How Not to Summon a Demon Lord is a 12 episode anime based upon the light novel series. It is yet another isekai anime, and the twist here is that the protagonist, Takuma Sakamoto, has dedicated his time in playing the MMORPG Cross Reverie and leveling up his character, known as the Demon Lord Diablo. He’s infamous within the game, but as per usual with these types of anime, he finds himself summoned into another world, within his game avatar of Demon Lord Diablo.
Now the world that he was summoned in has parallels with Cross Reverie, however, there are still many differences. The biggest of which is that while he retained Diablo’s high level, the monsters aren’t as common and ferocious in this world, so most people / characters are at a much lower level. Therefore, Diablo is now a super overpowered character that is leagues stronger than anyone else that he will ever encounter.
The excuse given for his reincarnation is that two characters, Rem and Shera, used a spell to summon a servant. Instead, they got Diablo, who, because he wields a ring that reflects all magic, ends up causing Rem and Shera to be the servants instead. To be honest, this isn’t a big thing over the course of the anime, there’s no real repercussions, and it just means that Diablo ends up accompanying the two girls.
Naturally, the two are attracted to Diablo. Diablo, in his previous life, being a shut-in, has no experience with girls at all. He has his own outwardly cold persona, but inside he’s freaking out a lot (like Ains from Overlord). While not extreme, there are ecchi scenes, especially with Shera who unashamedly lays it on thick to Diablo. If you’re watched isekai / harem anime before, these scenes would not come off as a shock and are stock standard for the genre.
The plot mostly had Diablo helping Rem and Shera, and the issues that their backgrounds bring with them. At least as characters, they have a more involved backstory so that they feel more fleshed out. The pair are head over heels with Diablo though, although the anime keeps up the pretense of having the group working together to find a way to remove the slave collars.
While the world is based on a game, and Diablo has a significant advantage given that was his whole life previously, it’s not a one-to-one creation. It was established early on that Diablo is severely overpowered, with a huge gap in levels compared to the next strongest. It’s fun watching him be so overpowered though, since he doesn’t fully abuse it (i.e. humble brag about it too much), so there’s a good power trip going on. However, the anime falls into typical traps where the villains are one-note, obviously evil people, with ugly expressions, and that’s a big turn-off.
The anime isn’t too serious most of the time, but it can get more so when required. The season does completely cover off the two girls’ backstories, making it feel complete. Although the party gets larger, there are still plenty of stories left to tell. The season finale was interesting as it included some world building and character development but ramps up the ecchi side of things. Look, it’s not going to win any writing awards, but the plot was more involved and more fun than you would expect.
Overall, How Not to Summon a Demon Lord starts off as yet another generic isekai. After completing it, in a way, it still is. However, that’s not to say the anime doesn’t have its charms. It doesn’t have much action, and it’s not a full ecchi harem, and while it has the power fantasy element, it doesn’t go overboard with an overly arrogant or overly humble protagonist. It has a little bit of everything and is a fun journey.
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