Story 6
When someone reads about this show they may already be hit with the stereotypical feelings they have for anime in this genre. Overlord is one of several recent anime that includes the main characters induction into a fantasy world he cant escape from. At the start of the show you see that the main character is a working man who plays an MMO called Yggdrasil which is being taken down. He decides to remain in the game until the servers are taken down. However when the time comes he finds he's still sitting in the same spot. Thus our show begins.
Even though Overlord presents itself in a different manner it doesn't introduce anything "new", or "refreshing" in terms of story. I put those terms in quote marks because these terms are used often to demean some form of entertainment. Even though the show isn't new or refreshing doesn't make it a terrible show. Its easy to critique other peoples work and simply hide behind general terms like this, rather than come to the forefront and make something of your own or explain what it is that the show did or didn't do correctly. Overlord is its own show within a typical framework. Just like most anime that people consider rip offs or clones.
The protagonist is named Momonga. After the initial shock he sets to work trying to figure out whats happened to him. This is a typical setup for an anime in this genre. However from here the anime fans out in another direction. Where the others work in the constraints of the MMO world, Overlord use the MMO world as a backbone for a fantasy story. This allows for a interesting new world to be explored without constraint. The premise of this anime is very interesting and unfortunately ended too quickly.
I will say Overlord seems to have a bit of a jumpy pace to it. After the first couple of episodes the story begins to go in different directions and when something gets introduced it feels rushed. Ultimately it feels like it would have been better if it would have taken its time and explained everything as it went. I haven't read the manga, but i imagine this is a case of being to much info to cram into a 13 episode anime.
All things considered I cant give the story section a high score. However I like the setting and the direction the story is going and find it enjoyable. Its not intricate, thought provoking, deep or mysterious but it is enjoyable.If your happy with a decent story in a fantasy setting you should give it a try. If your looking for a twist that will blow your mind or a show on the depth of human nature Overlord is not for you.
Art & Music 6
I am not a huge stickler for art or music. These elements only add to an anime and hardly ever detract. The art side of Overlord seemed well done and nicely animated. The characters were well drawn and I particularly liked their facial expressions. The scenery didn't leave a big impact in my mind but it wasn't bad either. The CGI that was used added a nice look to some of the scenes. The intro and outro were nice and easy to recognize. The music played during the show mixed in well and didn't detract from the scene's. The music didn't stick out to me like other shows like Jormangund, Mirai Nikki, or Clannad but it was still well done.
Characters 7
I would love to be able to praise the characters outright, however its really difficult to do. In my opinion the characters are forgettable and not much to write home about. Most of the story revolves around Momonga and the npc guardians of the guild hall. There are other characters that seem important to the story but nothing really becomes of any of them. Even the villains feel shallow. Even if you can categorize a person based on how they act you never get a chance to truly understand them.
The npc's had the ability to be much more interesting than they are in the anime. Since the npc's were created by people in the guild and given personalities by them as well, they could have been used more in a variety of ways. I say a variety of ways because each npc had a different personality but for the most part they were loyal servants to Momonga. If even five people sat down and created a different person with a different personality to boot we would all come up with some odd people. Add in the fact that these are all fake people inside a video game and I would bet good money that they would stand out in a crowd. They tried to show that the npc's held the same characteristics of their creators but they never really pushed that angle either. The npc's really only stood out because they looked exotic in some way.
Momonga was the center of attention but he didn't really stand out either. People seem to call him evil but he isn't. The way the guild was organized caused him to become an "evil ruler" when he found himself in this new world. Of course there are some evil like things he says in the anime however they sort of explain why early on. He also tries to maintains the npc guardians image of him(which is above lesser creatures). This is played out several times during the anime and it is one thing that makes him more interesting. I should also mention that he is very powerful. I like powerful main characters because it does feel refreshing to see a character take action after watching weak or lazy main characters in other stories. He isn't so powerful its in your face and ruins any conflict that arises. I felt attached to most of the fights in the anime and wasn't disappointed with any wild escapes or ass pulls. Most of his power can be easily traced to common MMO elements and really meshes well with the MMO background.
I know I said that the characters were weak however they all work together well to build the foundation of this world that the writers want us to see. I managed to have a favorite character(Aura Bella Fiora) and enough attachment to the others that I would hate for one to be gone. The fact that I'm attached to them at all with the little knowledge I have about them means that the writers did a good job creating them. I watched three seasons of Dog Days and I can only tell you about the three princess's and the main character.
Enjoyment 8
Overall I enjoyed Overlord. I may write more on the negative side of things, but its always the side easiest to write for. Overlord present itself in a nice fashion. It doesn't focus on elements that SAO and Log horizon presented(not that either of them are bad). Instead it opens up a new fantasy universe with a more concrete background. The character interactions and the situations in this anime may not keep you breathless but they will have you looking forward to the next episode. As a big fan of MMO and RPG games I was pleased to see well thought out character abilities and powers. I was constantly impressed with events in the anime because they played off of the MMO background but incorporated it well into their fantasy world they created. I'm looking forward to a second season and I plan to pick up reading the manga.
Power Fantasy?
Now that my review is finished I wanted to quickly discuss the term "Power Fantasy". This is a term that crops up a lot when a main character has some strength to them. The term is often used in derogatory fashion. If someone claims something is a power fantasy it has negative stigma attached to it. Why do we watch anime? why do we read books? why do we watch T.V? for each person who answers it will be different, however one of the biggest reasons is to be entertained. Almost every fantasy story has a strong character that the people who watch can rally behind. People talk about projecting yourself onto the character. Maybe some people can, but a lot of times its difficult to truly do this. Even if you do manage to see yourself as the main character there isn't anything wrong with that. We all are here to be entertained. None of us can fly, cast magic, fight in giant robots or do half the shit that happens in a fiction. Sure a super powerful character can ruin the flow of a story but most of the time its done well enough. We all have emotional needs. We all want to be accepted, to be understood, to be thought of. There isn't anything wrong with wishing you could live in an anime, video game or book. We have all dreamed of crushing our boss in someway or imagined what we would do in a zombie invasion. Giving an anime a bad review because you think the characters are too strong is ignorant, and so is calling out the people who enjoyed it and making them out to be some loser.
Thanks for reading!
TLDR: Pretty good, interesting enough to keep your attention but has some flaws.
