How Not to Summon a Demon Lord is a Japanese light novel series written by Yukiya Murasaki and illustrated by Takahiro Tsurusaki. The light novels are published in English by J-Novel Club. A manga adaptation by Naoto Fukuda has been running since 2015, and is licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment. An anime television series adaptation by Ajia-do Animation Works aired from July 5 to September 20, 2018. A second anime season by Tezuka Productions and Okuru to Noboru has been announced and will premiere in 2021.
Plot
Takuma Sakamoto is a hikikomori gamer who is mysteriously transported to the virtual world of his favourite MMORPG, Cross Reverie, with the appearance of his own character in the game, the Demon Lord Diablo. The two young girls who summoned him, the pantherian Rem and the elf Shera, attempt to use a spell to make Takuma their servant, but due to his magic ring with the ability "Magic Reflection", the spell rebounds, and both end up with magic collars stuck on their necks, thus becoming his servants instead. With a serious case of social anxiety, Takuma decides to act like his character while interacting with others, and makes use of his high stats and vast knowledge of Cross Reverie's lore to survive in his new environment, traveling along with Rem and Shera to look for a way to remove their slave collars while helping them with their own, personal issues that led them to summon him in the first place.
Characters
;Takuma Sakamoto / Diablo ;Shera L. Greenwood ;Rem Galleu ;Alicia Crystella ;Sylvie ;Edelgard ;Celestine Baudelaire ;Klem ;Mei ;Emile Bichelberger ;Keera L. Greenwood ;Chester Ray Galford ;Medios ;Saddler
Media
Light novels
The light novels are written by Yukiya Murasaki and illustrated by Takahiro Tsurusaki. Kodansha published the first volume under their Lanove Bunko imprint in December 2014. J-Novel Club announced their license to the series on September 28, 2017.
Manga
Naoto Fukuda launched a manga adaptation of the series on Kodansha's Niconico based manga service Suiyōbi no Sirius in June 2015. Seven Seas Entertainment announced their license to the manga on September 14, 2017.
Anime
An anime television series adaptation was announced in January 2018. The series is directed by Yūta Murano and written by Kazuyuki Fudeyasu, with animation by studio Ajia-do Animation Works. Character designs for the series are provided by Shizue Kaneko. Yuki Nishioka is the chief animation director. Yuki Miyamoto provides monster designs and serves as action animation director. Backgrounds are provided by Kusanagi, and Natsuko Otsuka is the color key artist. Photography for the series is directed by Teppei Satō at Asahi Production Shiraishi Studio, and Satoshi Motoyama is directing the sound at Half HP Studio. The series aired from July 5 to September 20, 2018, and was broadcast on AT-X, BS Fuji, Tokyo MX, and Sun TV. Crunchyroll simulcast the series worldwide outside of Asia, and Funimation streamed a simuldub of it in North America. The series' opening theme, "DeCIDE", is performed by the unit SUMMONERS 2+, a group composed ofvoice actressesAzumi Waki, Yū Serizawa, Yumi Hara, Rumi Okubo, and Emiri Katō, and the ending theme, "Saiaku na Hi demo Anata ga Suki.", is performed by Serizawa and produced by HoneyWorks. The series ran for 12 episodes. On April 8, 2020, it was announced that the series will receive a second season titled How Not to Summon a Demon Lord Ω, co-animated by Tezuka Productions and Okuru to Noboru, and directed by Satoshi Kuwabara. The season is set to premiere in 2021.
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Reception
The light novels had over 1 million copies in print as of March 2018.
