Overlord

Overlord is the kind of anime you begin watching with some reservations.

"A popular MMORPG game traps its players inside and the players now have to play the game where the consequences are quite real".

Sounds familiar?

Well, that's exactly what happens in Overlord, however, the advantage with me is that I haven't seen shows like Sword Art Online, so while the plot was known to me the inherent flaws and stereotypes were not. The show quickly sets itself apart from its contemporaries by giving us a protagonist who plays the role of an antagonist and loves it.

After a brief period of confusion, the ease ... with which Ainz/Momon takes charge of his servants and powers is refreshing to see. Every move he makes defines his character as a person who is a veteran of MMORPG games. And while he uses his tactics as he would in a game, he knows the consequences of his actions and accepts them without hesitation.

The Art and Music of the show compliment each other brilliantly, and the characters are a good mix of perverse, lovable and obedient. If you've ever had a dream of ruling your own world, then this show will make an excellent guide.

The concept of this anime is familiar to most of you. A player gets stuck into video game (e.g. SAO, Log Horizon) where he/she is trying to find a way out.

The very simple difference between Overlord and other doppelgängers is the approach.
In overlord you get like the antagonistic (the main villain) kind of feeling.
The second difference is that MC is already capable of doing almost anything and is clearly out of every single ones league.

The way the story forwards is cool in its own way. The idea is probably nothing fresh or new but quite enjoyable.

Story: 8

With Madhouse Studios as the producer you can't ... complain about the art. Fight scenes & character designs are especially cool! What comes to the music, I didn't myself see it as the best (excluding the OP and ED)

Art: 10
Sound: 8

The character design was absolutely brilliant. The MC is seen as a firm leader while inside he is just your typical gamer. Every other character was either prefectly fit into story or was otherwise funny
Overall I enjoyed this anime throughout every episode always leaving me thrilled to see the next one. With a big cliffhanger left in the end I eagerly wait for possibly the next season?

Character: 10
Enjoyment: 10

Overall: 10

Thoroughly enjoyed this series and long for a season 2. Series took me back to the old D&D days plus refreshed the excitement that series like SOA brought to us. It was great taking a ride with a bad ass that looked the part and had the skills and smarts one hopes for in a main character. Great Story line with allot of action and never dragged. Great Good- Bad guy with all the signs of an evil overlord that takes you off guard with the fact that he may be the most honorable and just overlord Yggdrasil could hope for.Highly recommend!

What do you get with Overlord? A good, enjoyable anime which is one of the seasons best (not really hard this time) also if you long for some good ol' overpowered main character fighting - this show is for you.

The story centers around a guy (do we know his name?) who is the last remaining player (?) in the online game YGGDRASIL. His alter ego is Momonga, later Ainz Ooal Gown, a powerful undead Necromancer and also the guildmaster of the successful guild Great Tomb of Nazarick. The other members have already left the game long ago, but left him with their belongings and ... also the personal created NPCs, which serve as guardians of the Tomb (guild hall).

Like other people already wrote the story takes some time to get going, probably even another season, nevertheless is interesting.

It starts like this: On the day the game is supposed to shut down, Momonga can't log off - he is trapped (how original). Now everything centers around managing the guild and helping NPCs while finding out why he's trapped and if there are others like him.

Personally i think the characters are the shows weakest point owed to the 13-episode size. We have the player, the vampire gothic loli Shalltear (who the fuck designed her vampire form?!) and the submassiv loving demon girl Albedo - the rest isn't worth mentioning in fact apart from the battle maid Narberal you won't see much of them. Character development ? Nope.

The show ends with this typical "pressed content preview", you know that one were they lay the rootes for a 2nd season without promising anything. If it doesn't get one i probably wouldn't watch it again - let's hope it sells well

The most captivating 'stuck in a game' story I've seen so far, and I've seen quite a few. I simply can't find anything to fault in this anime.

It's hard to believe they could keep such a breakneck pace through the whole series without it feeling rushed either. Pure bliss from the opening to the end of every episode (and what a great opening it is, by the way).

The protagonist finds himself in a new world - and a new, undead body. He brings with himself his sensibilities from his own life, but finds he no longer actually feels the moral compulsions of his previous human ... self, making his character an interesting mix of ruthless and mindful.

There's a strong focus on exploring a new and hostile world, and finding the differences between the world's "systems" and what the protagonist is used to. On the other hand, he doesn't start off weak and have to level/power up to, but instead arrives as a supreme being defying the laws of the world. That's a unique angle I don't remember seeing before in this kind of series.

The only thing that'll improve this series is a second season.

Firstly, let me tell you my main problem with Overlord : its the setting. The thing with this kind of world is, you can never take it seriously, its just a game. I was tired of hearing stuff like "You used a shop item?" in the middle of a fight. I am not saying there is anything wrong with an anime's story based around a game, but when that game means next to nothing of significance and there you know that even if someone from the protagonist's side die, they are gonna be revived, its simply not as much fun. That's why I liked the ... first 14 episodes of SAO to an extent and literally despised the second half. Overlord, in my opinion, suffers from a similar problem.

There have been an abundance of anime releasing these days whose story is completely based on an MMORPG world created by the author. Sword Art Online, Log Horizon, NGNL you name it. This genre has become one of the most popular in recent years but... let me ask you one thing : have any of these MMORPG anime been done really well?


Different people would have different answer to the question I just asked and that's to be expected. Different anime watchers will have different tastes and will like different genres.
But if I was to answer that question, my answer would be "NO". None of such anime could be called amazing. They have gained tremendous popularity but as far as story, character development and other major things go, anime of this genre have been somewhat disappointing.

Overlord is another addition to that fast growing bundle of anime and like most of those other, Overlord is good at best; it has never had that awe factor that we search for in anime. It's been interesting, no doubt, but that's all it's been. It will most probably keep you interested, believe me. This is the only summer anime that I watched EVERY WEEK without any delays till the last episode.



Story - 5/10
I don't think I need to go into the details of the synopsis since you already know about it, but if I were to rate Overlord's story, it's nothing new. It's just that cliche story of our protagonist being stuck in an imaginary gaming world. If there is one thing different about Overlord's story, it's that the protagonist is already at the top of the game and he is suddenly moved to another world. It's nothing complex really, not that a good story necessarily needs to be complex.

Art - 8/10
The art of Overlord is good. I don't know what more to say about it. The character designs are distinct and the setting has been described pretty well with the art. As for the animation, it's been good too, mostly remaining consistent. I won't go as far as to say that the animation was amazing but it was pretty decent, nonetheless.

Sound - 8.5/10
Now, this could be the best part about Overlord. When you think about Overlord, the first thing that'll pop in your mind is the opening; it's amazing. It won't be a stretch to say that Overlord has the best opening of all summer anime of 2015. I guess you could say that none of the Summer 2015 anime even come close to it's opening. The ending was meh. It never caught my attention.
The OST has been good too but nothing to make a particular fuss about, considering many of the recent anime do have really good soundtrack.

Character - 6/10
Let's start with the protagonist, Lord Momonga. I dont know how to describe him. He has kind of a split personality. He is your normal teenage boy at times while he is thinking(Thus far, his appearance hasnt been revealed in the anime) sometimes and when he is in public, he becomes a considerate yet somewhat cold personality who is the ruler of Yggdrasil.
Albedo and Shalltear fight for Momonga's love all the time and its sometimes interesting. The other supporting cast is also quite interesting and entertaining.
But, there has been no real character development and that's the reason the score for the characters is 6.

Enjoyment - 8/10
It was an odd ride. It's never gotten boring for me in although, I wasn't awed by it many times, except a couple. The MC is overly overpowered since he's the Supreme Ruler and all. It's entertaining and I would definitely watch a second season if there is one.

Overall - 7/10
There are lots of anime I give a score of 7. They are such anime who are good but have potential to have been much better which hasnt been reached. I didn't expect Overlord to be an anime which would give me the feels and it didn't end up being one. If you have spare time on your hands, you could give this anime a try. Who knows, you might find it to be a good watch.

Even uttering the words "MMO anime" triggers a lot of violent and ambivalent thoughts among the community in 2015. After a slew of shows of dubious merit based on playing a video game, or being trapped inside of it- it's understandable that the community is a bit gunshy on the concept.

Rest assured though, that anime with the Madhouse tag on it are in good hands, as it's more often than not a high quality and faithful production.

Overlord is not your nouveau Sword Art Online. Overlord is not your No Game No Life, and it's most certainly not .Hack://Sign.


Artwork and Animation: 8

Again, Madhouse produced ... anime are almost always synonymous with quality. Great consistency in character detail and motions, and some very pretty 3D spellcasting that looks a lot like it was pulled from Death Parade. The character designs are great, their movements fluid, and even a 3D CGI dragon can't put this one down in the dirt!


Sound and Voice Acting: 7

Satoshi Hino, despite all of the roles I haven't seen him in, really kills the Momonga/Ainz character. A dual commanding and menacing, and 'normal' inner monologue voice sells the real live and in-game versions of Momonga well. He's backed up by a plethora of talent in Yumi Hara as Albedo, Sumire Uesaka portraying Shalltear, and Manami Numakura as the cold Narberal.

On a musical note: typical fantasy game stylings, with a healthy mix of EDM, especially the groovy ending song. Nothing to complain about.


Characters: 8

Momonga/Ainz is our main, in the real world a no life salaryman, but ingame, a maxed out, god-class skeletal mage with powers noobs can only dream of. A fearsome combatant in any arena, guild leader, and general badass, he's seen and done everything that the MMO Yggdrasil has to offer. Apprehensive about his new surroundings and the unknown dangers it may hold, Ainz takes a cautious approach to this new scape and acts logically when presented with dangers: buffing the crap out of himself and out thinking the goons after him. But he's not above trolling them a little. He's rather catlike- playing with his food before he eats it.

Next up is the fan favorite Albedo: the NPC turned sentient, slavishly devoted guardian of Ainz. As the boss of the other NPCs of the guild castle "Nazarick", Albedo holds considerable sway over the other characters, including Ainz- partly because of her obsequious treatment of her unrequited lover (due to a mix-up in her NPC coding caused by Old Gregg). She's fiercely protective of him, and thinks any attention paid to him by a female character other than herself is a dire insult to her affections- to which she will fight to the death to protect.

Secondly, we have the ice queen Pleiades Battle Maid Narberal. She serves as Ainz's escort while adventuring, and absolutely despises humans, seen by the undead who populate Nazarick as less than contemptible slime. Kind of like Zubat. Humans are a lot like Zubat to the denizens of Nazarick.

Rounding out our important ladies is Shalltear Bloodfallen, an extremely pretentiously named pint sized vampress. As childish as her body indicates, Shalltear also has an inexplicable crush on Ainz's lifeless bony body, and is even more bloodthirsty than Albedo. She also happens to be the most capable fighter in the castle, and the most dangerous.

Overlord does have quite a few characters introduced at the beginning, though it's quickly apparent which ones will actually matter throughout the course of the show. Most of them are either common fantasy monsters, strange fantasies of players, and other "lol, MMO" types.


Story: 7

The story is broken up into several distinct arcs- the first among them introducing the character of Momonga/Ainz and his place in the new world, after being transported in from Yggdrasil. It starts on a small scope and scale, and gradually gets more complex and larger as Ainz gains new knowledge about the world, and his influence spreads throughout.

As it progresses, what we see through Ainz's eyes thickens alongside the plot. This show isn't about trying to escape from a death game, or even about playing a game really. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, and this is true for Overlord. If one was not directly told that Momonga was an MMO player and a near constant usage of gaming terms spewing forth from his lifeless lips, this would come off as just a fantasy series- which works in its favor. The "gameplay" is not important, as the story takes the forefront.

After probably three episodes, I wasn't even thinking about a player playing the game, but rather what kind of adventures that this character would get into, and thankfully that's what Overlord delivered. There are quite a few laughs in here, some serious moments, and some well choreographed fights, all with that delicious Madhouse taste. Props to the original material though, for being engaging enough in humor, action, and story to keep it interesting.


Enjoyment: 8

I liked that instead of lording his way around from day one that Ainz was rightfully cautious about exploring and testing his magic, compatriots, and abilities in the new world. He played as a real person would- instead of rushing into unknown circumstances and possible game ending death, he sits back and tests things on a small scale, questions others about how the world works, what's effective, and what's not, and then chooses to strategically act upon said information gathering. Unlike many Gary Stu style protagonists who start from nothing and work their way up without tension, we know from the very beginning that Ainz is a maxed out character with untold powers. The tension comes not from Ainz's lack of ability or fear for his life, but instead ignorance of the world at large, and treachery from his own ranks - beings that were, in Yggdrasil, powerful enough to bring down even max ranked players like himself.


Overall: 8

My pick for anime of the season. This was by far the least disappointing show, and definitely exceeded expectations and proved me wrong of being "Madhouse's SAO".

Recommend?

If you like a gamer-feel for an anime without stupid plot contrivances and utter failures in writing as in other shows of the MMO persuasion, this is worth a try. As a pure power fantasy series, it's excellent.

I wrote this review after watching the episode 13 and also finished reading all the volumes of overlord that had been released so far, which is till volume 9. So I have at least quite an understanding of the story so far. But I would not put any spoilers in the review and just general info that people can see from the anime's synopsis description or at most first episode.

But before I write my review, there is this one glaring point of the anime's story setting that a lot of people seemed to be confused about lately that I have to point out.

Many ... people tend to be confused that the main character has been stuck in the game world he is playing in but the truth is that it is Experimented and Proven many times that he is instead Transported into a new fantasy Reality world where Yggdrasil players either don't exist or uncommon to the point of being called legends that only exist hundred of years ago. The only thing he is "stuck" in is his skeleton game body when he was transported from his game virtual world to another fantasy reality world. Also another thing, he is not a kid or a teenager, but instead is a blue collar salesman.

So after clearing that up, let's start my review of the anime. I advise people to rate my review fairly with open mindedness and after proper understanding of the anime and not base on personal reasons, rashness or eccentric personal bias which seems to be quite common lately...

Story: 9
The anime's story followed the novel's story tightly so far, skipping only the unnecessary dialogues. Some people who lacked the attention span, patience or the interest in the story and wanted more actions and excitements immediately may find this anime's start to be boring. But people who actually wanted to enjoy the story's world and development would find that this anime's story is quite interesting, attention to details and descriptive with points of the story from different perspective.

Many people who started reading and enjoyed the novel are there for the literature story in the first place. Sadly, the anime can't be too descriptive about the story But the producers did not sacrifice it to lower the story's quality, just to satisfy certain viewers. Which is a plus for an anime with good story and action. Some people may find it slow at times due the story development but the anime managed to at least squeezed in all the important plot points in the anime without skipping it, which might have otherwise caused confusions to the viewers if some info points was lacking and skipped just to make the anime faster.
Which Madhouse actually learnt their lesson after being bashed by people about their rushed production on Mahou Sensou and Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei.
Also, a lot of the minor details in the anime's story was left out so it may not be as detailed as the novel. But, since the anime was made to advertise the novel in the first place, therefore if the people want more details about it, they have to read it from the novel.
If the anime is just as detailed as the novel, that will defeat the purpose of making it in the first place.

Art: 8
The art quality is very good, though as many people had said before that the novel's art may have been better but this is something left for people's personal taste and interests... But speaking it in general, the art is very detailed, beautiful and did not get ruined by censors for now, it may follow similar art styles to the manga at times. But all in all, it is something that is well done. Also, there won't be too much awkward fan service either given that the main protagonist is an undead skeleton.

Sound/Music: 8
The opening song is epic, the background musics were fitting for many situations in the anime, especially the action scene musics that fits and adds to the mood and atmosphere greatly. The only thing I wished more of, was for producers to make better use of the ending credit song instead of focusing the good song on just Albedo...

Character: 9
One of the main protagonist that you will never expect to see in anime till now. A skeleton as a main character with a blue collar working salesman's mentality behind it. The person is very logical, emotionless but interestingly funny at times, who does the most realistic and logical reactions and actions people should expect if they are transported into another world. Keeping up his act as an overlord outside but whining and shouting inside about tiring things and situations. He also never consider his powers to be overpowered since the his skills are known in games and always think that there is someone such as players stronger than him out there.
The introductions of the many other side characters were also very unique and interesting too. They all have their own detailed designs, personalities, settings and developments.
Sadly the only thing lacking in this anime and even the novel, is a strong enemy character that the main characters have to face and overcome... But it is actually fine, since story wise, the story is actually still interesting and mainly draws the viewers to be more interested on how the process the MC used took over the places or even the world, the perspective and reactions of different people in the story which you normally won't see in other stories at times, and also main point of the story that is expected of how the strong overlord crush the enemy in the end after the intended development for it along with the expectations and despair which all together makes it something even more interesting and refreshing to see too, just like picking the fruits after it is ripe for the taking.
Also it seems there are people rating down the series due to the mc not having an usable underpart? Well, he can actually do it if he wants to and afterall, it's also better for the mc to think logically than thinking using his lower body like some other pervert mcs which are annoying. Besides, it seems pointless for some people to even point this out to talk down a good series.

Enjoyment: 10
Well the anime may not be a master piece for some people. But the story's novel is a master piece literature that is the most descriptive, well developed, highly rated and one of the higher quality light novel out there that is highly encouraged by many people to read it to understand their world even more. That is the novel's purpose, as there are many people who enjoyed the novel are there for the literature story in the first place, so it is something that people would be expecting from the anime too but the anime would Not be as detailed to put some points in one episode. Just saying it.
But here's the point, the anime is popular not because it is a master piece but because there are many other reasons for it.

Firstly, unlike the typical hero fantasy animes that are a dime of dozen out there already with almost Similar and Familiar stories and settings. Of course an anime from a villain's perspective would perk people's interest than the typical power from friendship troupes, where you always would expect a certain people to survive in the end or just simply no one dying at all. With many things that are being quite common these days, this actually make this anime more unique and stands out.

Secondly, in this world where pretty much everything was cliche, a different, darker virtual gaming world to another world story is actually more new and interesting to people comparing to the typical virtual game or reality to fantasy animes that are quite common out there like no game no life, log horizon, SAO, problem children, etc with similar familiar overlapping fantasy settings or even other different typical animes with a shiny hero or a dense innocent kind mcs, instead a setting different from the typical familiar ones would be fresher one to see.

Thirdly, It is one of the animes that do not fill the screen with censors which is very unpopular these days and certainly some parts of the anime's story and action may be rated to be more exciting than some long going animes out there. (not my opinion though)

Finally, if people Do want to immense themselves in settings, atmosphere, plots and details of the story other than just immediate mindless action animes that are dozens out there, they would definitely welcome this anime or even the novel. Given how much of a potential this anime's story have, even till the latest volume I had read so far. I actually personally think that the pacing of the anime is normal or even quite fast looking at the anime's situation itself.

Overall: 9
Overall, as long as the anime is kept to the story without changing from now on which the producers are still doing without rushing or skipping important parts, it will still easily continued to be rated 9 by me.

*This review contains no spoilers*

Disclaimer: This is my first review and contains my opinion, which may be different then yours.

Story: 9

Yes, this is another stuck in a game anime. But don't fret, as it takes a different path than other anime of the same scenario. I say this because instead of following a protagonist trying to escape the virtual world, we get an "antagonist" trying to take it over.Or is he? Hes just a desk worker stuck in a Lichs body. I'd rather not go into deep detail about it and end up spoiling this amazing story, so ill end this portion with the ... only reason it scored a 9 is because some small portions were cut out from the Light Novel, and the story is left unfinished. Season 2???

**Quick Tip** If you're one of the 2 minutes and I quit watching people, I recommend waiting one full episode, you wont regret it.

Art: 10

Now of course Madhouse did this, so outstanding art is to be expected, but much credit should also go to so-bin, the illustrator for the Light Novel, and a truly amazing artist. Madhouse did a great job of bringing his characters to life.

Sound: 10

In this section, id just like to point out that both the Opening titled Clattonia and the Ending "L.L.L." are truly amazing, and on my iPod and throughout the whole season, i didn't skip either, which is quite rare. They both go along with the anime so well that its hard to believe they weren't made for the anime itself. The voice actors are also quite talented, and have been in many other anime besides Overlord.

Character:8

This is the lowest scoring section because character development is rather hard to do for a 12 episode series, when the focus is on more than 4 people, and i have bias because I've read the LNs. Unfortunately, you dont get to see some characters expand past the original tropes, though, of course the MC is quite fleshed out and the other characters are quite fun as well. If you'd like to see more character depth, join my Overlord Season 2 Prayer Group, or pick up the light novel.

Enjoyment:10

This would be a shoe in for anime of the year for me if One Punch Man wasn't currently airing. Overlord was the first anime I actually stayed up whilst constantly refreshing my page, to see if the new episode was uploaded. Its also the only anime which succeeded in making me read the light novels.

Overall: 9

If your on the fence about watching this anime, I beg you to watch it, its truly amazing, and to miss out on it due to a slightly over done premise would be a true shame.

If you have any specific questions about the anime, or have any advice for reviews, please message me, as it would be much appreciated.

There isn't anything new here. That doesn't mean it isn't the most enjoyable anime of the 2015 Summer Season though. If you're into main characters that kick ass and take names, then this is the show for you. If you're sick of watching NTRs and all that jazz, check out this anime.

If you like fantasy, otaku-pandering, and tons of fun in a virtual world that rocks the boat, then you'll love Overlord. Where SAO had uninspiring character designs, Overlord has a cast that is actually memorable and dynamic. Where Log Horizon struggles with pacing, Overlord keeps you on the edge of your seat. Where NGNL ... was too mainstream for your hipster-weeb-ways, Overlord is here.

This isn't deep. This is fun. The story is simple and hilarious. It ignores the real world and sticks to the new one, all the while taking you on a ride that is anything but boring. Art is regular. Sound is regular. Characters are above average and make for an enjoyable harem of henchmen.

The Enjoyment. That's why you watch Overlord. It is full of action scenes mixed with light hearted comedy. Anyone with desires of grand power or ambition will enjoy this! You don't watch it for deep political soliloquy or some kind of wonderful plot that leaves you questioning your life's meaning. You watch this because it's fun. Now stop reading reviews and have some fun.

Ever since the huge popularity of Sword Art Online, more and more studios are trying to create a "player stuck in the game" VRMMORPG anime that could garner the same amount of popularity as SAO. Except none have even come close to reaching that amount of fanbase. Now, Madhouse is also stepping in the game with "Overlord" (No pun intended).

(There will be SPOILERS in my review)

[Story]: (7/10) (SPOILERS)
While Momonga, the protagonist of the series, was spending his last few seconds in "Yggdrasil", which was about to quietly shut down, unknowingly got trapped inside the game. The world around him changed and the NPC's (Non-playable ... characters) began to talk and feel emotion. Having no parents, friends, or place in society, this ordinary young man then strives to take over the new world the game has become.

I've been a gamer ever since I was a kid so when I became an anime fan, I was always and still am on the constant lookout for anime shows tagged with a "game" genre. Now, I have found another anime with a premise that's pretty close to SAO and Log Horizon. Is it a good series though? For the most part, yes but I do have several issues with the show and I'll talk about those issues later.

The story is really not that complicated. The popular online game "Yggdrasil" is going to end its services and if you're an online gamer, you would know how it feels to have your favourite online game shut its server down. Anyways, the server shuts down and Momonga is still somehow in the game. He later finds out that he's trapped, the world around him felt like a reality and the NPCs began to talk. I was surprised at the latter as much as he is.

So what story did "Overlord" offer after being introduced to the world, the characters and etc? Basically, he now wants to conquer the world but he's not doing it like an evil person. He's an overpowered guy and he's actually using his OP skills and magic to help others. The first arc is, to put it simply, spread Ainz Ooal Gowns' reputation. He uses his ridiculously OP skills and magic to save a village, help the adventurers, and etc. The second and final arc is Shalltear's, one of Ainz Ooal Gowns' minions, "betrayal". They honestly should have expanded the first arc into 12 episodes. It felt way too short and left some plot points unexplained. The 2nd arc felt like it went nowhere and it just wanted to show how strong and somewhat strategically smart Ainz Ooal Gowns is by having one of his minions "betray" him.

One of the issues that the show has is the direction they're trying to go. Like I said above, the 2nd arc felt like it went nowhere. Isn't the purpose of the show is to spread Ainz Ooal Gowns' reputation? That's what happened in the first arc and that's the whole reason why I love the first arc but in the second arc, it just abandoned that idea and the plot just switched directions. If the show had 24/25 episodes or if it's going to have a second season then I'll forgive the 2nd arc but for now, I won't. After the 2nd arc, it was mentioned that they are still going to conquer the world. That's why I said I'm willing to forgive the 2nd arc if the second season were to occur and were to have the same direction as the 1st arc. Speaking of second season, another issue that I had with the show is its inconclusive ending. Ainz Ooal Gowns conquering the world didn't really happen in this show. We just saw the process of how exactly he's going to do it.

What I liked about Overlord is its use of MMORPG elements and I also love how the show feels like your watching a player play a video game and at the same time, having that fantasy world feeling. Like how this is not a game anymore. They use MMORPG terms like skills, abilities, and magic and they even determine how strong a magic is by tier system. The tier system is basically the same as magics that you can upgrade by leveling up or by doing side quests, like Fire (Lv. 1), Fira (Lv. 2), Firaga (Lv. 3) and etc. They really hit the spot by showing one of the Lord's name which is Lord "Touch Me". The Lords here are basically players but the minions (NPCs) call them Lord. Not only is it hilarious but it's also pretty accurate. There's always that one guy in an online gaming world who's going to name his/her character with a ridiculous name like "Touch Me". I'm actually surprised that Momonga didn't even laugh or even giggle when one of the minions mentioned the Lord's name. I laughed at that scene.

There's also the comedy which I LOVE, by the way. The comedy mostly comes from Albedo. For example, Albedo getting jealous when Shallter gets all clingy towards Momonga or when she was messing around with a Momonga body pillow. Those are just a couple of examples and she's just hilarious.
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[Art/Animation]: (8.5/10)
Madhouse doesn't really have the best animation in the industry and Overlord is a prime example of that. The character designs are pretty decent and the background looks good but not the greatest. However, I did love the show's smooth and consistent animation. I loved watching the fight scenes because of how smooth it is and there's that one particular scene which felt great to watch. If only I could post a gif image here.
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[Sound]: (6/10)
The soundtrack that used throughout the show was pretty great. However, I completely abhore the OP and ED theme songs. This is actually the first time I hated both OP and ED theme songs. Now, the OP and ED theme song(s)

The OP theme song is "Clattanoia" by O×T (Masayoshi Oishi × Tom-H@ck) and the ED theme song is "L.L.L." by MYTH&ROID. Like I said above, I hated both the OP and ED theme songs. The OP theme song was annoying, especially the part where he goes "Yeeeeeehhh eeeee yeeeee!!". The ED theme song's use of Engrish is annoying and the song didn't fit my taste at all. I'm just not a fan of rock genre so that should explain why I hate the OP and ED theme songs.
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[Characters]: (8/10)
This is one of those shows where the characters are way more entertaining than the story itself. This is the reason why I rated the series with a score of 8 instead of a 7. Granted, if the first arc was expanded then the characters and the story would have been the reason why I rated this show with an 8...or maybe 9. Anyways...

The first character that we have is the main protagoist Momonga or "Ains Ooal Gowns". A player that somehow got stuck and is now in a fantasy world. He's a skeletal being and due to the amount of time he invested in the game, he's now the most powerful being in this fantasy world. You could say that's he's a level 1000 fighting other beings that are probably lv. 100. It's even shown that even the enemies' most powerful magic can barely scratch Momonga's armour. In other words, he's an extremely OverPowered character. I know what you're going to say. "Oh god, another Kirito". Ehh, I don't think so. The anime started with Momonga already being powerful. It wasn't like SAO where Kirito was Level 1 then a couple of episodes, he's suddenly Lv. 75 with god-like "Jesus-kun" powers and a deus-ex machina. Momonga's human side is what kept him interesting throughout the show.

Then there's Albedo, Momonga's yandere minion. Before Momonga switched her personality, she's supposed to be a bitchy slut but now, she's an obsessive yandere. I wonder how she would have turn out if she was a slut. I don't even want to know because Albedo's yandere personality is absolutely amazing and this is coming from a guy who hates yandere girls. She's just so sex-obsessed and because of that, I find her interesting and pretty funny

Then there's the rest of the side characters. Most of them are just as interesting as the main characters. For example, Shalltear is also in-love with Momonga and seeing Albedo and Shalltear fight over Momonga is just hilarious. Another example is Nabe, a girl who gets introduced in the first arc. She's pretty bland at first but as the arc progressed, she turned into a likable tsundere character.

Now time to point out the issue in the Characters section. After the introduction, we don't get to see the rest of the minions that much and we don't get to see most of them fight with Momonga which I would have preferred. In the first arc, it's just Momonga and one or two or three of his minions fighting side by side. In short, the minions should have gotten more screentime.
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[Enjoyment]: (8.5/10)
If you're a gamer just like me then you'd understand why I still enjoyed the series even though the latter half of the plot doesn't seem to know where it's going. The constant use of MMORPG terms and the interesting characters is what made me enjoy this show from the first episode until the final episode.
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[VERDICT]
"Overlord" is not the greatest "player stuck in the game" subgenre anime that I have seen but it's definitely a great anime series to watch. Is it better than SAO? I'll leave that up to you because I don't want to start a war. What I love about the series is that it feels like you're watching a player play a MMORPG game and it really feels like a game with its constant use of MMORPG terms. Overlord should have probably expanded the first arc because after the first arc ended, it felt like the show didn't know what direction to go. I did like the characters of the series, especially Momonga and Albedo and their character interactions.

[OVERALL]: (7.7/10)


Pros:
+Great first arc
+Constant use of MMORPG terms
+The show feels like a game
+Consistent and smooth animation
+Great and interesting characters
+Momonga is OP but his human side is what kept him an interesting character

Cons:
-Poor 2nd arc
-Directionless plot after the 1st arc
-Not enough screentime for most of Momonga's minions
-Mediocre OP and ED theme song(s)
-Inconclusive Ending

Well I have finished watching all 13 episodes as well as i read the light novel too and if the story goes like that in the light novel of Overlord then the anime will no doubt become one of the top anime like onepiece , Fairy tail or the attack of the titans. Thought Overlord anime can be compared to the Anime Attack of the Titans but I liked Overlord more than the attack of the Titans.
Btw there should be some improvement on the Graphics but the rest all seems Good to me and i am waiting for the second season which will consists on ... the Topic of Attack on the LiZard's Mans Village.{A nice Spoiler here :)}

You may have been led to believe that Overlord is similar to Sword Art Online.Well,it isn't. At all. Calling them similar is like saying that a cat and a dog are similar because they are both pets.It's actually closer to One Punch Man than SAO. So now that we clarified this let's break it down in categories.

-Story 7-
The idea of the anime is very good but the anime lacks closure.You get the feeling that the anime is ~52 episodes long but actually it's actually a quarter of that. It starts with the MC who's Magic Caster Skeleton in the once popular DMMORPG (Dive Massively Multiplayer ... Online Role Playing Game) "Yggdrasil" (What's up with Japan and European Mythology?) admiring the Guild House of the greatest faction in the game, acting on his role of Guild Master until the servers will finally close. Surprisingly (not really) after the timer hit 00:00 the game interface disappeared and he was no longer able to bring up the console. Stuck in this world he now tries to make a name of himself in search for any old allies. It should be noted that his Guild House is no longer in the game but in a whole new world he has to learn about.

-Art 9-
The animation is outstanding with beautiful landscapes, the battles are great and all the characters are well defined...well all "main" characters. You can somewhat see what characters are important by looking at how distinguishable they are. This is why the Art can't get a perfect score.

-Sound 7-
The sound is nice, the voice actors are good and so on but there's nothing memorable. I binge watched all 13 episodes back to back but I can't remember the intro or the outro. They were pretty plain and uninteresting but good enough to be worth at least a 7.

-Character 7-
I saw a lot of reviews and recommendations that state the MC is overpowered. Well he is not overpowered at all. The reason he is strong is simply stated in the first episode : He was max level and had God Level items. In addition the NPC's that guarded the guild (and are now alive) are pretty close to his strength. Anyway the one problem with the characters is the fact that there is little to no character development. All the characters are slapped in the viewer's face with almost no background story. The (now ex) NPCs were created by the MC ex-colleagues and act on the personality they were given. The rest of the characters have a slight trace of background story since they mention a few things about them.

-Enjoyment 9-
I liked watching it since I like stories that are set in the middle ages and include magic and a lot of fighting. The problem is nothing major really happens and there were episodes where boredom was the defining word.

-Overall 8-ish-
I believe it is a score fit for this anime since it manages to make you watch it then leave you deserted because there's no 14th episode even if anime like One Piece has millions of episodes without ever completing the fucking story either. If there's no season 2 , the producers deserve to burn in hell.

When I first started reading/watching this series in the summer of 2015, I had already consumed a lot of media, in the form of anime, webmanga, and just a little bit of webnovel and visual novels. And I enjoyed (I still do) "genius protagonists" in the series I have watched that make smart decisions, think rationally, and do the best thing that fits the situation. Examples are things like KR webnovel Reincarnator, Emperor of Solo Play, warlock of the Magus World, Death Note, Kaiji, etc etc. Basically, a smart MC that is able to make the perfect action in response to a situation no matter ... what has occurred to them.I aspired to be like those smart MCs. I figured that I would also act like those MCs if I was caught in a similar situation.


If I was reincarnated into a different world, there is no way that I would fare poorly, and die as a mere common peasant. Rather, I would slowly level up my power just like those MCs would have.However, reality would be different, and Overlord  expresses that beautifully. Compared to those genius protagonists, I am unable to match. I am no genius, I wouldn't be able to keep calm during a dangerous situation like those MCs would, I do not have the prose, fineness, nor the intellect to scheme as well as any of those smart MCs would have.  In reality, if I were transported to another world, I would panic. I would be under distress. I would not know what to do. Rather than thinking about what I should do next, I would wonder how I got there and express disbelief. I wouldn't be able to rein my emotions in, nor would I have any sort of plan going forward.

Muruyama Kugane expresses what a person would actually do in a situation like you see all the time in reincarnation novels in the form of Suzuki Satoru. Just like me, Suzuki Satoru is a normal man, and he does what a lot of other normal people would have done. He acted flustered. He acted foolishly, He couldn't rein in his emotions without the help of his species characteristic, and even then, he was unable to rein in his libido. Satoru didn't have a plan either.

Satoru is just like one of us. He represents all of us, on what we would probably be doing if we were transported to another world like he was. No master plan, No massive intellect, and no calm and collected mindset. Rather, a panicked mess of a person that eventually fumbles his way around in the world through time, and even then, that fumbling around was only achieved due to the massive advantage given to him. 
While I don't like writing reviews often, I have to give a mention to my #1 novel of all time since 2015. While I could go rambling on for a many more pages, this is the innermost core of why I like this series.

This is pretty much "D&D: The anime".

Lots of humor. This is clearly a show that doesn't take itself seriously. For a show about impossibly strong beings, they are all cute and amusing in their own ways.

Solid writing. The premise of the story itself interesting enough, but the execution was perfect. Situations will occur where philosophical what-if questions will be answered.

Interesting characters. The show has a diverse cast of characters yet the viewer gets a solid understanding of each of them. This is quite the achievement given this show's short run time of 13 episodes.

Good music. The opening song is great, the background music sets ... the mood for every situation. Nothing here that I could find lacking.

While the animation isn't spectacular, the art is very charming.

If you're a fan of fantasy in general, then you will find this show enjoyable.

This was an amazing show, when I first looked at the trailer I thought it was going to be a bad dark themed series. But its more bout the comedy behind it too between the characters. The main character's profile was very honest and didn't seem fake which was amazing because you dont see that alot in these types of anime. The battle scene definitely gave me chills for example the gore was displayed beautiful. The characters were carefully profiled I really recommend you to give the first episode a try before judging it because I'm in love with this anime and I can't wait ... for season 2. I think the only slight thing that bothered me is the main characters past or real identity isn't clear or portrayed at all in the show which upset me. But as long as it becomes clear in season 2 then it should be fine

Overlord is an RPG anime ancient art. The way in which the characters are portrayed, as they vary from person to person, even through their makers is very intriguing. The fact that there are conflicts between them makes the spectacle almost perfect. Ainz Ooal Gown resp. Momonga is very refreshing between the different fantasy characters. And for sure, I rly love Albedo. Such an main character of ecchi fantasys! realy lovely!

The one negative point I see at Season 2, for someone who isnt familiar with this Anime, its lil bit hard to understand how the anime works at the beginning.

Thank you for taking the time ... to read this. Have fun and have a nice day!

Overlord has a special place for me personally, while the overarching idea behind it is nothing new (as anyone that's read a summary well knows) it approaches it in a rather new and interesting way.

The art, sound, and animation are all well done I'm not going to pine over them beyond that.

It's the characters that were strangely grabbing to me, while they all fill known archetypes I found something unique in each of them. I wouldn't really call what happens 'character development', but overlord has a way of giving you more and more insight into the characters without requiring the characters themselves ... to actually develop. For fear of giving away too much I will remain a bit fuzzy on that.

Needless to say there will be no shonnen style power ups as all the main characters start out at the 'top of the food chain' so to speak. I don't feel saying that much is a spoiler as it's made rather obvious from the start. The only real question that persist is exactly how strong are they?

The beauty of this particular anime for me is that it kept me interested and held me even though it never gave me a sense of real tension. There was a certain something here I can't quite put my finger on that had me watch all 13 episodes 3 times over.

Back to the basics though, there is plenty of action, the only sad part is what is available now is very much an incomplete story, and ends rather abruptly just as you are really starting to get involved. --and right as it's revealed there may actually be a real antagonist on the horizon.

Sadly because it is madhouse, in addition to the solid art and animation we get the downside, we may be forced to wait sometime for a second season. This show was well received and the serialization is also selling well though. The fact I am truly looking forward to more is the best endorsement I can give this show.


8/10 overall, mostly losing points for that sudden cutoff at the end and the iffy status of it continuing at this point in time.

So you’re probably thinking, “ok this anime is a little weird…” Correct. It is a little, but weird is by no means bad. Overlord is often likened to Log Horizon or the ever controversial Sword Art Online due to its “stuck-in-a-game” roots. But unlike the aforementioned where one is simply stuck in a game, Overlord places you in a new world. It’s not quite the reality you’re used to, but there’s a few more dimensions than the game itself had. In this sense this anime is more like an exploration of a new world with gaming elements rather than purely a pre-existing game world.

Fascinated? Well ... you should be! While only a 13 episode series this anime covers some pretty cool content. There’s a lot to take in, but it makes the discovery of this new world fun by not giving you all the answers right away. In fact, no one seems to have all the answers in this new world. And with no wikipedia page to turn to you’re left to discover it with the main characters. It may sound a little frustrating, but think of it from the perspective of Dora the Explorer and you’ll realise it’s the most exciting thing since cotton candy.
A heavy focus is placed on Ains Ooal Gown, or Momonga, to reference his auxiliary name. And while we get some great insights into his personality, perspective and goals, we also realise he should never have children, because god forbid what he will name them. No but seriously, the focus on him is so heavy that the other characters seem to lack development and differentiating qualities outside of Albedo’s intensely awkward over obsession and Mare’s adorable shyness.

There is one final problem with this anime. This is that with Momonga being made so impeccably strong complications barely feel like complications. You know everything will be fine and it slightly detracts from what could otherwise be suspenseful moments.

Yet as this isn’t the end of the storyline these harsh comments must be taken with a grain of salt…or a shot of vodka, whichever puts you more at ease. While one can’t say for sure, there’s every possibility if a second season is made it will fill in the blanks of the first. The animation and sound is also done really well with some strong fight scenes to keep you enthralled and appealing colours to keep your eyes smiling.

The bottom line? This is an entertaining fantasy anime, yet it has the potential to be so much better by fixing its few flaws. My fingers are crossed for a second season

Overlord ! the anime that defined my Tuesday as "EPIC" , this anime if the kind of anime that you can watch an episode several times without getting bored, i will be divining by review into sections avoiding spoilers so enjoy reading ! :

1- Story : 9/10 :- The story is something fresh and unique, it follows the same aspect of many other MMO animes out there, expect that it does it right, a pretty excellent story that sets you on the edge., it's not set inside an MMORPG world, instead, certain guild is transported into a different world that is a real world where ... people get killed without respawning.

2- Art : 10/10 :- The art in overlord is top notch, death is uncensored, and everything is very highly detailed, well, this was made by MH after all, so all that is to be expected.

3- Sound : 10/10 :- The opening and the ending songs are amazing ! , voice acting is descent, especially shalltear, and all voice actors played their role very well considering that they voice acted a somewhat evil characters.

4- Characters : 10/10 ! :- Oh boy the characters , the members of nazarick , especially the guardians, are extremely high quality, each of the guardians feels as if they can hold their grounds well as a final boss in any other high quality anime, and what i mean by that is that their design, background, acting, and everything else is top quality, and aside from the main characters, the villains do make you hate them, and the side characters are also pretty descent.

5-Enjoyment : 10/10 :- I don't remember the last time i was so excited each week to watch a certain anime, it's that unique feeling when you get your self prepared with snacks, turn on your AC, and set on waiting for it to be released, overlord made me remember that feeling, when i played each episode i kept rewinding some parts of it over and over again because of how much enjoyment i was feeling , the battles, the conversations between Ainz and the others, and everything is amazing.

Overall : 10/10 ! :- if you enjoy animes with badass main character and moments that always keeps you on the edge, then overlord is definitely worth checking out.