After the best part of a decade passed since its first season aired, The Devil is a Part-Timer! is finally back for a second season and fans are already welcoming the return of the demon lord who's forced to get a normal job. With a premise that wild, it could easily have been a disappointment, but the positive reception to season 2 suggests it's a show going from strength to strength.
It's not the only anime that manages to get the best out of an unbelievable premise, with Spy X Family also being one of the biggest anime of the summer. Tackling a bizarre concept is not easy, but all of these anime make it work.
One Punch Man (2015-2019)
Plenty of iconic anime series make use of an absurdly strong protagonist, but One Punch Man goes even further with this idea and creates a main character that truly can't be challenged. By relentlessly exercising for years, Saitama can defeat any supervillain with a single punch which, in theory, is a terrible idea for an action show.
Luckily, One Punch Man makes it work by leaning into the comedy of the premise and giving the protagonist a completely new problem - since he can defeat any opponent so easily, being a superhero is boring to him. It's a testament to how well they employed this that Saitama is still talked about as an iconic central character.
Assassination Classroom (2015-2016)
Assassination Classroom is an anime that surprised nearly everyone with how good it was, and that's thanks in part to a premise that's truly unique. In the show, a group of junior high school students suddenly have a new teacher. The twist is that this teacher is the yellow tentacled Korosensei, who threatens to destroy the earth if they can't improve their assassination skills and take him down by the end of the year.
Though this does make the stakes quite high, one of the best parts of the show is seeing the central characters develop and achieve their potential under the guidance of Korosensei. Along with well-executed action and comedy, the weirdness of the show's concept almost doesn't matter.
That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime (2018-Present)
Just as with The Devil is a Part-Timer, the hilarious title of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime manages to sum up the absurdity of the show before it's even begun. The show's central character is Satoru Mikami and, as the title implies, he's an ordinary guy who is transported to another world but arrives as a lowly blob of slime.
In this isekai, nothing is quite what it seems and so Satoru soon discovers the hidden advantages of his unusual form, which includes the ability to devour any object and take on its appearance and abilities. His hilarious and action-packed journey has turned out, just like the character himself, to have a lot more going for it than anyone expected and it's considered amongst the best fantasy anime ever made.
The Disastrous Life Of Saiki K. (2016-2018)
Centered on the pink-haired Saiki Kusuo, a high school boy who happens to possess god-like powers that include mind-reading, telekinesis, super strength, teleportation, and so much more, you'd think there wouldn't be much room for conflict in the world of The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.
However, the twist is that Saiki just wants to live an ordinary life, something that turns out to be surprisingly difficult with the oddball group of characters that become his friends. Although there may be some issues with the premise, the jokes come in so thick and fast and in such short, self-contained episodes that it's easy to get swept along.
Noragami (2014-2015)
Though it might be easy to think that The Devil is a Part-Timer! captured lightning in a bottle by getting its premise of a powerful deity falling on hard times to work, it's actually not the only show to achieve the feat. Noragami centers on a minor deity who calls himself the Yato God and is left fulfilling small wishes for 5 Yen due to his lack of followers.
Along with a girl whose soul is dislodged from her body after saving him and the spirit who becomes the Yato God's sword, the characters of Noragami are what really make its premise work, and they form one of anime's best found families. In a world full of demon threats from an unseen realm, there's plenty of incredible action to sell it too.
Cells At Work! (2018-2021)
Thanks to its inventive concept, Cells at Work! is a show that won itself a ton of fans when it first aired in 2018 and its second season last year only cemented its place as a genuinely fascinating series. Set inside a person's body, all of the show's main characters are cells who work together to keep it functioning properly.
Whilst it's possible to learn a fair bit from this show, its premise also turns out to be a great source of comedy as its red blood cell main character gets used to the hectic environment of the inner workings of a human. Although all the cells are heavily anthropomorphized for obvious reasons, it leans into its weird concept and constantly references the unique setting.
Spy X Family (2022-Present)
One of the best action-comedy anime series of this year, Spy X Family captured a ton of fans thanks in no small part to the unique family dynamic that's at the show's heart. What makes their family distinct is that not only are they a facade for a renowned spy going by the alias Loid Forger to gather intelligence, but the wife and daughter are also keeping massive secrets of their own.
The show takes advantage of this premise to perfectly balance its action and comedic elements. It takes time to develop each of the central figures too which helps a lot in adding some believability to its fictional world of danger and subterfuge. It's because Spy X Family delivered so well on its promise that fans are eagerly awaiting the next part of the show.
Samurai Champloo (2004-2006)
Samurai Champloo has as ridiculous a premise as one would expect from a show that smoothly brings together hip-hop and Edo Period Japanese Samurai, so it's no surprise it's something of a cult favorite. In the show, two samurai destroy an entire teahouse and are sentenced to execution before they are saved by a waitress there.
Now in debt to her, the samurai both agree to go on a journey with her to find a mysterious warrior who smells of sunflowers. With the three all wildly differing characters, it makes for the perfect adventure full of action and some very real laughs. It's because the show is willing to be so unashamedly unique that fans still love it so much.
Konosuba (2016-Present)
It takes a special premise to stand out in the isekai genre, but Konosuba is a show that has just that. Whereas the protagonist is usually transported to a new world after being hit by a truck, Konosuba's Kazuma suffers the same fate after dying of shock when a tractor came close to hitting him.
This isn't the only way the show ducks genre conventions in absurd ways, as Kazuma's choice to bring the goddess Aqua with him to defeat a demon lord turns out to be a massive mistake, as she turns out to be even more useless than he is. The show's silly sense of humor is perfect for its hilarious premise.
The Devil is a Part-Timer! (2013-Present)
While having long-winded and overly descriptive titles can backfire on some anime, The Devil is a Part-Timer! says just enough to capture anyone's imagination and make them want to find out about the show. The show delivers on the title's promise as The Demon Lord Satan forms the show's central figure after being stranded in modern-day Tokyo and forced to work part-time.
Even more hilariously, he finds himself inspired by his new work and soon begins thinking of ways to climb the corporate ladder. Of course, the ridiculousness of it all is played for laughs, but some well-developed romance also helps make the show grow beyond merely its funny concept.