Jan 10, 2026
Hey Mal, you remember when you wanted me to review this? It was almost 14 years ago...you remember? Me too.
First, let me start by saying I am a huge fan of the Disgaea Series and its spin offs such as, Phantom Brave, Makai Kingdom, Soul Nomad, etc. This review will have some bias.
Animation - Okay. The animation is...okay. It's not as bad as many people think. You must judge older animes' animation quality by the standards of the year it came out in. For 2006, it's okay, it gets the job done. The quality is higher in the DVD release than on the
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Funimation streaming service. However, there are times when the action and flow of the animation is choppy. It's the weakest thing about the anime.
Sound/Music - Dub/Sub is perfect. Everyone who voiced the characters in the game returned in the anime. That shows that there is passion here. The music is just the music from the game, though slightly rearranged, which is great considering Disgaea has an amazing soundtrack! Tenpei Sato, the composer, truly captures the moments with the soundtrack; close your eyes and you get a vivid image of what's going on. Not to mention that the opening is a banger!
Characters - Disgaea has the best cast of colorful characters in anime in a very long time. The Hour of Darkness trio to this day are still one of the best trios in existence.
Laharl - Mean, arrogant, selfish, belittling to everyone around him but you know what? You will love him for it. It feels genuine; he doesn't come off as trying too hard or annoying. He's a brat but he's your brat. Despite all his flaws, he's not all that evil and has a soft spot for some people and their situations. He's the leader of the trio. He doesn't fully believe or trust Etna and he can't stand Flonne.
Etna - She is sassy, clever, sneaky, and like Laharl, she is also pretty selfish, but she has limits. Her relationship with Laharl is like rivals who are siblings and with Flonne, she is like the friend that also roasts you. She is very early 2000s, but in a good way.
Flonne - The face of the Love Freak archetype. Flonne is caring, loving, emotional, and a great friend to Laharl and Etna. She does her best to make Laharl understand and care for people, regardless if they are angel, human, or demon. My biggest gripe is that Flonne feels the least developed out of all of them. Her chemistry with Etna is much better than her and Laharl's. All three play off of each other really well. Their conversations and reactions to situations are hilarious and shockingly relatable.
The episodes follow the game pretty well to a certain degree. Some things that happened later in game happened earlier in the anime, such as the defenders of earth showing up in episode 1, despite the fact that they show up towards the end of the game. They also don't leave once the mission was complete, they hang out with the Trio until the end in the game. Etna is the one who finds Laharl sleeping in his room, not Flonne finding him in the garbage dump. There are also 3 fillers episodes...which is crazy for a show with only 12 episodes! Though I believed they were included for comedy and to replace two of chapters of game that didn't really fit. Episodes 1 and 2 are basically prologues for the show. From there, everything is fun, silly and goofy. You will be laughing and always questioning what they will do next or what the next adventure holds for them. Disgaea is a great anime to watch, especially for those who are looking for a good comedy, fun time, and trying something completely different.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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