How Not to Summon a Demon Lord (Volume 2) – Overpowered Overlord!

How Not to Summon a Demon Lord Volume 2 Cover

Diablo comes across a perfect chance to test his strength in this new world… Well, that’s what he thought, but everything seems to be way too weak. Then, after registering as an adventurer, he has his level measured… well, almost!

How Not to Summon a Demon Lord (Volume 2) – Overpowered Overlord!

What happened?

Diablo seems to be upsetting people everywhere he goes. First, it was Galluk from the Mage’s Association who attacked him with his level thirty salamander and then it was Emile Bichelberger from the Adventurer’s Guild. Of course, neither of them stood a chance of hurting Diablo, but he was getting a little tired of the attention. So, when his attempt to measure his level resulted in the magic mirror going black, he was summoned into the Guild Master’s office. Worried that he was about to get in trouble, Diablo drifted into a daydream where he was back at school and being summoned to the principal’s office. Luckily, he wasn’t in trouble, however, Sylvie, the Guild Master was a little concerned that he was too powerful for their guild and would soon get bored or want to take over. He assured her that he would be fine as things were.

With that settled, Sylvie was delighted to welcome him to the guild, and would you believe it, they already had a quest lined up for him. Someone from the Mage’s Association had just put in a request to kill a nasty monster in the Man-eating Forest. Diablo accepted although Sylvie did warn him that sometimes people put in quests as traps. Not long after getting to the forest, they realised that it was a trap as several people were waiting for them. Diablo knocked them out of the trees and discovered that they were elves who had come to take Shera, the elven princess back. They also believed that Diablo was a slaver and were prepared to kill him if he didn’t release her. However, they were not able to back up their threat as Diablo took everything they threw at him with ease. Then, he showed them what they were facing. Galluk came out from his hiding spot to yell at everyone for letting him down before running off. What had Diablo gotten himself into now?

What did you think?

Things are continuing to roll along at quite a pace. This volume covered the second episode of the anime and the beginning of the third episode. It also continues to be a lot of fun watching Diablo test out his abilities and find out that the world he’s in now is considerably weaker than where he was playing. The best thing about that is that it makes perfect sense when you consider that there are no revivals or respawning. If you die in this world that’s it, so taking on dangerous monsters above your level is not something many will do. I am surprised that there isn’t anyone grinding the levels by attacking lots and lots of low-level monsters, but that’s always a possibility later in the story.

I also love the contrast between Diablo’s outward persona and his inner voice. The fact that his inability to talk to people forces him to talk like an edge lord is hilarious, especially when his inner dialogue is anything but confident. A lot of his actions make sense when you remember that he was pretty much a shut-in in his past life. I don’t think we know that for sure, but to have reached the level in Cross Reverie where he was basically the final boss, he’s had to have put in some serious time. This story is actually very well thought out and actually makes a lot of sense, despite how it might look at times.

What was your highlight?

One reason that I think we’ve seen a rise in Isekai stories is that we get to have wonderfully complex and detailed fantasy worlds without excessive exposition. Now, there’s nothing necessarily wrong with exposition when done correctly, however, it’s very easy to get wrong. In Isekai stories, we get to experience all of these world-building details along with the protagonist. They’ve come from our world and now they are someplace new and don’t really know much. Even when the world is based on a game they were playing, there are usually plenty of differences and nuances that require some sort of exploration.

By having the protagonist work through these problems, we get to learn everything we need to know too. It’s a remarkably efficient way of handling exposition. I love the way that Diablo is using his knowledge of the game to test the limitations of this world and get a better understanding of just where he fits in it. Even things like when he fought Emile, we got to see how an experienced player would have cancelled the lunge attack to hit with something better, but Emile didn’t do that. So, even if they are high levels, their abilities and equipment aren’t as good because they don’t need to be. I’ve always loved this series, but reading the manga is giving me a far deeper appreciation of the mechanics of the story.

Series Information

English TitleHow Not to Summon a Demon Lord
Japanese TitleIsekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu
GenresActionComedy, Ecchi, Fantasy, Harem, Isekai, Romance

Anime

Season One
SeasonHow Not to Summon a Demon Lord
ReleasedSummer 2018
Animation StudiosAjia-do
Episodes12
1The Demon Lord Act
2The Strongest Newcomer
3Fallen Assault
4Point-Blank War Dance
5Imperial Knight
6Slave Market
7Change of Heart
8Hero’s Charge
9Holy Knight Tale
10Demon Lord’s Resurrection
11The Young Girl Awakens
12Battle for Legitimacy
Season Two
SeasonHow Not to Summon a Demon Lord Ω
ReleasedSpring 2021
Animation StudiosTezuka Productions, Okuruto Noboru
Episodes10
1Head Priest
2Head Paladin
3Corrupt Ritual
4Personal Domain
5Black Dragon Clash
6Demon Lord Army
7Little Demon Lord
8Visit to the Royal Capital
9Storm the Church
10Pretend God

Manga

SeriesHow Not to Summon a Demon Lord
AuthorYukiya Murasaki
ArtistNaoto Fukuda
VolumesOngoingChapters
1I’m Dangerous, I Swear!1-4
2Overpowered Overlord!5-9
3Keyboard Warrior!10-14

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What did you think?