Overlord (Season 1) Series Review

The second season of Overlord will be coming out soon (Winter 2018) and I don’t know about you guys but I am quite excited about it. I started watching this show with no expectations whatsoever, thinking that it will be an SAO rip-off with less attractive characters, but I was wrong. So wrong.

Synopsis

In the year 2126, Yggdrasil was released, a Dive Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game or DMMORPG, that became a huge success due to the ability of the player to interact with the game itself. After 12 years that the game has been running, the game servers were to be shut down for good. Momonga, the MC, part of a guild called Ainz Ooal Gown, is inviting the last members that are left for one last gathering in the game, but unfortunately, only one was able to make it. Thinking about the good times they had together playing the game, he decides to stay online until the servers shut down. To his surprise, they never did, and he finds himself in an alternate reality where his true form is his own character, the world is like an RPG, and the NPCs have come to life. He then decides to go on a mission in order to find out what happened and solve the mystery.

Plot & Story

Momonga-sama, a pretty weird figure and the main character of the story, looks like an undead skeleton, aka Lich. He used to be part of one of the most powerful guilds in the game, Ainz Ooal Gown, when the game was up and running, making him one of the most potent players in the world of Yggdrasil. Even though everyone from the guild moved on with their lives, he still wanted to play and meet them once more before the servers shut down, thus he stayed until the last playable minute online. The server never really shut down, or did it? The world he has been transferred in looks like Yggdrasil but it is more like another reality within the game. All the NPCs came to life and they were faithful and loyal to his greatness, referring to him as the Supreme Being.

Momonga has been trapped in the form of his game avatar, leaving him unable to use the player functions, or even worse, log out. Sounds familiar? Leaving him with no other option, he starts exploring the world, taking the name of Ainz Ooal Gown, to see if anyone else from the ‘real world’ is trapped in the game like him and to find anyone who could help him understand what is happening. Did I mention that he made one of the NPCs, Albedo, who was originally programmed to be a bitchy slut, to fall deeply in love with him by changing her personality settings the last minute? Ah yeah, that too.

Art & Music

Very pleased with the aesthetic qualities of the anime, even though that kind of style and design is not my cup of tea. Madhouse animation once again was up to some really good standards, with the CGIs and the character details being top notch. The artwork is very colorful with really nice character designs and the overall flaw of the anime is pretty much flawless. Especially the magic spells effects! Really well made.

The music and sound were such a big surprise to me. The opening song is so catchy and to-the–point with the plot of the show, which makes it very interesting. It’s been a while since I saw an opening song with lyrics that come from the actual world and environment of the anime, quite refreshing. The sound effects of the anime are quite impressive as well. There was no budget issue in the making of Overlord.

Themes & Trivia

Momonga: Did you know that Momonga (モモンガ) is the Japanese word for ‘flying squirrel’? I don’t know what kind of similarities our skeleton guy can have with flying squirrels but it’s fun to know this kind of things. And, no guys, Hamsuke is a hamster, not a flying squirrel, thank you very much.

Why are VMMORPG anime so alluring? With Sword Art Online considered one of the most popular anime lately, it’s interesting to talk about why this kind of genre makes people go mad the last few years. The answer is quite simple. Most of us crave for a distraction, an escape from real life, and anime like SAO or Overlord with very immersive environments work pretty damn well in making everyone feeling absorbed in them. Anime fans are usually introverted people and avid online gamers. Getting trapped in a visual reality would obviously appeal to this kind of fandom. Who wouldn’t want to avoid their mundane routines and be free, strong, attractive (or just cool looking) with magic powers and insane fighting skills instead of having to deal with real-life problems?

Comments

It might sound like a very typical fantasy MMORPG, Person–in-a-Strange-World-kind-of-feel anime, but as someone who binged it in one day, I believe it’s very entertaining to watch. I think what made me like this anime the most was the fact that it sticks to the plot while keeping it interesting. Sure, it’s not a mind-blowing story with amazing plot twists, but does it really matter? It has humor, good animation and voice acting, great environments, and fairly stimulating characters. It pleases the fans with Momonga being all tsundere and Albedo being all over him, with no more need for romance. Things like Momonga riding a giant hamster, Pandora’s Actor who looks like a dramatic Nazi, and Shalltear wetting her pants from the presence of Momonga to her being mind-controlled and wanting to kill him manage to keep it exciting.

‘Life Essence’, ‘Greater Full Potential’, ‘Freedom’, ‘False Data: Life’, ‘See Through’, ‘Paranormal Intuition’

Plus:

Good animation, sound, and design
Funny
Good fanservice
Nice fighting scenes with necessary violence when needed

Minus:

Generic plot
Not great antagonists and villains

Overlord is a decent anime to watch. The plot is not to die for but the rest of the elements of the show make you want to watch more. My only complaint would be that I think the anime is not giving its 100% when it comes to the story and that there a lot of things missing from the original manga, but of course this wouldn’t be a first. I am excited for the new season and I wish we will get more information at to what exactly happened to the real world and if there is a way out of this. What’s your opinion of Overlord? Loved it or hated it? Let me know in your comments! Cheers!