English Dub Review: How Not to Summon a Demon Lord Ω “Head Priest”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Diablo, a human from our world summoned to a fantasy realm similar to the fictitious game “Cross Reverie”, continues his adventures with his two companions Rem and Shera. Along the way, the three encounter a priest being attacked by a rogue paladin, who Diablo defeats with his great powers, only for the priest to believe him to be God himself.

OUR TAKE

How Not to Summon a Demon Lord had its first season air quite some time ago in late 2018, back when the world was…well, not that different but certainly a bit simpler than now. It was one of many ecchi isekai shows starring an overpowered protagonist transported from the real world into a world conveniently based on a game they enjoy and causing a ruckus while simultaneously attracting a wide array of lovely ladies to join him on his adventure, so as you can see, it was not exactly breaking a mold or carving its own path. However, even if it was just following the recipe, it certainly followed it quite well, with good animation for the fights, a story that knew how to balance the fun sexy times with the dramatic serious moments (for the most part), and characters who stood out well enough from archetypes that they were able to make lasting impressions, at least to me.

So, as much as it did feel a bit like a bunch of other dime a dozen shows like it, I did find myself hoping they would be able to adapt more of the light novel it was based on. And while it took awhile, we are finally back, although for some reason with a season of ten episodes instead of the previous twelve, and a subtitle that seems to imply that this might be the last season. But hey, maybe this will be so bad that I’ll be begging for an end like with Promised Neverland. I’m certainly not there yet, as this first episode of the season was a decent return to form and even included a nice recap of the previous season for newcomers (it has been nearly three years after all). Randomly queer coded minor villain aside, this was mainly about reintroducing the cast and introducing the newest member of Diablo’s fold, priestess Lumachina Weselia. Lumachina’s dynamic of thinking Diablo is god feels like it might get old quite fast if they mishandle it, but she does add to the party dynamic as a healer so at least there’s that. We’ll have to see how she fully integrates into the plot to really fully assess what she brings to the table besides yet another pair of tits, but with only nine more episodes left in the season, I imagine they aren’t going to waste time getting to that.