Overlord

The final hour of the popular virtual reality game Yggdrasil has come. However, Momonga, a powerful wizard and master of the dark guild Ainz Ooal Gown, decides to spend his last few moments in the game as the servers begin to shut down. To his surprise, despite the clock having struck midnight, Momonga is still fully conscious as his character and, moreover, the non-player characters appear to have developed personalities of their own!

Confronted with this abnormal situation, Momonga commands his loyal servants to help him investigate and take control of this new world, with the hopes of figuring out what has caused this development and if there may be others in the same predicament.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Momonga Main

Hino, Satoshi Japanese

Albedo Supporting

Hara, Yumi Japanese

Bloodfallen, Shalltear Supporting

Uesaka, Sumire Japanese

Gamma, Narberal Supporting

Numakura, Manami Japanese

Demiurge Supporting

Katou, Masayuki Japanese

Sebas Tian Supporting

Chiba, Shigeru Japanese

Pandora's Actor Supporting

Miyano, Mamoru Japanese

Zeta, Entoma Vasilissa Supporting

Shindou, Kei Japanese

Beta, Lupusregina Supporting

Komatsu, Mikako Japanese

CZ2128 Delta Supporting

Seto, Asami Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Tanaka, Shou Producer

Kikushima, Kazufumi Producer

Fukao, Satoshi Producer

Reviews

Jan 24, 2025

ScionOfCyan

Recommended

Why Overlord is Good

Overlord is a sort of story classically reviled by people who don’t see past appearances. A main character occupies a mean, insignificant societal role. He is isekai’d into a world where he has enormous power. Nothing about this is “fair.” People are supposed to earn what they have, aren’t they? Further, in an environment where it seems he can snap his finger and get whatever he wants, where is the drama?

If you want to attain that next level of appreciating stories, you must understand that “winning” against the “final boss” is not what stories are “about.” Happy endings are not what a ... story is about. The fact that there is little narrative tension around whether Momonga can defeat enemies in this unnamed world is not a flaw, because that’s not what this story is about.

On the flip side, if I think to some of the best anime I have watched, they are anime where the main character in the story, the one we are supposed to care about, dies tragically and horrifically. These are amazing stories.

This is par for the course. Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Othello: ever heard of ‘em? This knowledge, at least, helps us understand why Overlord is not necessarily bad.

But is Overlord *good*?

To hypothesize the answer to this question, we have to understand what Overlord is really about.

All stories are about humans or personified figures interacting with each other. They are about characters with well-defined personalities placed in interesting situations and how their reaction to those situations creates growth, degradation, conflict, and collaboration. The nature of the circumstances is less important than how well-defined the characters are and how clearly they respond to the situation, both individually and relative to each other.

This is why Code Geass is good even though its plot sucks donkey balls. Characters over plot. Characters make a story what it is. Growth, degradation, conflict, and collaboration are the bedrock of a story.

It’s now time to unbury the lede. The core of Overlord is a transition from foot soldier to leadership within the same organization. Thus, Overlord’s main point fulfills the crucial condition of relatability. Almost every adult has occupied one of these roles at some point in his life. It also contains a secondary and valuable feature of aspiration. It is good to seek to be a leader.

I will wax lyrical about other aspects of Overlord in reviews of the sequels. This story is very good. In order to avoid spoilers, I will focus on Momonga here.

There is a very important reason why Momonga experiences so much loneliness in this story. No, it’s not because his friends have “abandoned” him. His friends are all STILL THERE. They are all still with him. Pereroncino is still there: it’s just his name is now Shalltear Bloodfallen. Bukubuku Chagama is still there: it’s just her name is now Aura Bella Fiore.

Remember, plot exists to create a scenario and set of constraints that elucidate the major characters’ growth or degradation in response to events. The particular plot is less important. It’s important that you see through to what plot elements *represent*.

Formally, Momonga is “guild leader” of his band of 41, but Overlord shows us one conversation with “Herohero” to make it crystal clear that Momonga is not “leader” of these people in any real sense. Herohero and Momonga talk on completely equal terms; there is no status hierarchy there at all. After the clock strikes midnight, Momonga becomes a true leader over his former comrades.

Touch Me, who once saved Momonga, must obey Momonga’s every word. Only now he’s a butler named Sebas. Does it *matter* that in the plot Sebas is not “really” Touch Me? Of course not. We never meet any of these former guild comrades. Furthermore, the NPCs that now represent Momonga’s former comrades are designed/coded by those comrades, and, as you might expect, each reflects the core beliefs and personality of his or her creator.

“Saving someone in trouble is the obvious thing to do.” Overlord shows us one past scene to make the strong parallels between creator and created clear. Then it takes the foot off that particular gas pedal. The point of the story is to show us Momonga as leader, not Momonga as nakama.

Momonga is rather thrust into the role, but this often happens in life. Some leaders are made, not born. Often great ones. From the perspective of growth and learning, this is an excellent topic, because it is good to be a leader, if you have the capacity for it.

Good leaders make everything better.

Momonga is so lonely because he is now the leader. He often sees his old friends (in the form of the characters they created) bicker and have fun amongst each other. He can never join this comradery again. Before that happens, a lieutenant brings the casual atmosphere to an end. “You stand before the Overlord.” You’d better act the part.

This is what leadership is actually like. The leader becomes beholden to the “organization” first. As its representative, he can no longer play with his buddies the way he used to. This is a necessary feature of good organizations and Overlord rightfully calls attention to it with a poignant melancholia. It is a sad thing. Having nakama is a wonderful thing, and by becoming leader, Momonga loses his nakama.

The other thing you should look out for is rebellion. Even though Momonga is so powerful that his Guardians obey direct orders completely, they find ways to needle him. The best simple example is Narberal’s “Momon-saaa… nnn.” There are many examples of this across Overlord that you can identify.

Navigating rebellion and discontent is another key feature of a leader. No matter how much power you have, people want to do what they want to do, and they don’t want to do what they don’t want to do. Many would rather die than do something they don’t want to do.

There is ALWAYS a push-pull between giving people what they want and forcing them to do what’s good for the organization. Sometimes a man doesn’t even understand his own self-interest. The leader forces him to do what he doesn’t want to do for his own good. Frankly, Momonga is too generous. He has to figure out how to strike the right balance going forward.

The vagaries of power and subjugation are not light topics; there is a lot to consider carefully as you watch. Overlord is insightful and true to human psychology, which makes it good to watch if you are a leader (present or future).

This original soundtrack is fantastic. There are a few aspects to this.

One, Katayama Shuuji is very good at harmonization. This is the thing that Sawano Hiroyuki (of Attack on Titan fame) completely lacks. If you want to hear what the Attack on Titan soundtrack would sound like if it were actually good, the Overlord soundtrack is a good one for that. Katayama Shuuji does beautiful harmony that Sawano cannot, and his “epic” marches are on par with those of Shingeki.

Second, Katayama honors those who came before him. I can hear traces of Madoka Magica in this. I can hear traces of Legend of Zelda. A great man respects the shoulders on which he stands. No man is an island, and drawing wisdom from your cultural heritage so that the product you create fully represents who you are in the context of your environment is a wonderful thing. Certain composers have a distinctive style from which they never stray. It takes far more talent to be a mirror, a man who integrates many elements from outside himself and makes them his own.

Finally, the musicians are exemplary. Unfortunately, I can’t communicate my personal experience to you. As my best attempt to give you a hint, I direct you to the violin solo at the beginning of “Determination of a Boy” as a particularly magnificent performance. There are many praiseworthy performers like this violinist, and many incredible songs in the OST. Music is created when many meet to work together, and Overlord’s OST reminds me how beautiful this is. A thrill rises in my heart to hear its strident and melancholy songs.

Overlord does a good job of being serious, but should do it more. Comic scenes about Momonga x Albedo don’t really hit the spot. They are executed fine, but less would be better. This isn’t Konosuba. Leadership is fundamentally serious business. Overlord’s creators wisely tone this back in later seasons, which is why they are a 9 and this season is an 8. (10 and 9 if I’m not using my own idiosyncratic scale)

See you in the second season reviews. Hope you enjoy your (re)watch, and I hope this review contributes to that outcome.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jan 26, 2025

The-Demiurge

Mixed Feelings

I’m fairly familiar with the isekai theme, but not in the form of the main character being trapped in a game. It felt different, but not enough to notice any considerable differences between any other series. Basically, a skeleton character is unable to log out, for some unexplained reason. The real kicker is that his past life isn’t shown, which means it is largely left up to assumptions, though it would be fair to conclude that he’s “just your average guy.” The start two to three episodes are a bit slow and dense, but after that, it wasn’t anything nothing special.

His amassment of power ... previously is not shown, and from the very get go, series portrays Momonga as a person worthy of respect. This leads to the story putting him in an awkward situation where he seems to have already “won,” which isn’t bad in itself, it just doesn’t really work in Overlord’s case. This could probably hint to something interesting happening where he would face someone more challenging than him (with him being a leader and all), though this never really happens. Rather than seeking to accomplish something, the series focuses on upholding Monomga’s reputation as an all powerful overlord by preventing himself from becoming bored. Also, the series has a lot of filler. It has quite a bit of setup where a bunch of characters discuss their plans while sitting in a singular area. This leads up to a lot of the action of the series, which is meant to display how powerful Momonga is. The main issue with this is that his opponents are much weaker than him. To summarize most of the action, at first there’s a bit of back and forth monologues, then the fighting begins, and then back to monologues again, and finally Momonga beats his opponent. Sometimes it can drag on for a bit, especially when Momonga essentially prevents himself from becoming bored by giving his opponent under the false pretense of giving them a fair chance. A lot of the events felt pointless (or more positively, mindless). The series handles its less glamorized aspects more positively, that being its set up. Well, it is the first season after all, and two of the episodes are solely the exposition. The slow pacing works when it pertains to the background of the story which helps build the series up for some good worldbuilding.

The characters are decent at best. The main issue with the series is that it places to much emphasis on one character while neglecting the others. The main character, Momonga, is shown to be an all-mighty overpowered ruler with undying loyalty from his subservients. His isekai transition was a bit different than I expected, so I had initially thought it would alter his motivations. However, his motivations make more logical sense given his position mostly revolve around answering the question “why?”. There wasn’t much background before the transition, but given the context with his lust for power it wouldn’t make much sense for him to wish for his return to the old world. A lot of the issues with this series rely on Momonga being overpowered. Given the position he is in and his motivations, practically all of his wishes are bestowed upon him with little effort. At first it was amusing but then it became predictable when he became decadent. It’s as if maxed level character going went to the beginner level areas. Surprisingly, considering the constant fulfillment of his needs with little effort he acts in a stoic manner, which could be why the rest of the cast likes him so much. The rest of the characters only really exist to suck up to Momonga. The only one who really sticks out if the succubus, who can be prone to a few antics involving her love for him.

Overlord cuts a few corners when it comes to certain aspects of it. For example, a few scenes involve the characters seated somewhere insignificant discussing something that could easily be conveyed while moving. The the amount of filler and the lack of animation makes Overlord seem like it had a low budget. Besides that, the art itself isn’t bad. A lot of the action scenes are flashy and fun to watch, regardless of practically knowing who was going to win every single time. It could be the character designs, since the color schemes and the designs being prone to a few quirks helps. Knowing that’s how character designs typically are how certain types of games usually market themselves, I like to think they were well done because of that.

Overlord is probably the most mediocre anime I’ve seen. It’s enjoyable for the sake of watching something flashy to pass the time, but besides that, it’s overall pretty forgettable. The overemphasis on Momonga’s power made a lot of the events feel meaningless. This is mostly due to the series focusing on maintaining his appearance as a leader rather than having him undergo any character development. Ergo, a lot of the series’ faults stem from the gimmick itself. Minus the main character, the rest of the characters mostly stay in the background. I’m aware of the four or so seasons now but the first season just seems like a really long setup.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Dec 10, 2024

chrisclem85

Not Recommended

To sum up this terrible anime its like playing world of Warcraft as horde undead just upset over little pvp in game your playing then getting friends being op player joining that world as only player than murdering real people to advance he plans but thing is he has none its never explains why as human with thoughts feelings his undead character avatar why he thinks ok killing thousands yet cant deal with gross monster girls coming onto him seems its to try and add fan service and laughs yet doesn't at all with everything else going on.

The first season he seem to have goal ... searching for his friends but that plot drops off a cliff as following seasons its not even mentioned just more OP MC winning everything nothing going wrong side/support characters basically just cheering squad never achieving or growing as MC does everything all the time his choices always work out 100% nothing backfires he never grows no one questions his choices or puts up any kind of fight nothing can hurt him.

Honestly fans of this show rave about be its from bad guy point view as if new thing in anime which isn't when asked them to plot or why he way he they cant explain as its never covered its just some nerd shut in murdering people who had nothing to do with a game he played because has power to as if that's what normal humans do. ( I mean if backstory was a nazi died in WW2 reincarnated maybe it make sense )

The ark isn't that bad until you start seeing horrible CGI effects they add just cheapens the whole thing.
Spend whole time wanting MC to die so boring op
Side characters are more endearing but air time is short and never really get to grow
Support character are worthless cheer squad/fan service
The whole show is pointless just seem to going for constant shock value rather story driven everything happens to lead into setup for MC win in quick and easy gruesome way just constant filler episodes that add nothing journey/plot just like what was build up for?

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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