Demon Lord, Retry! Has 5 Manga Volumes (Complete Series)
Good news if you hate waiting for new releases — Demon Lord, Retry! (魔王様、リトライ!) is a completed manga series with 5 volumes total. If you’re searching for every Demon Lord, Retry! manga volume, the answer is simple: there are five books, and the series is done. No cliffhangers with no resolution, no indefinite hiatuses. The whole thing is finished and ready to read from start to finish.
The manga is based on the Demon Lord, Retry! light novel — a type of short Japanese novel with occasional illustrations — by Kanzaki Kurone. The manga version features art by Minotake Amaru and was published in Japan by Futabasha under their Monster Comics imprint, running from March 2018 through December 2019. Across those 5 volumes, the series packs in 78 chapters of isekai comedy. If you’re new to manga, “isekai” simply means a story where a character gets transported to another world — it’s one of the most popular genres in manga and anime (Japanese animation) right now.
For English readers, all 5 volumes are available digitally through J-Novel Club, a digital publishing platform that specializes in translating Japanese light novels and manga. That means you can start and finish the entire series in a weekend if you’re so inclined — it’s a breezy, fun read that doesn’t demand a huge time or money commitment.
All 5 Volumes at a Glance
Here’s the full volume list with Japanese release dates. All five volumes are currently available in English through J-Novel Club’s digital store, so you don’t need to worry about any being out of print or unavailable:
| Volume | JP Release Date |
|---|---|
| Vol. 1 | March 30, 2018 |
| Vol. 2 | August 30, 2018 |
| Vol. 3 | January 28, 2019 |
| Vol. 4 | June 26, 2019 |
| Vol. 5 | December 28, 2019 (Final Volume) |
Five volumes, 78 chapters, one complete story. The pacing is pretty tight — each volume released roughly every 4–6 months, and the whole manga wrapped up in under two years.
Volume 1 kicks off the story with Akira Oono’s sudden arrival in the game world and introduces the central dynamic that drives the series: everyone around him misreads his confused fumbling as calculated genius. It sets the comedic tone and introduces key characters including the young girl Aku, who becomes his traveling companion.
Volumes 2 and 3 expand the world significantly. Kunai’s reputation grows as he encounters various factions — adventurers, kingdoms, and religious organizations — all of whom project their own assumptions onto his motives. The comedy escalates as his “demon lord” persona takes on a life of its own despite his bewilderment.
Volume 4 raises the stakes as the various powers in the world begin reacting more seriously to Kunai’s growing influence. The misunderstandings become more consequential, and the plot threads that have been building start to converge.
Volume 5 wraps up the original manga’s storyline and serves as a natural stopping point. The major conflicts introduced throughout the series reach a resolution, and while the door is left open for the sequel, you won’t feel cheated by the ending.
One important thing to know: there is a sequel manga titled Demon Lord, Retry! R that continues the story beyond where this series ends. It’s treated as a separate series with its own volume numbering, so if you finish volume 5 and want more, that’s where to look next.
demon lord retry, Vol. 5 (final volume)
What Is Demon Lord, Retry! About?
The setup is classic isekai with a comedic twist. An adult game developer named Akira Oono gets transported into the world of his own MMORPG — that’s a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, basically a large-scale online video game where thousands of players share the same fantasy world. But he doesn’t arrive as some nobody starting from scratch. He wakes up as Hakuto Kunai, his most powerful demon lord character, complete with overwhelming strength and a seriously intimidating appearance.
The comedy comes from the gap between who Kunai actually is (a regular middle-aged guy who’s confused and just trying to figure things out) and how everyone in this fantasy world perceives him. Characters throughout the world — heroes, entire nations, even background characters who should know better — misread his every casual action as part of some grand, terrifying scheme. He stumbles into situations, makes offhand decisions, and everyone around him treats it like the calculated move of a brilliant mastermind villain.
It’s a lighter take on the demon lord isekai formula. Some isekai series lean hard into the darker implications of being an all-powerful being in a fantasy world, exploring themes of morality and control. Demon Lord, Retry! keeps things mostly fun and comedic instead. The misunderstandings pile up in entertaining ways, and the series doesn’t take itself too seriously. If you’ve read Overlord — another popular isekai series about a player trapped as an overpowered villain character — think of Demon Lord, Retry! as the more lighthearted, comedy-first version of that premise.
J-Novel Club rates the series Suggested 15+, which is their own content advisory recommendation (not an official ratings board designation). In practice, this means the series includes some action violence and mild fanservice — a manga term for scenes with suggestive or mildly sexualized content, like revealing outfits or comedic situations. Nothing heavy or graphic. Think comedy with some fight scenes and occasional eye-rolling moments rather than anything you’d need to hide from a teenager.
The series also got a 12-episode TV anime adaptation that started airing in July 2019. The anime covers the earlier portions of the story, so if you watched it and want to see where things go from there, the manga continues beyond what the anime adapted and runs through to its conclusion.
Is the Manga Finished?
Yes — completely finished. The original Demon Lord, Retry! manga ended with volume 5 in December 2019. There are no missing volumes, no cancelled storylines, and no need to switch to a different format to get the ending. You’re getting a full, self-contained story across those 5 books.
That said, the story itself isn’t over in the broader sense. The sequel manga, Demon Lord, Retry! R, picks up where the original left off and continues the adventures. It’s a separate series with its own volume numbering — you won’t find it by searching for volume 6 of the original. Look for it by its distinct “R” title.
This kind of structure is actually common in manga: a series wraps up one run and then relaunches under a new title to continue the story. If you enjoy the original 5 volumes, the sequel is there waiting for you. If the original feels like enough, volume 5 provides a satisfying stopping point on its own.
If you want to go even deeper into the source material, the Demon Lord, Retry! light novel is also available in English from J-Novel Club. The light novel is the original version of the story that both the manga and anime were based on, so it contains the most detailed telling of events and goes further than the manga covers. Think of it as the most complete version of the story — the manga condenses and adapts it into visual form, and the anime condenses it even further.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the different ways to experience this story:
| Format | English Publisher | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Manga (original) | J-Novel Club (digital) | Complete — 5 volumes |
| Manga (sequel: Retry! R) | — | Separate series |
| Light Novel | J-Novel Club | Source material |
| Anime | — | 12 episodes |
Where to Read Demon Lord, Retry! in English
The English manga is published by J-Novel Club and available in digital format. J-Novel Club is a digital-first publisher — you can purchase individual volumes directly from their website or find them on major digital manga retailers. To get started, search for “Demon Lord, Retry!” on the J-Novel Club website or your preferred digital bookstore.
There’s no confirmed physical or print English edition, so if you’re specifically looking for paperbacks to put on your shelf, this one doesn’t have that option right now.
The digital-only release does have an upside, though — you can buy and start reading immediately without waiting for shipping or worrying about volumes being out of stock. At only 5 volumes, the full series is a pretty affordable digital purchase compared to longer-running manga that stretch into dozens of books.
Reading Order
This one’s straightforward. Read the volumes in order: 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5. There are no side stories, companion volumes, or alternate reading paths to worry about. Volume 1 starts the story, volume 5 ends it.
If you watched the anime first, you can still start from volume 1 without feeling like you’re retreading too much ground — the manga includes details and scenes that didn’t make it into the anime, and 5 short volumes go quickly anyway.
After finishing the original 5 volumes, your options are:
- Demon Lord, Retry! R (sequel manga) — continues the story directly
- Demon Lord, Retry! light novel — the original source material with more detail and story content than the manga covers
Why This Is a Great Pickup for Isekai Fans
A completed isekai comedy manga in just 5 volumes is honestly kind of rare. So many isekai series either run for 20+ volumes or get cancelled before they wrap up properly. Demon Lord, Retry! gives you a beginning, middle, and end in a compact package.
It’s a good fit if you:
- Want a lighthearted isekai that doesn’t take itself too seriously
- Like comedy built around misunderstandings and overpowered main characters
- Prefer completed series over ongoing ones
- Are looking for something short you can finish in a day or two
- Enjoyed the anime and want to continue the story in manga form
- Are newer to isekai and want a short, low-commitment series to test the waters
And if you finish it and want more, the sequel series and the original light novels are waiting for you. Five volumes is the perfect length to test whether this flavor of isekai comedy clicks with your taste before committing to more of the franchise.