Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord
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MiloTheFirst
Posts: 429 |
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While I wouldn't say the production value has been remarkable (aside from the salamander certainly not being the hideous CG we tend to see) I will agree that the voice acting has being great for the most part. As trope-ish as the characters are and as bland as the dialogue really is I can hear a sincerity on shera's speech modulation that feels really refreshing
On another note, while it was nice to see some level of grittiness on the last episode. I don't think the series really holds any substance. Up to volume 4 of the light novel the plot hasn't really gotten anywhere, instead it just gets too comfortable increasing the haren and playing off the usual echi-comedy hijinks. Then it refuses on working in its supposed theme of diablo accepting that life is richer when spent with others. Sort of like the smartphone just less dumb and actually engaging. Add much as it insist on putting it in the back burner, overlord at least keeps working on its theme of absolute power turns is wielder unsympathetic to the pain of others. Though very slowly one can see ainz becoming more heartless each volume. Going from the nice guy just playing along in order to meet everyone's expectations to a self centered person who doesn't care who he tramples on in order to execute his will regardless of how pretty his goal was |
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Kokuryu Daimao
Posts: 115 |
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What? I'm no English expert, but this made no sense to me. |
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JacobC
ANN Contributor
 Posts: 3728 Location: SoCal |
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Just a typo. It's been fixed. |
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MiloTheFirst
Posts: 429 |
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this
and this
I swear even if this series were to turn down right awful for some reason, I would still continue to read these review just to enjoy Christopher's talent at writing jabs Also, it is really difficult to take Alicia's scenario seriously when her armor is so ridiculous, what kind of breast plate covers the ribs but not the pecs? the pelvis but not the belly? it is just a metal colored lingerie. not that the other characters' outfit aren't any less skimpy (and i know what i got myself into by choosing to watch this show) but in her case it really contrast her alleged setting
that's the problem with this series as a whole straight from the LN, there is no real exploration of any theme, shera spoiler[doesn't really learn anything, she is just a plot device in her own arc]. things just happen and eventually get solved by rule of cool. not that this can't be enjoyed in its own merit (i am still watching this shown, you know) but it feels as if the writing doesn't even try. I think the studio made the wiser show aiming for the echi appeal as a priority. and in fact I think the anime is at its best executed when doing comedy it really astonishes me that this was written by the same author of Altina. this is just conjecture but it makes me think he just decided to shelf his own ideas and just write something that would sell well, such as overlord with boobs and, you know, for all the shit we give smartphone and death march they both have published over 12 volumes by now |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11330 |
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I assume that's a pun and not a typo. 
Their being "slaves" in this is different from the Death March girls, who were actual slaves before coming under the benign hero's protection. These women are accidental slaves, in name only and by their own screw-up, and their collars are about as significant to them and Maou as a goth wearing a dog collar. That being the case though, doesn't shield this from the criticism that they want to be under his masculine authority and protection rather than displaying much agency of their own. They'd be all over him even without the plot-device collars. But I'm enjoying both Maou's public and private personas enough that it pretty much makes the silly fan service tolerable (can't bear the ED though), so I guess I'll stick around. |
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S0crates
 Posts: 227 Location: Banned - Noticed our poor ethics |
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Well, to be fair, realism regarding heavy armor wouldn't be able to showcast a female form at all. No "female/boob" armor would ever exist as the curves would make piercing objects center into the heart, making the armor less effective as its primary mechanism for defense is deflection rather than being impenetrable, unlike a shield which is much ticker. Further on the most important piece of armor would always be the head gear, where historically you'd have legions of soldiers wearing leather armor, but with a plated headgear, like those you see of Vikings. As a matter of fact, the earlier armor versions, like the ones of the Roman Empire, had a plated head piece and a very small chest plate right above their heart. The rest was leather armor, meaning that it did indeed give even less protection than Alicia got here in regards to raw plate armor. The fact that everyone is lacking the head gear is most definitely due to artistic purposes, where the only main character wearing "realistic" armor (that I can think of) is Momon in Overlord, but where he does it to cover up his skeleton face rather than for protection (all things considered). The reason for this is of course that it looks far less heroic, and that it can be hard to spot the different people if everyone is using head armor, etc. etc. If you want to be creative you could thus argue that Alicia is simply wearing the plate armor as it is the service armor of the imperial guard, and that the dress codes allow for her to skip the leather pieces and head armor during hot days. It is for this same reason that many guards in towns of medieval age etc. were allowed to not wear full body armor at patrol, as their primary function was to work as policemen rather than actually facing combat. However, they would always use their full combat armor if they were expecting trouble. Think of it like today's policemen vs SWAT teams or the military. However, their uniform would normally be parts of the battle armor. That said, if you want to bring the fact of realism even further, then Alicia's body proportions would make it impossible for her to serve in the Imperial Guard to begin with, as she is far too feminine and would as such lack the physical strength to carry plated armor, if their Imperial Guard used full plated body armor as in our world. Walking around in full plated body armor requires a lot of upper body strength in order to fight effectively, which is why historically very few women fought on the front lines/in heavy armor, and those who did had much closer to men's physical body proportions. Historically, (if they fought at all,) they were much more likely to be a part of the archery class of warriors, which again rarely had more than leather armor at best. Of course, if she was fighting in a peasants army, with cloth armor, then she could serve as a frontline fighter out of necessity, but this would again mean that the whole discussion regarding armor would be invalid as you'd basically just be wearing regular clothes. There's also the fact that this is a made up world with different norms from what we got. In our world female officers and military actually do wear different uniforms, which all usually do show more skin (they use skirts, while men use pants). Back when Persia tried to invade Sparta it was different. The immortals of Persia where laughed at by Spartans (who wore "skirts"/kilts) because they had pants, where the Spartans believed that wearing pants was very "girly". However, because "pants" actually covered more of the body during combat, it became the norm for men to use them in combat as it was more effective, especially for cavalry that could expect attacks towards the lower regions. Because of this it is probably viewed as more masculine in present time as all the great fighters of the late medieval age would be using "pants" rather than skirts. As this is a different world completely there could be some similar reasons at play, where maybe magic made it so that those armor specifications would still make sense, as perhaps some newer support magic would make plated armor obsolete, meaning her current armor is nothing but an uniform, and as such nothing but a fashion choice made by the central authorities. You'd then fall into the argumentation as for "what constitutes a respectable work outfit", where dress codes are different depending on location. "Star Bucks" and "Hooters" got different dress codes, even if they do somewhat the same service. Historically having women show of parts of their bodies was not viewed as distracting, but rather about looking proper and healthy. The corset was created and worn by nobles, even men, in order to show a healthy figure. It was hard to distinguish between wanted to portray a healthy body, and looking "too sexy", as showing a well built body and nature would usually mean showing "more". This is an issue we even struggle with until this day, where there is no "correct answer", but where regulating it has proven far more difficult than having people "self-regulate". One could thus suspect that the Imperial Guard allowed her great freedoms in her fashion choice as she was one of very few females within their service, and that her uniforms wears marks of her individual preferences. TL:DR It's about fashion/artistic direction, rather than realism. There could be different cultural norms at play. It's hard to distinguish between looking good and looking sexy. |
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Chrono1000
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This show is doing a good job of balancing adventure, comedy, and ecchi. That the entire group was freaking out when it came time for Diablo to talk with the governor was a nice bit of comedy along with Diablo going with the most Demon Lord looking weapon he could find. There is some irony that a show with enslavement magic frequently talks about the importance of personal freedom but it does seem to be a theme of this show since it has been brought up in a few of the past episodes.
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MiloTheFirst
Posts: 429 |
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@S0crates
I see. Those are some very interesting points you bring in. Nonetheless my point was more simple "what kind of armor cover the bones yet leaves the organs unprotected" is what I meant to say. Yeah this fantasy, but come on |
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GhostD
Posts: 999 |
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Having read the light novels I can say that while its far from perfect its certainly entertaining and it has its own charms. Unfortunately it had the ill luck of airing during the same season as Overlord season 3 and because DL has a similar premise people cant help but compare them. IMO I think DL is kinda underrated
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James S.
Posts: 94 |
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I'm pretty sure it hasn't been mentioned here yet, but I'd just like to let everyone know that all the dog boys and girls you see in this anime are dwarves.
That's right, dwarves. Their description in the novels were that males had various types of dog ears and were short while the girls had various types of dog ears and were shortstacks. Ironically enough, I can see it as a merging of the descriptions of dwarves and kobolds since both were beings who were deeply involved in the earth while kobold had some canine traits. Of course, kobolds are typically considered monsters so it'd be dwarves for the dog people instead. Of course it could be that the author wanted his dwarves to have dog ears but when you consider he's also the author of Altina the Sword Princess my theory actually seems plausible. On a side note as something that's been brought up, while I've been alright with the reviews, why indeed is it that someone who appears to vocally hate harem anime the reviewer of what is clearly portraying itself as a harem anime? Do the ANN reviewers go through a lottery for who does what, or was he genuinely interested in reviewing the series? |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11330 |
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You win today's internet. 
Not just too difficult, but insanely exhausting (gotta build up stamina for this sort of thing, doncha know). Also, it did look impossibly complex, so if he'd magically been able to untangle it, that would've felt like an OP cop-out to me. I thought it was an believable way to make an effort toward a solution without actually solving the problem. |
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jr240483
 Posts: 4374 Location: New York City,New York,USA |
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i'm surprised that they didn't edit that whole thing out ala FSN or even have it the same way as prisma illya, cause the source materials definitely did that in a way.
though at least they left the interactions of the slaves intact and not have them similar to lets say death march or god forbid overlord!!!!! |
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seltzermx
Posts: 51 |
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The bigger question is will ANN writers ever get over the fact that many anime, especially fantasy ones, have slavery.
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Doompa
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Unfortunately that won't ever happen. The reviewers go out of their way to virtue signal and push an agenda every review. Case in point the previous Asobi Asobase review the review takes a letter grade away because middle schoolers in an all-girls school happen to be scared that one of the students in the school may be a boy and cross dressing. |
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Fluwm
 Posts: 887 |
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I think it more likely that the reviewer doesn’t like bad/lazy harem elements, which is the vast and overwhelming majority.
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