Overlord: The Complete Series Review

Overlord is one of those anime titles that we have seen a million times over in the past few years. The whole “Player is stuck in an online game” story has been done to death thanks to .Hack// and Sword Art Online; but what makes Overlord stand out is that it’s done from a different perspective that I’ve always wanted to see: What happens if a villain is stuck in the game? Overlord answers this question and goes deeper into the realms of personal morality taking a back seat to keeping up appearances… Plus a cast of amusing demons keeps you wanting more.

Title: Overlord
Genre: Action, Game, Adventure, Supernatural, Magic & Fantasy
Series Details: 13 episodes
Release Date: 11/01/2017 (Australia)
Languages: English, Japanese
Subtitles: English subtitles
Number of Discs: 2
Runtime: 325 mins (23mins per episode)
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Widescreen Full Height Anamorphic
Distributor: Madman Entertainment
Special Features: Textless Opening & Closing Songs
Rating: MA15+ Strong animated violence
Review Parameters: DVD Release, English Language, no subtitles.

In the year 2126, a Dive Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game or DMMORPG called Yggdrasil was released. It stands out among all other DMMORPG’s due to its unusually high ability for the player to interact with the game. After an intense 12-year run the game servers are about to be shut down. Within the game exist a guild, Ainz Ooal Gown, once consisting of 41 members and credited as one of the strongest guilds in the game. Now only 4 of the members remain, the other 37 having quit the game. Of those 4 only one actually continues to play; His name is Momonga and he remains the guild leader, maintaining their headquarters, The Great Tomb of Nazarick. He invites the remaining guild members but of those only one appears and only for a short while before leaving. While saddened by this, he accepts the reality that his friends had their real lives to take care of. And so, he stays in the guild alone until the servers shut down.

Then, he realizes that the game does shut down and he cannot seem to use the normal player function, such as General Message, or even quit. Then when the NPC’s of Ainz Ooal Gown start talking to him he decides to take things seriously and find out if anyone from ‘the real world’ is also in this new world with him. Taking on the name of Ainz Ooal Gown, a message to any other players, he begins exploring the world. He tries to figure out what has happened while trying to find anyone, or anything, that could help him solve this mystery.

The characters in Overlord are vast and many. If I went through every single one of them, I’d be writing from here till doomsday. While the story does focus on the NPC’s of The Great Tomb of Nazarick and Momonga himself, there are the people in the new world that also have small one episode arcs that show Momonga that humans are not the worst thing in the game, more than just mob grinding fodder that he is used to. However it’s the interactions with the members of The Great Tomb of Nazarick which matter the most, so that’s where I’ll be putting my focus. I’ll just say this about the rest of the cast, they are all well written and have enjoyable personalities that make you want to see them thrive in the new world. It’s just a shame that they only last an episode or two at most.

• Ainz Ooal Gown/Momonga (Japanese: Satoshi Hino/English: Chris Guerrero): The final remaining player of Yggdrasil, Guildmaster of Ainz Ooal Gown and ruler of The Great Tomb of Nazarick; he commands a small grouping of demons, devils and other evil creatures. When Yggdrasil shuts down, he is locked within the game and discovers the personalities of her lieutenants along with a very different outside world than the one he knew in game. While not an evil dictator outside of the game, Momonga has to keep up the illusion of his character to the NPC’s around him. He does want to explore the new lands in order to understand them better and travels out as Momon, a mercenary mage in armor. Through his adventures, he comes to understand that the world around him is more complex and that doing good deeds is just as rewarding as conquering the world.
• Albedo (Japanese: Yumi Hara/English: Elizabeth Maxwell): The highest level Guardian of The Great Tomb of Nazarick, and Momonga’s second in command. She is a Succubus class demon and through a bit of absent minded code manipulation by Momonga, Albedo is completely in love with him. This works in a dual fold, as Albedo is always on the look out for threats to her master and The Great Tomb of Nazarick itself. However due to her obsession with Momonga, anything she perceives as a threat to Momonga send her into a violent psychotic rage.
• Shalltear Bloodfallen (Japanese: Sumire Uesaka/English: Felecia Angelle): The Guardian of the first three floors of The Great Tomb of Nazarick. She is a Vampire class demon. Shalltear, like Albedo, has feelings for Momonga. This leads her to be Albedo’s rival, with the two going head to head many times to see who is worthy of their master’s affection. Her power is on the same level as Momonga himself, as is proven when she is brainwashed to turn against The Great Tomb of Nazarick and her fellow demons. She is killed in a battle with Momonga, but is revived in the final episode with no memory of what happened in the battle.
• Demiurge (Japanese: Masayuki Katō/English: Jeff Johnson): The seventh floor Guardian of The Great Tomb of Nazarick. He’s just a standard demon class but is very intelligent. He enjoys the suffering of others and will do anything to make that suffering happen. While he does do all the strategies and plots for the other Guardians, he tend to study Mare a lot. However his favorite subject is the leader of the Combat Maids Unit, Sebas; a lot of his time is spent teasing her for his own enjoyment.
• Aura Bella Fiora (Japanese: Emiri Katō/English: Jill Harris): One of the twins that guard the Sixth floor of The Great Tomb of Nazarick. She is a Dark Elf Class Demon that is a professional in beast-taming and often fights with a long bladed whip. She also is a very energetic and extroverted, a complete contrast to her brother. She is one of the first to see the kindness in Momonga after he does from character to player.
• Mare Bello Fiore (Japanese: Yumi Uchiyama/English: Megan Shipman): The other twin that guards the Sixth floor of The Great Tomb of Nazarick. He also is a Dark Elf like his sister, but uses a lot of Druid Magic of the Earth in combat as well as healing. He’s shy, introverted, and doesn’t talk much. He does get along with Demiurge, who is helping him reach his full magical potential. He also notices the kindness that Momonga displays when Momonga is around him and his sister.

When it comes to Special Features, it’s unfortunate to say that things are very sparse for Overlord. The only things included are the Textless Opening and Closing Theme Songs for the series, meaning that you get to see the opening and closing animations without the credits slapped all over them. While it’s nice to see the animation in all it’s glory, it’s shame that this release didn’t have the OVA episode that went along with the series. That’s probably due to the episode not getting a release through FUNimation (Also meaning it lacks an English dub too). I hope that the OVA will be released at some point in the future.

Overlord is an amazing common story with fun and enjoyable characters. While we have seen the whole “Stuck in a MMO” story done a million times over, it’s nice to see it done from a villain perspective. Also having Momonga himself having to deal with being this evil Overlord while dealing with his own normal morality is a great character arc that should bear more fruit in future installments. The language used in Overlord isn’t too overbearing either. A lot of shows with a MA15+ rating would pepper every episode with “fuck” and “shit” all over the place; but Overlord keeps it calm with “Bitch” being as bad as it gets. Yes there is also some sexual talk, but it’s minimal language about the girls getting “wet” when shown Momonga’s power.

The characters of The Great Tomb of Nazarick are a riot to watch. Albedo and Shalltear in particular are the stand out characters in the show, their rivalry bringing some interesting moments that might pay off in future series. Shalltear also stands out a lot thanks to her being used as a weapon against Momonga later in this arc and this gives her some of the most overall development in the whole show. There’s no “comedy” character that’s just there for a quick laugh, which is a great bonus here. The minor characters, as little development as they get, are complex enough that you want to see and know more about them.

Given that Overlord is based around a light novel series that is slowly being released in manga form, the fact that this series just scrapes the tip of a larger iceberg is felt as the final 13th episode draws near. Luckily there is going to be a second season sometime. So for the moment, you’ll just have to live with that “Why is it ending now?” feeling for about another year or more. The animation as with any anime is hit or miss, ranging from amazingly detailed to crappy flash animations. But again it’s very common in anime these days. However I will say that some of the computer effects for casting spells or enhancing a character moment do look a little out of place from time to time, but they are so minimal that you might not notice them as much as I do.

In closing, Overlord is an anime that seems familiar yet comes at things from a different angle. The characters are well developed and honestly, it’s got some good waifu-bait. The fact that this is the only series that we can see at the moment just doesn’t feel like enough, but there’s a second season coming. Overlord is one of those anime titles that is probably going to be passed over by a lot of people since many people are sick of the basic “stuck in an MMO” premise, but hopefully it’ll get enough attention that people will give this unique look on the familiar story a go.

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