Overlord III (Season 3) Series Review

If you have watched the two previous seasons of Overlord, I guess you already know what makes this show great. The third instalment of Overlord managed once again to give us a great story with an interesting plot along with extreme badass-ery of Papa Bones.

Synopsis

Ainz has now established Nazarick in a world where he doesn’t even know how he got there in the first place. His next course of action is simply to take over that world and make his presence known across the rest of the kingdoms and countries, or at least that is what Demiurge thinks and Ainz is just going along with it. He starts making bold moves against the Empire and prepares for war in order to claim more territory and found his nation of the Sorcerous Kingdom.

Plot & Story

This season is once again separated into two story arcs. One follows Enri and Npheria in Carne Village and shows how their progress is tied with Ainz’s plans and the other one follows the actions of the Empire, and how they are connected to Ainz’s headway of ruling the world. What makes Overlord unique in a way, is its great world-building. It doesn’t only focus on the main character and the people that surround him but gives depth in the world outside Nazarick and to various other characters, which makes you invested in them and wonder why and how they will interact with Ainz in the future and if they will survive this encounter. The pacing of the story overall is quite slow but still manages to give a fulfilling ending that makes you ask for more. Despite its great humor and dialogues, Overlord’s biggest strength is that you are probably routing for the bad guy to win. Yes, you do wish that some of the world’s core characters make it out unscathed, especially when they confront Ainz or the rest of the Guardians, but you still route for Ainz because he is the character we get invested into the most.

Art & Music

This season had some solid animation and visuals here and there but boy oh boy, the CGIs were just horrifically bad. In almost every episode that involved an army you could see the use of poor of CGI that were copy – pasted over and over just to show large numbers of soldiers, monsters, or knights. They resembled PS2 graphics and honestly it was very disappointing to watch. And let’s not talk about the Dark Young in the final episodes… The difference from the light novel illustrations and the actual outcome is just painful for the eyes. And on that note the overused goat sounds when the Dark Young were on screen was just ridiculous. The opening of the season ‘VORACITY’ by MYTH＆ROID was probably the best one so far. You just can’t help yourself from singing along: ‘I am very very crazy!’

Themes & Trivia

Some random fun facts:

The goats of darkness: In the light novel they are called Dark Young and are actually based on H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos’ Outer God Shub-Niggurath’s children. The Dark Young act as proxies for Shub-Niggurath in the accepting of sacrifices and spreading of their mother’s faith across the world.
Gashokukochuuou: No one really knows what that thing is but it is very likely that he is a parasite-type NPC. His name “餓食狐蟲” sounds similar to “芽殖孤虫“, a Japanese name for Sparganum, a parasitic infection. It uses humans as a “house”. Lovely stuff once again.

Comments

After finishing this season I realized how great the visual novels must be. I might be repeating myself but honestly the world building in this show is so well made! Some might think that it’s boring or that it introduces a lot of characters that have no worth in the main plot, but at the end of the day it really helps you get immersed in that fantasy world, and this is what good storytelling is all about. Its heart and soul will always be its world and characters because that is what it does best.

But that’s not the only thing that wins you over in Overlord. It goes out of the ordinary by showing protagonists that are actually the overpowered villains of the story. We get introduced to the inhabitants of the world, get attached to them only to see Ainz and his gang take their lives in the future. I think it’s funny how this show has gone from finding out where Ainz is and if there are other players out there to watching a powerful Overlord taking over the world.

You know your defeat is imminent

Plus:

Unique story with engaging characters that keeps you invested
Good humour and dialogues
Nice world building

Minus:

The animation drags it down
Not that much action

If you were not a fan of how Overlord II was structured and how the attention was always driven away from Ainz, then you will probably not love this season either. What frustrates me with Overlord is that it has everything to make a great show but it is killed in the execution. I am not going to lie, the animation really ruined it for me but thankfully it still has an engaging plot that makes you look over the minor details. We have no news yet for a fourth season, but let’s be patient and wait! Maybe if it’s delayed, the outcome might be more worth it. Until then, all hail the Great Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown!