Overlord IV

E-Rantel, the capital city of the newly established Sorcerer Kingdom, suffers from a dire shortage of goods. Once a prosperous city known for its trade, it now faces a crisis due to its caution—or even fear—of its king, Ainz Ooal Gown. To make amends, Ainz sends Albedo to the city as a diplomatic envoy.

Meanwhile, the cardinals of the Slane Theocracy discuss how to retaliate against Ainz after his attack crippled the Re-Estize Kingdom's army, plotting for the Baharuth Empire to take over the Sorcerer Kingdom. However, when Emperor Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix arranges a meeting with the Theocracy's messengers at a colosseum, he is confronted by none other than Ainz himself.

With their secret gathering now out in the open, the emperor and his guests learn that Ainz has challenged the Warrior King, the empire's greatest fighter, to a duel. With Ainz's motivations beyond his comprehension, Jircniv can do nothing but watch as humanity's future changes before his very eyes.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Momonga Main

Hino, Satoshi Japanese

Albedo Supporting

Hara, Yumi Japanese

Bloodfallen, Shalltear Supporting

Uesaka, Sumire Japanese

Gamma, Narberal Supporting

Numakura, Manami Japanese

Demiurge Supporting

Katou, Masayuki Japanese

Tian, Sebas Supporting

Chiba, Shigeru Japanese

Pandora's Actor Supporting

Miyano, Mamoru Japanese

Zeta, Entoma Vasilissa Supporting

Shindou, Kei Japanese

Evileye Supporting

Hanamori, Yumiri Japanese

Fiora, Aura Bella Supporting

Katou, Emiri Japanese

Kikushima, Kazufumi Producer

Fukao, Satoshi Producer

Isogai, Noritomo Producer

Yoshida, Yuuki Producer

Reviews

Sep 27, 2022

KANLen09

Recommended

SASUGA AINZ-SAMA! For the 4th (and possibly the final) time.

It's been a long while since we've ever anticipated anything new about Overlord...well, ANYTHING besides the Isekai Quartet "spin-off" chibi series that for some reason, has progressed much faster in the 4-year gap since Season 3 came out. YES, you heard me right. Season 1 came out in Summer 2015, EXACTLY 7 years ago, and then Seasons 2 and 3 in quick succession in Winter and Summer 2018, which was a terrible mistake for Madhouse since it was basically crunch time that ultimately landed on subpar production values that are abysmal for Overlord standards. The Sorcerer ... King Ains Ooal Gown ONLY demands the best of the best, and thankfully, after 4 long years of abstinence that Madhouse is entering a new revival, the production team has pulled a 180 on us to say that "Thou aren't gonna be on par with You-Zitsu Season 2's standards where all mistakes shall dolt continue!" and learnt from their missteps to finally give us Season 4, which could arguably be the most important and exhilarating season of Overlord to date.

So, with Season 4, we enter Volumes 10 (The Ruler of Conspiracy), 11 (The Craftsman of Dwarf) and 14 (The Witch of the Falling Kingdom) of novelist Kugane Maruyama's LN with Ains Ooal Gown's coronation as the Sorcerer Kingdom's Sorcerer King, ready to transform his kingdom into a utopia, a thriving world with various races that will submit to his authority. On that note, you might be wondering why Volumes 12 and 13 were skipped entirely, and that's because both volumes focus on The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom arc, which was announced last year that alongside Season 4, the series would get its 3rd film that would adapt both volumes. So, think of it as sorta like a canon event that happened before the 2nd half of Season 4, but again like the actual season itself, has been some of the most brutal and devilish moments of the source material yet.

Nevertheless, it's pretty much assumed that LN readers were dying to see these moments animated as the Sorcerer King Ains lays his plan of his own ideal utopia, seeing that his own Sorcerer Kingdom was severely lacking resources and adventurers. And the next target he's locking his eyes onto are those that aren't seen by the wayside (the creatures not yet tapped upon) to the bigger fish that is the Re-Estize Holy Kingdom (not the Slane Theocracy as Crunchyroll somehow messed up the translation). The return of Ains and his Floor Guardians are always the highlights of Overlord, but also not forgetting people like the Blue Rose adventurers and the people of the Holy Kingdom as they play a part on Ains's puzzle-piecing plan to make his name known all over the world. Failure to do so, then death is imminent either way. This is truly Overlord at its best, and it's a great return to form.

That return to form is supported by Madhouse getting better at their craft, especially on the CGI front that after Season 3's heinous job done, it becomes more tolerable and isn't jarring to look at, a good job on that. Also, Season 4 has just about the improvement made back to the usual Overlord standards of visually looking at its very best. It's the same story on the musical front as OxT is back for another OP, and it sounds just as fantastic as it should be. Things get more impressive for former MYTH & ROID member Mayu Maeshima, as "No Man's Dawn" could potentially be the best ED ever in Overlord's entire OST.

It's a no-brainer at this point if you're already deeply ingrained into the Overlord franchise that's now 3 seasons and 2 movies in, plus the Isekai Quartet chibi series. Every season feels like a bloodbath, and it only gets bigger and better one after the another, all culminating into a huge battle fest that is Season 4. Ainz Ooal Gown's story is badder than life, and glory to Nazarick and the Sorcerer King.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Sep 27, 2022

Mcsuper

Mixed Feelings

Fans and haters of Overlord all know that Ainz is probably one of the most overpowered isekai protagonists out there. In this season, that is no exception. This series follows a similar formula throughout its run, and that formula is “People underestimate Ainz, and then get slaughtered”. This time around, the characters are actually somewhat catching on that, yes, Ainz is nearly unbeatable, so maybe we should work with him instead. To me, I think that the change in formula made the series a bit boring, but there were also quite a few other issues that presented themselves in this season.

My grading criteria: Story: /25 ... Art: /10 Music: /10 Characters: /20 Enjoyment /15 Thematic Execution /20

STORY: 11.2/25

The story isn’t by any means messy, it’s just that I struggled to care about the plot this season. In the previous seasons, we saw a whole lot more emphasis on side characters and their developments, which was great. From the Lizardmen arc in Season 2, to the Two Leaders arc with Enri and Nphirea in Season 3, say what you will about the arcs, but personally, they just felt way more impactful than whatever what shown in this season. This season focused a lot on Ainz taking over kingdoms and empires, for his goal of destroying the Re-Estize kingdom. There were a lot of political strifes and discussions sprinkled throughout as well, but it felt so insignificant. The jump from arc to arc felt very self-contained and not connected enough, which really lowered the significance of Ainz’s opposition throughout the series. Sure, there are some plot twists, and some rather satisfying and shocking moments, but I didn’t take much away from the plot this season compared to the other three seasons.

ART: 7/10

This show still looks a tad mediocre, but the CGI was slightly less prevalent, although clearly present. Not as jarring, but not the best still.

MUSIC: 8.4/10

The one thing that Overlord has kept consistent throughout the years was its music. The OP and ED were pretty solid once again, and worth listening to over and over.

CHARACTERS: 10/20

The characters from Nazarick never really intrigued me a whole lot, and with the focus being on them a bit more this season, it felt much more boring to me. Ainz is still the same as over, though he seemed more cold this season, Albedo is still her same fun self, Aura and Mare are still powerful, overall just much of the same. One key difference which felt a bit shocking to me was how “childish” Shalltear felt in this season. At some points, she felt like a newcomer learning the ropes of how the Nazarick group functioned, which was kind of weird. It was great to see Pandora’s Actor getting a chance to shine this season though.

Once again, I found the side characters and opposition of Nazarick more interesting, from Jircniv, Zanac, and many more, it’s always fun to see the futile schemes of Ainz’s opposition.

ENJOYMENT: 9.5/15

There were some exciting moments, but a lot of it was boring, which was unfortunate.

THEMATIC EXECUTION: 9/20

A key element in Overlord is how they execute Ainz’s supremacy over every other group in the world, and this time around, it felt really flat. The deaths that Ainz caused felt too quick and easy, and lacking in intrigue. Didn’t really feel for anyone, since the characters weren’t exactly developed very well.

OVERALL: 55.1/100

It’s always fun to watch the futile struggles of Ainz’s opposition, but I wished they focused on the opposition more to be honest. We know how powerful Ainz is, so I’m ok with him getting less screen time. The side characters are in my opinion what makes this show more compelling, and I felt considerably more bored of this season than any other. The movie will be coming out later on, so I’ll be sure to give that a watch when it comes out.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Sep 29, 2022

Mega_Mega

Not Recommended

Overlord's main issues are that it's unpleasant and boring.

There are no stakes because we know Ainz and his minions are insanely OP and are going to win every fight. Everything almost always goes according to plan, and if it doesn't it goes even better than expected for our villain protagonist.

Speaking of our villain protagonist, let's talk about the characters. Most of the Nazarick crew are entirely flat and static when it comes to character development, especially when it comes the past 2 seasons. Ainz somehow does whatever the opposite of character development is, having less and less of a personality over time.

After how decent ... the first 2 seasons were, I really wanted to believe that this story was going somewhere interesting, but, at least so far, Overlord has been yet another generic power fantasy.

If you find the idea of an infinitely powerful skeleton slaughtering thousands of innocent people for dozens of episodes to be appealing, then you'd probably enjoy this. If you're looking for any kind of depth or substance, I'd recommend watching pretty much anything else.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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