How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord, Light Novel Vol. 1

How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord (Light Novel) #1

by Yukiya Murasaki, Takahiro Tsurusaki (Illustrator)

In the MMORPG Cross Reverie, Takuma Sakamoto is so powerful that he is lauded as the “Demon Lord” by other players. One day, he is summoned to a world outside his own-- but with the same appearance he had in the game! There, he meets two girls who both proclaim themselves to be his Summoner. They perform an Enslavement Ritual to turn him into their Summon... but that’s when Takuma’s passive ability Magic Reflection activates! Instead, it is the girls who become enslaved! Though Takuma may be the strongest Sorcerer there is, he has no idea how to talk with other people. It is here he makes his choice: to act based on his persona from the game!
“Amazing? But of course... I am Diablo, the being known and feared as the Demon Lord!”
So begins a tale of adventure with an earth-shakingly powerful Demon Lord (or at least someone who acts like one) taking on another world!

Genres: Light Novel, Fantasy, Manga, Harem, Comedy, Romance, Magic

275 pages, ebook

First published December 2, 2014

About the author

See also むらさき ゆきや.

In April 1st 2009, received 1.st GA Bunko Encouragement Award for the work "I don't see any ghosts!" or "幽霊なんか見えない"

Reviews

[Tarl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This... this was a weird one.

When I first started reading this book, the sheer amount of exposition was like getting hit in the face with a sock filled with pennies. Over and over and over again, the protagonist would sit there and explain everything to the smallest details. And of course, he's over powered, a mary sue, and we have to hear all about how awesome he is and what not.
Not exactly a character you want to read a book about.

Then came the obligatory boob dialogues and accidental touching, which just seemed so over the top they were ridiculous. Sure, anime and light novel reading, I get it, but it's so cliché it hurts. This of course continued with more examples with how powerful Diablo was and how nothing could actually touch him and how his 'level' is easily double to triple everyone else's.

But then, something happens. The plot actually gets to be interesting. The characters start to get fleshed out, and an actual story starts to appear. Sure, you have to wade through a LOT of exposition and terrible cliché elements, but once you get past it, it actually becomes sort of enjoyable. Even Diablo's show of just how badass and powerful he is ends up being fairly satisfying due to the people he is set up against. (cause really, who doesn't want to see some sexist, racist jerk who thinks they are overpowered get what's coming to them)

The writing is what one would expect for a light novel, simpler language and more geared towards their YA audience. Once you get used to it, it's not that bad, though it does often feel like things are being dumbed down for you if you are a more experienced reader. But, as mentioned, you get used to it and generally fairly quickly.

All in all, this was an alright light novel. Nothing too unique to it, and easily to get lost in the other 'trapped in another universe' genre light novels out there. Still, it was good enough for me to get the second in the series, so there is that...

[Arthur Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and fun!

I really just love titles like this! The story was entertaining and I loved the artwork. I had thought about returning this when I saw how short it was but after reading for a little bit I felt it would be worth it and I'm sticking with that. Thankyou Yukiya Murasaki!

[Jan van Es · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm already loving the anime so when I found the Manga I was like KA-CHING take my money!

This concept is just so good, a major level Demon Lord played by a normal human who had spent a lot of time in this MMORPG by leveling up and getting the best stats gets sucked into his favorite MMORPG and is summoned by these two characters, not knowing they actually become enslaved by him in a twist! (which yeah is kind of predictable but I still like it.)

I know there's more volumes but I have only finished this one.
Got to buy more volumes when I find them.

[Hidekisohma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another day, another Isekai light novel. Man, it's crazy how many of these they've released in the past ten years. But, i heard some okay things about this one and decided to give it a try. And, honestly, it's not too bad.

The way i described this to people was "Imagine if the Overlord anime had an MC that wasn't evil and traveled around with 2 cute girls rather than had a castle full of henchmen. that's essentially HNTSADL"

MC gets sucked into a video game where he's max level and two girls who tried to summon him get their magic reflected so they're his slaves instead of the other way around. He then has to eventually defeat the demon lord.

The story, while a little basic, is interesting enough. The MC isn't really annoying if acts a little generic. while very powerful, he tends to force himself to act more emo/badass than he really believes himself to be so that's an interesting dynamic.

The catgirl Rem is far more interesting as she has a dark secret going on that needs to be resolved unlike the busty elf girl Shera whose personality boils down to "Busty Elf Princess'. that's....that's really her entire personality. She's a bit dull, but Rem at least balances her out as they usually hang out together as they're both stuck with the MC.

Volume 1 is essentially what you expect. level 150 guy wrecks everyone because he's way stronger than the people in this world, but he isn't a murder hobo like Ainz from Overlord, so that's nice. he's actually rather lazy and doesn't want to do a lot, only doing stuff when the girls basically ask him to and he just sighs and acquiesces.

I will say that i'm actually interested to see where this story goes so i'm definitely going to read volume 2. It's not FANTASTIC, but it's interesting enough that i want to keep going, so that's a positive.

This is definitely a 3.5 out of 5 but this is one of those "REALLY HARD to choose 3 or 4 since i REALLY want to give it a 3.5." situations. However, i DID read the book in less than 3 days so... that says something. um... let's go with....4 for now. if the series goes belly up later, i may come back and edit. but for now,

3.5 out of 5, rounded up to a 4.

[Love · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series reminds me a lot of Overlord, with its overpowered sorcerer main character who is somehow transported into his favorite MMO. The difference is that How not to summon a demon lord is a more typical Japanese light novel while Overlord in many ways more like a western fantasy novel. How not to summon a demon lord is a lot more light-hearted with quite a bit more ecchi moments.

[Katri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly funny but nothing really happened plotwise.

[Kritch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun light novel. Easy to read.

The characters are interesting and a lot deeper than I initially thought they would be. I hope the author would build on each characters.

One bad thing is that the author can be really long winded in his explanation and description at times. Most of the times, I don't find it that annoying, but sometimes, it can downright just stalls the plot from moving forward. At the end of the book, I even feel that the light novel is too short, plotwise.

Overall, still a fun book and I look forward to reading more.

[Mada Linx · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first watched HNTSDL, it quickly became one of my favourite anime, even with the slight hentai. You can’t just not like Diablo or the other funny characters, and the fact that he is already OP, brings something new to the table. It kinda reminds me of OVERLORD, which is also one of my favourites and I will have to reread sometime soon.
With the anime finished, I can now carry on and follow their adventures, see where else will take them.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was going to say something about Edelgard's fat butt in the one illustration or Shera's dumb tits in the one where she's wearing Sylvie's clothes, but then I got the idea to search the artist, Takahiro Tsurusaki, on the 'panda, and found an Azur Lane doujin starring Illustrious (/e49b35c339/) and that's slightly hijacked my attention.

Jesus.

Anyway, Isekai Maou was one of my favorite anime from whenever the fuck it aired. 2018 sometime. Summer? Who gives a shit. I saw a post on /a/ with a screenshot of Diablo with Rem over his shoulder and her ass looked alright, and I was like "Yeah, I guess I'll check this out." Started alright, I guess. Pretty funny. At some point, they were eating dinner in the inn, and Shera's boobs just jiggled all over the place for no reason, and I decided it was funny as fuck, and stuck with the series. And then I actually grew to enjoy the world-building and shit, so good for me.

The series is not unlike KonoSuba, being primarily a comedy, thought focusing more on the ecchi than being a parody of the "isekai" subgenre. As is true for probably too many isekai stories, a big element is that Diablo can't interact well with people, and so role-plays as his character to cope. Not unlike Ainz from Overlord, a big chunk of the humor revolves around Diablo's internal thoughts as he frets over having to deal with people. Often, Diablo would think about trying to get out of trouble peacefully, but then he'll blurt out something cocky about being high above everyone in terms of power, or whatever. This is the main joke in the novel. Doesn't really get "old," honestly, but at the same time I approached this with my brain turned down low, so I wasn't offended by any silliness. I mean, I'm reading a fucking light novel, an isekai one at that.

So the premise is that Diablo was a powerful player-killer in the MMORPG "Cross Reverie" (I'm guessing a parody of FFXIV?) who has been awarded the title of "Demon Lord" and the ability to act as a "boss" enemy in the game, despite being a human player-character. For reaching some checkpoint in the game, Diablo was granted the "Demon Lord's Ring," which reflects magic, making him a formidable foe for other players. He only PKs paired PCs whom he suspects of being romantic couples in real life, and this is pretty funny, but it has nothing to do with what happens after Diablo is spirited away. Diablo is inexplicably summoned into a fantasy world by the Elf Shera and the "Pantherian" (a catgirl) Rem to be a tool to aid in the defeat of Demon Lord Krebskulm (too lazy to double-check the spelling). Unfortunately for the girls, the Ring's effect kicks in, the enslavement magic is reflected, and both girls become Diablo's slaves. This doesn't really mean anything, other than giving the girls metal collars around their necks, I guess for the suggestion of BDSM elements, but this is hardly important in design because it's not like Tsurusaki really does anything too great with the collars, which, what the fuck?, I'm sure the dude has the talent do embellish the eroticism. Like, give a segment of chain to hang between Shera's tits or something, I don't know.

Anyway, it doesn't take long for Diablo to realize this fantasy world is partly based on Cross Reverie but with its own strange quirks that contrast with the game's lore. Enslavement magic isn't a thing in Cross Reverie. Summoners are dogshit character builds in-game, and everyone does Elemental Magic instead, but all mages in this world are Summoners. Everyone's weak compared to the average level of monsters around the game's equivalent of the main town.

Like the aforementioned Ainz, Diablo is so absurdly powerful compared to everything else that it feels like the power gap exists mainly for Yukiya Murasaki to slip in game-based world-building by having Diablo figure out how x element of the new world contrasts with y element of the game. This is somewhat distracting because, like many isekai stories, this could easily just be a straight fucking fantasy series, but, no!, we have to have video game shit. It's not really a big problem, I guess, but maybe I'm just used to the conventions of the genre that I expect MMO references. And I don't even play MMOs, which is semi-awkward. There are three chapters in this novel, each with their own conflict, and everything is resolved by Diablo's brute strength, but Murasaki does well to build the story around Diablo's immense power, such as having a Fallen mage attack the weaker Rem, Celes, and Emile while Diablo is occupied mogging Edelgard.

I've reached the obligatory section of the review where I talk about things that are arguably less important to the overall product. The "fanservice." Which, to me, is one of the more important elements, and really I would say it's rather forgivable to read this novel for little reason other than simply Tsurusaki's art. The anime, as is true for the medium in general, bastardized the original designs to make them simpler to animate. This made the ED a minor highlight of every episode, as the visual was essentially a slideshow of Tsurusaki illustrations (the song itself was fun, too - "Dahling make me happy lalala I need you"), ending with Shera and Rem in like wedding dresses, the blackish Enslavement Collars contrasting wonderfully with the white of their clothing, making more-than-adequate use of the collar's suggestion, if not also raising questions of e.g. the perception of marriage as sex slavery, or something. A good handful of anime would depict lead girls in wedding dresses to, I guess, appeal to otaku viewers who see x character as "waifu." Slapping a fucking collar on them just makes it all the greater, absolutely fucking vulgar, degenerate, truly something to aspire toward. Get sucked into a fantasy world as an extremely powerful sorcerer, may as well start enslaving everyone. Really twists the idea of "power fantasy" into something dirtier. I smirk at it.

Is the next book the one where Diablo has to fingerfuck Rem to spread his mana through her body? That's gonna be funny!

[Ridho Febriansa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.2/5.0

quick review: unexpectedly something that really easy to read, with enough amount of pages (not less and not overwhelmingly much), and of course it's really fun to read sentence after sentence.

story review: it's not something new to start a story with a guy reincarnated to another world, especially to another world that looks like the video game. Something that feels new here for me is the protagonist gained 2 party member right at the start of the story that I personally think it will help to minimize where the story is like having protagonist has romantic feeling toward one of them that somehow lead the story to something predictable, but luckily it looks like won't happen (for now).

something else that interest me is giving out the main plot right at the start, I mean somewhere near start. It doesn't take reader lot of time to understand what is the protagonist going to accomplish in this story.

and for me, the character design kinda interesting it feels like you are really inside a fantasy game where some race lives together there. It gives out that atmosphere and the outfit too. But somehow I find out really cool with their outfit especially their boots design. I might use their design for my study in the future.

things that made me give 4.2 instead of 4.5 or higher are:
1. why do you guys always talking about that fat of Sheera's?!
2. yo protagonist, do your best of being demon lord, I know that you are inexperienced with it but hang in there. I don't wanna hear an excuse such as it's soft or because you are curious, nah, hang in there and act properly as demon lord.
3. reincarnated to another world, a video game world that I used to play? I have heard that story somewhere else too.
4. protagonist had 2 girl as a companion, one that small (both physically and amount of fat) and one that big (amount of fat) and that the big one kinda really like to push her own to the protagonist? I have heard that kind of story somewhere else too.

How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord isn't a bad title, but it's not that really good either for myself because I already read some title before, but I would say it's good enough. It's kind of title that I personally can take a break from other title to read mindlessly. I'm looking forward to next volume!

[Aelvana · Rating 2 out of 5]

A gamer who has invested so much into his character Diablo he's been nicknamed the Demon Lord suddenly finds himself summoned into a world similar to the game. The problem is he's expected to be a summon---and the magic rebounded, so now his summoners are enslaved to him instead. With his crippling social anxiety, the only way he can keep going is to roleplay his arrogant character, but that brings problems of its own.

I'd heard positive things about this anime, but due to the skeevy overtones I figured I'd be better off checking it out as a book, where it would be easier to skip the useless parts. That proved to be a good decision, since this seemed to be half interesting plot, and half gratuitous fanservice that stops JUST shy of being super explicit.

I liked Diablo. The contrast between who he is on the inside and the persona he has to adapt to be able to function can be funny. I liked how he couldn't rely solely on his game levels or stats, as simple things like using magic seem to impact his body rather than decrease an MP gauge. He's still grossly overpowered compared to the residents, but even the first volume has him pressing against his limits.

The girls are awful, though. They show up being catty to each other, are mostly picking on each other throughout, and feel like they exist to fulfill fetishes rather than be characters. The few moments of characterization they get is drowned under the huge amount of time spent on far-overdone scenarios like accidental groping.

Also, Shera is criminally idiotic.

I might give this another volume or two just to see how Diablo continues to blunder his way into escalating conflicts, but I suspect I'll tire of the girls sooner rather than later. I rate this book Neutral.

See my reviews and more at https://offtheshelfreviews.wordpress....

[Nancy Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is very typical of slapstick harem/LitRPG with a sort of game error making the protagonist who is trapped inside of his videogame persona (a high level demon lord named Diablo) the unwarranted owner of two female magician slaves.

This harem novel series gave me a lot of vibes from DearS except that he has a bit of a backbone despite being the kind of nasty troll who would level up by playing incessantly for months just to kill off characters with spouses because he is too socially awkward to get a girlfriend of his own.

Now that Diablo is accidentally stuck with an elf slave named Shera and a catgirl named Rem who posesses a dangerous secret, he isn't sure if he wants to find a way to release the two quarreling girls from accidental slavery with all of the public humilliation it has brought them, or enjoy living a life trapped in the game without knowing what to do next.

All in all, I entered the novel with low expectations and it was indeed better than I feared. The artwork is nice albeit nothing that stands out above similar works, and at least it has more of a linear plot than DearS. I think I'll continue reading. 3 1/2 stars for me!

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit, while I don't mind some fanservice, after seeing the art in the front plates I was wondering if this might be a bit too ecchi for me. And honestly, there is a fair bit of it. But not as much as something truly ecchi, but be warned, there is a lot of discussion of what it is like to feel up girls of different size breasts.

Moving past that -- there is a lot of dump about the differences between the game and the world. It is the game world, but as he's been summoned to it, he's now living in it and that makes it different. I have no problem with that, but the endless noting that this is the way it was in the game, and here's how it is now....

So why does it still get 4 stars? Because it was entertaining. And while Diablo is extremely overpowered vs pretty much everyone he meets, it comes at a cost which was nice to see.

Verdict: An interesting isekai that has a lot of fan service, but actually has a story in there though it does take a bit to get to it initially. I'll be looking for volume 2.

[MarsianMan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The humor of the series comes from the fact that Diablo is really an in-game persona used by a hikikomori (shut-in hermit/introvert with no communication skills) in order to interact normally with other people.

The player known as Diablo, the Demon Lord, is summoned from inside the game, Cross Reverie, to the real world equivalent of Cross Reverie. Diablo is summoned by two summoners whose magic is reflected by Diablo's magic ring causing them to be enslaved to Diablo and become his companions. Enter harem hijinks and fan service.

The story is marginally interesting just to see where the author is going. Diablo manages the situation with his current (overpowered) power until roughly volume 7-9. This series reads like a middle grade/YA novel with some light sexuality as part of the fan service/hijinks. It is a very light and simple read.

[Kino · Rating 1 out of 5]

This series is as garbage as Sword Princess Altina (book by the same author) is a masterpiece. Give that one a read, that series manages to balance a light hearted atmosphere while taking war, politics and ideologies seriously.

If you want something like this (isekai protagonist stuff) then I recommend:
Overlord (this book is unafraid to spend 90% of its pages to deliver a punchline – that's commitment.
Defeating the demon king is a cinch if you have a ringer, well written isekai fantasy LN that focuses on someone supporting the hero instead.
Reincarnated as a slime, a fun read isekai OP protagonist. It doesn't deviate from the tropes but maintains just enough conflict to stay fun and better than others in the same genre.

[Jennifer Linsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was ill for a couple of days, and casting about for something to do which did not require too many brain cells to fire in coordinated fashion, so I watched the anime on CrunchyRoll. So yes... it's borderline ecchi. And yes; there's plenty of fanservice. And yes; it's a harem comedy, and it's an "another world" series.

But... for all that... it's kinda cute. So I picked up the first volume of the light novel, and read it, and... it's still kind of cute. So, yeah. I guess I'll read the next volume, too.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lack of originality.

Very basic character plots, feels like every other vrmmorpg out there, except omgerd its RL and we get a double description of everything... How it was in game, and how now mister gamer. It's a very bland walk-through that required heavy self-medication to actually finish...dont expect hype action or fast development. Also... The pricing is a ripoff. Not even 500 pages of this weaksauce for 7$? Never again sir!

[Ken Finlay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Slightly interesting but complete rubbish.
The best player in an online game gets drawn into it, but not as the invincible character he once was.
Who cares? I certainly don't.
Dear god it is dreadful.
I had to research what a 'light novel' was - apparently it refers to books (Japanese?) written for young adults.
I am 64 years old and it makes absolutely no sense at all - somewhere along the line there has been a disconnect.

[William Gitau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4
Interesting, funny and entertaining.

After looking at the cover, I thought it would be full of fan service an no story but I was surprised that the main characters had an interesting backstory and the novel wasn't all fan service. Diablo's demon lord role play is pretty funny too.

[Michael Cowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes.

Yes.yes.yes. The only thing this is missing is some cute kneesock action. Lol. I love this light novel. Its fun, silly and makes me wish it was me that was summoned.

I love the OP main who is limited by mana sixk ess.. Awesome

[Douglas Hull · Rating 5 out of 5]

Saw the anime series now the novel

Better than the anime . Defiantly worth the effort after I saw the series, the novel makes the story much more enjoyable. As the novel fills in the blanks.

[Sergiu Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading it aftr watching the anime last summer... worth it . It has some difference sometimes meaning some events happen earlier than in the anime or is paced kinda different but it doesnt matter it practically the same thing.

[Juan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una historia interesante... Ya he visto la adaptación al anime pero me anime a empezar a leer la LN y no me arrepiento... Hay partes en las que si sentía pesada la lectura pero es por el echo de haber visto el anime... Muy recomendable

[Nemyp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good, easy read, but wow does the ML read like an incel. I mean I expected it to an extent but this was a bit much.

He does get a bit better closer to the end though the trade off is dan service. Genre typical. Idk. It’s a light novel what did I expect.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good amount of exposition and characterization and manages to keep the isekai element relevant by comparing/contrasting the world with cross reverie. I like how the novels are physically smaller than most western light novel releases and have sturdier covers.

[Ikku Summers · Rating 4 out of 5]

It decent for what it is (isekai) but the fan service is ruining it for me.

[Saidah Gilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I watched the anime on a whim and enjoyed it so much that I had to find the light novel. The novel did not disappoint. I enjoyed it just as much.

[Ryan Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listen, we all know why we're here. This was fun.

[Shanks Ricky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

The book doesn’t use fancy words or terminology, but on the material itself it’s a good read fun and entertaining

[Dustin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is just dull. Like, even with the adjusted expectations from knowingly reading a max level mmo character isekai this is dry and charmless.