Maoyuu Maou Yuusha

[DHBirr]

I've been reading this manga for some time now, mostly in the version by Ishida Akira because that's the farthest along, but I check the other versions more-or-less regularly (there're two others, not counting a ludicrous 4koma and a sidestory).  I recently began watching the anime on Crunchyroll, and the episode I took in last night included something ... odd.  I'm trying to avoid spoilers here, but:

The anime opening credits, and one scene in the first episode, indicated that Female Magician has two companions, presumably also mages, each carrying a staff similar to hers.  This latest episode showed Demon Queen approaching Female Magician as the mage sits sleeping on a bench (she spends a lot of time sleeping, and has the nickname of "Napping Sorceress," to which she responds "I prefer Pleasant Serial Killer").  Female Magician is alone when the camera looks directly at her, but when it points down at the water-covered floor, the two companions can be seen rising to their feet at Demon Queen's approach.  Then they glance at Female Magician, who's still snoozing ... and one of them kicks her off the bench.  She thrashes face-down in the shallow water for a moment, then wakes up fully, stands, and finally notices Demon Queen.

I have no idea where the series is going with this, 'cause the companions haven't even been hinted at in any of the manga portrayals I've read.  I'm not asking for suggestions, just commenting -- and recommending this as highly worth taking in.  Hilarity, romance, and lessons in economics and agriculture.  As long as it doesn't bother you that none of the characters has a name....

I do regret that the anime doesn't give more detail of Hero going through, like the proverbial dose of salts, anybody who tries to fight him.  Like the bit from the Ishida manga when Fairy Queen warned him that even though he'd defeated the Demon Wolf General, there was still the even more powerful Black Wolf King....
Hero:  I defeated him too.  Last week.
Fairy Queen:  Eeh?!  What in the world are you?
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Big Brother is watching you.  And damn, you are so bloody BORING.

[Irascor]

I've seen this series too.

The whole "no one has a proper name and are just referred to with descriptors" is basically a blatant (and endearing) parody of cliche fantasy story archetypes. The whole story reminds me of Spice and Wolf meets Dragon Quest, and since I'm probably one of those weird people who doesn't mind learning something while being entertained by manga/anime, I recommend this series too.

I personally like the Ishida Akira manga the best of all the adaptations (good art, decent mix of comedy and drama, classy use of fanservice). The other two manga vary wildly in tone and art style, and the anime is decent but some of the art is sub par, but since the series was originally created as a light novel series and the anime is based off that, it also copied the art illustrations from the same.

For some characters, that wasn't bad at all (Hero and Maou-sama don't look bad at all), but some of the characters just look bad (Grand Princess Fire Dragon got a much nicer appearance in the Ishida Akira manga), and the anime got slightly tacky with the bouncing cleavage of Maou-sama (as opposed to the manga, which was, as stated above, rather classy about it's use of fanservice). Also, the anime is a much condensed, stripped down version of the plot in the manga/light novel versions, so the thinness of the plot is another black mark against it for me.

As for the 4koma, that was extremely hilarious, and I also recommend it alongside the Ishida Akira manga.

[Valles]

Another follower of the Ishida manga here, and one who's been enjoying the hell out of the anime so far.

I don't have a substantive source for this, but I hear-say that Female Magician has MPD or some fictional equivalent thereof, and that her 'two sisters' are in fact her other selves.
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"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."

[DHBirr]

Yeah, some sort of magical MPD was one of my theories, too; alternatively, I thought they might be predecessor-mages hanging around to advise Female Magician the way Obi-wan Kenobi did Luke Skywalker, or King Carus with Garric.

I agree poor GPFD got the short end of the stick appearance-wise in the anime.  And Head Maid looks better in the Ishida manga than in any of the other portrayals -- a beauty in her own right.  I have to say, though, the power the anime gives her of calling up "ghost" maids to help her with housework is awesome.  My favorite example of this is a scene where Demon Queen laments Hero's absence, Head Maid is standing back ... and one of her summoned spirits reaches down to stroke Demon Queen's hair comfortingly.

The "no proper names" may also reflect ancient Japanese literary traditions.  In The Tale of Genji, for instance, to quote a translator's introduction, 

In the original only underlings, such as Genji's factotum Koremitsu, have names.  The major characters are known by a series of shifting sobriquets or designations having to do with their station in life or with some incident or some brief passage in the narrative.

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Big Brother is watching you.  And damn, you are so bloody BORING.

[DHBirr]

Well, I have to say the anime did a really good job of portraying Hero as a Person of Mass Destruction.  "Wide-Area Thunderbolt."  Yeef.
Grand Princess Fire Dragon's appearance is greatly improved when it turns out her horns looked like that because she had her hair wrapped around them.
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Big Brother is watching you.  And damn, you are so bloody BORING.