Japanese manga illustrator Oniku was left in shock after McDonald’s U.S. featured the anime series “Hataraku Maou-sama!” (“The Devil is a Part-Timer”) in a recent promotional video.
Key details: Released on Aug. 14, the one-minute video features cameos of McDonald’s and references to the popular fast-food franchise in many movies and TV series, including “The Office,” “Friends,” “Loki” and “The Fifth Element.”
At the six-second mark, a short clip taken from “Hataraku Maou-sama!” can be seen. It features the devil disguised as Sadao Maou, who works at a fictional version of McDonald’s in the manga and anime series called MgRonald’s.
Their reaction: Oniku took to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday to express their excitement, writing in part that when McDonald’s contacted them about the collaboration, they were “so surprised that I read the email three times,” according to SoraNews24.
Oniku also noted that the recent promotional video, in which their work appears alongside clips from big titles they have been watching since childhood, was “like a wonderful dream.”
About the series: Written by Satoshi Wagahara and illustrated by Oniku (written as “029”), “Hataraku Maou-sama!” was initially released as a light novel series with 30 volumes from 2011 to 2020. Since then, it has seen a manga adaptation, a spin-off manga series and a 13-episode anime series, among others.
