How Not to Summon a Demon Lord (Episode 1) – The Demon Lord Act

When a shut-in gamer with zero social skills became the greatest demon lord Cross Reverie had ever had, the last thing he could have expected was to be summoned to another world as his character!
What did you watch?
I recently realised that I enjoy talking in-depth about the series I’m watching and reviews on an episode level give me the freedom to really explore what makes them work or not work as the case may be. So to start things off, I have decided to re-watch How Not to Summon a Demon Lord which was one of my favourite titles from the Summer 2018 schedule. There will be spoilers, so if you haven’t seen it you may want to reconsider reading any further…

What happened?
Takuma Sakamoto is a shut-in. He barely leaves the safety of his room with his adventures in Cross Reverie being the only exception. Of course, playing an MMORPG doesn’t really count as going outside and the conversations are a lot easier to have when you don’t have to look at them. In the game, however, he is Diablo, a Demon Lord and the strongest character that isn’t an NPC. That all changes the day he is summoned to a world similar to Cross Reverie, where he has the body of Diablo and the powers too.
He wakes to find an elf and a catgirl arguing over which of them summoned him. Then they try to cast a slave spell over Diablo, which backfires thanks to his reverse magic spell and they become his slaves. Struggling to come to terms with this new world and powers, Diablo goes with the girls to the nearby town to see if he can work out what’s going on.

What did you think?
This is my second time watching this series and I love it. I think the way they’ve focused on Diablo’s social anxiety is hilarious and it really makes the interactions with Shera and Rem that much funnier. It’s as if all his dreams have come true, but in typical shut-in fashion, he doesn’t have any of the skills necessary to take advantage of it. I also love the dynamic between Shera and Rem and how they are clearly not friends at this point.

What was your favourite moment?
Diablo had gone for a night walk after finding out about Rem’s secret. There he bumped into a group of drunk mages, including the one that tried to scold him in front of Celestine Baudelaire. He instantly picked a fight with Diablo and unleashed his strongest summons – a level thirty Salamander. Diablo’s face is priceless as he stares down this giant fire-breathing lizard. Only to mutter to himself that level thirty is nothing.

What was your least favourite moment?
I’m really struggling to pick a least favourite moment. I think this episode did a great job of introducing the main characters in a fun and entertaining manner. We also found out the main threat and even a couple of side quests that the group will have to overcome. All in, I think it was a very satisfying episode, especially for a first episode.

Who was your favourite character?
It’s hard not to fall in love with the main three. Each is floored and brilliant in their own ways, but in this episode, I’ve got to say Diablo. Again, watching him try to deal with his social anxiety while trying to keep up the facade of a demon lord is great. On top of that, I thought the way he handled the Rem secret was a really nice way to show that he’s a nice guy. All hail Diablo!

Who was your least favourite character?
The obvious answer would be the mage that picked a fight with Diablo, but I think it was actually Celestine. She appeared at the door and noticed the collars, made a remark about the interesting story that led to this situation, but then never really did much with it. I felt like she could have been more emotive about the situation, but she didn’t really seem to care one way or another.

Would you like some more?
Definitely. I enjoyed the series the first time I watched it, but being able to really look at what works rather than getting carried away by the story is a lot of fun too. As I said earlier in this post, it really was a well laid out and executed episode. I’m actually really impressed as I hadn’t picked up on all those things the first time.

Still want more?
I also covered this series over on EcchiHunter.com with more of a focus on the ecchi elements. There are a lot more images of Shera and Rem as well, so what are you waiting for? Click here… you know you want to!

Other posts in the series
Series Information
English Title | How Not to Summon a Demon Lord |
Japanese Title | Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu |
Genres | Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Fantasy, Harem, Isekai, Romance |
Anime
Season One
Season Two
Manga
Series | How Not to Summon a Demon Lord | |
Author | Yukiya Murasaki | |
Artist | Naoto Fukuda | |
Volumes | Ongoing | Chapters |
1 | I’m Dangerous, I Swear! | 1-4 |
2 | Overpowered Overlord! | 5-9 |
3 | Keyboard Warrior! | 10-14 |

[…] images are here, but if you want to really dive into what makes this episode tick, head on over. Click here… you know you want […]
I, too, greatly enjoyed this series! In fact, it made my (very first) “Best of” list for 2018.
I think it was on my best of list for 2018 too. However, I think I’m enjoying it even more the second time and realising exactly why I liked it so much.
My biggest bone to pick with this series was just that I wanted to see more of Diablo flexing on everyone around him, haha. My guilty pleasure.
I’m still hoping for a second season where you get your wish.
[…] images are here, but if you want to really dive into what makes this episode tick, head on over. Click here… you know you want […]
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