Overlord

**Overlord** is an action, adventure, drama, comedy, dark comedy, fantasy, dark fantasy, science fiction,

   science fantasy, Isekai, fanservice, Japanese anime series.  It's based on a light novel series, which was written by Kugane Maruyama, illustrated by so-bin, published by Enterbrain, and it originally ran from July 30, 2012 to present, and it has 13 volumes in total so far.  After that came a manga adaptation.  It was written by Satoshi Oshino, illustrated by Hugin Miyama, published by Kadokawa Shoten, and it originally ran from November 26, 2014 to present, and it has 10 volumes in total so far.  After that came the first season of the anime series.  It was directed by Naoyuki Ito and Minoru Ashina, written by Yukie Sugawara, musically composed by Shūji Katayama, produced by Sho Tanaka, Kazufumi Kikushima, Satoshi Fukao, Noritomo Isogai, Yuki Yoshida, Studio Madhouse, and Studio Puyukai, and originally aired from July 7, 2015 to September 29, 2015, lasted for 13 episodes in total.  After that came an OVA series, titled Overlord: Ple Ple Pleiades, which was directed by Naoyuki Ito and Minoru Ashina, written by Yukie Sugawara, musically composed by Shūji Katayama, produced by Sho Tanaka, Kazufumi Kikushima, Satoshi Fukao, Noritomo Isogai, Yuki Yoshida, Studio Madhouse, and Studio Puyukai, and originally aired from September 25, 2015 to October 2, 2018, lasted for 34 episodes in total.  After that came an anime film, titled Overlord:  The Undefeated King, which was directed by Naoyuki Ito and Minoru Ashina, written by Yukie Sugawara, musically composed by Shūji Katayama, produced by Sho Tanaka, Kazufumi Kikushima, Satoshi Fukao, Noritomo Isogai, Yuki Yoshida, Studio Madhouse, and Studio Puyukai, and originally released on February 25, 2017.  After that came another anime film, titled Overlord:  The Dark Warrior, which was directed by Naoyuki Ito and Minoru Ashina, written by Yukie Sugawara, musically composed by Shūji Katayama, produced by Sho Tanaka, Kazufumi Kikushima, Satoshi Fukao, Noritomo Isogai, Yuki Yoshida, Studio Madhouse, and Studio Puyukai, and originally released on March 11, 2017.  After that came the second season of the anime series.  It was directed by Naoyuki Ito and Minoru Ashina, written by Yukie Sugawara, musically composed by Shūji Katayama, produced by Sho Tanaka, Kazufumi Kikushima, Satoshi Fukao, Noritomo Isogai, Yuki Yoshida, Studio Madhouse, and Studio Puyukai, and originally aired January 10, 2018 to April 4, 2018, and it lasted for 13 episodes in total.  After tht came the third season of the anime series.  It was directed by Naoyuki Ito and Minoru Ashina, written by Yukie Sugawara, musically composed by Shūji Katayama, produced by Sho Tanaka, Kazufumi Kikushima, Satoshi Fukao, Noritomo Isogai, Yuki Yoshida, Studio Madhouse, and Studio Puyukai, and originally aired on July 11, 2018 to October 2, 2018, and it lasted for 13 episodes in total.

## Plot

In the year 2126, a Dive Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game or DMMORPG called Yggdrasil was released. It stands out among all other DMMORPGs due to its unusually high ability for the player to interact with the game. After an intense 12-year run the game servers are about to be shut down. Within the game exists a guild, Ainz Ooal Gown, once consisting of 41 members and credited as one of the strongest guilds in the game. Now only 4 of the members remain, the other 37 having quit the game. Of those 4 only one, an elder lich character named Momonga, continues to play as the guild leader and maintaining their headquarters, The Great Tomb of Nazarick. He invites the remaining guild members but of those only one appears and only for a short while before leaving. While saddened by this, he accepts the reality that his friends have their other lives (both lives are real) to take care of and decides to stay logged in until the servers shut down.

When the shut-down time arrives however, Momonga finds that the game hasn't vanished. Instead it appears as if Yggdrasil has been recreated as its own reality along with its various NPCs having been brought to life while Momonga has been trapped in the form of his game avatar, leaving him unable to use the normal player functions, such as General Message, or even to log out. With no other option, Momonga sets out to learn if anyone from the real world is also in this new world with him. Taking on the name of Ainz Ooal Gown, a message to any other players, Momonga begins exploring the world in an attempt to figure out what has happened while searching for anyone or anything that could help him solve this mystery, while ensuring the safety of Nazarick.

## Why It Rocks

1. Great voice acting in both sub and dub.
2. Outstanding comedy from Ainz and his floor guardians, which includes Albedo, Shaltear, Cocytus, Demiurge, Aura, and Mare.
3. Very appealing art style and character designs.
4. Speaking of the comedy, the interactions that Albedo and Shaltear have not only with each other, but also with Ainz, are absolute comedic gold.  The way they're able to constantly argue with each other, very violently, about who gets to rid Ainz's bone, and immediately switch to sucking up to him when he gets after them is genius.
5. Amazing animation.
6. Incredible action sequences.  While they don't always have tons of tension, especially when Ainz is fighting, that can be part of the appeal, just watching badass characters do badass things, screw logic.
7. Excellent soundtrack.
8. Ainz is an incredibly entertaining character, arguably more so than Albedo and Shaltear, especially when he's engaged in a battle.  Watching the smug look on his face as he torments and eventually kills his enemies can be so satisfying.
9. Good pacing.
10. Overlord is often described as the perfect escapest fantasy for Shonen nuts, because of how overpowered that Ainz and the floor guardians are.
11. Despite not having a lot of depth, most of the primary characters in the series are still interesting at least.
12. Despite having such overpowered protagonists, there are still lots of fights in the series which utilize interesting strategy, which is also very well done.

## Bad Qualities

1. While Ainz can be enjoyable for some, others still might be turned off by how overpowered he is.

## Reception

In June 2015, prior to the release of the anime and manga, the light novel series had about 600,000 copies in print in Japan with 8 volumes. By August 1, 2015, the light novel and manga series had a total of 1 million copies in circulation in Japan. On August 4, a 600,000 copy reprint of the novels was announced. As of August 20, 2015, the nine-volume *Overlord* light novel series and two-volume manga series have, together, more than 1.5 million copies in circulation in Japan.[63] As of September 18, 2015, Overlord light novel and manga has over 2 million copies in circulation.[64] As of May 2016, the Overlord light novel series had 2.5 million copies in print.[65] Overlord has since been named the top-selling light novel series of 2015.[66] As of April 2018, the light novel and manga combined had over 7 million copies in print.[67]

The light novel ranked first in 2017 in Takarajimasha's annual light novel guide book *Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi!*, in the *tankōbon* category.[68] It ranked fourth in 2018.[69]

In reviewing the anime adaptation, Kotaku called the Overlord anime a "magnificent power fantasy" which "brings up a very relatable theme for anyone who has played an MMORPG before." [70] However, a review by Monsters and Critics claimed that "fans were not too happy with the CGI animation" produced by studio Madhouse for the third season and the "biggest disappoint was Overlord Season 3 Episode 12, which animated the epic scene showing the Dark Youngs." [71]