The structure of the title compound octakis{[4-(dimethylamino)pyridine](nitrosyl)[N,N′-(o-phenylene)bis(pyridine-2-carboxamidato)]manganese(II)} ethanol heptasolvate 3.5-hydrate, [Mn(C18H12N4O2)(C7H10N2)(NO)]8·7C2H5OH·3.5H2O, or 8[Mn(bpb)(DMAP)(NO)]·7EtOH·3.5H2O, is an unusual example of a structure with Z′ = 8. The tetradentate bpb ligand, together with the nitrosyl and dimethylaminopyridine ligands, gives rise to a distorted octahedral coordination environment for the Mn(II) ion. The average Mn—N(N=O) bond length is 1.631 (13) Å. The eight molecules in the asymmetric unit differ mainly in the rotation of the DMAP pyridine plane with respect to a reference plane of the Mn and three N atoms, one of which is the N atom of the NO group. The dihedral angles between the normals to these planes range from a minimum of 28.0 (2)° to a maximum of 64.2 (2)°. There are also some differences in O—H⋯O hydrogen bonding interactions. For example, of the sixteen C=O acceptors, there are seven different interactions with EtOH donors and two interactions with H2O donors. The crystal studied was found to be a two-component twin, with a 179.9° rotation about the real axis [−0.535, 0.004, 1.000]. Due to the presence of a superlattice and, consequently, the large number of weak reflections, the refinement utilized rigid solvate groups and isotropic displacement parameters for all except the Mn atoms. H atoms were not located for hydrate molecules.