Set to premiere in winter 2020 is the anime adaptation of Arata Aki’s comedy shoujo manga, Boku no Tonari ni Ankoku Hakaishin ga Imasu, which is localized as A Destructive God Sits Next to Me. Despite having a shoujo demographic, the series’ premise holds similarities to many slice-of-life shonen manga such as The Daily Life of High School Boys. Arata Aki has also done work in the winter and summer edition of Kagerou Daze Anthology Comic, as well as written original titles such as Fetish Berry. A Destructive God Sits Next to Me will be their first original work to receive an anime adaptation.
This will also be Atsushi Nigorikawa’s (Between the Sky and the Sea) second time directing an anime with EMT Squared studios after his work on Love Tyrant, which aired in spring 2017.
Crunchyroll has announced that they will be streaming the anime, and have released the first key visual alongside the localized title logo.
While everything seems normal on the first page of the manga, all sense of normalcy ends right there for the main character, Seri Koyuki. His desire for a normal school life is foiled at every possible turn when he is forced into a friendship by his classmate, Kabuto Hanadori.
Kabuto is as delusional as they come, crafting fantasies with the belief that he is a reincarnated god of darkness (or a warrior of light and shadows — it tends to change every time he opens his mouth), picking up stray dogs and claiming them to be the reincarnation of Cerberus, and even claiming that removing his eyepatch will release an evil alter-ego. Said alter ego is refers to as Michael Offenbarung Dunkelheit, determined to open the gates of Hell and rain destruction on humanity. Kabuto’s delusions take Seri on multiple misadventures, often ending in the destruction of school property by the end of the day.
Although Seri is determined not to get involved with Kabuto, it seems there is little hope in that as Kabuto eventually drags several other students into the fray who are more than happy to play along. Side characters include fellow classmate Utsugi Tsukimiya, who finds Kabuto and Seri’s adventures amusing to watch and thus is always ready to add fuel to Kabuto’s ever passionate fire. Not long after, Hibiki Kimiya joins, playing the role as Michael Offenbarug Dunkelheit’s underling in a quest to defeat an unnamed enemy in the name of darkness.
Seri’s desire for a quiet life is doomed!
As chaotic as it can get, there is really only one big confusion. Seri is consistently being drawn with minimally detailed cat ears and a tail. It is never stated if he is actually the only living cat boy in their world, or if it is only for visual sake, feeding into the delusion Kabuto has created for the audience to follow.
Currently, the manga of A Destructive God Sits Next to Me has published thirteen volumes in Japan, with no plans for an official overseas release. As far as fan translations go, sadly only the first twelve chapters have been spotted on sites such as MangaBot or MangaOwl. With the anime happening in just a few months, increased popularity could lead to a localization.
For further information, fans can follow the anime’s official website and Twitter, as well as check back with J-List for future updates pertaining to theme music, airdate, and trailers.
