Overlord II

Sequels based on light novels aren’t too common but for a series like Overlord, it felt like it was inevitable. The meme of “Madhouse not making sequels” got flushed down the toilet when Overlord II became a reality. As someone who has read part of the novel and seen the first season, I’m sad to say that Overlord II didn’t manage to step up the plate. What could have been a chance for the series to improve itself and set new bar instead is met with a step back. If you’re expecting the second season to be a glorious showstopper, then I’m afraid I got ... bad news.

I’ll say right off the bat that Overlord II pretty much screams “watch the first season!” In fact, I suggest checking out some of the more prominent episodes from the first season is necessary if you want to get a better experience. This show isn’t here to feed you with exposition anymore. The first season has done that already and viewers should expect a developing storyline with established characters. Or that seems to be the case at first. However, the first few episodes not only reintroduces previous characters but also introduces new ones. An important race known as the “Lizardmen” get their spotlight as we are introduced to their society. We learn about their culture, characteristics, military, economy, and motivations. To me, the Lizardmen possesses many human traits and emotions that aren’t too different compared to our own. Characters such as Zenburu Gugu, Green Claw Tribe Chieftain Shasryru and his brother Zaryusu displays their fierce personalities that makes them example of being capable leaders. Then, there are characters like the priestess Crusch Lulu who represents a more fragile and feminine side of the Lizardmen tribes. The point of the show seems to be trying to get viewers into accepting them and worth investing into. However, it didn’t do an adequate job as a good amount of these Lizardmen characters aren’t well developed. It’s a series that attempts characterization at non-human characters but ends up not accomplishing the job. It also doesn’t help that the story is incredibly predictable for their inevitable fates when facing off against powerful enemies.

This only consist the first half of the show that adapts volume 4 from the light novel series. These first six episodes tries to get fans back into the mood but honestly, I felt like expectations were betrayed. As a curious person, I was hoping the remaining episodes would improve but oh boy, I was wrong.

The remainder half of the show (roughly 7 episodes) covers the plot from the novel based on the “The Men in the Kingdom” (volumes 5-6). My initial expectations weren’t high as the first of these episodes had odd pacing and didn’t get me interested in characters except for Sebas. The other problem is that he is already a somewhat established character so it easy for viewers to accept him. Characters such as Climb, Brain, Tsuare, and Renner are much harder to accept. It falls into the pit of weak characterization again as they are hardly well developed outside of their personalities. We don’t learn much about their past and their motivations for fighting is hardly interesting. Renner is also a character that’s easy to point fingers at once viewers discover her true personality. The one character that does stand out a bit is Sebas during this arc as he shows a more valiant side of him after understanding Tsuare. Does that make him a breakout star? Not really. While Sebas is definitely a motivating factor to keep up with the arc, he is limited to a generic philosophy of helping a damsel in distress. I also find his role with Solution to be rather blend. The way Solutions suspects Sebas of being a betrayer to Ainz can easily make the audience dislike her. Still, I think the weakest part of this arc involves the antagonists, the Eight Fingers. Their key members are incredibly ill-written with dull motivations and stereotypical personalities. None of them are worthy enough to remember and I honestly wish they didn’t even exist. They didn’t manage to bring out the best out of anyone and in fact, I think they even puts a shame in the limited battle scenes.

I’ve talked a lot about the minor and supporting characters of the show. What about the main characters? Sadly, there’s hardly any development for them. For the case of the floor guardians and battle maids, we only get to see a few of them showcase their abilities. If you’re a fan of Cocytus, Demiurge, Aura, or Entoma, then it might be a soft treat. Don’t expect much from them as their roles are limited. It feels like this second season tries to do too much to give them any sort of meaningful place honestly. Oh and how can I forget the infamous Ainz/Mmonga. It may sound strange for me to mention him this late in the review. Save the best for last right? Actually, Ainz is far from the best character in this series and I would actually label him as one of the worst. As the guild master of Ainz Ooal Gown, he feels a lot more like a background character this season. There’s virtually no development for Ainz and it’s a big slap to anyone who wants to understand more about him. We see him sit in the back like a God monitoring his servants and issuing orders. It’s incredibly stale to see Ainz in such a role. The first season at least established his personality in a way that was thrilling enough but this sequel dropped the ball. Sadly, his biggest fangirl Albedo isn’t any better this season besides glorifying her own fetishes.

Madhouse returns and while I can’t say I’m impressed by the overall quality, it does make a nice attempt at designing the Lizardmen. They look faithful to the light novels and expresses human characteristics that I occasionally find enticing to watch. Violence is also exploited to bring out the dark fantasy elements of its story. However, there are two main drawbacks that I find unappealing for this season. First, it’s the action scenes as some of them are very limited and lazily animated. Second, it’s the world setting. It feels like once you’ve seen it once, you’ve seen them all. Hardly original and uninspiring.

The first season’s OP song was quite a thrill to the ears. This season took a step back and I find it skippable at times. Similarly, most of the human characters’ dialogues consists of weak words choices that I can’t really find worth quoting. On a more positive note, I did like the way the season used its battle OST. While some of those fights did feel short, the soundtrack did make up for a bit of the impact to highlight their intensity. Some of the emotional segments of the sequel (in particular Sebas and Tsuare) also felt real with the melancholic usage of the music.

Ah, Overlord II. It’s a sequel that shouldn’t have been resurrected if this is what the creative team had planned. Adapting those light novels into a 1-cour show felt like a risky plan and they didn’t manage to capitalize. It’s a series that’s exciting to watch as a linear continuity but if you’re interested in a well-developed story and characters, then look elsewhere. Too bad really. The show boasts a talented cast that kicked off with some wild entertainment before spiraling into disappointment with no looking back.

A far cry from season 1. Season 2 of Overlord takes several steps back in terms of production quality. Virtually every episode follows the same crummy format.
1.Character does something wrong or reacts to something being done wrong.
2.Character has long winded dialogue to another character as they exchange exposition as unnaturally as possible for 15 minutes.
3.Action scene, but since all the main characters are op, and the directors know there is no tensity to the fighting. We are instead treated to watching random cliche characters nobody cares about, fight.
4.???
Episode ends. I don't think anyone was trying when they made this. What a joke.

No fear, no spoilers are here.

When I heard that a second season for Overlord was coming to town I was nothing short of overjoyed, because I did not really think that I would get another chance of seeing Ainz Ooal Gown in action unless I wanted to resort to the manga. In addition to the fact that Madhouse, at the time that Overlord was produced, wasn’t exactly known for creating follow up seasons for some of their titles. Hence, my optimism regarding another season of Overlord popping up was rather low, and that’s putting it mildly. Though, at the time, I reveled in the fact ... that I was proven wrong and the anime was given a chance to continue. The thought of seeing Ainz and the bunch on screen put a huge smile on my face, that is until the show actually began.

Let me ask you this, what drew you to the show? What made you like Overlord to begin with? On the surface it is just another Isekai. A show about some random otaku who gets sucked into a role-playing game and is thrust directly into battle as some overpowered character. So, what made it so attractive? Sure, the world was interesting because it was filled with mystery and exploring what secrets are hidden within this new environment, along with understanding the economic and political systems that govern this land are all great prospects on their own. However, I loved the show because the main character (AINZ OOAL GOWN), along with his lovable bunch, were so unique and enjoyable. They were the prime reason that made this anime stand out from other Isekai for me. Ainz's monologues made him seem relatable, human, funny, and above all normal. I loved the fact that he was ambitious and was portrayed as an antihero, but at the same time maintained a sense of morality, plus he didn’t let things get to his head too quickly. You can see him testing what he can and cannot do or what can and cannot get away with, and you can visibly notice the conflict that is occurring inside him, having to continuously keep up this undead supreme ruler persona in front of his servants, which obviously differs from what his true personality is like. Moreover, his character seems far different from that of normal Isekai protagonists; he never goes about creating a harem and never prioritizes his love affairs (though this might have to do with the fact he is an undead, though I am not quite sure). Add to that a group of wacky, funny, and compulsive set of servants, whom were all interesting in their own right, and you get a show that was capable of being entertaining, engaging, and comical all at the same time.

Now mind you, most of these elements continue to exist throughout this second season, though at very scarce amounts. The screen time for all these characters gets cut down substantially, to the point that I began wondering if Ainz, Albedo, and the other guardians like Demiurge and Shalltear were actually still the main characters. What ticked me off the most was that, whenever you would think that the show had finally shifted its focus onto one of the original cast, it would almost instantly switch its attention to somewhere or someone else. This occurred whenever Ainz or one of the original cast members entered combat with another person; the footage would be abruptly interrupted and would be diverted somewhere else only to return when the fight was almost done. The only exception to this was Sebas who actually had more time dedicated to him than almost all other guardians combined, hell maybe even more than Ainz himself. Now he isn’t a bad character of course and I felt that through him we got a glimpse of the potential that all guardians have to develop and evolve into unique and interesting characters that would make the show even more engaging in the future. In addition to the fact that we got to experience how the values of the original creator of each guardian continue to persist within them and help shape them into who they are. They no longer feel the same as the servants displayed in season 1 who follow their master without second thought or are devoid of any features asides from the ones that their creators had transcribed to them. It felt at times as though I am watching a show about the development of artificially intelligent beings and how they may perhaps eventually break free of their makers whom they had previously revered or worshiped as gods. However, to be frank, for me, Sebas is probably the least interesting character out of all of guardians, which diluted the excitement for me, and the characters that were around him were devoid of any significance and were simply plain or perhaps even awful. This second season was so oversaturated with side characters who I didn’t care for, that I thought I was watching Fate/Aporcypha; and to make matters worse you are never given a chance to actually get invested in them anyways, since both arcs felt half-baked. For example, the show never goes back to revisit the characters who were introduced in the lizard arc, which diminishes the significance of their existence.

Hence, the major issues with this sequel occurred because far too many characters were introduced for the sake of expanding the show beyond Nazarick, causing the anime to transition at a very quick rate. Introducing new characters and expanding upon the secrets of Yggdrasil was something that was going to occur eventually and was something I was excited for, but the way it was executed felt rushed and left a lot to be desired. I simply did not see enough of the outside world or leant enough about the people with in it to truly care. The show for me shined whenever the focus shifted from the lackluster political game that was shown, to the original cast. I personally could never get enough of Ainz, Albedo, Shalltear, Cocytus, and the twins Aura and Mare.

The quality of the animations remains, for the most part, unchanged from the first season and has perhaps slightly improved, though CGI elements were introduced to the show; something which is perhaps becoming the new norm. The OST of the show was fine overall, with the best piece of music in the show being the ending, which I never skipped. Though, the opening of the first season was far superior to this.

I truely hope that season 3 capitalizes on the potential that this show has to offer, because, despite being disappointed, my affinity and enthusiasm for this show has yet to vanish.

Overlord - 2


If you have seen the first season and it was NOT to your liking, I recommend you draw a line here, it won't change much.

The focus in this season is also on the presentation of the world and the different races as well as how Ainz interacts with them. Compared to the first season, this one has a little better pacing and a more interesting plot. You still shouldn't expect too much, this season practically consists of 2 side quests.

[Story 3]

The first half of the season revolves around the lizard people and their personal stories. Their plot is told from their perspective, ... with the protagonist as the antagonist. Which throws up a relatively fresh breeze, but is practically as cliched and simplistic as it gets.

The second arc revolves around Sebas, one of Ainz's generals, who develops more personality and tries to get out of himself. In the course of it, he finds a person with whom he feels strangely connected and tries to protect this person accordingly. It's nothing great, gets some freshness from the particular way it's told.

And at the end, there is some fighting that I can't say anything about. A final fight with minimal plot background.

[Characters 4]

Even though this season is somewhat of a cliché storyline, with the supporting characters as the characters, it has a certain charm to it. And this is mostly due to the somewhat more convincing characters. Something like character depth can be forgotten here, only the bonds of the characters carry the entire thing.

Ainz and his Partner are still the same bizarre characters and provide for some relatively amusing moments, no more and no less.


[Music 7 / Animation 5]

The intro and outro are, as expected, very fitting and individual. Especially the art style in the outro always impresses me.
Osts are used well and punctuate the respective scenes.

In the area of animation, there is nothing to add, the same budget as in the first season. Average performance, but still something.


[Score 5]


If there is a show that deserves to be called average, it is Overlord, of course, this does not apply to every season. Nevertheless, Overlord is a show with massive fanservice for people who like dark fantasy and like having a powerhouse as a protagonist. And since both of those things apply to me and the execution is just about satisfactory, I can't complain.

[Enjoyment 6]

Lately around MAL community , it's been a trend to give low ratings to every popular anime and absolutely ignoring what exactly is it that the show is trying to convey or present . It's just much easier to write a bad review about a particular show and criticize it to easily get people's appreciation . Hating popular things have always been fun .

If developers make an ecchi genre , we can't really look at it from a philosophical stand point or expect an amazing story line, world building , powerful character driven stories or amazing character development .
A moe or ecchi anime is ... only made for fans of that genre so we should remember that at every single point before passing on the hammer of our judgement in such matters .

Back to the question at hand of Overlord 2, If i had read the reviews on MAL and not watched this show , i would have missed out on a good fun experience . Not an enlightening experience but a "fun" experience. Ask yourself this before your going to watch this show :
Are you looking for a show that is very philosophical or dramatic or historically accurate or slice of life or plain deep in context ?? If your looking for something which has amazing story lines , amazing characters , variety , uniqueness , thrill etc .
Your not going to find all of this in this show and much more .
This show is not mature , it's not even trying to be mature or different .

But what Overlord 2 truly is is just a cliched , Isekai , Overpowered protagonist, adventure and Fun show . This show is what I would call an Escapism show . It's a perfect show to escape from the worries and stress of life to watch a funny and mostly entertaining show .
If you love Momonga being a badass , love how weak everyone else is , if you basically don't care much about the story but just wish to see how Momonga takes over the world , your going to like this show . Not saying there is absolutely no story here , there is some but its not that prominent . Also the world building in this show is actually not that bad . The power struggle feels kind of lackluster . Most of guardians and their own motivations , their bits of story feels fun .

Although this anime tries to be different from Other Isekai and in some ways it is quite a lot different . Momonga as an example isn't really much of a Hero and he truly is trying to take over the world .

As some people compared this show to SAO , I would say there is a lot of difference , Kirito always tries to be a good guy but Momonga is debatable , He isn't exactly a good guy or a hero trying to save everything . Also SAO laid a ton of emphasis on Kirito while here , we hardly see Momonga in the show . The lizard arc was mostly Lizards and their politics and struggle .
It's quite interesting watching this show giving emphasis to these side NPC characters over the main characters of the show as it was mainly during the first arc .
Kirito is also a loner while Momonga was the head of the guild , Momonga is smarter , much smarter than Kirito . He has his own little kingdom .
It's like watching huge OP people crushing ants although Momonga seems to lack any real reason to take over the world .
This show basically focuses more on side characters than main ones , very different from SAO or Re Zero .

Believe me, I've read over 50 different Isekai already , Overlord does set itself apart from the rest in many ways but I really wish for more genuine fantasy than this Isekai Genre being forced down our throats .
I also found this show to genuinely more funny than plenty of other Isekais who try to be .

Ok , Onto others things , The animations is alright , It's give it a pass , it's not incredibly amazing like Fate/stay (Unlimited budget works) but it's quite nice .
I liked the opening for the first season better but the ending is not bad here .
The soundtrack , i hardly remember any real OST from the soundtrack so i am not the best person to judge this .
The characters are decent and quite cliche , they are mostly your average anime tropes , some of them are getting a little character development like cocytus and Sebas Tian . Rest most of them either don't get enough screen time or are one dimensional .

To conclude , I enjoyed this anime despite it's flaws as when I watch Overlord , I am not expecting to watch Monster/Mushishi/Code Geass/natsume yuuchinjou etc .
Just looking for a nice fun anime for timepass and that's exactly what this show offers . It's better than many Isekai shows but some of the old shows about being summoned to other world will give this this show a run for it's many .

Ratings :
Story : 6
Art : 7
Sound : 7
Characters : 5
Enjoyment : 8
Overall : .6.5 ( I'll give it a 6 for now , will see what to give after i finish the anime )

But remember , don't worry about the reviews , If you liked season 1 , you will 100% like season 2

Season 2 spends way too much time world building and very little in explaining the plot. This would be fine if it was season 1 but its not and season 1 did a much better job at it too. This creates a really slow paced show where the protagonist Ain doesn't seem to have any real role. This feels more like a filler season from your standard year long shonen anime. This is a huge detraction from the ending of season 1. Ending of season 1 had a really good plot twist and left the viewer with a lot questions. I am up to S2 ... ep9, at this point there seems that there the show has no desire to answer any of the questions at the end of season 1.

Overlord II picks up straight where the first series left off. It continues moving in the direction of Momonga gathering information to increase his as well as his companions reputation in order to hopefully reach out to other real players from the original Yggdrasil game, if any exist that is.

This installment takes a bit of a different angle in progressing though as Momonga does take a seat on the sidelines for the most part. Instead he uses his wit to try and gain following in effort to spread his influence and also gain more information at a quicker pace given what happened to Shalltear previously. ... He also takes this time to experiment with a couple different things all the while testing one of his companions.

Sebas (Not the one I referenced above) is sort of in the spotlight a bit this installment which is okay with me. Momonga sent Sebas out on more of a solo type information gathering mission. He finds himself in a city and while there Sebas gets involved in a bit more than Momonga probably would have wanted with an organization but he can't exactly help himself given that his creators personality is fused within him to a degree.

Through this installment we do get to see a bit of drama unfold and there is a good amount of action that ensues. I still enjoyed those aspects this time around. Don't expect any of it to be as action packed as what you would expect for the likes of a Shounen, mostly because this isn't technically one.

This installment has merit in my opinion. We get to see more of the basic NPCs take the front here and its nice to see some of that as opposed to the "overpowered" Momonga and friends pretend to struggle for a bit then just strike back and be done with ease.

I enjoyed the first season of this anime since it has around the same premise of SAO,

But after watching this anime it completely de-railed itself from the main villan/hero to the other people in this series , which took away precious screen time from the main protagonist . not many very fights are shown , so dont expect to see any flash fights for a long while , and as for the story itself , its ok by average anime story telling , just hoped for more of a experience , Overall this a good series to watch if you enjoy mostly alot of chatter ... and very minimal fights .

8/10 On first season

6/10 On second season.

Overlord II for some reason doesn't quite have the spice that it carried so well for it's first season. It ends up feeling very oh another Isekai game anime instead of Overlord.

Part of this reason might be because that the most successful approach from the first season was a very tight knit, and focused storyline around Momonga. And then he was established as a character who had really defining moments we could chuckle to. Season 2 tries to expand perspectives based on many characters but we end up with the Lizardmen, Sebastian, and the various Kingdom people.

To an extent it is a really ... great attempt at expanding the world building but it's done so haphazardly that when it's forced to come together all in the end you don't really, truly understand the big picture or any of these characters and their motivations. Nothing clicks as an a-ha for the watcher and the narratives are forced together. And overall, devoid of emotion.

As great as Madhouse is with their animation quality, they too have fallen to using appalling CGI... However they still keep a good amount of well done high tension scenes that sadly don't go anywhere story wise. Sound was also quite unmemorable, even the OP and ED.

Again, as the story kind of falls through on cohesively pulling the anime together, the potential for some genuine character developments is hard to present. We actually did get an expanded cast of many interesting personalities, but as far as knowing enough about them, probably only light novel readers will know. Also the fact that the first and last snippets of Overlord II featured some really amazing character designs that have no connotation for anything contributes nothing.

The takeaway is that it ends up being another pretty, easy to digest and throwaway project. One that you can still enjoy as a generic action pack adventure story that continues to dominate the anime trends.

Boom. Fresh off of my 4 years too late review of the first season, here is my review of the second.

The first season ends with Ains/Momon/Dumb Name Man rallying an army of the undead to appropriate some land for the glory of the empire. Exciting right? It'd be cool to see a skeleton man leading an army of dead stuff into war right?
Too bad! Because now he wants lizards.

The first season ended by setting up a more action-packed second season and possibly learning more about whether there are other players in this MMO isekai world.

The second season starts with a Phantom Menace ... plot revolving around lizard politics and then after like 4 or 5 episodes of this, Ains then moves on to combat with a variety of things that don't like him some of which are a challenge for his lieutenants, which I will say is the highlight of the season, and then BOOM butler drama and a whole lot of convoluted "plot".

There's no further clarity on players in this world, Ains has spent a whole season doing lord knows what, and he ends with it having accomplished something, but how he did it beyond "boi's overpowered" is a true mystery.

I've no clue how this is rated so highly, because there are a variety of other things that do what it does so much better. Even Sword Art Online did, and it's so convoluted I don't even think Kirito knows who he is anymore.

If you want something like this but good, try Log Horizon.

I don't know how to really feel about this. While watching this i noticed a massive dive in quality.

This is now my 3rd rewrite that i'v done of this. I wasn't happy with how i described my first review. Then i also felt that my 2nd review wasn't up to par with what i wanted.

This is now my 6th review of the winter season shows. I don't think that this is even in the top 5 of the shows for this season. Maybe around in 6 place.

The first story arc of this season could easily be mistaken for a completely different show altogether. I'm ... not even kidding but i for a second thought i had clicked on the wrong show at some point and had been watching something Completely different then Overlord for the past 3 or 4 episodes.

I came out of that Story arc feeling like it was completely pointless. It seemed more like someone with a fetish for lizards somehow got their fanfiction put into this. Nothing of interest happens and finally when the big battle is about to happen. It's over in less then a couple minutes. Very boring and Anticlimactic for me.

We do have a story arc that i like a lot. The arc involves one of my favorite characters " Sebas " and him taking care of a former slave girl tossed out into the streets to die. I am a sucker for these arcs with these girls slowly being brought into a respectable life after dealing with bad stuff.

I do wish that we just got a spin off series where it was about Sebas out in the country away from lots of civilization and he finds a little girl at a young age left to die on the side of the road. He then ends up taking her in and raising her. Hell, It doesn't even need to to be in the universe of Overlord. Just someone with the personality and power of Sebas.

I do feel that the story arc was hampered by the show adding in two characters. "Climb" & " Brains Uglus " I find both of them to be worthless additions to the story and i despise "Climb".

"Climb" is just an awful character. He's more like what you expect to see out of those 3rd rate shows where the males are transported to another world. He is not fun on screen and the amount that the show tries to shove him down are throat. I don't care about him. I more care about the slave that Sebas cared but the show doesn't seem to care. He also has a dumb name.

"Brains Uglus" i think he is alright. But he isn't anything special. He's kind of bland . My honest opinion is that he feels like the creator realized last minute that they needed an additional character so he went and looked at the past season and found some random character that was more like a throwaway character.

The other biggest issue i have is the plot line of the Royal Family. We had this character that seemed interesting and nice. She was the only person that wasn't a fighter and actually seemed interesting. Then the show decided she needed to be a bland antagonist ? I don't even know if she is meant to be a future villain or if she is just a fucked up good guy. She's turned into a cliche villain. The rest of the family isn't any better. Worst thing of it all is that the Princess ( The chick i'v been talking about ) Is overly obsessed with fucking "Climb" of all characters.

Something the show also seems to have forgotten is that Ainz ( The MC ) Used to be a Human. The show seems to have lost interest with the MC learning why he was suddenly brought into another world as his game character. I feel this is a fairly big plot hole in my opinion.

This show also has a weird obsession with blondes this season. If you don't count any of the villains. Then i think just about every new character is Blonde for whatever reason.

We get the introduction of a adventure group of characters. At first i don't like them. Especially the big weird old lady that is always wanting to sleep with people. But besides her, I started liking this group of people. The Leader,The Twins and the the Evileye character are pretty entertaining.

The Leader looks nice and has a good character design. She has little in the way of talking though so it's hard to get to know her personality.

The Twins are nice looking and they are just one of the more badass characters of the group.

The EvilEye is my favorite. I do wish the show didn't have her hyped up to be such a powerful person but in the end she's just weak. I like how she's i guess hasn't had her heart beat in centuries but when Ainz saves her she get's all giddy even though she is meant to be the serious and the straight man.

I kind of feel these characters are wasted in this. I would love a show that wasn't part of the Overlord universe and was this group of people doing their own thing.

I'v also noticed that the girls in this tend to be better then the guys, The Maids are all awesome and i love them. All of them have special characters. I loved that we got the Bug lady to actually fought. I wish we got more of the Maids fighting.

My favorite guys are

Sebas: Awesome powerful badass old looking dude. That has one of the better personalities. Easily better then Ainz

Demiurge : I think he's badass. Honestly he has a certain feel around him that Ainz, A character that is meant to be menacing is lacking. I wish he was more rebellious. Like he doesn't want to work for Ainz but does it out of a sense of pride. Honestly him and Sebas better characters then Ainz or even any other character.

Finally. The art seems to have taken a dip. Still good but i notice a ton more issues then last season.

Overall a drop from what we got last season. I still don't get what's so exciting about htis show and why it has so much praise.

This story i'v noticed has a ton of good idea's that seem wasted on this one show.

TL;DR – Without properly delving into the elements it shows, Overlord S2 (like S1) does a good job capturing our attention, but doesn't do much apart from that.

Basic breakdown below ⬎



== Impressions / Presentation: 5.5 ==

From how scenes are paced, it's evident that a lot of LN scenes are cut out to move things along. Originally, this was more an observation rather than an outright bad thing. But as I progressed through the episodes, it became more and more apparent how lacking the show was in substance. Every scene and every episode always feels like it's missing something, which they ironically are.

As mentioned in ... my TL;DR: It gets your attention, but doesn't do anything meaningful once it does.

The show generally looks nice, save some atrocious CG monsters. Though drawn well, most of the human characters are poorly designed and look very bland, especially in comparison to the non-humans within the Tomb of Nazarick.



== Story: 8 ==

The story of Overlord is basically seeing how the Tomb of Nazarick interacts with the inhabitants of this world in various ways, plus overpowered butt-kicking. Overlord II continues in this fashion.

The core of Overlord's story is fantastic by itself, and though the anime doesn't tell it in a very satisfactory way, it's evident that there is a strong source material serving as the show's foundation.



== Characters: 5.5 ==

Overlord does a strangely good job at getting us invested in the various people in the world. I've been genuinely scared for them when they inevitably come face to face against Ainz or his subordinates.

Unfortunately like many other things in the anime, not enough quality time is spent to properly cement these characters in the show, or our mind. You occasionally get some highlight moments with some people, but those are far and few in between.



== Enjoyment: 6 ==

I greatly enjoyed S1 and the start of S2. But as I became more conscious of the show's shortcomings, that feeling deteriorated into exasperation. At the very least, the anime is good at pulling me into its world, and that was something that stayed for the whole season. I just wish it gave me something worthwhile for that investment.

This is my 2nd time trying to complete season 2 of Overlord. Make no mistake, season 1 is absolutely amazing and a must watch, so when season 2 came out some while back- I was really hype. I think I dropped it by episode 3 or 4. Buuuutttt now with 4 seasons under it's belt, I figure I'd give it another go. And yeah- it was alright.

To sum fairly quick, this season follows Ains Ooal Gown and his ragtag group of gang as they try to take over the land. Except, it's not- this season focuses on world building, and world building it does. Like......a ... loooooooonnggg time. Too long. And too boring. They dedicated 3 whole episodes on Lizardmans when honestly- very few really cares. Listen- world buidling is important and necessary yes, but we're here to see Ains Ooal Gown and his gang, not two lizards flirting. Or a bunch of humans who are irrelevant to the plot take up 15 minutes of screen time every episode. Truth is- I just don't care and couldn't wait for those parts to be over. If your audience is feeling that way- well that's kind of a failure.

Okay with that said- when the show DOES get down to business, it was very good. The climax of the show is supposed to be a twist to the audience, even though it's kind of obvious. Still- very solid plot to end season 2. You get to see more layers of secondary characters like Sebas and Demiurge. Sadly, I think that was it for Nazarick's group. I would've loved to see more Momon, Albedo, or Shalltear, but eh- I'm sure that'll be coming in the future. The show does introduce some interesting human character- actually just 2. The princess will surprised some (love her twist), and Evileye is adorable.

How about the interactions? Sadly, quite mundane, at least for the most part. All very standard and no one jumps out. Except for Demiurge, who is freaking awesome. Oh, and Evileye is also pretty good. I like her snappy and truthful nature. She's about the only human I hope lives through Nazarick's take over.

So to sum up, season 2 is a big mess, but still enjoyable in some parts. If you're a hardcore Overlod fan, I recommend it. If season 1 was just "good" to you, then I woudl pass. Regardless, after this onto season 3 I go (which I hear is really amazing).

Contrary to majority opinion, this sequel series makes noticeable improvements upon the first season by firmly aligning the viewers’ interest with those of the less powerful NPCs in the world at large. The Lizard men arc, while rightly criticised for its lack of depth, raises interesting questions like ‘what is it like to be omnipotent’, ‘how should an all-powerful being act’, and ‘what might such beings desire for themselves or the world and lesser beings over whom they reign’. These questions have certain philosophical implications whose superficiality in the anime does not detract from their validity. In particular, the conversation between the ... protagonist and his crustacean commander reveals that perhaps there is meaning to the madness, an end to be gained. Here, that end seems to involve the NPCs' sense of autonomy and ability to use their own judgement that transcends their zealously loyal programming. This of course is a far cry from a sort of similar idea that was executed in Westworld, but adds a certain amount of interest to the series.

The second half of the season, however, reverts back to the worn out formula of pretend villainy followed by some seemingly heroic intervention purely to increase renown for the protagonist himself. These schemes seem myopic and childish for our OP dread lord when compared to the struggles of everyday humans and lower tier adventurers alike. I suppose the contrast between the actions of people who fight for a true cause but lack the power, and those of people who have plenty of power but lack a legitimate cause makes for an interesting juxtaposition, although I suspect that is hardly the intent here. Moreover, the arc feels annoyingly under-elaborated, such that when the schemes finally come to fruition and the loose ends are brought together, the viewer is left perplexed and grasping for more. Overall, a frustrating second season that, while palpably better than the first, still falls short of its potential.

Surprisingly disappointing.

1 - The first episodes begin presenting characters that we will never see in anime;
2 - The director tries to create suspense that does not work around these same characters presented at the beginning of the anime and that we will never see in the anime again;
3 - Where are the characters presented at the beginning of the anime?
4 - The episodes of the "Lizardmen" were annoying, boring and uninteresting;
5 - I was expecting more focus on the main characters and the anime wrapped me around nine apisodes where nothing happened with characters that I can not even remember who they were.

I watched until ... the end in the hope that it would improve, unfortunately that was not the case.

Season 2 is a general improvement over season1, primary because Overlord works best when the focus is off Ains. The beginning of this season focuses entirely on new characters in a race against the clock to unite with their former enemies to ward off a coming apocalypse. Side characters from season 1 are given more time to be developed and fleshed out, must to the show's benefit. Seeing characters struggle with the looming danger they all have in common is engaging, portraying Anis as this larger-than-life vague entity in which there is little but still existent hope of triumphing against. Unfortunately, Ains manages to destroy ... most of this progress as soon as he appears, acting as the significant detriment to his own show that he always was.

If you were a fan of season 1 you may either enjoy this season or be severely disappointed. All the characters return and there are some great arcs for characters who previously did not get enough screen time. Unfortunately, I feel that Madhouse seriously dropped the ball on this one. I know that the studio has undergone a lot of turnover in previous years but this was the first show from them where I really noticed it. The art, timing, animation and sound design just felt sloppy compared to the first season. If you were clamoring to see a return of Overlord I would have ... to recommend the light novels which I recently finished. They go a whole lot further in the story and really flesh out the characters a lot more.

Overall, I think this was a decent season but I was a bit disappointed. If you really enjoyed the first season give this a try but know that it is pretty slow.

The reason I liked the the series so much is because of Momonga/Ainz Ooal Gown/Momon. He is a well written character and his motives are understandable. His actions make sense based on his motives. He doesn't do good things because they are good and he doesn't do bad things because they are bad. Their is reason and thought behind his actions which is the strength of the character. The Show's Art and Music ... does a great job of showcasing how powerful he is and how weak his opponents are.

He is still very much the same in the second season, the problem is that he seems like a side character for 8 episodes. During the first and second arc of the show if I asked you who the main character was, if you didn't watch the first season, you wouldn't know it was Ainz. The best part of the show is a side act for more than half the season. The main characters of first two arcs are one-dimensional boring characters. I understand that shows with extremely powerful characters need supporting characters to show how strong the main character is. This doesn't mean they have to be boring. In One Punch Man this character is Genos but in OPM the plot still revolves around Saitama. They would have done better if they shortened the first and second arc and focused on Ainz. The final arc felt a bit rushed with sides stories tied up in 30 second clips played next to the credits. They could have expanded these but instead it felt like they didn't want to invest the resources in making a full length season and just tried to compress everything into the final episodes. I hope they get more funding next season because the first season was great and the final episodes showed they are still capable.

First things first. My "reviews" system is explained on a blog entry. Which can be found through my profile.
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✦Story
To sum it up this season is about building relationship, world and presence of overlord and his adventurer persona. For the most part I think it was fairly well made and quite interesting, but at the same time I felt like lot of things were simply made to make you dislike members of "Great Tomb of Nazarick" and the leader himself. As this reason really shows a lot of his quite immoral acts for fairly prudent and villainous reasons in the long run. As well this season ... did show quite few extremely grim moments of which some characters were in. Nevertheless I couldn't particularly enjoy this season as much as the whole setup of the story felt quite uncomfortable. As whole, it's good, but for my personal taste it felt too selfish and "evil" for me to able enjoy the story of this season.

✦Art & Sound
Animation and art was good as always. Great magic presentation and overall character designs were quite nice.

As for sound, I found some OST quite amazing. Whilst other music I didn't particularly notice or care about.

✦Character
A lot more characters were introduced. Sadface to Tuare. Anyhow, fairly interesting characters. Mainly the servants that were introduced. Then we also have some fairly "very good" characters and few of those that wear a catface. Meaning that characters that are seemingly "good", but in fact they are one hell of a twisted minds. Long story short, did enjoy for the most part all of the characters for the role they take part of.

✦Enjoyment & Overall
Long story short. I found this season more uncomfortable and in a way it somewhat made me lower the score. I usually like dark and twisted things, but this one somehow didn't get the praise from me. I just hope overlord will over the time became more of a "good savior" than "evil ruler". As whole I find this franchise unique and interesting, but I felt this season generally being a bit weaker plus I did enjoy it a little tad bit less than the first season.

Let's start at the beginning.
Overlord S1 was a decent success of a show in my opinion. The stage was set with systems for how the world and specifically the main character Momonga and his magic works, many diverse and interesting characters and an unknown world, with the "goal" being quite vague apart from safeguarding and expanding the base, nazarick.
The ending few episodes of S1 hints at what will continue in s2, but what greets us is...

Now let's start with Season 2.
We have all that knowledge and expectations of what kind of story to expect from the first season, but we are instead greeted into the ... tale of the lizardmen.
It's like a complete separate story not heavily tied to the world of Overlord, where the main character isn't even directly involved. The characters are dull and the end can be seen from a mile away. The objective with the arc is pretty unclear to the entirety of the story, but it can be summarized as the incentive being experimentation from the MC.
For some reason the artstyle of the lizards, especially the colors and sharp lines are horrible and look pretty cheap, which is a major part of why I disliked the first part of this season.
The second part of the season is what I would like to call "the real start" of the second season, due to how it lines up nicely with the ending of season 1.
I only have one major gripe with this part, and that is the character "Climb".
Climb is a character who really doesn't fit in - This specific type of character is a mix between a "pathetic MC" and a "tryhard guy of the class" kind of character, in the sense that he always loses, always tries the hardest but will never be good. Normally this type of character is the MC himself, and is seen in comedy shows. It really does not fit in here, and the story could have done well without him. Another notable feature about Climb is his voice, especially the tone of his voice - it's unbelievably annoying.
Apart from this, the second part of the season delivers to a degree what you would expect from having watched season 1, apart from the fact that the main character is still mostly absent.

Another major flaw present throughout the season is how stale the dialogue is. There is no fluidity in speech and characters basically take chess-like turns in speaking. The villain introduction in the end of ep 9 is something that low-quality shounen anime/manga does. It's really awkward to have the "big villain" (who will be present for a mazimum of 4 episodes) do the introduction of all the villain characters and on top of that call them out one by one and name their full titles in a monologue only for the sake of introducing them.

I don't know where exactly to put this at - The first half is irrelevant, a pointless character with a lot of focus in the second half and the MC is MIA for 9 full episodes save for a few quick glances.
From what i've written so far this would seem like a bad show to watch, which is not entirely true. Overlord II is just a bit out of place in terms of the story, and does not live up to the first season. Overall I rate this as a 6, with some minor potential for growth as we are still in mid-arc.