Our look at the light novel volumes of How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord continues! The last volume was a shorter adventure, and this one is no different, clocking in at only 171 pages. However that doesn’t mean it wasn’t enjoyable. After the cut, let’s take a dive into the tenth volume!
When we last left off, we saw that Shera and Rem had Diablo in a interesting situation, and it looked like the lewdness was going to get kicked up a notch. Sadly, like many of these stories, it is a case of misdirection, but thankfully a funny one. Shera and Rem start licking something, but it isn’t the horn we expect, instead going to town on the totally not real demon horns that Diablo ends up wearing.
Anime blue-balls is something I’ve discussed before. It can be frustrating thing, and so far Demon Lord hasn’t had that problem ,but I do wish that the story would let the characters step up to the plate. I mean, so far, there has been pretty much everything but blow-jobs and penetration, which might just be the author teasing things, or editorial mandate. It’s good that Demon Lord’s cast and characters are so endearing though, but it is something I’m starting to notice more and more.
In terms of characters, volume 10 opts to send Shera and Rem off to meet the king of Lyferia, which leaves Diablo to spend time with some of the other characters, most notably Sylvie, the guild-master. I actually really enjoyed this change up, it kept the story fresh and the banter between Diablo and Sylvie was actually quite good. They don’t have a romantic relationship, and despite our bunny-girl’s attraction, it isn’t’ as upfront as the others. The delving into the dungeon to find real wedding rings, Diablo having accidently married Rem and Shera to each other, is a good storyline that I’m sure will be carried on into the future. Say what you will about the lack of sex so far, the characters in demon lord do keep moving.
Another character who shows up is Horn, along with her Navi-like fairy in Babylon. When Diablo shows up at the magic academy and realized that an event similar to one he played in the game is about to happen, she joins up and helps solve the mystery. It’s again another good self contained story, and it doesn’t drag on too long. I would have liked to see Horn take more of a starring role, but she does enough and it was good to see her again. Furthermore, I enjoyed the new character in Thanatos the Undying, whose over-the-top antics mesh well with Diablo, it was a great laugh to see Diablo respect how ‘badass’ the attack names were.
Volume 10 of How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord was a more enjoyable outing than the last. I liked the change up of the cast, and the smaller stakes, but they didn’t feel like filler like last time. The prose remains to the point, the character arc is gorgeous and seeds of the issue with the wedding rings seems interesting. We’ll have to see what happens as we enter the next volume, but I look forward to digging into it!
Shallow Dives in Anime 