Overlord

As someone who typically avoids isekai anime due to their predictable tropes—overpowered protagonists, harems, and often "copy & paste" premises—I was surprised by Overlord's first season. Despite my initial skepticism, it left me with a fairly positive impression, though not without its flaws.

The story kicks off with the familiar trope of a protagonist trapped in a fantasy world, but with a refreshing twist. Instead of the usual hero's journey, we follow Momonga, later Ainz Ooal Gown, who finds himself stuck in the virtual reality MMORPG, Yggdrasil, after its servers shut down. Unlike the typical isekai protagonist, Ainz isn't an adventurer or a random hero; he's ... the skeletal overlord of the most powerful guild, Nazarick, surrounded by NPC subordinates who suddenly gain sentience. This shift from the traditional hero to an apparent villain adds a unique angle to the overused formula often seen in the genre.

Character-wise, Ainz is compelling, but it's Albedo, the succubus and Overseer of the Floor Guardians, who truly stands out. Her obsessive love for Ainz, sparked by a last-minute tweak to her character settings, is both amusing and occasionally grating. If its not obvious enough, she is the show's fan-service. Her infatuation leads to several humorous moments, like her owning a body pillow of Ainz and openly declaring her desire to start a family with him. While her character is undeniably memorable, the one-note devotion of all Nazarick NPCs can feel a bit monotonous.

Visually, the character designs are detailed, with Albedo's look being especially iconic. The animation is generally solid, but the occasional use of CGI feels jarring and detracts from the otherwise engaging visuals. The tone of the show is another element that sets it apart—it balances dark, violent themes with bursts of humor, creating a unique blend that keeps the narrative interesting.

However, the pacing of the first season is one of its weaker points. The slow build-up, while adding depth to the world-building, can feel tedious at times, especially when it culminates in a cliffhanger that leaves the story hanging. While this setup is clearly intended to entice viewers into the next season, it may leave some feeling a bit unsatisfied.

Overlord is definitely an interesting anime. At times, it feels as though there's signs of what could be a great anime, however these signs quickly disappear and the anime goes back to the same boring, repetitive, stereotypical anime. The worst part of Overlord is hands down the characters. Ainz is by all means a good main character, he's fairly interesting and fun to watch. Outside of Ainz, I could'nt care to learn a single characters name. The side cast are all bland and forgettable. All of the girl side characters are just in love with Ainz, not a single one of them show any interesting ... characteristics. The male characters are even worse, they have barely any personality except for the fact that they love and want to protect Ainz. This is the main reason why I gave this anime a 5 and find it hard to recommend this to other users. Characters are the most important part of a show, and its where Overlord fails unfortunately.

Other than the characters, Overlord is fairly good in some other areas. The animation is nice, although the character for some of the characters are downright bad, and dont get me started on the CGI. Throughout the show, the pacing is good and the story is easy to get invested in despite it being pretty bare bones. The fights are fun, but the constant shouting of names for their moves gets really annoying, really quickly. Overlord also does the stereotypical anime thing where they'll fight for 10 seconds, and then stop to talk, repeat this 5 or more times until the fight finally ends. Overlord really loves doing this, and at times it felt like the characters would fight for 2 seconds before stopping and having a little chat about how they're finally going to play their 'trump card' or they say something dumb like 'is that all you've got?'

Ultimately, Overlord is a good anime if you want to turn off your mind and be entertained for a few hours. The story is easy to get into, the characters are basic and the action is just barely okay. If you're expecting some amazing isekai show that changes the genre I would not recommend this show. Overlord was just barely okay in my opinion, however it didn't do enough to make me want to watch a second season.

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?