Well I'm about to tell you. Sit back, relax and check what what you are sitting on isn't Kinky, as I present to you the anime review for Overlord II. Lets begin.
Story 7.5/10
The story takes place pretty much right where we left off from season 1 (like it never left us) with Momonga (or Ains Ooal Gown) having gathered information of the areas around him, plans to establish and expand Nazerick in this world that he is still stuck in. From there the story has two arcs that are each set in different locations. The first arc focuses on the tribal lives of native Lizardmen and how Ains wants to subjugate then to do his bidding. Whereas the second arc takes place in the royal capital and focuses more on an underground syndicate known as the Eight Fingers. These two arcs are used to establish what is sort of the purpose of the second season, world building. We are already established with Ainz and we know who he is and what his goals are so why not expand the world outside Nazerick to focus on areas that are going to be affected by his presence. As such the arcs are used to establish characters in those areas of the world and expand on some of Ains' followers.
Now this is a good thing because we didn't know much of the world in the first season so having a second season expanding the world does alleviate some of the criticism that the first season had. But the second season establishes factions and characters that we don't get to see beyond the the first opening minutes of the first episode. So it isn't perfect. Likewise in order to keep you up to date with that particular area of the world, there is a lot of dialogue that explains current events and events that have happened before Ains' arrival. I'm not gonna lie, some of these dialogues going back and forth between these characters can be longer than they should be; making it boring to listen to after a few minutes and can make you tune out. But thankfully, there are some moments that do intrigue you and help you get to know this world and its inhabitants better.
Characters 8.5/10
Since we are pretty much established with Momonga, I will not be entirely focusing on him. Instead, I will be focusing on the characters that this season establishes.
So I said that this season focused more on Ains' followers. Well the followers that were focused on were Cocytus and Sebas in the first and second arc respectively. So lets start with Cocytus. Cocytus is a warrior, an honourable warrrior at that who has respect for other warriors who he deems worthy of earning his respect. He is also a bit of a single minded character who doesn't see the big picture and relying on characters like Demiurge for advice. Honestly, his character isn't that unique outside of proud warrior with an unshaken loyalty to Ains. Despite him being the focus of the all of Ains' servants in the first arc, his character isn't all that interesting. It is like he is built up to be this deadly warrior that the Lizardmen have no hope to beat. Speaking of the Lizardmen, it is surprising how much development they get. We see how they live and their traditions, all in the eyes of one Lizardmen, Zaryrusu Shasha. Zaryrusu is an outcast, opting to travel rather than to stay with the tribe. But when Ains starts knocking on the Lizardmen's door, he opts to unite the Lizardmen together to fight back. It's from there that we see the lives of the Lizardmen and how they live. In all honestly, seeing these events from the Lizardmen's perspective made me care for them more than I should have. Even though I knew their eventual fate, it was still entertaining to see what happens because I grew to like these characters, even with the romance angle between two Lizardmen being super awkard.
Now Sebas is defiantly the more interesting character of the two mainly due to the people he encounters who also play quite a big role in the second arc. Simply put, Sebas is a gentleman. A character who has morals and is the most caring out of all of Ains servants, despite his actions make the people around him suspicious of treachery, even though he has shown unquestionable loyalty. We see this through him taking care of a girl who was casted aside and we see how much of a gentleman he can be. Of course he then runs into the Eight Fingers and just shows how much of a badass Sebas is. This causes him to encounter some of the characters the we get plenty of screen time for, mainly Climb. Climb is a character like Sebas, who has an unshakeable loyalty and has selfless morals. He may be not that great with a sword, but he has unquestionable determination and lack of fear because of his duty to bodyguard the Princess of the royal capital, Princess Renner. This is a double edge sword however. While his loyalty and determination makes him a character that is liked and respected by people around him, it also makes him blind to the Princess' intentions as her personality gets more......interesting as the show goes on, with an interesting smile to boot (gives me shivers just thinking about it).
It is nice to see characters outside of Nazerick getting personalities rather than being blank characters with names for Ains and co. to slaughter. It makes the world seem more vibrant and seeing it from their perspective helps to establish characters that will eventually cross paths with Ains. That doesn't mean Ains is dropped from the picture as we see him trying to keep his Overlord persona by expanding and conquering his kingdom while also maintaining the loyalty of his followers. It is clear he cares for them because they remind him of his former guild members and doesn't want to doubt their loyalty although he will do what needs to be done to maintain his image.
Animation 7.5/10
Now back in 2015, Overlord, while still having good animation, didn't really live up to Madhouse's standards. This was mainly due to the fact that Madhouse had a tight schedule with their releases so cuts had to be made in some places. I bring this up because it really doesn't feel like the animation has changed much. While there is notable up in animation in the fight scenes, it really doesn't feel like much has changed. This could be because Madhouse split the budget between Overlord II and the other Madhouse anime that aired in the winter season, Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card-hen. But like I said earlier, Overlord season 1 still had good animation and still applies here. It still animates well and there is still detail in the world but I feel disappointed that not much has changed.
Sound 7/10
Do you like orchestral music? You should, because you will be hearing a bunch of it. The music from Overlord season 1 has pretty much carried over to season 2 which is actually rather nice. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Whether Ains' theme is playing in the background whenever he does something awesome or when something bad happens to "Ains and co."'s opponents and the music is like "oh s***, you're f*****." There is one new track that stands out to me and it is a sombre, quiet piece played when Princess Renner goes into one of her interesting personality moments. It sets an atmosphere really well and amplifies that aspect of Renner.
The opening "Go Cry Go" by OxT is interesting to me mainly because I didn't get into it until I listened into it more. It's one of those openings that grows on you and you like it over time. Altough I don't know why this anime opening is obsessed with tilting heads. Like every character has to tilt their head in this opening. But if I have to choose to listen between this opening and the Season 1 opening "Clattanoia." I probably choose Clattanoia. Go Cry Go didn't really impress me with its visuals as it is just a lot of the same imagery but with different characters. Clattanoia looked and sounded more fun which was appropriate for the kind of anime that we were watching.
The ending didn't impress me although I like the subtle changes of imagery as the show went on.
My feelings towards the dub are about the same as I felt about Seasons 1's dub. Besides Chris Guerrero's performance as Momonga (which was brilliant by the way), the performances for the dub characters were rather meh. Probably because the performance of Ains was that good due to him sounding like an evil Overlord with a voice that makes him imposing and is always planning something like a villain would. Although I did enjoy the performance of Bryan Massey as Cocytus since he gives Cocytus a more vocal range than his sub counterpart. But if I had the choice, i would probably listen to this anime in sub.
Conclusion
So I will bring up this question earlier, "Was it worth the wait?" Well considering that we had to wait almost two and a half years for a sequel we didn't think we would be getting. I would say sort of yes. While this sequel expands the world and its inhabitants, it isn't all clean cut and there are problems. There is also the disappointment of only slight improvement in animation quality, but I still enjoyed it and that what it really comes down to. I expected an enjoyable sequel and I got an enjoyable sequel.
It ain't finished though. There is still plenty of ground to cover in the overarching plot as areas of the world are still yet to be expanded upon. Thankfully, we are getting a new season this summer which is good news. It feels like the plot is getting really interesting and needs a continuation. So I will be looking forward to that but for now, I will enjoy what I got.
My Personal Enjoyment: 8.5/10
Overall score: 7.8/10 Recommendation: Watch it
