How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2 release date confirmed for April 2021 by Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu Season 2: Omega trailer

How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord character art including Diablo!
The How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2 anime will see the return of Diablo! Pic credit: Tezuka Productions

The How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2 release date has been confirmed to be scheduled for April 8, 2021. The title for the second season will be How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord: Omega (Ω).

Japanese TV broadcaster TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System) has confirmed the number of episodes for the second season. The finale will be How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2 Episode 10.

During Virtual Crunchyroll Expo 2020, it was confirmed that the second season is “coming to Crunchyroll [in] 2021”.

On February 22, 2021, the How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2 trailer announced the premiere time frame.

Anime fans are eager to watch How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2 since the story had just started getting interesting for Diablo, Rem, and Shera.

But some things are changing since animation studio Tezuka Productions is taking over for animation studio Ajia-Do to create Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu Season 2.

Studio Ajia-Do is not exactly known for doing anime sequels (although they have done straight-up explicit anime before). Their last major anime project was the 2016 Izetta: The Last Witch, which was an original standalone story.

Over 10 years ago, they co-produced with studio Sunrise (maker of Code Geass) several lengthy anime series that ran for years. So, it’s not surprising that Ajia-Do is not returning for producing How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2.

Tezuka Productions is best known for producing the first season of The Quintessential Quintuplets anime (see our article on The Quintessential Quintuplets Season 2).

The studio change for the Demon Lord anime also includes a change in some of the main staff.

Director Satoshi Kuwabara (The Quintessential Quintuplets) is replacing director Yuta Murano. However, series composition writer Kazuyuki Fudeyasu (Black Clover, By The Grace Of The Gods, Dropkick on My Devil!, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Sailor Moon Eternal movie, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime) and character designer Shizue Kaneko (Pokemon the Movie: The Power of Us) are returning.

The main Japanese voice cast is also returning for Diablo (Masaaki Mizunaka), Shera L Greenwood (Yu Serizawa), and Rem Galleu (Azumi Waki). Joining the new cast will be Miku Ito as Lumachina Weselia, Aoi Koga as Rose, Fumiko Uchimura as Horn, and Chinatsu Akasaki as Fanis Laminitus.

The How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2 OP (opening) theme song music was “Everybody Everybody” and ending (ED) “You You You”. Yuu Serizawa will be collaborating with two artists, DJ KOO and MOTSU, for both songs.

A new preview trailer released during AnimeJapan 2021 included the new OP music.

The Blu-ray/DVD box set for How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 1 is scheduled to release on February 24, 2021.

  • Updated April 14, 2021: Added How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Volume 14 release date.
  • Updated April 8, 2021: Added number of episodes for Season 2.
  • Updated March 27, 2021: Added How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2 trailer with new OP.
  • Updated March 9, 2021: Added How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2 OP/ED info.
  • Updated February 22, 2020: How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2 release date confirmed. FUNimation’s English dub confirmed.
  • Updated December 22, 2020: Added How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2 trailer and release date time frame. Added new cast and staff info.
  • Updated December 4, 2020: Added How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Blu-Ray info.

This article provides everything that is known about How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2 (Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu Season 2) and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known for certain.

How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2 release date Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu manga light novel compared to the anime [Spoilers]
How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2 will adapt a new story from the Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu light novel series. — Pic credit: Studio Ajia-Do

FUNimation’s How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2 release date set for Spring 2021

The Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu Season 2 release date is confirmed for April 8, 2021.

In addition, FUNimation’s How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2 English dub will be releasing in the spring 2021 anime season.

The fact that a second season was greenlit proves that Blu-Ray and DVD sales in Japan are not as big a deal as they used to be in the past. While not Demon Lord-level terrible or a complete flop, the Oricon rankings were not good, either.

At the same time, the anime industry has been transitioning to streaming revenue being the biggest financial factor, and the series was fairly popular on Crunchyroll when it aired.

Anime projects take years to develop, so it’s no surprise that How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2 will have anime fans waiting until Spring 2021 to watch Diablo in action again.

How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Omega Anime
A key visual for How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2 released on February 22, 2021. Pic credit: Tezuka Productions

How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord manga/light novel compared to the anime

The story for the anime is based on the Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu light novel series by author Yukiya Murasaki and artist Takahiro Tsurusaki.

Published by Kodansha since late 2014, the light novel series was up to Volume 13 as of June 2, 2020. Kodansha has confirmed that the How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Volume 14 release date is scheduled for June 2, 2021. The author averages two to three books per year.

Starting in 2015, mangaka Naoto Fukuda began serializing the Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu manga series. As of October 9, 2020, the manga was up to Volume 12, which includes up through Chapter 59.

The English translation of the How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord novel series is being published by J-Novel Club, while Seven Seas Entertainment is handling the English manga translation.

The English books reached up to Volume 13 as of December 1, 2020. The English manga only started being sold in June 2018, so Volume 11 came out on April 27, 2021.

One notable fact about the English translation is that the English title changed the meaning entirely rather than being a translation. Directly translated from Japanese, the title references the demon lord from another world, but it also talks about the summoning magic of a slave girl.

Perhaps wisely, the editors chose to strip out any reference to slavery in the title. However, the story can’t help but avoid controversy since the magical slave collars are an integral part of the plot.

How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2 Announcement Art
The manga artist created special art for the How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2 anime announcement. Pic credit: Naoto Fukuda

On its surface, the story of the How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord novel series is simply another wish-fulfillment fantasy where a socially inept hikikomori gamer named Takuma Sakamoto is transported into a game-like world and finds himself completely OP (Overpowered).

Death March To The Parallel World Rhapsody is one of many recent examples where the main character is a bland Potato-kun stumbling around an alternate world gathering up girls into a harem.

The anime adaptation of In Another World With My Smartphone faced similar issues but was worse since the first season failed to introduce the villains or any sense of purpose until the very end.

While, yes, the Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu novel series definitely has harem and fan service elements, the story is best compared to Overlord (everybody wants Overlord Season 4) or Demon Lord, Retry! (see our article on Demon Lord, Retry! Season 2, which has been confirmed to be in production).

What makes Demon Lord so interesting is Diablo himself since he’s not a blank personality.

While Momonga/Ainz Ooal Gown fakes being an undead ruler in order to keep his cruel floor guardians in check, Diablo is simply a human faking a demon lord, and this comedic routine is the core of the story.

The story also presents some balance since even the stats-stacked Diablo finds himself in danger when facing opponents that have abilities not present in the game world.

The light novels also contain characters that are innately stronger than Diablo, so he must cleverly use items and equipment to compensate. So, unlike Overlord, the idea that Diablo is totally OP is not a central running joke.

Besides interesting characters, it also helps that the central plot is moving along rather than just being an excuse for fanservice and introducing new harem girls.

Yes, the anime does have those elements, but there are genuinely humorous moments that are not entirely cringe-inducing like many so-called “man of culture” anime.

How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Episode 10 Rem Diablo
How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Episode 10 decided to stop beating around the bush, with Diablo thrusting his fingers toward the climax. — Pic credit: Studio Ajia-Do

Like many anime adaptations of light novels, the books provide way more detail, and there are some changes. For example, the riverside bathing scene in Episode 9 completely skipped a bandit attack that happened right after Edelgard appeared.

This attack prompted a dialogue on the value of human life. Surprisingly, the anime even skipped jokes related to butt squeezing and Pantherian chests.

Both the How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord manga and light novel featured the confrontation with the Paladin Saddler inside a cafe, whereas the anime moved the “fight” to an alleyway (perhaps to make the animations easier?).

The anime definitely did a better job of building up Saddler as a potential threat even though the actual confrontation was anticlimactic.

Alicia’s report to the king was also skimmed over quickly by the anime, and that skipped story section described in detail the relationship between the church and the national government (see the spoilers below for more details on why this skipped scene provided foreshadowing).

Lord Galford failed to report Diablo’s existence, which is kind of important since Galford may be planning political machinations in the future.

Thus far, the plot of the anime revolved around the lurking threat posed by the revival of the demon lord Krebskulm. In the lead up to the ritual scene, the anime adaptation skipped the explanation of the politics between Baal, Ourou, and the three demon factions and jumped straight into the hole. (Rem shot?)

While the full-powered demon seemed scary, when she settled down into base child-form she decided her new mission was to… devour all the biscuits in the entire world?

This plot twist was not too much of a surprise for any anime-only fans paying attention since the ending music video blatantly showed the childish Klem-chan being surrounded by biscuits.

The anime found a great ending by focusing on the resurrection of Krebskulm and the mental restoration of Alicia. However, there were some changes from the books/comics.

The anime showed Alicia’s severe psychological problems suddenly being fixed through the power of friendship, whereas in the light novels Alicia’s problems were discussed at length, and they’re not so easily mended.

In the manga, Diablo simply kissed Klem on the forehead to seal the enslavement spell. In the anime, he made the other girls jealous by kissing Klem on the lips.

How NOT To Summon A Demon Lord Light Novel Character Krebskulm
The fully powered up Krebskulm in all her glory. — Pic credit: Takahiro Tsurusaki

All in all, the anime hit the most important plot points necessary to tell the story. It’s definitely worth going back to read the How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord manga or light novel series if you enjoy the extra details.

However, many readers simply want to continue where the anime left off.

To put things into perspective, the resurrection of the biscuit-loving demon in How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Episode 10 took place in Volume 3 of the light novel series and Chapter 26/27 of the manga series. The ending of How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Episode 12 corresponded to the end of light novel Volume 3.

When the anime’s finale aired, the manga was not quite caught up with the events of Episode 12.

Eventually, the manga caught up with Chapter 40 of Volume 9 although the conversation was more detailed and dipped its toes into events that will happen in the anime’s second season.

The good news is that light novel series provide plenty of source material for making How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2.

Similar to how Overlord’s anime was handled, if three books are adapted per season, then How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 3 could follow quickly after.

The bad news is that the anime is only slightly behind the manga adaptation, so those who want to read far ahead must either wait for new manga chapters or turn to the light novels.

How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord: Uncensored scenes in Blu-Ray/DVD and manga

Fans of the fan service scenes will probably want to watch How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord uncensored. The differences in most episodes are relatively minor since the anime never dives down into becoming full-on explicit content. The biggest difference is probably the post-OP and the ending art.

Crunchyroll uses the censored anime while other streaming sites such as KissAnime provide the uncensored episodes. The uncensored version is likely to be contained in the How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Blu-Ray/DVD, which will be released as three volumes.

  • Volume 1 (Japanese): September 28, 2018
  • Volume 2 (Japanese): November 30, 2018
  • Volume 3 (Japanese): January 25, 2019

It’s also possible to read the How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord manga uncensored, but only in Japanese. The English scanlation projects available online have thus far relied on censored scans.

How NOT To Summon A Demon Lord Light Novel Character Diablo Volume 6
By the end of How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2, Diablo will be powered up with new weapons and equipment. — Pic credit: Takahiro Tsurusaki

How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2 spoilers

The next time we see Diablo he will be going to church. No, really. After all, everyone knows that is where you go to meet good women! The next major story arc focuses on the political machinations of the church and the in-fighting that’s harming the kingdom.

In this case, Diablo ends up rescuing Lumachina Weselia, high priest of the Church of Celestials, by sheer accident. Lumachina was being assaulted by a monster in the woods and was praying to Kami-sama to rescue her.

Diablo happened to be testing flight magic, and when the spell ran out, he coincidentally came crashing down on top of the monster. This answer to prayer causes Lumachina to believe Diablo must be Kami-sama in the flesh.

It turns out Lumachina was being targeted for assassination by a Church Paladin named Gewalt, a depraved Okama who is jealous of beautiful women like the blonde Lumachina.

The Paladin is a summoner who relies on beasts to do his dirty work, and he uses a beast mushroom to rip off Lumachina’s clothing, taunting her by calling her a w***e.

Gewalt is mortally wounded, but Lumachina saves him regardless of his heinous actions against her. In response, he gives up being a Paladin and will end up joining another organization later in the story. Gewalt will be making regular appearances during the second season.

How NOT To Summon A Demon Lord Volume 4 Cover
Lumachina Weselia has more magical energy than even Diablo but only while praying to the gods. Krebskulm and Lumachina despise each other since the pint-sized demon lord hates the gods, while the high priest is repulsed by Krem-chan’s demonic aura. — Pic credit: Takahiro Tsurusaki

Diablo and his friends decide to accompany Lumachina to Zircon Tower City, a rough and hardy desert town that does not have a magical barrier against demons.

There, they meet the female Feudal Lord Fanis Laminitus, a fiery redhead who is a magic gunner class from the Cross Reverie game world.

Fanis is not a fan of the Church of Celestials nor the King of Lyferia because of the way she’s seen them treat the people of the Kingdom.

The Feudal Lord also denies the existence of the gods and does not believe the world is caught in a proxy war between Kami-sama and the Demon Lord.

She even attempts to prove her point by pulling a gun on Lumachina, claiming that if Kami-sama does exist then he should protect his priest from the gun blast.

Despite her prickly nature, the Feudal Lord quickly becomes a fan of Diablo after he stops an attack by the Fallen. Fanis has no problem with using her body to gain power, and she tries to seduce Diablo so he’ll stay in Zircon Tower City.

Zircon Tower City is also where Diablo will meet Horn (or Horun), a 12-year-old adventurer who is a rabbit-eared Grasswalker. She was separated from her family at a young age and was raised by a master thief until he died.

Horn had partied up with a Pantherian adventurer to explore a new dungeon but met Diablo shortly after having a falling out with her party.

Horn will become one of Diablo’s companions and follow him on his future adventures. She is present even in Volume 10 of the book series, so she will definitely be around for How NOT To Summon A Demon Lord Season 3.

How NOT To Summon A Demon Lord Light Novel Character Horn
Diablo gives Horn a variety of equipment, including a shadow knife and a magical mini skirt. — Pic credit: Takahiro Tsurusaki

Poor Lumachina is afflicted with a terrible curse, and although she can miraculously heal others, she cannot heal herself. In hopes of finding a magical curse cure, Diablo takes her to a new dungeon that has sprung out of nowhere in recent times.

No adventurer has successfully captured the dungeon, and many brave souls have died fighting against its boss.

It turns out that the new dungeon is actually Diablo’s dungeon from the Cross Reverie game world. Diablo must capture his own dungeon! Similar to the Great Tomb of Nazarick in Overlord, Diablo’s dungeon (which has no special name) has floor guardians like a large black dragon.

Other inhabitants of Diablo’s dungeon include Babylon goddess of the Holy Grail that levels adventurers up in exchange for blood.

One former NPC is a Magimatic Maid named Rose. Once listed as an in-game item classified as furniture, she used to have as much intelligence and emotion as a Roomba, but being transported to this alternate world has endowed her with the spark of life.

Rose hates being referred to as a mere tool… unless Diablo is the one saying it. Similar to Albedo from Overlord, Rose is ferociously loyal to Diablo, quick to cast wrath on anyone who dares disobey her master.

She has level 150 swordsmanship, and 12 attacks named after the zodiac symbols, so it’s wise not to upset this 44-ton cleaning bot.

How NOT To Summon A Demon Lord Light Novel Character Rose
Unfortunately, Rose’s power as a Magimatic Maid is limited since she recharges her magical energy by being near Diablo or his dungeon, so if she wanders off too far she goes into power conservation mode. — Pic credit: Takahiro Tsurusaki

Powered up by the items found in the dungeon, Diablo takes the fight to Fallen that are heralding the return of the demon lord. With Lumachina healed, Diable also wants to fight the church, but she wants to attempt reform within the church without resorting to violence.

They travel into the kingdom, but it seems like Lumachina’s hope of avoiding battle may be unrealistic.

Unfortunately, anime fans will have to wait until the How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Season 2 release date to watch how Diablo resolves this sticky situation. Stay tuned!

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