How Not to Summon a Demon Lord (Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu, in Japanese) is an isekai anime that has become a well-known name for anime fanatics all over the world.
There have been two seasons but in this article, we will be focusing on the plot and characters of How Not to Summon a Demon Lord, Season 2.
How Not to Summon a Demon Lord is based on a Japanese series. This novel is also known as ‘The King of Darkness Another World Story: Slave Magic’ or Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu.
The anime adaptation is based on a novel series originally written in Japanese by Yukiya Murasaki, although the anime adaptation was written by Kazuyuki Fudeyasu and printed in English by J-Novel Club, a publishing company.
How Not to Summon a Demon Lord is known as an isekai anime, which is a Japanese fantasy genre that revolves around a person traveling to a different world and trying to survive. Usually, an isekai anime has a powerful character that overpowers almost everyone in this new world.
Naoto Fukuda has been running a manga adaptation of the light novel, How Not to Summon a Demon Lord, since 2015, which is accredited by Seven Seas Entertainment.
Manga is a style of graphic novel or comic that originated in Japan, and that became widely popular across the world.
From July 5 to September 20, 2018, an anime tv series adaptation aired based on the original Japanese light novel series. The first season was a success, so a second season aired from the 9th of April to the 11th of June, 2021.
The second season was produced by Tezuka Productions, directed by Satoshi Kuwabara and the character designer was Shizue Kaneko.
Reviews of How Not to Summon a Demon Lord
There are a lot of mixed reviews regarding How Not to Summon a Demon Lord, though the general opinion is positive. The anime has an average rating of 4.1 out of 5 on Crunchyroll.
Some viewers feel that the anime is too sensationalized and does not focus on the character development or plot development enough.
Viewers also complained that most of the characters are just for the ‘fan service’, which is a character/scene that is added purely for the audience to not continue the plot or character development.
Other viewers enjoy the comedic aspects of How Not to Summon a Demon Lord and feel that they can relate to the timid and socially-awkward gamer, Diablo.
Summary of How Not to Summon a Demon Lord (Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu)
Season 1
Season 1 was released on July 5, 2018, and it ran for 12 episodes. It was adapted by Ajia-do Animation Works.
A gamer with social anxiety and social withdrawal, Takuma Sakamoto, is transported into his favorite online multiplayer game, Cross Reverie, as the character, the Demon Lord named Diablo. This character is one of the most powerful in the game.
Two adolescent girls, a pantherian called Rem and an elf called Shera try to cast a spell on Takuma to turn him into their slave. Unexpectedly, the spell backfires and magic collars enclose their necks, making the girls slaves of Takuma/Diablo.
Diablo goes on a journey with Rem and Shera to try and free the girls of their slave collars and escape the game.
Season 2 (OMEGA)
Season 2, also known as season Omega, was released on the 9th of April 2021 and it ran for 10 episodes. It was produced by Tezuka Productions.
Viewers complained that the producers did change the animation quality of the series, as characters were looking woodier, and stiff, much worse than in the first season.
The two girls, who were prominent characters in the first season, became less well-rounded characters in the second one. They did not play important roles in the group and were more Diablo’s ‘wing women’.
Season 2 Plot (Spoilers Ahead)
At the beginning of season 2, Diablo rescues a high priestess of the church of the divine Lumachina Weselia, from assassination by Gewalt, a Paladin. Lumichina is investigating the Head Cardinal of the church for corruption, so she is convinced the church wants her dead.
Diablo, Rem, Horn, and Shera escort Lumachina to Zircon Tower City where Diablo remembers building a dungeon while playing Cross Rivierre.
The group runs into some trouble in Zircon Tower City where a disease, Death Knell, has been spreading but people are denied healing due to a lack of money. Batutta and Fanis(the town leader) help Diablo and his group to win a battle with a sand whale and afterward invite the group for a meal at Batutta’s mansion. In a plot twist, Batutta betrays and captures Rem and Lumachina.
Lumachina realizes that Death Knell is a curse, not a disease. When she and Rem wake up they realize that Babutta is truly evil and has been producing Death Knell. Diablo and Babutta fight which ultimately leads to Diablo being impaled, luckily he survives and Babutta is killed. It is uncovered that Lumachina has Death Knell.
Diablo admits he has an item that can heal Lumachina in the dungeon that he built in Zircon Tower City. However, while the group is traveling they are arrested by Fanis’ fleet. Diablo creates a distraction and they escape to the dungeon.
Gewalt offers to help Fanis kill Lumachina and follows the group to the dungeon. He ambushes the group and tries to destroy Lumachina but Horn tackles Gewalt and both fall into a river. Diablo jumps into the river and rescues Horn, while everyone makes their way back to the dungeon.
Gewalt survives his fall into the river and tries to attack the group again by summoning the fire spirit, Ifrit, but a gigantic black dragon appears and injures Gewalt. Despite him trying to kill her, Lumichina heals Gewalt.
Diablo injures the dragon and the group finally manages to enter the dungeon, where Lumachina is healed instantly when she touches a white ox statue.
Meanwhile, Varakness’ army attacks Zircon Tower City, and Fanis tries to fight back. Diablo joins her and they eventually kill Varakness. Fanis holds a feast in celebration and attempts to seduce Diablo to stay with her.
The group returns to Faltra city, where Lumachina goes to visit the city’s church. Diablo discovers a criminal organization, led by the Measmos family, that has been pressuring the bakery owner to pay protection money. Diablo and his group confront the boss of the organization, although Diablo makes it very clear that he does not want to kill anyone.
They decide to intimidate the boss into doing good deeds for others. To atone for his awful acts.
When they arrive at the Royal Capital they are accosted by guards, but luckily Alicia Crystella dismisses the guards. Alicia agrees to help Lumachina investigate the Head Cardinal, Vishos, for corruption.
Alicia finds the evidence that Lumachina has been searching for, Vishos has been embezzling funds from the church. Lumachina immediately insists on confronting Vishos. The group travels to the holy ground where Lumachina denounces Vichos and his crimes. Vishos claims that she is lying and disregarding her duties.
Everyone in the group, except Horn, is taken into custody. Horn manages to flee to safety. Lumachina is separated from the others and begs them not to escape.
Horn puts on a magic collar which makes her a slave of Diablo while giving her more powers to try and rescue her friends at the Royal Captial. She travels to her friends, but just before reaching them, she is attacked by a Paladin.
Diablo sees the attack and immediately breaks down the cell door to save Horn while disregarding his promise to Lumichna not to try and escape.
Diablo and Lumachina agree to try and kill everyone at the church when Vishos unleashes a huge monster called Europa. Vishos merges with the monster and claims he is a god, while smashing the church and trying to kill Lumachina.
Worshipers start to pray for Lumachina, making her powerful enough to cast a spell and destroy the forcefield around Europa. This allows Diablo to vanquish the monster and finally bring peace to the city.
He travels back to Faltra city with Rem, Shera, and Horn while Lumachina decides to stay behind to rebuild the church’s reputation.
Season 3
Although there has been no official news regarding a potential upcoming season 3, we can still speculate about what the next season might entail.
We might see the group travel towards the dark elves to extract the dark lord’s remains from Rem’s soul. Diablo might also face a more powerful opponent, which has yet to happen in the first two seasons of the anime.
Characters
There are a lot of characters in Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu, but we will only look at some of the main ones and their voice actors.
Takuma Sakamoto / Diablo (voiced by Masaaki Mizunaka) is the protagonist. He is a Cross Reverie player with excellent skills, but one day he is transported into the game. He has poor social skills but vast knowledge of the game, so he has to travel with two youthful girls to try and find a way out.
Shera L Greenwood (voiced by Yu Serizawa) is an elf and is one of the two girls who summon Diablo into the game. She is 15 years old.
Rem Galleu (voiced by Azumi Waki) is a Pantherian and the other girl who summoned Diablo. She is 14 years old.
Alicia Crystella (voiced by Yumi Hara) is an imperial knight and the daughter of a duke’s house.
Lumachina Wesella (voiced by Miku Ito) is a high priestess in the church of the divine who was saved by Diablo in the first episode of the second season.
Horn (voiced by Fumiko Uchimura) is a 12-year-old girl who temporarily joins Diablo’s group in the second season.
Where Can You Watch How Not to Summon a Demon Lord?
This series can be streamed on various online platforms, the most popular being:
Crunchyroll – subbed and dubbed (both seasons)
Conclusion
Now you know exactly what to expect from How Not to Summon a Demon Lord, season 2.
No official date has been announced regarding season 3. Hopefully, this plot summary gives you a better idea of what you can expect if you decide to watch this anime.
