Title: Overlord Vol. 4
Author: Kugane Maruyama (Story), Hugin Miyama (Art)
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 160
Genre: Shounen, Battle
Publication Date: October 31, 2017
The Story
Volume four of Overlord takes us to Shalltear as she is following Ainz’s orders to find someone who knows information about the world. Sebas, Solution and Shalltear come under attack and are lured into a trap. Shalltear falls under a mind control spell and it is reported to Ainz that she has rebelled. After hearing this news, Ainz heads to the guild’s treasury to retrieve powerful world items. He intends to go into battle against Shalltear alone with the intent to kill her.
The remainder of the volume is the battle between Ainz and Shalltear, which is a battle in Shalltear’s favor. Even though they are evenly matched spell for spell, Shalltear’s seem a bit more effective on Ainz; however, when Ainz was just about to gain the upper hand, Shalltear used her ultimate ability and now Ainz faces two Shalltears… a light and dark version.
This was a rather short volume of Overlord with there only being three chapters. The story was pretty straight-forward and it did a great job conveying the emotion of Ainz’s decision to, not battle Shalltear, but kill her as well. The curious aspect of this all is that Ainz is being portrayed as the last of the Supreme Beings, yet, someone under him can easily stand against and, possibly, defeat him. That just seems to undermine his power just a bit which is a bit bothersome, but still forgivable. I like the decision to end the story aspect of this on Shalltear bringing out hear ace move. Even though these moments don’t make for good cliffhangers, the way the fight was presented, it really gave you a sense of worry for Ainz heading into the next volume!
Characters
There really wasn’t much character development in this volume. We are introduced to a new character named Pandora’s Actor. He can shapeshift into anyone and can speak German. He has high respect for Ainz, since he created him, and is constantly saluting him. Kind of a funny moment and Ainz ordered him to stop that and he answered him in German and Ainz told him to stop that, too!
Ainz’s personality showed his admiration for the people under him. While he is trying to take over the world he is trapped in, he showed his human side a little more in this volume. He even used some terminology such as “players” and “pvp”… something that he hasn’t done in a while. This really shows that there is a player trapped inside of the avatar, but at the same time, the personality seems as if it is still assimilated with the game character. I liked the balance between the two here as it showed a bit of diversity in his character.
Final Thoughts
I wish this volume of Overlord was a bit longer, but what we got was pretty good. I’m surprised Shalltear was mind controlled so easily and it’s really a shame that Ainz intends on killing her. I’m wondering if there will be some plot device in the next volume that returns Shalltear’s mind back to normal. If not, then I’m willing to bet that Ainz has an ace up his sleeve as well that will lead to Shalltear’s death. I don’t think this series will be killing off their main character after just four volumes!
Even without much content, Overlord continues to provide us with a good story. With Ainz taking responsibility as the guild leader, it shows the true roots of his character. Despite his intention of taking over the world, Ainz is a noble person. Can’t wait to see how they resolve the conflict with Shalltear!
If you liked this review, consider following me on Twitter @TheAnimePulse
Follow The Outerhaven on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheOuterHaven
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/theouterhavennet
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theouterhaven
**This item was provided for review by Yen Press
