The Prince returns and Shera follows him leaving one depressed Demon Lord. However, Rem and Alicia get Diablo back on his feet and then it is time for a showdown between the Prince’s ability to overwrite Shera’s will with Diablo’s ability to command her to tell the truth as his slave. Wait? Who was supposed to be the good guy here?
After the fan service heavy episode 6, I was hoping for a more plot driven episode and to be honest, this episode delivered (while still actually delivering on fan service at the same time). It was unexpected how well the episode managed to balance both aspects that so far had been separated.
Where most events fell into either the fan service or the plot/character camps, this episode succeeded at delivering the two simultaneously without seemingly giving up on the quality of either. A rare feat but one I had to applaud by the end.
Shera is the star of this episode even if she isn’t the hero. From the early focus on her as she watches Diablo make potions (as he watches her breasts jiggling) to the first round of brain washing where she returns to her brother, this episode is Shera’s.
Diablo may have started the episode with a flash back to his childhood when he was still in the real world and facing rejection (a theme that will carry through the episode) but it is nowhere near as compelling as Shera’s story here.
By the time the stupid prince Keera delivers cloth eating slime to Shera (and do I dare ask why it immediately attacks Shera’s clothes when there’s the prince, a rug, a tent and a lot of other cloth it could eat), despite the obvious cliché moment of the girl writhing under the slimes, the audience is genuinely feeling for Shera’s character and waiting for the rescue that we know is on the way.
Even after the rescue, it isn’t as though Shera simply becomes baggage. As Diablo and Keera fight it out for control over Shera’s mind, ultimately it is what Shera wants that dictates the outcome of the battle and then Shera’s not ready to cry and play the damsel in distress. She’s standing right there next to Rem as Keera unleashes his dangerous summon and I’m hoping that Shera continues to grow as a character and an adventurer.
This was a genuinely satisfying episode and while bouncing boobs and dissolving clothes may not be to everyone’s liking, here it felt like they actually did belong in the story rather than feeling like an added extra for the sake of it after the fact.
Images from: How Not To Summon a Demon Lord. Dir. Y Murano. Ajia-Do. 2018
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Karandi James
Honestly, I just enjoy the fact that the MC looks intimidating and conventionally attractive like a demon lord from the get-go, instead of the usual bland MC design in most harem isekai.
I’ll definitely get around to this series once it reaches the last few episodes.
Yes, while the MC’s inner personality is more or less standard harem fare, the fact that he has to keep a demon lord external persona adds a bit more fun to things. Its definitely a slightly different take on the standard isekai protagonist.
Hmmm..just when I was about to totally dismiss this series alltogether, you write a post like this😂*grumble…adding it to my list 😂😂).
If you avoid fan service, this one is still one to avoid as there is a lot. That said, these characters are some of the better ones I’ve come across in an isekai story recently and given almost half the screen time is taken up with fan service that is some impressive work.
That is great. Isekai should follow this.
I am having to eat so much crow over how good this show is turning out to be. I dismissed it, early on and it’s turning out to be one of the better ones the season. As far as the “fluff” is concerned, that is. Great read as per usual.
I certainly wasn’t expecting much from it after the first two episodes. Shows like this are the reason I end up watching so much rubbish. I hold onto them hoping they’ll get better and every now and then one does which is what perpetuates the cycle.
You and me both… No pun intended!