Overlord

Anime adaptation revolving around RPG and MMORPG themed worlds can usually be a hit or miss. As a fan of MMORPG games in real life, there should be expectations with the world fiction such as the monsters, mechanics, story, setting, and overall execution. Where does that put Overlord? A bit overboard? Underwhelming? It’s not really like that but Overlord is the type of show that can be hard to judge.

The series is based on a light novel that originated from a Japanese web novel. The original source has about 9 volumes although the adaptation by Madhouse studio consists of only a single cour. (13 episodes) ... That usually sets off a red flag with the story pacing. And it isn’t wrong either as the first two or so episodes carries a weak weight on itself.

Taking place in the online world of Yggdrasil, we meet Momonga, a salary-man who apparently tried to log out at the very last minute. Things go a bit wary and he gets stuck in-game as an online avatar in the form of a ‘skeletal lich’. It also just happens so that the avatar is also a very powerful wizard. What’s more is that the NPC around him also exhibit their own personalities as if they are alive and have minds of their own. Essentially, the story marks its territory at the Tomb of Nazarick. The first two episodes establishes Momonga (or going by his in-game name Ainz Ooal Gown) as someone with immense powers. Now, I have a problem with overrated characters and Ainz is no exception to this. The show demonstrates his invulnerability to poison along with elite fighting skills, weapon set, and even an intellectual mind as the story progresses. However, the series also takes a few different turns. Monomga still display his human traits as he interacts with the NPCs he encounters. Apparently, they serve him like he is their God so it takes time for him to adapt. Momonga’s personality also becomes suppressed and he displays cunning behavior throughout the show. However, I would not say that he is an arrogant character as he is quite loyal, honest, and respects his servants. As the story progresses, there is a lack of feeling he develops towards death. (Given the irony that he himself is a skeleton, a personification of death)

The show can be taken to light from different perspectives. From the perspective of a light novel reader and adaptation, it’s easy to say that the series focuses quite a bit on Momonga. Almost every episode highlights his role, personality, or overall character. The relationship building and associations he establishes with other characters are also played out in a variety of ways. This can be seen with the seductive Albedo who is utterly in love with him. Even among the Floor Guardians of Momonga’s guild, she is one of the most loyal and obsessive towards Momonga. It doesn’t help that the show also introduces rivals such as Shalltear who shows sexual tendencies. The show’s initial impressions sets off this red flag as it almost makes fun of itself. It also introduces other characters that each get a little bit of his or her screen time such as the Mare and Aura twins, butler Sebas, Cocytus, and intelligent demon Demiurge. In relation to Momonga, they all seemingly show an undying love and respect for him; just expressed definitely from one way or another. As a bit of character driven story, this is really a miss as the characters are unappealing from first impressions. Only Momonga can be legitimately interesting as we want to find out his potential as a guild master and person in real life. It makes us wonder what he is capable of with his new role and how these new changes can apply to his character.

The remainder course of the show opens up realms of possibilities. Like most MMORPG worlds, Yggdrasil seems to be resourceful with landscapes, guilds, and monsters. The story mechanics of the series is explained such as weaponry, skills, and monsters that exhibit its world. It’s nothing original when compared to some other MMORPG style shows. In the past, series such as Sword Art Online and Log Horizon also has fantasy game mechanics; albeit in different fashion. For Overlord, it slowly does this while unraveling the main course of the story. There’s also some common monsters you’ll usually find in fantasy worlds such as goblins, undead beings, and even angels. What makes Overlord stands out a little bit more is that the show is more than just about conquering and survival. I think the key word is the title itself, “Overlord”. This is because Momonga/Ainz is actually trying to take over the world as the new ruler. So in a way, he wants to be an overlord despite his lack of inexperience. This is clearly shown throughout the show with his intentions.

As both a character and story driven series, it will definitely takes patience and adapting to get used to the show. I actually recommend re-watching some scenes to get a better understanding of the series’ intentions at few cases. Examples such as Momonga’s lack of remorse towards death, Albedo’s distasteful view on humans, and other ideals makes the show appealing. It makes the NPCs feel real. In addition, the game mechanics such as spells, weaponry, magical items, and potion making really brings out its fantasy realm to life. There’s some good amount of action as well although fairly predictable with Momonga’s newfound skills. In addition, the story also makes it clear that he isn’t the only character that matters. Others he encounters and associates with such as the Sword of Darkness and his own battle maids get their additional spotlight too. The story also introduces antagonists with their own independent malevolent intentions. It shouldn’t take too long for viewers to realize that Overlord isn’t just Momonga’s personal show.

But for all its creativity, the series suffers much from the over emphasis of Momonga. It focuses far too much on his character while adding the ridiculousness of his servants’ love for him. The first two episodes will likely be a make or break for most viewers as the feeling of an MMORPG game feels isolated. There’s also die-hard comedy with character rivalries, expressions, and overall tone of their generalization. I will say the show has a diverse cast of the characters though. And given the set up for the world, it introduces plenty of important ones to bring the best of Momonga. However, be very aware of the pacing of this story. The first half really tests the patience of the viewers despite foreshadowing some future events and making small promises of improvement. While it’s doing all of this, the comedy is also a hit or miss with its controversially timed scenarios. And lastly, it seems like the adaptation itself is more of a tease for viewers to “read the novels”.

Madhouse puts their work into this show’s animation style. Taking place in such a fantasy world, the colors are focused on the characters rather than the background. Characters are diverse and decorated distinctively that makes them look unique. Momonga/Ainz is obviously the one that stands out the most with his skeletal avatar. When on the road, he takes the form of a dark warrior encased in an armor that makes him look like a badass hero. And that’s really an underrated word. Among Momonga’s followers, the term ‘badass’ can be applied to several characters with their designs such as Albedo, Shelltear, and the battle maid Nabe. There’s also the monsters introduced that is classic to most MMORPG worlds. Human characters are created to look human and most of them gives the impressions of themselves as adventurers. As a fantasy adventure, the show is also no stranger to action and violence. In essence, the action is decent in terms of fantasy standards. It’s the type of stuff you’ll see often in MMORPG related games. On the other hand, the violence creates a grimmer tone. There’s no censorship with the blood and even gore-like scenes during battle sequences. Fan service also exists with Albedo’s role in the story. But what really brings out their characters is the expressions. It has the experimental feel when you see how they react as NPCs while displaying human traits.

If you want stereo music, then you got stereo music. Namely, the OP theme song is an intense beat to the ears while the ED theme always decorates itself with unorthodox imagery. The OST displays a familiar fantasy feel in terms of content. And for all that’s worth, character voice mannerism plays some key roles to make their characters into life. Momonga is actually one of the less noticeable characters for his voice because he sounds similarly like a human. On the other hand, the NPCs has a distinctive voice with their character roles. These voice diversity ranges from Albedo’s seductiveness, Sheltear’s aggressiveness, Sebas’ sophisticated personality, or Nabes’ loyalty. Clementine also gives off a presence of violence thanks to her sinister voice tone that persuades viewers to see how far she will go with her plans. Despite the large cast of characters, a strength of the show does come from the voices.

In the end, Overlord is more or less a refreshingly adventurous tale about a dude stuck in a skeletal avatar. It has functioning creative imagination with a colorful cast of characters. But when it comes to story, Overlord smells like a show with money in mind. In other words, it seems like an advertisement to the main novel. Director Naoyuki Itou puts his experience with other fantasy series at work and is a bit of a mixed bag. The adaptation isn’t unique in either pacing or leaves strong first impressions. The fantasy world itself does generate a decent amount of interest when it comes to its core mechanics. But for a show like Overlord, it needed to hold together and makes sense. Sometimes it accomplishes that, other times it doesn’t. Overlord is a show that needs improvement so pick your poison.

Overlord is just okay

I feel like people over praise Overlord because its similar to SAO with traits of overpowered MC gets stuck in game but different because it doesnt focus on romance then introduce harem or have almost rape or almost incest
but honestly if you look at it independently Overlord isnt that amazing. People just over exaggerate because of all the bad things it manages to avoid doing

You have this guy who allegedly gets stuck in an MMORPG and has no way to get back to the real world so he gathers information about his new world and (for some reason) tries to find ... if anyone else is stuck in the game also.

Art: Fair
The art was fair, it was not amazing or bad. there was a few fight scenes here and there and they were animated decently.
They also use CG in a few scenes but it actually looked okay

Sound:
I honestly dont remember much of it and i just finished watching it. I skipped most of the opening and ending but i do remember that the opening was kind of good but in the end skippable because it was just okay

Character: Poor
Throughout the 13 episodes of season 1 (plus the first 2 episodes of season 2) we never find out much about this Momonga who is allegedly stuck in the game, and they never show the real world for contrast or show any reason or desire for him to go back to it.
On top of that he is surrounded by NPCs come to life and they have no backstory or relateable motivations. they were programmed to love and worship the MC and that is what they do

Basically its like these are the characters and these are their traits. I felt no attachment to them. Infact if some of them died it would not be a big deal and I think even Momonga wouldnt mind
They are just tools for the story and they are just tools he uses

Overall the characters are not that memorable as characters. you can remember Albedo who was kinda erotic and remember the demon in a suit coz he looked cool but it would be the same if you just saw a poster of them

Story: Fair
The story was kind of interesting as like many stuck in game stories are.
First 2 episodes were kind of just introducing the characters and alleged premise so they are really boring. i actually dropped it for a long time after the uninteresting first 2... but dont stop watching there because things start moving in episode 3
I really feel like overlord would make a great game but as an anime it was lacking something. (i dont want to say passion, emotion or mystery because those sound cliche)

Enjoyment: Good
Overlord is actually really enjoyable like the equivalent of watching someone play a video game

Overral: Fair
Overlord season 1 feels like a simple prologue and it has the capacity to grow into something nice (or maybe its just an advertisement to go buy the light novel)
season 1 is not bad but its not great either. I definitely recommend people to watch it if they have free time or really want a stuck in game anime

Overlord offers an unoriginal storyline - the usual lines of a player being stuck in a virtual MMO world, which is rather unnecessary as a setting. The main character Momonga seems to have little or no motivation in returning to his homeworld whatsoever. The entire story seems centered around his immense power, and spreading his name throughout the world his guild of NPCs were transported to, littering every few minutes of the show with his declaration of the might of "Ains Ooal Gown" either by himself or by his minions. It may appeal a little at first, but it just gets repetitive over time.

Story: ... There were some attempts at light humour, sometimes sexual in nature. Overall, the storyline was rather bland, although the MMO setting was interesting (with the magic items and talents and all), but the story, at least within the confines of the anime, fails to develop sufficient intrigue with regards to the plot. I found myself forcing myself to complete the show for no purpose in particular, nothing compelled me to want to continue watching, i just wanted to get it done with.
Perhaps the lack of a challenge was the main problem, think of the show as a combination of One-Punch Man's overpoweredness and Mahouka's mental fapping "Onii-sama", except that it now extends to an entire dungeon full of NPCs worshipping the "Supreme Being", not just one imoutou. Momonga literally wiped the floor with just about everyone, Aizen-sama fashion, with even some "all according to plan" reference.

Art was okay, never had much requirements to begin with, although perhaps the use of a skeleton face/helmet was to save animation costs. Sound wise, the OP was alright, didnt bother listening to the full ED. Characters are bland and single-dimensioned. Overall it was an average show at best, lousy if you wanted to be really critical. Would not really recommend this unless you have plenty of time to burn.

Overlord Season 1

If I had to describe the anime in one word it would be "interesting".
The premise, while overused, had enough unique elements to make it special. The world-building is fair, nothing out of the ordinary in either way.
The story takes its time, so around ep7 when there are two ways it can go, the course is still uncertain.
The characters are almost all stationary, but they are that by design, so the entertaining element is not in the direction of their arc, but in the learning of their character.

The culmination of those things is Overlord's biggest catch, and its biggest flaw at the same time.
It's ... enough to pique interest, to learn about the uncertainty of the world, plot and unknown characters, but as neither seems to be capable of evolving ever further. Once you reach the point where your curiosity is satisfied, the anime does not offer much more to keep you hooked.

Of course, no matter how slowly the story progresses and how slowly you are fed information I can see this point being much further than Season 4.
Season 1 was felt like a demo for the story, a glimpse of what it could offer and what is the utmost point it would be able to offer.
Currently I would guess in its entirety it is around a 7-8, the first season achieved everything it set out to do, but other than that, it did not offer anything astonishing.

The visuals were fine in most places outside of the fight-scenes, which were atrocious looking CGI.
Because of that the fight was not just bland, but in a lot of them the characters moved much less than they should to save money, but that caused some problems with the narrative, power-levels and the working of the magic system, in that way a somewhat subjective flaw caused objective problems which cannot be overlooked.

7.6/10

“Overlord? Overrated more like!” – A goblin Jester from Overlord (a 2007 video game).

Overlord, is an anime about an extremely, ridiculously, tremendously overpowered so called “Overlord” who is actually…just a MMO player who found himself unable to log out from the game. Along with his uninteresting subordinates, he then goes on a rather boring journey to find his friends that are perhaps like him, trapped in the game world. That’s the story in a nutshell. Not entirely fresh in terms of premise, the only thing that’s new is the protagonist is a generic guy who is stuck in lich form.

In terms of action, its does ... a fair job – however almost fails at it. Since not only Momonga(protagonist), but even his subordinates are outrageously powerful, any adversary are like flies to them, making the fights scenes less enjoyable to watch since the enemies can’t even put a dent on them – of course other than the last battle, where Momonga faced someone who is more or less powerful than him. Still, majority of the fights are very one sided.

Many of the characters frequently utter names of random “spells” or “buffs” – any average gamer definitely know what those terms means. Few “skills” sounded self-explanatory to avid gamers, but there were some called “See-through” and “Greater Hardening”, I don’t know what the hell they do, but it sure made me chuckle. The battles are most likely the only biggest redeeming factor in this show. Even so, the action is nothing jaw-dropping or cool and very far from awesome. It doesn't even reach “good”, in my standards.

The characters are probably the weakest aspect - I wasn't particularly interested in any of them. Admittedly, Albedo was hot and she’s nice fap material, but other than that, I didn't find her particularly interesting, or unique whatsoever. Most of the time, she was just there to constantly praise Momonga – in fact, majority of Momonga’s servants didn't do much as well. In the first episode, we are already introduced to most of the supporting cast: a giant insect man and a weird guy in a suit, whom both resembles generic villains, two possibly trap siblings and lastly, a vampire loli with fake boobs; that’s what I've been told. I can’t even remember their names too well either, other than having to Google it or probably rewatching an episode, which I’m probably not going to do.

Other aspects such as animation & art was alright, but it’s nothing memorable and the overall Sound was good.

In conclusion, Overlord is just a passable anime due to its rather mundane fights, combined with a cast of bland characters, while it does have a couple good moments in between, but still not entirely worthwhile. Do I recommend it? Well, I'd say, give it a shot - but don't expect too much.

Overlord is based on a series of light novels by Maruyama Kugane. The anime version came out last year and was produced by Madhouse. Going into this one, about all I know is the basic premise and that opinions are a bit divided on the series. So, let's take a look and I'll put in my pfennig.



Story:

In the distant future, virtual reality gaming is a thing and it's given rise to a new breed of MMORPGs, which allow the users to immerse themselves in the game worlds. Our story takes place with a popular game, Yggdrasil, entering the end of its life-span and shutting down ... its servers.In spite of having strong tech to back it up it was published by EA so it was only a matter of time before terrible business practices did it in. That is my head canon explanation for that. Anyway, on the last day of the servers running, Momonga, a man with no life, is reflecting on all the good times he had with his guild mates before they quit playing. He watches the clock tick down but stays online, determined to enjoy the game until the last moment. The day finally rolls over and, much to his surprise, he's still in the game. Not only that, but the NPCs that he and his former comrades made are displaying personalities and Nazarick, his guild base, has been transported into unfamiliar territory that still seems to follow game logic.

This opens up a lot of interesting story possibilities about how this happened and what's happening with Momonga's body. Is this still a game that his brain has somehow become trapped in, has he just lost his mind and been lost in delusions of the only thing he cares about or is it some kind of other dimension, one that he unwittingly helped create, that he was able to cross into? There are so many possibilities. The series then proceeds to toss that little plot point to the wayside and not really bring it up. Well, that seems a waste. But it's fine, there's another compelling story angle they could go with here, since Momonga and his NPC comrades are all monsters of various kinds. Stories about antagonists and/or beastly groups can be really good. Except that they don't really do anything with that either. About the biggest impact it has is that they present themselves as humans and do some things that are semi-villainous. But that's fine too. The NPCs keep bringing up the way they were created by Momonga's comrades and that could be a really interesting angle from a philosophical standpoint & from a narrative, “how exactly is this working?” stand point. Except that they don't do anything with that either. How do you have elements that could lead to three different strong stories and not take advantage of any of them?

That may be the biggest flaw with the series. It doesn't properly take advantage of any of its potentially fascinating story ideas. The second biggest issue is a matter of tension. It's established early on that Momonga is absurdly powerful when compared to the people/NPCs of this world. Not only that, but it's established that he has ways to resurrect people who die. Which means that there's no reason for us, as the audience, to be concerned about him or the other major characters.

That being said, there are some areas where I will give the series credit. The world building is quite good and, to be completely fair, they're clearly setting up for a sequel so it's entirely possible that the more compelling aspects of the story do get better built on in the later material. As such, I can't really fault the series for prioritising the world building in the early stuff. Of course, that's also assuming that they do give us more of the interesting aspects. I haven't read the light novels so, for all I know, they may still be unaddressed after nine volumes.

Characters:

The characters are pretty under-developed in this. On one hand, you can somewhat understand it since this series focuses on the world building. However, we really need strong characters in a series like this where the main protagonist is so over-powered. We need compelling characters to keep our interest and all this series gives us is characters who might become interesting at some point.

Art:

The art is actually pretty strong with creative designs for a lot of Nazarick's guardians and action sequences that are really good. There are some designs that are quite typical, but it also makes sense given the context.

Sound:

The voice acting is pretty passable but also standard. Hino Satoshi's performance as the lich, Momonga, is a bit odd and seems out of place. However, he's also a regular person in a video game skin. As such it works to have his voice be a bit out of place for the character. The music is pretty good.

Ho-yay:

The series doesn't really have any ho-yay.

Final Thoughts:

What Overlord ultimately gives us is potential. There's potential for a compelling narrative. There's the potential for interesting characters. As the first series in a longer franchise, it's not a bad introduction. That being said, the series also isn't good. Maybe if it gets renewed for a second series, that one will be. As is, it's pretty mundane. The main protagonist is too powerful for the series to have any real tension. The good ideas haven't been developed, nor have the characters and the voice acting is just standard. Overall, I give it a 5/10. Next week, I'll take a look at Kannazuki no Miko.

I'm not even entirely sure what to review here.
The show almost feels like an elongated pilot episode which would leave you satisfied as well as wanting more...if it weren't 13 episodes. Everything only felt like it was ready to fully dive into the world at large by the end of the entire thing. They set up all the plot devices, show where things could go, begin taking actions...and that's it. Nothing wraps up. As a standalone experience, this anime is lacking.

There is almost no story to speak of. I say this, somewhat, tentatively as there is clearly a lot that is alluded to. But, for ... what we actually get, you just kinda take the general idea of Log Horizon and limit it to one character, but this character is quick to point out that they really don't like the real world anyway. So, they make due and start their new life trying to figure out the world out as they go!
End Plot.

As for art, it's on the upper end of things, character designs are interesting and the general world looks good. Note that that is art, not animation. As for the animation, the take a pretty lazy way out and appear fond of close ups on the main character's face when he's talking; which involves a lot of you staring at a close up of a still shot of a skull.

Sounds are fine, nothing stands out, but nothing to make you cringe.

The characters ended up being the primary reason I watched through the 13 episodes. They appear to be very well fleshed out with varying personalities and histories that are never fully realized, which is an utter shame, but it's worth note that the main character actually ended up being the one I was the least interested in.

I guess you could compare this anime to a really big, expensive, cream puff. It's light, tasty, and enjoyable while it lasts, but it leaves you wanting and realizing you spent a lot of money(time) on something that doesn't really satisfy. Now, you're hungry and have less money to get something of substance.
In simple terms it's a waste of time.

OBLIGATORY SPOILER WARNING
-So Overlord is one of those animes that should be great, a kids wet dream. Who doesnt want to be the Lich King from WOW or as op as One Punch Man? Its a very unique idea to play as the final boss of a game rather than the ones trying to get to the final boss (like Sword Art Online).

-The problem with this anime is its poor execution in every way.

There is 0 character development. Some reviewers have mentioned that the main characters humanity seems to be slowly slipping away by the end of the show but that would mean that he ... had an emotional range to begin with. He is bland and hypocritical throughout. At one point even referring to the fact that this is so. This doesnt make it any less frustrating. At one point our main character is masquerading as a common adventurer and joins an up and coming guild while hiding his true power (just like Sword Art Online) and then 3 episodes later after hearing countless minues of these characters interact they are all slaughtered and the main character does not even care. Passively mentioning that he had just met them. It makes the 3 episodes of their development completely pointless and makes the "Overlord" far less sympathetic.

-There is a long list of supporting characters and their designs are mostly interesting such as lolita vampires, tsundere succubus, A nazi changeling who cracks jokes, etc. But the characters are all one dimensional-they spend all of the show praising the main character, even at the end when one of them betrays the group she still praises the main characters power during the battle. It is incredibly dull and does nothing to diversify their interests or motivations. If you have a thing for large breasted characters though the head guardian will certainly please, constantly trying to get a skeleton mind you, to have sex with her.

-The story is nonexistent. The main character was the head of large guild in an MMO and then gets stuck in it after shutdown for reasons that are never explained. What happened to his body? Who knows? who cares apparently. There are at least 5 instances where the main character talks about putting the castle that he lords over on high alert or concealing it from enemies which sounds good on paper but during the course of the show there is never an enemy introduced who could defeat his subordinates let alone penetrate his castle. By the end of the show we still havent met any additional human characters stuck in the game, he has not conquered any portion of the world, and has not learned any meaningful new power or ability. In short nothing actually happens except they get a giant hamster, walk around a village stopping small fry, and fight amongst each other (the 2 episode end fight) for reasons that are never clearly explained.

-I wanted to like this show so much and maybe a season 2 would speed things up for me and make it more interesting but as of season 1 i can not recommend this show to anyone except those who are fans of fanservice and the general idea of people getting stuck in video games.

-The biggest problem with this show that I simply cant get around is it is so dull. There are 4 "real" fights in this 13 episode show and during these fights the characters spend as much time talking about how great and unstoppable they are rather than doing anything interesting. There is no suspense when you know that our protagonist can obliterate everyone on a whim if he so chooses-which he often does not. Instead it takes 15 minutes for the use of one or two spells that would have ended the fight in mere seconds. For a show called Overlord you would think there would be more lording and less walking around and talking which is simply not the case.

I've dropped A LOT of animes using the MMORPG universe. I'm not fond of them and I feel they are very telegraphed. There's usually little element of surprise in the story or the characters. The people who created Hack// must feel really bad for giving birth to this animation sub-genre.

At first I wasn't at all interested in Overlord but a friend of mine recommended it so I gave it a try. I was kinda hooked from episode 1 because of the whole "the MC is an evil liche king stuck in a video game" and not "a fighter grouping with other adventurers to set ... themselves free from the MMO curse".

Story: 5/10
The server of a famous MMORPG is closing and a player gets stuck inside. He's the leader of a famous guild but all his friends stopped playing a long time ago. He realises he's stuck there with the harem of NPCs they programmed who become human-like after the servers close. By human-like I mean they have feeling etc. The MC's avatar is a pretty badass Liche King called Momonsan. Once the servers are closed his own feelings get erased and he thinks like a Liche King while still remembering he's human IRL.
So pretty basic setup overall, he then realizes there's a human world he can access and tries to find other players. He joins an adventurer guild to learn more about the human world and disguises himself as a huge knight in armor.
While the story is not very original its still kind of catchy until episode 8-9. Then it just goes down a hole which really disappointed me. The last 4 episodes were utter rubish.

Art: 6/10
While it's not amazing it's pretty consistent. Nothing crazy with the art style, the action is well animated but don't expect to have your brainz blown out.

Sound: 6/10
The dubbing is good but both the opening and ending kinda sucked. Thumbs up for the sound effects though.

Character: 7/10
Momonsan (the MC) is cool but his harem of NPCs who wanna ride his dick are a lot less adorable. Maybe I don't get the whole lolli thing. Still giving a 7 for the heartbreaking story with the adventurer group.

Enjoyment : 5/10
The last episodes just ruined it for me. No fun whatsoever watching them. The final fight is fine but the opponent is terrible. A lot of disappointement there. If you miss SOA and that kind of gibberish then you'll probably like this a lot more than me. Everything just falls apart at the end and the plot is full of hole. These inconsistencies make it hard for me to give it a higher grade than 5.

In conclusion not a bad anime but a very disappointing one. It get's your hopes up but nothing happens in the end. A very bland first season.

Overal : 5/10

Story (5/10)
-Overlord is way too heavy of a title for an anime of this mediocrity. The storyline is linear, but the pacing is almost atrocious. This anime is based off of a Light Novel, which would explain the weirdly-timed comedy and snail-speed pacing disguised as slow burn plot progression. I'm almost completely convinced that to make an RPG anime that would actually show what an RPG is like would take several seasons, and then some more for plot progression.
-The story does not feel entirely fleshed out, and the entire season felt like it could have finished in 3 episodes if paced right. The "final boss ... fight" would have been epic if I actually knew the characters behind the weapons used, but instead I'm left out of the loop with three Guardians trying to narrate a boring fight in my ear.

Art (7/10)
-Madhouse was supposedly famous for its fight scenes, and I barely got to see any fight scenes actually worth noting in this show. Anatomy-wise, Madhouse exceeds expectations as usual. Animation-wise, it was completely lacking with respect to the studio.
-Heavy scenes were superimposed with cringe-worthy CGI that Madhouse tried to get away with through a mix of 2D and 3D character animation during these sequences, and that was just about the only real effort I saw in terms of art. The colors bounced off computer-generated skins that alluded to its RPG-world graphics, but I can't let that excuse the laziness this anime was left with.
-The art wasn't bad, per say, but it had a lot lacking. I'm just glad there were no inconsistencies.

Sound (5/10)
Opening Song
-I watched the first episode's OP, got tired of it, and skipped it every chance I got after. Just so you know, the intros range from 1:10-4:00, and the estimated time of the entire OP is 1:20. I memorized that just so I could accurately skip it.
-On that note, it's probably because I really don't care for pop rock songs. Especially ones that mix English with Japanese.
Ending Song
-Similarly treated like the OP, except I watched the second episode's ED as well just because I wanted to hear the singer say "fxxking" again.
-Still rock. Still don't like it.
Soundtrack
-Was there one? I would expect there to be at least mildly epic fight music but it was left as classical choir singing notes just as the climax hits. Not bad, but nothing new here.
-Lack of mood-setting music. There's no real game music whatsoever, and the range of song diversity falls flat.

Characters (3/10)
-This is what I wanted to get into: there are hardly any real characters. We just mostly see Momonga's unmoving skeletal face and hear an inner voice for endless monologues. I never felt a connection or any empathy towards him missing his fellow guild members. I don't even remember them much, besides that they had ridiculous names. Even the Nazarick NPCs were left for me to just wonder about, even if they were such a small cast. I still don't know how many maids there are or any of their names besides Nabe, and I only remember her because we were stuck with her for, like, 4 episodes.
-We never even get to see what Momonga was like in real-life. Peeved me.

Enjoyment (6/10)
-I thought I would enjoy this a lot more. To be honest, with the title Overlord, I thought there would be a lot more of him lording over things and people.
-Some jokes were funny, even some dirty scenes here and there, and I can't say I didn't enjoy them but I can't say they'll make me laugh every time either.

Before I start this review... I would like to say that I am brazilian, and I would like to say sorry if i make some mistakes...
Sound. (7,5/10) Overlord anime have a good sound, the opening and ending are good OP and EDs, and it has a good sountrack... But it is not amazing, as I said, it has a GOOD sound.
Character. (6/10)
If all the characters, or at least almost all of then be like Momonga, I think the anime would have better characters, for me, Albedo, Shalltear (etc) are bad characters, so a 6/10 is fair, at least for me.
Art and Animation. (6,5/10)
(Art) (8/10)
The art ... is a very good art, very detailed and beautiful, but the animation....
(Animation) (5/10)
I dont think madhouse would do something like this... The animation (without CGI) is a 6/10 or 7/10 animation, but the CGI is basically... REALLY BAD.
Story. (3/10)
Sorry Overlord fans... But Overlord is just one more "Isekai" with a generic and cliché story, and a BAD story too...
Enjoyment (6,5/10)
As i said in another of my reviews, i think the enjoyment is something more personal than critical, so MY enjoyment wasn't bad, I've liked some battles, the sound and one specific character (Momonga), so i think that i have a good or a "fair" enjoyment (I used "fair" because that this is the 6/10 score of the reviews).
Overall. (6/10)
Almost of my scores are six, and I think that this anime isn't all bad, it has some good points, so a 6/10 is fair.

Overlord is a very complicated show to talk about because, on the face of it, it is one of the best anime series release we've had in years... the plot is a twist on the modern cliche of "Guy in MMORPG world", placing the main character effectively as one of the villains with an army of minions already set-up. The plot is actually very well thought-out and some of the action scenes, though simplistic, are absolutely fantastic.

And yet it is one of the most deeply flawed anime I have ever seen... due to something that is rarely taken into consideration when reviewing/viewing an anime series; ... The direction. This anime has, quite possibly the worst director I have ever seen. Some scenes drag way too long, other scenes are cut absurdly short depriving the viewer for crucial information (Repeat viewings reveal this to be quite egregious). The pacing of the story is very poor, there are several episodes where barely anything happens at all, and others where the story is so drastically rushed that they set up an entire major story arc and many subplots in a single episode , making for a disjointed, incoherent mess (Ex: Episode 10 and 11 are a perfect example of what I am talking about).

I know this is a strange complaint to make, but directing is one of those things that you only really notice if it went horribly wrong and in this case, it went horribly wrong. It has some fabulous scenes and sequences that are perfectly paced and executed, but these are very rare and sandwiched in between a lot of awful choices. For example, there is a scene somewhat early on where there is a huge setup for a massacre against some mages... but when the time comes for the actual massacre to occur, it just smash cuts to them walking back to base. What actually happened? who knows.

Conversely, some great examples are the end scene fade-out during a major fight towards the end of the series (You'll know it when you see it) and a slow moving murder that is absolutely beautiful. These are rare but precisely because of their rarity, they stand out a great deal.


So let's move on to a more traditional reviewing style now that the major flaw is done;


CHARACTER:
The characterization is very poor. There is very little character development for any of people we follow with the sole exception of the eponymous Overlord. Ironically, there are tertiary characters that get more development than most of the primary cast (Narberal Gamma, Nphirea Balear and Demiurge) which should tell you right there how little we get to know any of the main characters/how flat they are.

The thing is, there is a wealth of substance here with all of these characters ... but because of the poor directing, very little comes across. A lot of pivotal characters are portrayed as one-note and dull (Ex: Albedo, Cocytus, Aura/Mare, Shalltear Bloodfallen, etc.). But as I keep saying, there is a lot here, but it was just poorly executed.



STORY:
The story is executed very haphazardly, the reason for this is that it is adapting the story arcs from the Overlord novel, jumping from one to the other with very little setup and often times with very little pay off.

A young man with a fairly bad life is somehow trapped in a game world. The entire plot revolves around him exploring the game world very cautiously looking for other humans rather than the NPCs he is surrounded by. There is not much in the way of a unifying thread , but that's fine... the whole season is basically world-building, setting up location, characters and establishing strengths, this is very good... the problem is, a lot of these things are done poorly. I'd hate to sound repetitive, but the bad direction makes it difficult to get a good grasp on where each location is and what the internal politics of the region are.

Basically, there is no story, it is just world-building... but it is a very clear setup for a greater story to come. If there is a season 2, it will use the established story base to launch into a potentially epic storyline, we will see.





ENJOYMENT:
There is a lot to be said for a main character that is depicted as actually being intelligent. It is so rare that when you see this series, you might not even catch how careful and calculated all of his actions are. Add to that the , frankly, irresponsible levels of fanservice-y scenes and you have a great combination. I would say I loved everything about this series except for most of the fight scenes.

The variety in characters, the surprisingly clever dialogues and actions made it a treat to watch.



OVERALL:
The terrible direction absolutely buries a fantastic show. The voice actors are clearing giving it their all, the animation while not good, is at least helped by wonderful art. The story and its twists are quite original and the general tone of the show shifts quickly but is pulled off masterfully (The one thing the director got right).

If you are a fan of the current cliche "Guy trapped in video game world", this is for you.
If you want to see a main character actually make subtle, but very intelligent actions, this is for you.
If you like non-sexual video game fanservice, this is for you.
If you want a complex , overarching epic story, this is NOT for you.


Though this is now one of my favorite animes, I cannot deny that it is deeply flawed... if it has a season 2, it will probably be legendary, but as it stands, the first season suffers from too many issues for me to give a broad recommendation.

What does the world look like when you're an evil overlord? What is the process of becoming a demon king? If you've always pondered these questions watch Death Note or Code Geass, not Overlord. Or if you'd rather indulge in the cheap fantasy of wielding unmatched power, dominating kingdoms and commanding the devotion of hot babez...watch Overlord, but keep it to yourself. Sorry, that was unfair, someone could watch this show for legitimate reasons and perhaps be mildly entertained, but only mildly.

Character motivation is the big weakness. The protagonist's minions (most of the first and second tier cast) are principally moved by a lockstep ... devotion to their Overlord, which might be inspiring if it were shown to be justified...but it's simply the result of their programming. Even their gratitude for real kindness the overlord show them is rendered forced and hollow. Or it might be interesting if such unthinking devotion were critiqued and analysed...but don't hold your breath for that. Unjustified, unanalysed devotion is simply bad character writing and pandering to audience fantasies, to say nothing of the female lead's unsavoury sexual devotion. Aside from motivation, the minions' differing characters are actually expressed quite well, but the turd in the waterpipe remains. The non-minion supporting characters might have some interest to them, aside from futile opposition to the protagonist, but, again, I'm not holding out much hope there.

The protagonist spends more time flaunting his excessive power than displaying interesting character traits, or any reason for us to support or sympathise with him (possibly such a reason will come later, but it really should be there from the start) He disposes of the world he was born in with a line or two 'I have no ties or family', making the MMORG premise, (aside from conveying a sense of isolation that his minion's devotion promptly quenches) worse used than in any similar series. His base motivation of conquering the world in order to meet other stranded role-players is worse than his minions; the plot that is produced by such motivations appeared almost entirely, if not completely, uninteresting. And of course this is a light novel adaption, so nothing significant about this pile of tedium is likely to be changed in thirteen episodes. I may only have got through three of them, but the impression I received, of ongoing trends as well, was just that bad.

I came into Overlord with high but ambiguous expectations, with raving reviews both online and from friends. Though it opened as yet another generic, dull, isekai power-fantasy, it took an interesting turn: the protagonist took upon the role of a villain, not a hero. This excited me, prompting a slew of possibilities. Would he struggle to fight against the growing compulsion to commit evil inside of him, and search for the source of this strange compulsion (demonstrated by a green glow in the show, apparently visible only to him)? Would he struggle to balance a tyrannical desire to use his power self-indulgently against a more ... magnanimous approach, thereby also balancing antagonism of the local people vs. antagonism of his own servants? Or would it be a more simple yet still interesting premise of a standard fantasy adventure told from the villain's perspective, watching the heroes growing stronger on their quest to vanquish him? The further I watched into the first season, the more excited I became.

Oh, silly me. I forgot this was an isekai, adapted from a light novel.

Even during this early period of naive excitement, the cracks were showing. Ains' assistants praised his mundane and oft-incompetent actions with ludicrous amounts of praise and ham-handedly written lust. I excused this at first, believing it to be parody, but it dawned on me that, no, the writers expect us to take this seriously. It wasn't long before "Ains-sama!" caused me to roll my eyes, dreading to think how long Albedo would verbally fellate her bone-brained "master" this time. The human characters offer the conflict this show desperately needs...only to have Ains and the powercreep gang sweep aside every obstacle with ease, completely obliterating every scrap of narrative tension in the process. Dilemmas become a joke, because the audience knows that either Ains will come in and solve everything with no effort (and subsequently be showed with praise and admiration for excruciating minutes on end), or it does not involve Ains, and therefore is unimportant to the story.

I rate this show so low not because it is a generic isekai power-fantasy, but because it had great potential to be so much more.

I recommend this anime to people who love ganking in MMORPG's. If ganking is not your thing, than for the love of god do not watch this anime!

Story 5/10

Overlord had a lot of potential. As you can read in the discription, Overlord is about the MMORPG Yggdrasil in which the main character gets stuck in said MMORPG. With his loyal servants he now plans to take over the world.

Everything in this description is true, except the part about taking over the world, which is the MOST IMPORTANT PART! I will not spoil anything for you, but this show is not about taking over the world. ... Its about the main character, together with his loyal servants, protecting and helping the minor settlements around his dungeon. He does this with the intent of eventually conquering the world but I think even you can agree that if there is no conquering going on, you can't really talk about the main character conquering the world, can you?

The story itself is pretty bland. There aren't any plot twists or psychological battles. Want to know why? Because the main character is overpowered. And not just a little overpowered. This guy kills everything in a single blow. He's like one punch man without the yellow suit. Because of this, there is never really any excitement. You never wonder if the main character is going to make it out alive, since you know he destroys everything on his path with effortless ease.

It's not all bad though. The story that is told, altough its not what you will expect, is fairly decent. The things that happen may grasp your attention enough so that you won't drop it before the final episode(as it did with me), but that is about it. For that reason, the story receives a 5 out of 10


Art 7 / 10

The art is pretty good. It's not amazing, but it's better than average. I can't really say a lot about this since the art isn't outstanding.

Sound 6 / 10

The battle music is pretty cool but overall I wouldn't listen to the OST of Overlord. Again, it's nothing special.

Characters 4 / 10

The characters are aweful in my opinion. I'm sorry for being so negative, but dear lord, they could have at least made the characters a little funnier. You won't really bond with the characters, except with the main character, who isn't interesting at all. He likes to reminisce about the good old days and is afraid of the women who adore him. He constantly complains about his surroundings and decides to lay low throughout the story even though he is the most powerful being in this MMORPG. It doesn't make any sense.

Most characters develop poorly and are not interesting at all. For that reason i give the characters a 4 out of 10

Enjoyment 5 / 10

I'm sure that there are people who enjoy this anime and there's nothing wrong with that. Like I said before, It's not aweful as there are some good parts in this anime, but they mean too little to me to make this anime a good one.

Overall 5 / 10

This anime could have been something great. It could have been about vast armies fighting each other with the main character and his servants leading the troops. Instead you get some boring story about one punch man laying low for a while. This anime is not for me and I DO NOT recommend this. Unless you love every anime that is about MMORPG's or if you like ganking, you will not like this one.

I thought this series was interesting initially but as it goes on, it feels like it spends too much time meandering and not making any serious progress. After watching all 3 seasons I was sad to see that it doesn't really progress all that much.

You'd think that with 3 seasons they'd have made more strides progressing the characters and fleshing them out if the plot doesn't really go anywhere, but I didn't find that to be the case. I found the protagonist to be difficult to read, and his lack of spirit doesn't help much. I get that he's a lich so his sense ... of morality is basically nonexistent but I think they could have made him more interesting without sacrificing much.

Art and music is fine, nothing to write home about but nothing stood out as shoddy to me.

I don't think the anime is necessarily bad, but for what it is, it could have definitely been condensed and the plot could have definitely been a bit more interesting.

I hate Isekai. And I love hating Isekai. Now before you barrage me with wave after wave of panzerfaust, schmeissers, and 4.8 ton bombshells - can you really blame me? After SAO came out the medium itself has been polluted with the benighted genre ever since, a show that at best looked pretty and at worst was insulting to the viewer. But hey; it made and still makes truckloads of money in both the west and east. We all know how capitalism funding art works, folks - it starts cannibalizing itself with diminishing returns every venture. As much as I play up my disdain to ... this genre it’s because I know there are some great stories we can tell here, they’re just handed off to businessmen who are worried about their pockets and otaku authors writing power fantasy. The deleterious, psychologically tormenting stories that are able to be unearthed in these types of stories; or mass political warfare with engaging characters and intimately told fables. It’s not the fact that none of these really exist in this medium, people can make whatever they want; it’s the fact that 95% of the time only one type of story IS being told in this genre - self insert power fantasies and or ecchi harems. What am I supposed to work with here? I can only be so thankful and so fortunate that Overlord, despite it being riddled with tropes that does drag it down eventually - puts up one hell of a fight.

Overlord starts off with a sad little stumble into its world but afterwards is able to present a decently not just entertaining but gripping tale that all anchors on our protagonist: Momonga. Easily one of the biggest, double-down risk I have witnessed from any author in any medium, and this is because the show practically revolves around him, a footnote that can be laborious at times, even so, I’d argue he is by far one of the most nuanced protagonist in this entire genre, mostly due to the fact he’s an adult, not a teenager, something rare for the rest of his ilk in other works. A breath of fresh air, Momonga is cruel, calculating, has a flair for dramatics and a tinge of narcissism but backs it up from the sheer charisma as well as indomitus he constantly gives off. It’s hard describing just how and why he works so much in this series, why he is overpowered surely, this world establishes that brute force cannot make you entirely infallible. He is by no means a character in the gary-sue-archetype and while he gives off a strong persona of domination, I think, also has feelings of bitter self hatred as this series goes on, or at the very least strong remorse for his actions. Momonga in the “real world” is nothing more than an underachieving salary man who is clearly deprived of some sense of power in his actual life, this almost makes me wonder if he is not a critique of the average isekai protagonist, but showing a darker aspect of life, when someone stripped of power now has the potential to achieve an excessive amount of it. As this show progresses he slowly but surely makes darker and darker choices, granted, most if not always in response to a situation that demands it. While he is a literal lich, bringer of death and all that jazz, he can also be diplomatic and is caring to his servants despite the fact that he views them as pieces on a board.

Which. . . I don’t scold him at all for doing because the cast might as well be as bland as a board. As I said before, the author has clearly doubled-down on making Momonga the basically only fleshed out and layered character, the rest devolve to entertaining tropes that are strictly, I’m talking fight to the death loyal to Momonga. While they are for sure visually interesting and fun to watch on screen for a time, as well as getting a few lines and scenes to shine on their own, you’re never going to feel any strong sense of attachment to anyone, there’s no reason to, you’ll like a few of them but that’s far different from legitimate care about where they were in the story, how they are now, and where they’re heading. I want to point this out as a bad thing, yet I find myself in a head scratching logistical nightmare of; should I basically ignore this flaw because the author is transparent about them being tools - or should I still whip this because the author didn’t put more care into them despite that? That’s one you’re gonna have to decide for yourselves, folks, don’t think I’m in a position at the moment to give you a coherent answer, maybe it’s just a little of both?

I can say per-usual I am not a fan of how some in particular female characters are obsessed with our protagonist, which is where the ugly little isekai heads start to leer and remind you that you’re still on their turf with their shoved-in charactactures. I will say that I appreciate the show giving us an in-universe reason for their undying loyalty to him, which is a nice touch that wasn’t necessary but is noted.

I must say that I’m also impressed this show is determined to actually tell a story unlike many of its kin. There is a plot with progression, as obvious and superfluous as mentioning this may seem, do not underestimate anime’s skill to “not” tell a story, it happens far more often than it should and luckily that is not the case here. There is no formula. Nothing repeats. There is a constant and propellant that does not stop until this show is over with a few, not fleshed out but surface-level-interesting factions and diplomatic layers Momonga has to deal with. Do not get your hopes up too high though, this world is still so uninteresting you could guess it’s copied and pasted from any other JRPG. Guilds. Monsters. Quest. The typical menagerie. The show mostly through Momonga goes into great detail to explain how this world functions, yet this does not change its lack of originality and redundancy.

The show plays around with tone in what I would normally cast aside as an ignorant manner, although, there is evidence against this. Brim with colorful images and even so when it wants to get dark, Overlord does so at times effortlessly. Always earned and always through proper recourse. There is clearly a decent author behind this who had a vision in mind not based entirely around catering to the lowest common denominator, not choosing to opt for a breakneck jump into its world, just a casual stroll is fine to it. While personally you could find yourself slogging through the shows pacing I only praise this more because it enjoys taking its time through its cast lens, that is nothing to be ashamed of, I want more of it. This show does not suffer from Momonga being so focused on, it’s entirely dependent on him existing. When he is not in a scene - there is no scene. The comedy? What comedy? There is none. I struggle to understand how someone can think there is comedy in this show, humor is subjective but none really stuck with me and it makes me wince when Overlord tries to make a joke in this often serious and balanced work.

Aesthetically Overlord is not exactly the peak of Madhouse, nor a return to form by any means, it can stand on its own two feet but do not expect for it to be completely blowing you away. Character designs are hit and miss, you sometimes have characters that are as intricately layered as Momonga and Shalltear, on the opposite end you’ll have dulls such as Sebas and Demiurge which devolve to around one static color with some accessory, other than that I don’t just struggle to remember anyone else’s name but their outfits as well. There’s no design that is of particular potency, I’m glad Madhouse understood this and put their money where it really counts as they always tend to do - the action and animation. The CGI can creep its way in, even so you’ll often be greeted with fluent animation and one specifically. . . cathartic throwdown between Momonga and a certain sadist that makes me drool. Overlord will be sadistic when a character deserves it and will put out some deaths worthy of Mortal Kombat status. Madhouse has always been transparent about where to place their cards and this is no exception, one of the most veteran-studios no doubt will have you at the very least entertained, just don’t look at the backgrounds too much to realize they put minimal effort into it. . .

Applause is warranted to Clattanoia and L.L.L., Overlord’s opening and ending themes respectfully. Clattanoia being an adrenaline fueled head-banger taking inspiration from primarily alternative rock with a touch of systemic and modern sound, while L.L.L goes even further with this and is full on head-banging, foot-stomping-rock akin to an up-to-date female take on Nine Inch Nails, I prefer the ending theme myself over the opening but both have a melodic and intimate charm that is sure to stick with you long after you’ve seen this show, I’m still taking a trip down memory lane every now and then to listen to them. I only wish the same could be said for Overlord’s general soundtrack which is swept to the wayside. No student of music I may be, regardless, I take a strong interest in a show’s score just as much as I do with its writing and color palette, dedicating myself to listen to the entire OST and I can tell ya - not much to stick around for. There’s around three-to-five good ones, do not be mistaken. Ruler of Death is fitting and dark, YGGDRASILL is comforting with a sense of unease slithering about its harmonic arias and striking orchestra. Other than these first few vanguards on the track, I’m not inclined to tell you the rest is great.

In regards to further aesthetic choices, frankly speaking Madhouse was never really the best with lightning and camera angles unless they had a damn good director on board such as Araki, Tetsurou, passable, and you’re going to be hard-pressed to find some shots that stick around in your head for a time unless they’re related to Momonga decimating a target in some sadistic fashion, but that is not a shot you can admire aesthetically for an extended of time, just a blink of an eye. No gripping use of camera angles, palette at times seems unoptimized for the work it's in due to the light-hearted-paint job contrasting, heavily, the blood and gore which we all know this studio has a bias towards.

The voices, surprisingly, are another great part of Overlord. The cast is dedicated to their roles no matter how great or low their cog is in this great machine, all stand out in the best of ways, be it our spooky-skeleton’s grim and yet juxtaposingly pleasant growl from the last remnants of his humanity, or Albedo being. . . amorous. Shalltear and the darling work done for her, courtesy of Uesaka, Sumire, was my favorite throughout.

What do you get out of Overlord by the end of its run, both this season and the second? A show that reinvigorates some hope amongst this condemnable genre. Regardless of what you think about Momonga, I’m sure we can agree that he is no power fantasy but instead a legitimate character the author wishes for us to explore. Can you say that about, hmm, 80% of the other dregs in this cesspool? This cold sack of bones is oddly warm and comforting when you know that both him and the author are not out for you money entirely, Overlord desires and begs for its story to be told, it’s a shame both its plot and strong character are bogged down from the rest of its trivial, and admittedly amusing cast which have gotten the barebones of effort put into them. You will not resonate strongly with any theme Overlord presents to you, not like the show has any pathos-filled-throughline anyhow, but you will both be entertained and proud of the step this genre took by having the balls to have a protagonist that is as challenging as Momonga in it. I can only hope more takes of his character in different ways continue to prop up, and with a just as colorful, but hopefully better written cast.

Overlord, for every good thing it has, will have a bad or mediocre thing to counterbalance it. Great protagonist? Faltering side characters. An actual plot? Boring backgrounds. Great voice acting? Hit and miss OST. With all of this in mind, I still believe this show is worth a shot at.

So, go ahead and enjoy Papa Bone Daddy and the raging succubus. In the meantime, I have to continue working on my time machine to stop SAO from ever existing. Many thanks for reading.

I should start out by saying I don't think Overlord is horrible. There have been many series I have given up either because I found them to be utter garbage or boring and going nowhere. The fact that I watched this show through to its conclusion means it was at least watchable.

With that said, the entire time I watched this show, I could not help but get the idea out of my head that was I reading a fan fiction that some guy wrote about how awesome everything would be if his fantasy MMO character was stuck in a real world based on ... those same rules.

At this point I could post [SPOILERS AHEAD!!!] but to be honest, if you've watched only the first episode of the series, by the time you get through the opening theme in Episode 2 it has basically told you the plot and any twists of the entire show. There is nothing overall deep or thought provoking done by the show that you can't surmise from watching the OP a few times, including guessing all the plot twists.

The show is about a Japanese store clerk who played an MMO (with deep dive virtual reality technology very similar to SAO) that his guild has largely abandoned. The server is going down in a few hours and he decides to see it off to the very end before heading to work the next day. A countdown clock ticks down to midnight and instead of being logged off, he finds himself trapped in his avatar's body, to a land similar to the online game, tended to by an army of NPC's come-to-life, most of whom were programmed by former guild members.

All of the NPC's in his care revere him and praise him. We establish the idea very early that he is extremely powerful and rich with in-game currency. And that's where the first problem with Overlord becomes exposed Other than Ains (as he has his minions call him), none of the other primary/secondary characters have any development at all. They are all overpowered and absurdly devoted to him. Most of their conversations consist of either praising Ains or talking amongst each other about who is the most obsequiously devoted to him.

Beyond this, there is no real drama. We find out very quickly that Ains and his followers are light years beyond the power of anyone else in this universe and so a fair bit of his caution, while understandable, also leads to both ridiculous round about plans and no tension. This latter point is because at no point in this entire show is there any question about whether any of the main cast will be hurt or die. In the second third, he confronts two villains from a neighboring country who are well established to be stronger than most but they are still ants to our hero. At no point do we ever think the old man necromancer (whose name escapes me) or Clementine or a legitimate threat despite all being much stronger than any regular human in this series's universe.

As stated earlier, not much really happens in Overlord. Our protagonist's grand plan is this convoluted strategy of posing as a dark knight (because he feels the overwhelming need to understand the melee mechanics of this world) and get his name under this pseudonym spread across the land so that somehow then his actual real persona as the overlord lich king can be known across the land. If none of that makes sense that's the point.

Ains slaughters an entire mercenary army and briefly touches upon how taking the lives of others doesn't seem to bother him, as his personality is being taken over by his character. That would have been a fascinating issue to grapple with, similar to Grimgar of Fantasy & Ash. Perhaps the character could have afterwards great misgivings about what he did or a true moral crisis about weather the morality of our own society can or should be applicable in this fantasy world. In the beginning, he asks one of his buxom female servants if he can grope her chest, ostensibly to test the mechanics of the world and while this servers as little more than fan service, this might have also been an interesting an refreshing route to go in exploring the ideas of if a relationship could exist in such conditions, especially considering her devotion was a result of a last minute programming change made before the MMO was supposed to shut down. Or heck, they could have gone a more hentai route and even that would have been more interesting than where this show went.

I confess I enjoy the "trapped in another MMO" trope. I was a fan of the first season of Sword Art Online - albeit the first half more than the second that featured a damsel in distress Asuna as well as Log Horizon. If we're willing to extend that genre to being in a fantasy world, Re: Zero and Konosuba were two of my favorite shows of last year. I had heard decent things about Overlord so I thought I should give it a try.

And that's where I get to the title of my post. Throughout it, I kept thinking, as someone who played an MMO at one time (RIP City of Heroes) that I could have written something on par with this when I was in high school. The thought of Eric Cartman, from South Park, being just a little older and in the same circumstance kept coming to me. Realistically an animated version of Clyde Frog or Polly Prissypants would have just been as believable in this show and would have fit in telling the character how awesome he was.

I'd have to call this series a skip, at least for now. A second season somehow got green lit, which shows what I know about anime, and so I may check it out to see if perhaps the snails pace of a story changes or if anything interesting happens (perhaps anything that is a legitimate threat to Ains), but for now this thirteen episodes if a solid "meh" for me.

Story/ we've seen this kind of story numerous times. Some otaku game freak gets trapped in a game and has to find a way out. However that wasn't the case for overlord. We don't know how or why the MC is trapped inside the game. He quickly excepts it without hesitation and barely questions it. He travels around the game in hopes of finding other players who've been trapped to. One thing I noticed about overlord is that it does more telling than showing which leads to a long dialogue of info dumps. Also I don't even think this anime has a story to be ... honest. I was quite bored after 5 episodes and zoned out numerous times while watching. The world building is pretty nice and enjoyed watching the characters travel around. Eventually I grew tired and uninterested so I dropp it.

Art/ the art in overlord is pretty good I enjoyed the character designs and fight animations. However I noticed that a couple of Shitty CG models were thrown in and they looked atrocious.

Sound/ overlords sound track really isn't memorable one bit actually it was quite bland to be honest. However I will admit that the opening song was amazing.

Characters/ probably the weakest point of the show. Almost every character in this anime is boring, bland, and uninteresting. Except for the Main Character. Despite him being a annoying Gary Stu I found him to be a rather enjoyable MC. None of the other characters are memorable in any way to the point where I wouldn't have given a damn if they died or not.

Enjoyment/ despite this anime being extremely unoriginal and somewhat boring. It was actually pretty enjoyable. It wasn't anything amazing but it wasn't bad either which is why I'm giving this a 5/10.

Interesting core premise failed by writers who apparently didn't want to do much with it.

Guy is obsessed with an MMO he's played forever. Stays online in it when the servers shut down.
Ends up stuck in it.
He's a skeleton.
He's a wizard.
He's a Gary Stu.

Overall the first season of this isn't bad. It's okay. There are some amazing fights and watching Dumb Named Man (Ains Oal Gown?...) plotting world domination to find other stranded players is cool until you watch the second season.

The second season is honestly the biggest problem with the first. Because it totally wastes all the excitement and build-up you get ... watching Skeletor rallying his stuff and establishing himself to do some good ol' fashioned conquering.

Most of the characters in this are one brand of cliche or another. You have siblings who look damn-near identical, except one is a chick.
You've got maids who are also ninjas(?)
You've got a chick who Ains wants to bone (HAAAAAAAAAAAAA) and that's basically her character.
And you've got a Loli.

Music is pretty edgy and verges on or crosses into being screamo. It kinda suits the aesthetic of Ains but not really the mood of the show overall.

This show has filler, be warned.