Anime Review: Overlord II

I’m rather speechless after watching the second season of Overlord II. I expected the same enjoyment that I had while watching season one, but sadly, I was left disappointed. Let’s talk about that.

The Story

So what happened this season? Well, there was an arc where some lizardmen tribes rallied together to fight off Momonga’s skeleton army which went on for about five episodes too long (the arc was only five or six episodes). I’m really not certain of whether or not these episodes were used to introduce the lizardmen because they’re going to play a bigger part in future seasons; Or if they just wanted some filler for the current season. All I have to say is if this arc served no purpose, I’m going to be extremely disappointed and upset that they wasted my time. I wouldn’t be mad if the characters felt like they had a purpose, but they were focused on more than the MC, Momonga, who lacked screen time for the entire season.

Brain Unglaus, Sebas Tian, Climb

The second story arc is a bit of a mixture of Sebas Tian, Climb, and Brain Unglaus. To start off, Sebas Tian finds a girl mortally wounded and in terrible condition thrown out onto the streets for dead. Sebas offers her assistance and takes her into his care. The girl is taken back to a manor and healed back to health. This girls name is Tsuareninya Beiron. Since Sebas saved this girl who was “property” of a brothel, a group called the Six Arms kidnap her because Sebas opposed their organization… let’s just say that Sebas wrecks shit and looks badass doing it this season.

Next up is Climb’s story arc. Climb wants to become stronger so he is able to protect his waifu and childhood friend, Princess Renner Theiere Cardelon Ryle Vaiself (man, that’s a long title/name). Climb has no special talent, so even though he trains trying to become stronger, he appears to have reached his limit. In the story, Climb is sorta just there as a supporting character. He helps out Sebas against the Six Arms… kinda. Besides that, it is hinted at that he will play a key character in the next season, so we’ll see what happens with that.

Now, we have Brain Unglaus who I personally like as a character. If you don’t remember, he got spooked by Shalltear in the first season almost resulting in his death. He managed to escape, so here he is in the second season playing a supporting role also assisting Sebas. Just like Climb, Brain seems to be a character that will be seen in the next season due to them insisting on giving them screen time. Originally in this season, Brain is in a depressed state with suicidal tendency. Throughout the season, he finds new purpose and a new look on life making him a solid character. 

Finally, the last episode is an episode full of action which was very satisfying. It’s a shame that this extremely intense and badass arc lasted only one episode. Not enough to make up for the rest of the season. 

Looking back on the second season, I’d like to believe that it was all for the purpose of setting up characters to be used in the next season. I have to say they did an awful job making me care for them though. I don’t remember a single Lizardmen name and they were a key part of this season. Hopefully, the next season manages to impress me.

The Characters

I’m only going to be going over the characters who played an important role in the season. That means I’m not even going over Momonga who had a ridiculously small amount of screen time for being the main character.

 

Tsuareninya Beiron

Tsuareninya is a girl that Sebas rescued from a brothel where she was abused. After being rescued and healed back to health, she takes a liking to Sebas and insists on working by his side as a maid for Lord Momonga. Tsuareninya is a shy and quiet girl who is wary of people due to how she was treated before meeting Sebas.

Sebas Tian

Sebas Tian is the head butler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Sebas is one of the few denizens of Nazarick who does not despise humans. He also does not see them as inferior creatures unlike most of the denizens. Sebas has a nature for protecting the weak, thus him saving Tsuareninya. Sebas’ loyalty to Momonga is questioned this season, but he redeems himself after being asked to prove his loyalty by Lord Momonga.

 

Climb

Climb is the bodyguard of Princess Renner Theiere Cherdelon Ryle Vaiself. He is childhood friends with the princess and wants to become stronger for her sake. This season, we are explained to that Climb has reached a wall in his skill as a swordsman. Due to not having any special talent for swordsmanship, he has been evaluated to be a gold rank adventurer who will not gain any further strength.

Princess Renner Theiere Cherdelon Ryle Vaiself

Princess Renner is Climb’s childhood friend. She has major feelings for Climb. Such major feelings I fear for Climbs safety… okay, not really; I could care less about Climb. Anyways, Renner is a beautiful princess with an interesting personality she keeps hidden from others. She and Climb will be playing a huge part in the third season.

Brain Unglaus

Brain Unglaus originally was a very arrogant swordsman in the first season. After getting his confidence absolutely crushed by a run in with Shalltear, he began this season depressed and hinting at being suicidal. After going out one day, he ends up meeting Climb and Sebas Tian which in return results in him cheering up and getting a whole new personality.

Brain is probably my favorite character in the entire season. I ended up caring for the character and enjoyed scenes he was apart of. I believe he will be seen more in the third season.

 

Shasryu Shasha

Shasryu Shasha is the chieftain of the Lizardmen tribe, Green Claw. He is the older brother of Zaryusu Shasha. He cares for his brother and understands how wise Zaryusu is, even if his brother is considered an “outsider” in the tribe.

Zaryusu Shasha

Zaryusu Shasha is the younger brother of the chieftain, Shasryu Shasha. He wields the weapon, Frost Pain, a powerful frost weapon. He is one of the strongest lizardmen alive, a strength that even impresses Cocytus. Zaryusu is also a traveler. He left his village to see the world knowing that he would be seen as an outsider from then on.

 

Crusch Lulu

Crusch Lulu is an albino lizardman and is the chieftain of the Red Eye, a lizardman tribe. She ends up falling in love with Zaryusu upon meeting him. That’s her character in the anime, the chieftain of a tribe who loves Zaryusu. I’ll refrain from ranting until I discuss my thoughts later.

Cocytus

Finally, we have Cocytus! He plays a minor role in this season, but one worth mentioning. He is the one commanded by Momonga to kill off the lizardmen. Other than that, we know this character from the first season.

Art, Animation, and Sound

The art is actually below average in comparison to other modern day animes. I wouldn’t go as far to say that it’s bad because the rough art style fits the world. At times, the art can take a major drop in quality, for example, see below:

Brain Unglaus looking quite… interesting

The animation is rather solid. The fight scenes are animated well, but not choreographed well. The only fights I really remember from this season is from whenever Sebas destroys people. It is quite satisfying seeing Sebas Tian punching people so hard they die instantly.

The sound isn’t anything special, but it plays its role. The opening theme is worse than the first seasons, but the ending song is beautiful. I’ve added it to my Spotify playlist to how awesome it is. I’ll be sure to post the song below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnPj3YabLvg

Overall Thoughts

I was insanely disappointed this season! I was actually angry watching the arc with the lizardmen tribe! The lizardmen are so lame and I don’t feel any connection to their characters. When I came into this second season, I was expecting more information on how Shalltear was mind controlled from the last season. They even opened up with Lord Momonga discussing the situation. After that, we were thrust into the lizardmen tribe with no prior knowledge as if we were supposed to start caring about them. It absolutely triggered me with how poorly half the season was done.

Actually, I shouldn’t say “half the season” because a solid eighty-percent of the season was poorly done filler! I don’t care if it was character development because it wasn’t! If I’m supposed to care for these lizardmen, then the show failed! I have no interest in these tribes. I wanna see momonga and his denizens destroying people. I want him to attempt to control the world or something. This season just felt like a setup for the next season, and I have to say it was disappointing in every aspect. The only positive thing that came out of this season is how badass Sebas Tian is. They succeeded in making Sebas into a badass character. Other than that, I expect to be impressed in the third season.