Animation or Writing?

Overlord (light novel)

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Which would you prefer for Overlord? Please read the ramifications of your possible choice.

Writing

Animation

Sep 25, 2018 6:12 PM

Janethan23

Offline

Apr 2012

1949

It's pretty obvious that Overlord can only have one trait.

- If you've chosen Writing then the animation suffers thus making it just below average or just barely average. It will be laughable at most and you'll feel an anime from the 70s with CG put together with the use of an expired trial period of Power point. The source material remains intact and followed religiously.

- If you decide that Animation should be top tier with epic visuals and detail then choose this however the writing will take a huge hit wherein most of the time it will not make sense and it will leave you confused than entertained. The source material is tossed out and rewritten to cater to a more acceptable audience.

Janethan23Sep 25, 2018 6:23 PM

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Sep 25, 2018 7:20 PM

removed-user

Offline

Jul 2018

564488

There's no way the writing would suffer if they decided to alocate a higher budget to animation. Why would they toss the source material out? That doesn't make any sense, it would only make the writing even more expensive since they would have to rewrite it. Having a source material is one of the things that actually makes anime production cheaper since you only have to make a script out of it.

Sep 25, 2018 7:27 PM

xxdarkknightxx12

Offline

Aug 2018

184

lmao who watches Overlord for the writing? It's just the same premise repeated over and over again (characters introduced, then gets killed by Ainz, repeat).

It's fun to watch and that's it.

I'd take good animation over writing for Overlord any day.

The animation right now has gone to the point where it's a complete joke. The CGI is actually complete garbage

Sep 25, 2018 8:09 PM

Tobestik

Offline

Oct 2016

All light novel readers.

Sep 25, 2018 8:15 PM

KatsutoSaki

Offline

Oct 2017

4362

Did you just say writing? Who's watching this shit for the writing? When the whole story is about Ainz and his harem squashing ants? Anyone can write this kind of shit. Nothing special about it.

Sep 25, 2018 8:20 PM

_Ako_

Offline

Feb 2015

13852

Animation primarily because I've read the LN

KatsutoSaki said:
Did you just say writing? Who's watching this shit for the writing? When the whole story is about Ainz and his harem squashing ants? Anyone can write this kind of shit. Nothing special about it.

I have to agree to this to a certain extent.

RIP CE, thank you and fuck you for bringing Rule 7 that ultimately killed you and this shithole

Sep 25, 2018 9:07 PM

Lease_of_Life

Offline

May 2016

158

Man, I really wanted to enjoy this anime. In fact, sometimes I can't help enjoying it. But the fact that it is garbage in pretty much every technical aspect is undeniable.

The direction is questionable.
The animation is atrocious.
The dialogue is sometimes exposition-heavy to the point of being cringeworthy.
Its unique plot is the only thing holding it together, but even that has its flaws.

"I will become his world and will make him my world" - You really should know who said this.

"Firing at unarmed citizens is a feat that those without courage and a chivalrous spirit simply cannot accomplish." - Oskar von Reuenthal

"No way Spirited Away is better than Akira. NO WAY." - Kanye West

Sep 25, 2018 9:12 PM

Jugger47

Offline

Sep 2018

Lease_of_Life said:
Man, I really wanted to enjoy this anime. In fact, sometimes I can't help enjoying it. But the fact that it is garbage in pretty much every technical aspect is undeniable.

The direction is questionable.
The animation is atrocious.
The dialogue is sometimes exposition-heavy to the point of being cringeworthy.
Its unique plot is the only thing holding it together, but even that has its flaws.

1. Not really
2. Indeed
3. Not really
4. Sort of

Sep 25, 2018 10:33 PM

Janethan23

Offline

Apr 2012

1949

I see where all of you posting want better animation but ignore the fact that it has happened countless times that a studio would take the source material and use it as an inspiration of sorts then the producers and director would make their own interpretation but you'll still get your top tier animation. With that being said, we'll all be back here with the same group of people complaining about the writing this time around. Hypothetically if the animation is top notch however here's a couple of writing tweaks that could've happened if you don't mind the changes:
- Will each and everyone of you accept a more merciful Ainz letting Arche and his party go home?
- Ainz resurrecting everyone in the village he saved = Enri's parents are brought back.
- Lupusregina isn't a sadists but rather learned to overcome it by being around humans. She's sympathetic towards them.
- Ainz Doesn't lose his humanity making his choices for Nazarick's benefit secondary. Doesn't agree to world domination. Keeps everything low key.

Like I said before; hypothetically.
Apparently in this anime, we can't have it both ways.

Janethan23Sep 25, 2018 10:48 PM

Sep 26, 2018 1:40 AM

#10

Antanaru

Offline

Aug 2008

4362

Both. Because animators are not writing the show and writers and directors are not animating it.

Animation issues usually come from time restraints or poor management rather than insufficient budged. Bad direction and writing come from lack of talent. And this can be solved by hiring someone better. But no matter how much money you throw at animation it will still suck when there's not enough time. Of course except when you hire extra 100 animators but let's be realistic.

Ii tenki desu ne...

Sep 26, 2018 3:41 AM

#11

Grey-Zone

Offline

Oct 2014

6938

Doesn't work either way. You cannot animate an abstract scene that encourages you to make up the explanation, or at least part of it, in your own head. In that case the majority would always be unhappy about a minority getting preferential treatment by the anime. It just doens't work, regardless of the writing of the adaptation team or the visuals.

Sep 26, 2018 5:22 AM

#12

ThatLamp

Offline

Sep 2018

Well Ms. Janethan23 you put me in quite the dilemma.

If I had to choose one I would pick the first option; Overlord despite appearances is a very big story, and it needs to be followed to be fully enjoyed. I can take some bad animation if it means faithfully adapting the LN, this only raises a question, let’s say for example the scene with Jinvic and the throne room, with this cheap animation will we have all the variety of the creatures that the anime o so kindly suppressed to give us those 12-ish skeletons in golden armor or will it only give us said skeletons?

To further my point, let’s say I pick the animation, what will I get? Just another anime of the bunch that will not give me something original.

For me, the reason I like Overlord so much its because its different. It doesn’t fall into normal isekai clichés and it doesn’t pander to normal anime tropes, if we had an amazingly animated series but without the charm of the original story we would just be a greatly animated but otherwise average anime.

Sep 26, 2018 6:28 AM

#13

00784212

Offline

Sep 2018

Janethan23 said:
I see where all of you posting want better animation but ignore the fact that it has happened countless times that a studio would take the source material and use it as an inspiration of sorts then the producers and director would make their own interpretation but you'll still get your top tier animation. With that being said, we'll all be back here with the same group of people complaining about the writing this time around. Hypothetically if the animation is top notch however here's a couple of writing tweaks that could've happened if you don't mind the changes:
- Will each and everyone of you accept a more merciful Ainz letting Arche and his party go home?
- Ainz resurrecting everyone in the village he saved = Enri's parents are brought back.
- Lupusregina isn't a sadists but rather learned to overcome it by being around humans. She's sympathetic towards them.
- Ainz Doesn't lose his humanity making his choices for Nazarick's benefit secondary. Doesn't agree to world domination. Keeps everything low key.

Like I said before; hypothetically.
Apparently in this anime, we can't have it both ways.

- I would be fine Ainz doing anything to Arche, if he made zero excuse and did not whine. Thats a fine line between Overlord and Edgelord. Good example from same studio: Boros. He killed millions, I still like him because he's true to his own desire and goal. Not some wishy washy peer pressured coward that's just there for the ride.

- Ainz declared that Nfi, Enri and Carne village was under his protection. But he treat that them like a toy anyway, attacking them for the lulz. As a ruler, his words are cheap. A ruler views one under his wing as subject, not livestock.

- Lupus is Ainz dog. Go wild if its against it's master's foe. But if it as much as sneers at its master's possession, she's probably just a mongrel.

- World domination was not even Ainz's own goal (pun intended), let alone his desire. Just like with NTR genre where another man gets to f*ck your girl, Ainz let another man runs the show for him.
Yes, Demiurge dragging Ainz by the nose is NTR, he steals the decision making, moral weighing, being judge jury executioner, and prettymuch all the fun stuff of being an overlord, leaving nothing but responsibility to Ainz.
His "sasuga" is no different from the netori guy telling NTR-ed mc "I had a good f*ck, congrats, youre' gonna be a dad"

Sep 26, 2018 6:52 AM

#14

freedombaby94

Offline

Aug 2016

So people who think that the story isn't anything noteworthy ("it's just another iseikai anime") and that its animation is (or should be) more important than the writing... I mean, I can't actually say "you're wrong" because this is a matter of opinion... But I'm still going to say that I believe the writing is exactly what makes Overlord so popular (and good). This is because its source material is extremely well crafted. The anime wouldn't have been this successful if it wasn't resting on such a solid foundation.

The author clearly has a knowledge of fantasy RPG settings, and put a lot of effort into making a well-fleshed out world with an internal logic that makes sense. He uses the iseikai aspect to help us learn about this new world, and learning about that world is part of the fun. Not just because new settings are inherently interesting (which they are), but because this particular world is (or appears to be) worth learning about. He also has a plot-relevant history to the setting... The entire world and its events are all interconnected, or at least end up influencing each other in one way or another. This is downright masterful world building--it is much, much more than adequate. And I attribute this to the author's interest in D&D (at least, I read that somewhere, I could be wrong, but it makes so much sense).

Some people say that the success of Overlord is just because it's a genuinely unique take on iseikai, with the main character facing problems quite different from most iseikai protagonists. And although it's certainly true that this unique situation does make the series fun and interesting, a novel premise on its own would not be enough to carry yet another iseikai series. The series is so good because the author is good at writing!

At the same time, that doesn't mean I am happy with bad animation. It's unfortunate that a lot of recent anime have moments where we just have to "deal with" bad CG. But I think it's important to reflect that, while we're getting more bad/average anime... we are also just getting more anime in general... And I'm not sure, but I would argue that the number of excellent series coming out hasn't decreased over the years... The good ones are just diluted in a larger industry. (Disclaimer: this is not a researched fact, just a general impression)

Sep 26, 2018 6:54 AM

#15

freedombaby94

Offline

Aug 2016

I guess I should also say that I read the LN (although I'm not completely up to date, I'm past the anime adaptation)

Sep 26, 2018 10:00 AM

#16

removed-user

Offline

Jul 2018

564488

Why does it only have to be the way you're suggesting? You're just pushing your own made up "what if" scenario onto us and telling us that is has to be like that and that we just have to accept it. Just like there are many anime that makes changes to the source material, there are also countless others that don't.

Like I said, having a source material is one of the things that actually CUTS production costs since you dont have to come up with an original story, so making any changes to the story would be a nonsensical decision. Anime that makes changes from the source material most of the time do it because they won't adapt the full story and probably won't get more than a single season, so they have to make those changes in order to be able to give closure to the story.

What you're suggesting doesn't make sense at all, having better animation doesn't equate having to promote the anime to a different audience, thus having to make changes to the story. And like Antanaru said, alocating a bigger budget to the animaton wouldn't affect the story at all because it's not something related to money, but the talent of the directors and producers. We can have it both ways with Overlord, it's just that Madhouse isn't willing to put the effort and money into the project to make it so.

removed-userSep 26, 2018 10:04 AM

Sep 26, 2018 6:45 PM

#17

Janethan23

Offline

Apr 2012

1949

@BatWeeb and @Antanaru
You're missing the point of this discussion. Instead of challenging the validity of the discussion and changing the narrative just make a choice then state your reason(s). What you guys want is to "Have your cake and eat it too." Naturally saying BOTH is the ideal answer however that would only be a cop out answer and kills the purpose of having a discussion.

Janethan23Sep 26, 2018 6:51 PM

Sep 26, 2018 7:27 PM

#18

ColtBuntline

Offline

Nov 2013

2526

Writing.
The only problem I have with audiobooks is that I don't have anything to look at while I listen to them, but as long as there's an animation, that's at least not really ugly, to entertain me while I listen to what is being told in the story, that's perfectly okay.
Miyazaki's movies, in the other hand, that have their stories mostly told through animation, with very little dialogue, are seriously boring, in my opinion.
Great writing just becomes better with great animation too, of course, but I still consider writing as more important.

ColtBuntlineSep 26, 2018 7:32 PM

“Right is right even if no one is doing it; wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it.”
― Saint Augustine

Sep 26, 2018 7:38 PM

#19

removed-user

Offline

Jul 2018

564488

Janethan23 said:
@BatWeeb and @Antanaru
You're missing the point of this discussion. Instead of challenging the validity of the discussion and changing the narrative just make a choice then state your reason(s). What you guys want is to "Have your cake and eat it too." Naturally saying BOTH is the ideal answer however that would only be a cop out answer and kills the purpose of having a discussion.

The purpose / point of this discussion is dumb to begin with because your suggestions don't make any bit of sense since writing and animation quality are not intrinsically connected when it comes to production and giving more attention to one won't affect the other as long as the studio isn't completely incompetent. Other studios have proven that an anime can have both good animation and story without being SoL, even Madhouse itself has anime that falls into that category like OPM, Parasyte, NGNL and the list goes on. This isn't a situation of "having your cake and eating it too", it's just that your scenario is dumb and unrealistic, that's all.

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