VERDICT: 3 – Bad.
STORY: Like a skeleton – no meat and no soul.
Opening gives a 1:1 ratio of Overlord’s presence in his own show; focus is on secondary characters from the world and Tomb of Nazarick. Due to almost entirely new cast a lot of screen time has to be spent on dry expositions and introductions, leaving dynamic storytelling or world building behind. Early episodes are a necessary info dump, just like political talk in fast forward mode between the princess and some nobles in ep 10, because the viewer knows nothing about society and ongoing political intrigues at this point.
The lizard arc is a pointless uphill battle without any tension, due to immense power gap of the combatants. The capital arc is a convoluted mess with the quality of a B plot. At the end the viewer learns about scheming ongoing behind the scenes, and those events sound more exciting than the actual plot. If you intend to do a shift in perspective, fill it with purpose; doing it just for giggles won’t improve the experience.
It seems like this adaption is missing some inner monologues that define characters and their actions; at least in manga, while meeting Lulu, Ainz has an important thought process analyzing the situation and using his experience from the real world. Instead, we got an awkward and utterly pointless lizard snu snu scene.
CHARACTERS: Like maggots – bland, dispensable and there are too many of them.
Overlord already had a big cast and the second season expands it even further. Lizards in general behave like reskinned humans with a strong mating urge and your typical Alpha Lizard hero on the front: kind, brave and strong. Everyone else is a redshirt.
Capital arc utilizes many characters, and even after 10 minutes of thinking, I cannot write positive words about them, they are just so bland and one-dimensional. Brain, the bandit from the first season, is the only remotely interesting character, because after his encounter with Shalltear he develops a different worldview.
Did I mention there is no Overlord?
ARTWORK & ANIMATION: Like a zombie – slow, unimpressive and decaying over time.
While the first episode had some quality artwork, the show declined afterwards, reaching its low point in ep 8 missing any animation and plagued with off model characters as well as bland, colorless backgrounds. Ep 11 & 13 surprised with noteworthy action scenes, however, cannot redeem a whole season of mediocrity.
Furthermore, the none-existent budget can be seen in horrible CGI lizards and skeletons in the first arc. Wisely, Madhouse spent money on a much better show airing at the same time - Sora yori mo Tooi Basho.
SOUND: Like a ghost – is there, but you do not notice its presence.
OP is forgettable, so is all of the background music. Voice actors also do a mediocre job, no one stands out positively, like Clementine did in the first season.
If you are looking for a competent “trapped in a video game world” anime with a clear goal, superb world building, diplomacy, smart use of game mechanics and successful focus on NPCs, try Log Horizon.
