is a Japanese

light novel A is a type of Genre fiction, popular literature novel from Japan usually classified as young adult fiction, generally targeting Adolescence, teens to Young adult, twenties or older. The definition is very vague, and wide-ranging. The abbr ...

series written by Ryūyū with illustrations provided by Daburyu. The first chapter was uploaded in October 2016 on user-generated online platform

Shōsetsuka ni Narō is a Japanese novel self-publishing website created by . It was launched on April 2, 2004. Users can upload their novels free of charge and the novels are also free to read. As of December 2022, the site hosts close to 1,000,000 novels, has over ...

and was later acquired by Japanese publisher

Fujimi Shobo , formerly , was a Japanese publisher that specialized in light novels, manga, Japanese role-playing games, role-playing games and collectible card games. Founded in 1972 and reorganized three times, it was at times an independent company and at ...

who published the first printed volume under their Kadokawa Books imprint in November 2017. The series also received a

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

adaptation with illustrations done by Note Tono, which started in May 2018. The manga series is published on Fujimi Shobo's

Niconico , known before 2012 as , is a Japanese video sharing service based in Tokyo, Japan. "Niconico" or "nikoniko" is the Japanese sound symbolism, Japanese ideophone for smiling. As of 2021, Niconico is the 34th most-visited website in Japan, accordi ...

-based ''Dra Dra Sharp'' website and was later released in printed format under their Dragon Comics Age imprint. Both the light novel and manga series were licensed by American publisher

J-Novel Club J-Novel Club is a publishing company specializing in the translation of Japanese light novels into English. It streams light novels and manga in regular installments before publishing finalized e-books. As of August 2021, J-Novel Club has licens ...

for an English-language publication. The story of the series follows Yuki, who was suddenly summoned in a fantasy world as a demon lord tied to his own dungeon. In his new role as leader of his own dungeon, he meets different persons and monsters, some of them are friendly towards him while others are not.

Plot

Yuki, who was a human not long ago, has been summoned to a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

world as a demon lord. In this new world he is the ruler of his own

dungeon A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably derives more from the Renaissance period. An oubliette (fr ...

. A dungeon is like a living being and Yuki is tied to its core. If Yuki dies, the dungeon vanishes; and Yuki dies if the dungeon is conquered. At the beginning of his new life, Yuki spends time expanding the dungeon which is possible by using dungeon points. Dungeon points are acquirable by fulfilling different tasks or accepting creatures as his familiar. The world outside of his dungeons seems to be dangerous as monsters are fighting for survival everywhere. One day, Yuki meets a

dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

named Lefisios who is eager to kill him. Yuki who finds out that the dragon has a weakness for sweets can stop him from his plans and makes an offer to Lefisios to give him more sweets if he spares his life. The dragon agrees and turns into human form which to Yuki's surprise looks like a young girl. Yuki and Lefisios spend some days together. He creates weapons and summons his first familiar, a

slime Slime or slimy may refer to: Science and technology Biology * Slime coat, the coating of mucus covering the body of all fish * Slime mold, an informal name for several eukaryotic organisms * Biofilm, or slime, a syntrophic community of micr ...

monster which he names Shī. One day while on hunt, Yuki finds a wounded

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

girl named Iluna who is chased by slavers and treats her wounds. When Iluna was kidnapped by said slavers some days later, Yuki and Lefisios ilfitrate the headquarters in attempt to rescue their newest family member. They are able to free her from the slavers and return home. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to his father,

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

Lute who is eager to seize the lands of Yuki for its riches, sends the heroine Nell to the territory to get rid of the demon lord. It turns out that Nell is rather clumsy in her acts to kill Yuki. Yuki can convince her that he is not the evil demon the stories tell him to be and they become friends. To get more information about this world, Yuki and Lefisios register as adventurers in the royal city.

Media

Light novel

Ryūyū published the first chapter of ''Now I'm a Demon Lord! Happily Ever After with Monster Girls in My Dungeon'' on the user-generated online platform

on October 1, 2016. It was later acquired by Japanese publisher

who publishes a printed version of the light novel series with illustrations drawn by Daburyu under their Kadokawa Books imprint since November 10, 2017. As of March 2024, seventeen volumes had been published in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. In May 2022, American publisher

announced the acquisition of the light novel series for an English-language release.

Manga

adaptation with illustrations by Note Tone started on Fujimi Shobo's

-based ''Dra Dra Sharp'' website on May 4, 2018. The first printed volume in ''

tankōbon A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...

'' format was published on January 9, 2019, under their Dragon Comics Age imprint. As of March 2025, eleven volumes have been published in Japan. J-Novel Club also acquired the rights for an English-language publication of the manga series in January 2023.

Other

In the second volume of the manga series, it was announced that the series would receive a voice comic adaptation. It was revealed that

Yūya Hirose is a Japanese voice actor who is affiliated with Arts Vision. He is known for his roles as Junichi Aizawa in '' Handa-kun'', Aki Kashii in '' Dynamic Chord'', Yūta Hibiki in ''SSSS.Gridman'', Takuma Akutsu in ''Val × Love'', and Haruka Isumi ...

was chosen to voice the protagonist Yuki, while

Momoyo Koyama is a Japanese actress, Voice acting in Japan, voice actress and singer from Sapporo, Hokkaido, who is affiliated with Stardust Promotion. She is known for playing Sailor Mercury in two stage play adaptations of ''Sailor Moon'' in 2014 and 2015, ...

lends her voice to Lefisios.

Reception

The first manga volume was reviewed by Rebecca Silverman, Jean-Karlo Lemus and Christopher Ferris as part of the column ''The Manga Preview Guide'' on

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...

with all reviews being negative. The childlike character design of Lefisios and Iluna was criticised negatively, while Yuki not being attracted sexually to them was pointed out positively. The plot was described as a standard fantasy story with characters missing any depth. The translator was praised for the effective usage of modern language in a story setting in a medieval fantasy world while the plot was criticized for not giving any information about Yuki's life before he was summoned as a demon lord.

References

External links

* at

* at Kadokawa Books * at Dragon Comics Age * {{DraDra Sharp 2017 Japanese novels Anime and manga based on light novels Fujimi Shobo Fujimi Shobo manga Harem anime and manga Isekai anime and manga Isekai novels and light novels J-Novel Club books Japanese romance novels Japanese webcomics Light novels Light novels first published online Romance anime and manga Shōsetsuka ni Narō Shōnen manga Webcomics in print