How Not to Summon a Demon Lord (Episode 9) – Holy Knight Tale
While Shera and Rem bathe in a river and Diablo cowers behind a rock, Edelgard finds them and realises that Rem is the host of the Demon Lord. She offers to help them remove the Demon Lord, which is something everyone wants.
What did you watch?
This series is definitely in the peaks and troughs stage. In the last episode, we saw Diablo fight, not one, but two separate opponents. Things definitely slowed down again in episode 9 of How Not to Summon a Demon Lord. Since things have calmed down a little, it’s probably about time everyone had a wash. Not sure how Diablo is going to cope with this one! There will be spoilers, but it did come out last year, so I think you should have had enough time to see it.
What happened?
Shera performed a summoning and made a pact with a chubby bird. Rem thought this was hilarious and couldn’t help but make fun of Shera. That was until Diablo explained how Shera could use the bird to be able to hit targets she couldn’t see, by using the bird sight. Then, to confound Rem’s mockery, the bird was not too impressed with her body odour, something that Shera agreed with. Bath time!
As Shera and Rem bathed, Diablo hide behind a rock and contemplated whether he should peep or not. In reality, had he not been such a hopeless shut-in, I doubt either would have batted an eye had he just got in the river with them! It wouldn’t have been as funny though. Then, just as Diablo seems to have made up his mind, things go quiet and he emerges to find Edelgard examining Rem. Edelgard offers to help them remove the Demon Lord within Rem and all parties are agreed.
What did you think?
Everything in this episode was set-up for the final arc, which I don’t have a problem with. The river scene took up most of the episode and while not integral to the story, it certainly made all the set-up more digestible. We were introduced to Saddler, a holy knight with a severe hatred for demon lords and their followers. Alicia became much more interesting although it was still kept on the down-low. All of this will lead us to the fairly shocking next episode, so that’s a good thing.
What was your favourite moment?
Alicia had just pulled Diablo, Rem, and Shera out of their tavern and tried to hide them from Saddler, knowing just how he might react to their presence. Unfortunately, they then bumped into him in the streets. Coincidence? I’ll let you decide. Anyhow, Saddler was a complete jerk who used magic to punish others, claiming that it was divine judgement. Of course, it all went wrong when he tried to use one of his tricks on Diablo. The best moment in the whole scene though was the introductions, where Diablo again tried to make a low-key intro, but failed and fell into full edgy demon lord persona.
What was your least favourite moment?
The summoning scene at the beginning was probably the slowest of the parts. I did enjoy it and can see the need for it to pave the way for several elements in the final arc, so I don’t have any complaints. Again, it’s another great example of how Demon Lord structures its scenes to get the most out of them.
Who was your favourite character?
I’m just going to give this to Rem and Shera for the river scene, complete with Shera licking Rem and Rem grabbing Shera’s boobs and yanking them all over the place. It was gratuitous and obviously aimed at the ecchi audience, but it was fun and lighthearted all at the same time. Plus with Diablo struggling with his anxiety in the background, it just worked well and even when Edelgard showed up and Diablo was needed, he acted in an instant regardless of Rem and Shera’s nudity.
Who was your least favourite character?
He may not have quite done enough to demand real hatred yet, but he will. Even so, Saddler was a pretty severe character and he attacked Rem and then tried to attack Diablo. Ultimately, he’s just a pawn and I did enjoy seeing it all work together, knowing what’s coming. This is actually a very well constructed show with lots of clever and subtle moments that do a great job of foreshadowing.
Would you like some more?
I know what happens in the next episode and there’s no way I’m backing out now. How I’m going to discuss it is a completely different thing, but I’m sure we’ll get through. Watching this series again has been a lot of fun and I’m really enjoying looking more at the story mechanics. I often talk about watching outside of your comfort zone, and while this falls squarely into my “guilty pleasure” (I hate that term) zone, for those that wouldn’t normally watch a show with fan-service, you might want to give this one a try.
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 |
| 4 | The Devil You Know… | 15-19 |
| 5 | Boss-level Badass! | 20-24 |
| 6 | Demon Lord vs Demon Lord! | 25-29 |
| 7 | The Demon Within! | 30-34 |
| 8 | Don’t Wake the Demon! | 35-39 |
| 9 | Into the Woods! | 40-44 |
| 10 | A New Threat! | 45-49 |
| 11 | X Marks the Rot! | 50-54 |
| 12 | Swept Away! | 55-59 |
“Did your brain sink all the way into your bewbs?”
One of Jad Saxton’s best lines.
So many great lines. Enough for a top ten post for sure.