Diablo is perhaps the best thing about this anime with his internal and external personalities constantly at war. While the plot continues to be surprisingly interesting there’s no denying the ongoing prolific fanservice.
How Not To Summon A Demon Lord continues to be quite a bit of fun to watch. The fantasy setting is generic and so far the events (invading army, bounty on a party member, prevent a war) are all pretty standard, but that doesn’t stop it from being enjoyable.
While Diablo as a character may suffer from some of the usual hang-ups of these kinds of characters (as well as having an almost magnetic connection with Shera’s chest) he actually remains a fairly interesting character and one who I’m enjoying watching find a balance between his in-game persona and his inner self.
This week we are introduced to the local Lord who is apparently some big-shot Hero, though his overall presence in this episode felt more like a set-up or an introduction given Diablo had already been given the quest and they were given no real extra information.
Maybe they just want this guy known so that later when he does something important it doesn’t feel like a last minute add in? The one useful thing that did come out of this meeting was Diablo added yet another girl to his harem in the form of an Imperial Knight (who are apparently usually male but of course the one sent here is female).
Alicia might be a fun character but we’ll see how she goes next week. That said, the final part of this episode where Shera is kidnapped and we get a short chase sequence was kind of fun. It is also good to know that Emile made a full recovery after his confrontation with the Fallen last week.
Affiliate Link
As much as I thought Emile was a jerk, his defence of Rem despite knowing he was outclassed was pretty admirable.
I will just say that while the occasional panty shot, the ongoing revealing outfits, and other aspects of fan-service don’t really bother me that much, scenes like this one, where Diablo is nearly smothered in Shera’s boobs, really does break me out of the story.
Mostly because I can’t imagine what purpose such a scene serves given it doesn’t look like a desirable situation for anyone and visually it isn’t exactly alluring. Maybe I’m just not the target audience, but I think even people who like fan-service would have to look at that scene and be a little put off.
Images from: How Not To Summon a Demon Lord. Dir. Y Murano. Ajia-Do. 2018
Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James
With regards to that particular fan-service in particular I’ve always been of the opinion that fan-service can be used to either ‘arouse’ or for comedic effect. Like Prison School, nearly all the fan service in that show is for comedic effect. Whereas a show like this (and many other OTT harems) have half arousing and half comedic—depending on the tone of the show. So imo it’s not that this fan-service is “bad” or “ugly” compared to the rest, it’s just framed as OTT and comedic.
Ah, that actually makes sense. And given I hated Prison School because I’m not that big on comedy, and fan-service isn’t overly appealing but can be tolerated, it makes perfect sense that this scene mostly just rubbed me the wrong way.
Diablo is just such a genuinely engaging character, when taken into account his internal monologue and external actions. And the action bit was pretty fun. I liked seeing Diablo having to limit himself. And Rem even got to get in on the action a little. Looking forward to seeing how this war situation pans out. And Alicia’s a fun character, though the OP suggests there’s gonna be more to her, so I’m hoping we get more on that soon, because I am curious. Great review!
Thank you.
I am enjoying watching Diablo and how he deals with things (especially like that he s going to limit himself though I suspect eventually he’ll get into a situation where he can’t play nice).
I’m also looking forward to what is going to happen next with the war situation.
I know the answer to the caption who that shot is for: Cactus Matt! 😂😂
I kind of thought that even he would prefer something that at least looked aesthetically pleasing. I do get why some people like fanservice, but surely they are demanding higher quality than that.
Haha, I guess you are right about that too lol 😂😂
Why did I know my name was going to be mentioned in the comments… 😛
Lol 😂😂 Gee, I really have no idea whatsoever 🤔🤔🤔🤔