Yuuko is pretty lucky that Momo goes so easy on her.

One of the best surprises of the Summer 2019 anime season is how good Machikado Mazoku (The Demon Girl Next Door) turned out to be. Shadow Mistress Yuuko is the hapless opponent of Chiyoda Momo, a veteran magikal girl who grossly outclasses "Shamiko" in basically every way imaginable. In the grand tradition of overpowered pink mahou shoujo, Momo quickly subdues Yuuko with the power of friendship, which works out pretty well in Yuuko's favor, since I'm guessing the only other option is a humiliating and pointless death. Viewers who liked Gabriel DropOut will probably find a lot to enjoy here as well, in that both shows regard the struggle between good and evil as a bit of a farce.

You're only flying because you're short, aren't you?

I instantly took a liking to Momo, because she's freakishly strong and constantly droll. She's not an emotionless kuudere stereotype, but rather apparently just not easily excited. I think that's understandable for a veteran mahou shoujo who has probably seen some shit in her day and just does what she wants now. I haven't read the original Machikado Mazoku 4-koma comic, but the anime adaptation is consistently funny and peppered with amusing gags. After seven episodes, The Demon Girl Next Door is right up there with an Okada sex disaster and a fantastic fifth season of Symphogear in a three-way tie as this season's top three shows.

Momo puts up with a lot of stuff she doesn't care about.

Machikado Mazoku: 2-Choume (The Demon Girl Next Door 2) and Komi-san wa, Komyushou desu. 2 (Komi Can't Communicate 2nd Season) both pick up where their first seasons left off. In that respect, it's basically more of the same for these sequels. In my case, I am fully on board with both of these shows because they're fuckin' great.

You can tell she's not serious because she's not using her dominant hand.

In particular, I enjoy the way Kitou Akari delivers her lines as Momo in Machikado Mazoku. Maybe I don't have any reason to know how Momo should sound, but her deadpan and somewhat tired way of speaking goes a long way towards convincing me she really is a veteran magikal girl who has already saved the world at least once and is now sort of slumming it without much enthusiasm in the world she protected.

I appreciate "anxious Shouko" more than "hot Shouko," but I'm pretty sure everyone does.

In contrast, Shouko, the titular Komi-san, is basically in a constant state of anxiety, but her struggles and the reactions of those around her continue to amuse me. I wouldn't characterize the anime as a must-watch series necessarily, but it is done well and I do find Shouko herself and some of the members of her menagerie enjoyable to watch, so I'm glad the show got a second cours.