-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.
