right, it has been featured at McDonald’s in the USA!
The Devil is a Part-Timer!follows Satan himself, who has been forced to flee from Ente Isla, the area he was trying to conquer, to modern-day Tokyo. To survive in the modern world and find a way back to Ente Isla, Satan (under thenickname “Sadao Maou”) finds a part-time job working at McRonald’s, which is a clear parody of McDonald’s. Hilarity ensues as he finds himself without magic, and faced with real-world problems that he struggles to solve.
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While it may seem obvious to have a collaboration between McDonald’s andThe Devil is a Part-Timer!, since the connection between them is so blatantly obvious, it would be more expected for it to happen in Japan. After all, Japan hasanime collaborations happening with big brandsall the time, and special collections are often released, including at restaurants. But anime collaborations are much rarer in Western countries, where there are more likely to be tie-ins with other media over anime and manga.
The connection at McDonald’s in the US is a small one, but it is there. There is currently a new video being played at McDonald’s that features many movies and TV shows, though most of them are Western. And for a second, you can seeSadao Maou, aka Satan, asking customers, “Are you ready to order?” with an English caption! The series is also listed in the credits of the video.
Not only is this a really fun cameo for anime fans in the US to enjoy, it also has delighted the illustrator of the anime, Oniku. Upon seeing the new video posted onTwitter, he tweeted a reply which translates to, “The #HatarakuMaouSama!(The Devil is a Part-Timer!) is now appearing in the original McDonald’s commercial. I was so surprised when the person in charge contacted me about the collaboration that I looked at the e-mail three times… I was so surprised that my work could appear alongside such famous foreign movie titles that I have been watching since I was a kid, but it was a dream come true… I’ll have a McDonald’s!”
But with the popularity of Japanese pop culture on the rise in the US and beyond,The Devil is a Part-Timer!may just be the tip of the iceberg! After all, there was arecent collaboration between an energy drinkandAttack on Titan, so anime collaborations in the West seem to be just around the corner. If you are in the US right now, be sure to keep your eyes open for Sadao Maou fromThe Devil is a Part-Timer!at your local McDonald’s!
