Title: Overlord Vol. 6
Author: Kugane Maruyama (Story), Hugin Miyama (Art)
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 160
Genre: Shounen, Battle
Publication Date: April 24, 2018
The Story
Volume six of Overlord encompassed the battle between the Lizardmen and Cocytus’ undead army supplied to him by Ainz. Zaryusu succeeds in uniting the five lizard tribes together and they fight as one against the weak undead army. It was revealed that Ainz supplied Cocytus with a weak army on purpose as a way to try and get him to think on his own but the end results show that he has yet to understand that notion. He still blindly followed Ainz’s orders to the letter and that was his set up for defeat.
With the undead army dispatched, Cocytus decided to use his ace move: The Undead Lich, Iguvua. Iguvua’s power was intense as it was able to summon tier four undead as well as tier three beasts. In addition, Iguvua can use fire and lightning magic which posed a significant challenge. The hydra Rororo, Crusch and Zenbel were exhausted from the battle and couldn’t continue leaving Zaryusu to face off against Iguyua alone. He ended up using the power of Frost Pain to defeat Iguyua, bringing the battle to a close. The final pages of the volume show Ainz wanting to speak with Cocytus. This conversation should be a humbling one!
The only real story in this volume was trying to improve Cocytus’ battle skills as a commander. That was the whole reason for this attack. The lizardmen; however, also experienced an epiphany that working together is very beneficial and that the peace they have enjoyed since their civil war can be extended and unified across all villages. In a sense, Ainz indirectly helped those tribes and united them. It makes you wonder if this was a hidden intention of his all along?
Characters
The lizardmen were who they were. There wasn’t really much to them at all and they didn’t really receive any additional development here in this volume. I’m still curious as to Crusch’s answer to Zaryusu’s proposal of marriage, though. Maybe a nice little epilogue for this arc next volume will reveal that.
Cocytus was the main focus of development here but it was, more or less, just planting seeds for future development. Ainz got him to recognize his weakness as a commander and now that he realizes that he needs to think for himself, I believe that he will improve from here on out. It wasn’t much right now, but you can clearly see the direction they want to take with Cocytus so it will be interesting to see how he operates in the future.
Final Thoughts
Another very short volume of Overlord that spanned only three chapters. While it’s about to close the book on this story arc, it doesn’t really give much of an indication of where the series will be heading next. I enjoyed this story arc for what it was because I am a huge fan of world building and it’s nice to see a story told from another culture’s perspective. I am not entirely sure why the lizardmen were highlighted, though. Were they simply one-off characters or will they have a prominent role in the future?
Still, it’s refreshing to see a series put so much focus and attention on a sub-group of characters and give them time to develop. I know that Overlord’s parent story is about a guy trapped inside of a video game, but with the way it’s written, it doesn’t really make it seem like that’s the case most of the time. This story is a shining example of that as it makes you forget about the video game aspect and draws you into this world. On the same tune, it subtly reminds you that it is a game as this story was akin to a lore quest you would encounter in an RPG.
I wish there was more of a cliffhanger to this as the ending didn’t really give much direction as to where volume seven is heading outside of the epilogue to this story arc. Guess we’ll find out when that volume comes on, won’t we?
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**This item was provided for review by Yen Press
