I was Wrong About Overlord

[@AkshansYoutubeAccount]

overlord has more effort into yggdrasil worldbuilding than 99% other isekai having in their main story

[@shahrilaizat6228]

truee

[@liamnidas]

You're absolutely right

[@dumaskhan]

Youjo Senki would disgree. and whole host of others.

[@theteletubbiemafia2603]

@@dumaskhanbecause it’s the 1%

[@ginkage5863]

This anime feels more like a documentary of the new world for me, as they portray bits of its inhabitants, lore and how they adapt to it

[@tekdaystar345]

a few things. Cocytus and Albedo have arcs that are less prominent in the anime than the novels. though I'd agree that Demiurge, Shaltear and others are pretty much static, though they get little things here and there, like Shaltear learning not to be an idiot. Also Ainz has a character arc that is downplayed in the anime, because he doesn't really want to do this either, but hes so high on a house of cards that he can't get down and its slowly eating him up inside. also the real world earth in Overlord is literally post eco apocalypse where even breathing will kill you in hours. there is more about it in the novels. just watching the anime is missing out because Overlord suffers from content cuts more than any isekai I have every enjoyed

[@pelinalwhitestrake3367]

And also many people forget that Ainz isn't dumb, he's just uneducated, because education in his Earth is very expensive, even more than American healthcare, so he couldn't afford more than 4 years in middle school.

[@tekdaystar345]

@@pelinalwhitestrake3367 it doesn't help that Ainz considers himself dumb because he's constantly comparing himself to Demiurge and Albedo

[@madscientist14]

didn't shaltear change the most in the series? At least that's what I saw with my own eyes.

[@tekdaystar345]

@@madscientist14 I mean, I think she definitely had an arc, but her character is the same. she is just slightly more mature and slightly less stupid. in terms of outcomes, its less than Sebas's very complex struggle with his morality or Cocytus' learning to think and act for himself, even against orders

[@madscientist14]

@@tekdaystar345 I'd argue Sebas hasn't changed a bit. He was always righteous/heroic and he always put Ainz's orders above his own interest. He was ready to kill the girl because he was ordered to. Those are things that already existed in his settings or psychology. Plus it wasn't complex at all. Somebody needed help and he helped them. For him it was never a hard decision to help her and at the same time it was never a hard decision to kill her to prove his loyalty to Nazarick. To him it wasn't complex, but to us the viewers it was, but it does give us insight into his psychology because of the choices he made that day. Shallchair on the other hand is still filled guilt despite being "punished". She even takes notes of Ainz's teachings and listens to Aura now. Even though they were fighting a lot in the beginning. Being vulnerable and pathetic brought them closer together, granted they were never gonna kill each other. Regardless there was animosity there. Like you said Shalltear is trying now, unlike in the beginning where she thought of herself infallible, becoming arrogant to the point that she did whatever she wanted, even underestimating Brain and letting fodder get away. Nowadays she has learned to be as cautious as Ainz or at least attempts to.

[@criminalcuteness3952]

I think the biggest problem is just that the anime cuts a lot of things out in order to fit everything into 12 episodes. If you read the light novel after watching the anime, you'll see that there is a lot of details, information, and even whole entire events that just never makes it to the anime. It's a shame because Overlord has probably some of the best world building and lots of diplomatic/political themes I enjoy a lot.

[@liamnidas]

Really does look like the light novels address a lot of my issues

[@Zikkar]

Any book that is turned into a movie or show has this happen. There is just not time or money to fit everything in is the issue.

[@liamnidas]

@@Zikkar You are right. However, many adaptations are still able to incorporate these important elements in other ways. Albedo, for example, seems to have had a lot of her character removed in the anime. And Momonga's life before the game has been completely cut out meaning you don't understand how dire Earth is in the light novels.

[@DibsAtraiyu]

Ta. Each season is also 3 entire books. And not because in order. (I think book 8 was delayed till after 9)

[@ethanthomson2336]

​@DibsAtraiyu Yeah, I'm going through the books right now and just watching an episode or two now just to have the things I just read happen in another way. But book 8 was basicly all of the first 6 episodes of season 3 and boy did they cut a shit ton out

[@amooosasaki2299]

Yeah, Mad house really did Overlord dirty, both in the animation department and in the skipped content department. So yeah the anime really didn't show how amazing Overlord is. On your point that the NPC characters stay the same as the show goes on, well that's kinda the point as we see with shaltear, cocytus and Nabe the NPCs won't change unless they're met with outside influence, the fact that the characters stay the way they are and are still interesting speaks volumes about how much thought was put into each and every one of them. I'm actually kinda happy to see someone actually liking the human characters so much as that's the intent of the author I believe, most people would see the NPCs slaughter good human characters and say: wow such amazing characters I definitely love them more now because they killed everyone. It's very refreshing to see an opinion like yours. And yeah, the overlord world building is crazy, you can totally treat the LN as a D&D adventure module and your game will run smoothly as long as you have some idea as to how to input stats into enemies. Also my favorite anime is Konosuba

[@nihili4196]

Wasn't it in season 2 where Momonga was checking if NPCs can even change or mature? He's constantly trying to make them grow and develop, so show itself is pointing out that these characters are static for a reason, and there are plans on changing that.

[@amooosasaki2299]

@@nihili4196 actually wanted to say that but forgot halfway through writing my comment, thanks for pointing it out

[@furosukki1301]

If only we could've gotten the frieren treatment 😭

[@liamnidas]

Firstly, Konosuba is a great anime. Great pick. The human characters are fantastic. For the NPCs, if they can change due to outside influences, then I think the show should put them into more situations where they can change more. That's what I found annoying. It's shown that they can but the anime never gives them the opportunity to go through significant growth.

[@liamnidas]

@@nihili4196 I just wish it wouldn't take more than four seasons for that change to happen.

[@charanaw112]

Overlord is indeed awesome. It's the only anime that made me buy the books. I love the massive scale of the world building too.

[@vianneyb.8776]

This time I ever night light novels was for Overlord, and I don't regret it.

[@liamnidas]

I might have had some issues when I first watched it, but it's world building wasn't one of them. This anime has always had some of the best worlduilding in anime in my opinion. Which makes sense as I believe the author was always the Dungeon master when he played dungeons and dragons with his friend. So he's used to creating this vast worlds.

[@charanaw112]

@@liamnidas Yup, Kugane Maruyama, just like the MC in the story was the only one left after his friends lost interest or couldn't afford the time playing D&D. So he instead created Overlord drawing heavily from D&D elements.

[@fen5280]

Tbh i wouldn't say ainz in evil or that he actually sees humans beneath him. It the nps in nazaric that see humans as insects and ainz just over and over repeats he doesnt think that way in his head, he sees himself and all of nazarics inhabitants as the most important thing bc theyre what his beloved frinds has created. Ainz isnt evil ainz is selfish and void of emphaty for anything that stands in his way, he makes bonds with people while he is acting as an adventurer and takes revenge for them even tho he couldve easily killed the serial killer adventurer lady in one hit. Ainz and the nps grow, literally the whole lizardman arc was for ainz to test if the nps can grow by giving cocayitus tasks he wasnt programmed for and making him learn leadership.

[@kingwolf9447]

Being forced into the body of a lich reduces his humanity. He's quite full of contradictions and hypocrisy, such as he is hellbent on the destruction of Humanity for basically no gain, or no reason. Yet he spares the Dwarves, Carne Village, and other similar places for his own gain. I like the complexity of him being a faulty villain.

[@jakob3044]

@@kingwolf9447 I see that destruction of humanity stuff more as a fault of Maruyama's when writing, if you are referring to volume 14 onwards. I think it's pretty clear that after volume 13 he lost his spark, and love for the show, and seems more focused on trying to get the project to end then actually continue writing the things he had been building up for 13 volumes + the web novels already. Overlord is more or less my favourite fantasy book series, but I cannot even bring myself to keep reading at this rate

[@kingaworoch2099]

@@jakob3044 could be the case. But i'll wait to judge it till the last two volumes are finished. After all the story's reception depends a lot on how the ending sticks.

[@wufflemuffin9197]

​@@jakob3044to add more context to those reading this he lost the spark not because he's been writing for a long time but due to some contract. He was basically forced to finish the books at some schedule instead of finishing them at his own pace and because of this burnt him out. He has even stated that he planned for the novels to go for like 20-50 total novels (I forgot the actual numbers but it was somewhere around there) and that a lot of the stories seen in those novels are hinted at in his earlier books, but yea. In fact the entire fall of the Re-estize kingdom was planned to have ended differently and wouldn't have happened this early in the story, but since he was so burnt out he decided to introduce "Phillip" to brute force how it ends.

[@jakob3044]

@@wufflemuffin9197 I suppose all we can really do is trust Phillip-kakka's 100'000 year plan...

[@ioshkunillustrations3837]

Saying that the main characters in overlord are static is a fair statement (in the anime), they brushed over, Ains learning how to be a boss, Albedo's secret schemes behind Ains back, only hinting at it with one shot in 4 seasons of the nazarik flag crumpled on the floor in her room! Shaltear learning to do not be overconfident, Cocuitus is ok for the most part, Demiurge, Aura, Maare, all of them have arks, even the fucking penguin xD

[@Valentin_Teslov]

Wait, what? Albedo scheming behind Ainz back? Am I missing something? I read the light novel and don't remember something like that ever happening

[@kingaworoch2099]

@@Valentin_Teslov she created a team to find and eliminate any supreme being/players in case anyone came to the new world to prevent them from interacting with Ainz. And Ainz's main goal is to find another player

[@ioshkunillustrations3837]

@@Valentin_Teslov Ok, but beware it may be spoilers, so keep reading at your discretion. (I'll try to make it short but... xD) . . . Basically, after watching the importance which Ainz is giving to the search of other players Albedo requested a group of personal NPCs that she is using to seach and kill any potential players that may or may not be on the world along with Pandora. Her reasoning being that she knows that the only one that can potentially kill Ainz is another great-one (player), add her hatred towards the other members of the guild that basically left them and never came back, to the point that she stomps on the guild flag in her room and only separates Momonga (player name) from Ainz Ool goan (Guild name) every time she speaks. and she knows that only her and Pandoras Actor can do this, being them the only two that are trully loyal to Momonga, him being his creation, and her because of her messed up lore that momon changed in the first ep. To the NPCs the fact that a guardian even consider going against a great one will is a sign of treason, not only that, but convincing Momons son (Pand), hiding her movements, lie to him, and the fact that she is ploting to kill a great-one, there are no enough tortures in Nazarik to put her if ANY of the other guardians find out about her schemes. Hope that helps ^.^

[@liamnidas]

Maybe I should read the light novel. Seems like it addresses one of my biggest issues with the series.

[@wheresprototype3507]

​Yeah, they cut full scenes and lots of context and details like the fact they aren't in the game. It's obvious he's not, but it's immediately explained in book 1. ​@liamnidas

[@terryq.3340]

"Double Isekai'd" 1:32 Just realized that after reading all 16 chapters of the novel and watching 4 seasons of the anime.

[@stanisawzokiewski3308]

Its about a ruler who is corrupted by the expectations of his subordinates. He still wishes to be good, but he is insecure about appearing weak before his subordinates. Nearly all of the people who serve him imagine him as an evil genius overlord. And he tries to endulge their image of him. Half-ly to maintain his position and not compromise himself, and half-ly becouse he cares for them, as they are a proxy for his love of his friends who he can never see again. Since the servants of Nazarick were NPCSs created by his friends, they are like their children, he is like an uncle who is left to care for all the extended family's children and spoils himself by spoiling them, unable to restrain their darkest impulses. It is a great meditation on Machiavellianism. Ainz has a role, he is the overlord and thus he has the obligation to preserve and secure Nazarick. The way he leads is not evil, not good either, it is amoral. He is very cautious and pragmatic. Its not just "the bad guy wins", but its not just "the bad guy is secretly the good guy", instead he is a skeleton with a human soul. He does have reservations about what he does, but he does it anyway becouse its his duty, becouse others rely on him, he pushes his morals aside to fill his plans. And so he leads, guided not by his soul, but by reason, he does whatever it takes to achieve his goal. “it is much safer to be feared than loved because ...love is preserved by the link of obligation which, owing to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails.” ― Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince

[@RexDeorumYT]

Actually, the story isn't even really about Ainz at all. It's about how the world reacts to a presence like him showing up. The whole series was started as a way for a former D&D DM to continue creative world building and character writing that he missed as his friends got too busy or outgrew the regular campaigns they were doing (sound familiar?)

[@liamnidas]

A very convincing argument

[@minatokirijio9059]

Nah, he IS evil- he’s just not evil for the sake of evil itself

[@Jammy._.]

0:50 the game doesn't shut down because it looses popularity or player count, the anime does a bad job telling you about the life in the real world of momonga but the reason why the game is shut down is because the corporate overlords do not like the freedom players have in the game as it might lead to their workers also want freedom in their jobs which are slave like jobs

[@liamnidas]

It's a shame that wasn't made clear in the anime.

[@-Apoptos-]

​@@liamnidas its not the case. The reason isnt really specified, but the leading explanation was it just dropped in popularity

[@liamnidas]

@@-Apoptos- That's what I assumed. Still would have been nice if the anime made that clear.

[@BVSSIC]

@@liamnidas Could definitely be both too! This is like peak capitalism right haha

[@liamnidas]

@@BVSSIC 😂

[@smiIingman]

Wdym, climb is literally the luckiest human of them all. He got a crazy hot demon waifu who will love him unconditionally no matter what.

[@liamnidas]

That is true

[@ashvandal5697]

“Love” and “unconditionally” are doing A LOT of heavy lifting in that statement.

[@smiIingman]

@@ashvandal5697 i shouldve added "Questionably"

[@sambatphu806]

So… where’s the unlucky part? 😂

[@skullknight4579]

The lore of the new world is one of things that still bring me back, apparently other players have isekaied before ainz like the the 6 great gods, 8 greed kings, and others

[@im7254]

Really hope we get to see more of the dragon lords, especially the one who started everything. Always wondered if admin/gm controls were also recreated in some manner.

[@liamnidas]

Really wish the anime would highlight all this stuff more

[@egregastandindus1193]

@@im7254I really wish we got to learn more about him too. But from what I can tell he was killed by the eight greed kings a couple hundred years ago. So I don’t think we can expect much of anything. Though we do still get to see his son with the Platinum Dragon Lord.

[@boocchihitori4450]

As a certified overlord fan,im always happy to see a new video on this show

[@liamnidas]

And I'm always happy to have someone new watch one of my videos.

[@ohw5306]

I love that they use the character designs by the original LN artist . It's definitely the highlight for me whenever the episode ends w them flexing the LN art for the ED ❤❤❤❤❤❤ the vibes are so badass

[@liamnidas]

Usually, I'm not a massive fan of anime endings when they're basically just still images, at least visually. But I do really like Overlord's endings and how they showoff the art style of the light novel. You're completely right about the vibes.

[@ohw5306]

@@liamnidas the editing is also the key factor actually. It might look like still images, but they are edited to the beats of the songs w little tweets for movement flow

[@liamnidas]

@@ohw5306 It gives them a lot of life. I love how they look.

[@ohw5306]

@@liamnidas they enhance the artworks while respecting So-bin's original vision 🤌✨✨✨

[@xxbrosskiiit1142]

Day 1 fans🥶

[@liamnidas]

I'm with you now. Forgive me for taking so long.

[@TheBluePhoenix008]

​@@liamnidas you're just in time for the ending. The LN is ending in 2 volumes.

[@TiredYan]

Same but I only recently started reading the LN because I didn’t realise just how much the anime cut

[@nafrulnizamabdulmanap2342]

​@@TheBluePhoenix008 not to mention the movie coming out

[@TheBluePhoenix008]

@@nafrulnizamabdulmanap2342 I'm quite excited to see what happens

[@cs2bsaruul953]

Man trapped in death end job is massive understatement 😂

[@liamnidas]

🤣 True true

[@gustavonomegrande]

"Dead end job", is not only that, his world is a literal "10th world country" dystopia.

[@liamnidas]

I wish we got to see this in the anime. I understand now why he was bro obsessed with the game.

[@Zikkar]

You can’t have everything in you know time and all that

[@liamnidas]

@@Zikkar True. But other anime have been able to incorporate more. Dandadan for example has been adapting a chapter an episode and Delicious in Dungeon was doing two chapters and episode. Perhaps if the seasons were longer then that could have led to more of the material being incorporated.

[@CatFish21sm]

The light novel is so much better. You actually get character development and change for the NPC's. All of the primary ones atleast, except Demiurge. Oh speakimg if which Demiurge's happy farm is completely missing from the anime... such a shame, he's doing something thats actually good for the world, trying to make things better for everyone.

[@liamnidas]

I think I might be sensing some sarcasm there

[@CatFish21sm]

@@liamnidas That's the funniest part, if you read the LN carefully you will see that his purpoe is fully altruistic. He actually is doing it for the benefit of Ainz's worls. He just takes some slight liberties with the methodology.

[@liamnidas]

@@CatFish21sm Damn. Hopefully, they find some way to incorporate it into the anime down the line. Because Demiurge is the guardian that I was most disappointed by in the anime.

[@brohello3649]

​@@liamnidas The reason people where scared the holy kingdom arc would make people quiet Overlord... I am just gonna spoil you human skin farm to make magic scrolls, of people demiurge kidnapped from the holy kingdom

[@liamnidas]

@@brohello3649 I could see how that could scare some people off. Not me though.

[@tomorrowisyesterday3215]

On season 1 we all think zanac are bad, turn out we all wrong, he literally trying to protect his older brother by offering himself to battle, and keep try to find his brother till the end, he know princess are twisted but never cross his mind she gonna sold entire kingdom. Because he believe on her.

[@liamnidas]

Zanac was such a surprisingly incredible character

[@MirecU]

@@liamnidas You know Zanac was a incredible character when even Einz was angered by his death....

[@liamnidas]

@@MirecU One of the few people to wring out some humanity from Ainz.

[@hagzione8974]

overlord is the anime the more times you watch/read the more you got the 😮 moments

[@liamnidas]

Completely agree. It really grows on you more and more

[@tasogarerubica]

Overlord scratches alot of the itches I have, worldbuild foremist being the biggest draw, then the aspect of settlement management game, the other is characters. Not just writing characters but also builds for each character have alot of tought put into it. Like an example of a build I'd love to try out is Shaltear, a vampire valkyrie build seems like such an optimal build. Having the job cover the racial weakness in holy elemental attacks. While both vampire race and valkyrie having great sustain with life steal and healing, plus her weapon being speced for lifesteal too is just icing on top of the cake. Now for character writing, I gotta say that I would of never imagined I would have come to appreciate Zanac so much when he was introduced into the story. He has become one of my favorite characters in the series and it's a testiment to Kugane's ability to write intriguing side characters.

[@liamnidas]

The world building is fantastic in this anime and Zanac sneaks up on everyone by being a brilliant character.

[@my_other_side473]

It's close but I need to say this.... Overlord >>> I got reincarnated as a Slime

[@RhythmSharma00088]

You are right

[@bensmith6868]

I just don’t like overlord main character

[@furosukki1301]

​@@bensmith6868how dare you

[@Dlcarber]

@@bensmith6868 that's fair. he's a big piece of shit really. i like slime better because it's about the same show but slime is trying to make the world better and not just dominate it. yeah, he'll kill ten thousand humans but they're marching on his home and his people. he won't murder hundreds of thousands to make a petty point.

[@nafg115]

Nah, it's the other way around.

[@ultimatedespair9087]

The Overlord anime definitely doesn't make justice to how fucking amazing the Light novels are, the Bloody Valkyrie Arc (the battle with shalltear) IS AN ENTIRE 300 PAGE BOOK AND IT'S AMAZING. Also, THERE'S GONNA BE A MOVIE?! OMG Neia Baraja my beloved

[@liamnidas]

I'm very excited for the film as it's apparently the best arc in the light novels

[@RexDeorumYT]

@@liamnidas It's the two largest whole books in the series, they re-structured the anime timeline to skip it since it's so long (it takes place canonically in the middle of the S4 - right after the dwarven kingdom arc) They better not fuck it up with how condensed the run time will be

[@whisperofthebookworm5341]

Neia Baraja is amazing and I agree. Best side character ever.

[@liamnidas]

@@RexDeorumYT That's my concern about it being squashed. Same with the Haikyuu movies. But hopefully, enough is retained for anime onlys to still grasp how good the arc is.

[@Dav624]

Overlord seems like 4k skeletor

[@liamnidas]

Skeleton wishes he was Ainz

[@cj-zp1pw]

Shalltear going from a idiot to a competent person was so cute

[@liamnidas]

It was. I forgot how much I liked her on my first watch.

[@rumplstiltztinkerstein]

One of the interesting things about Overlord is that the way Ainz sees human races is with as much carelessness and disdain as we see evil races like goblins and trolls

[@liamnidas]

Completely true. Makes him a more compelling protagonist.

[@admontblanc]

Which is how his guild in the game was established. All the guild members were from heteromorphic races, and they were all heavily RP mains, also most of their RP was about being a guild of evildoers who oppose the forces of good, with few exceptions like Touch Me, whose designed NPCs are also the only ones with a good alignment, such as Sebas. The LN even heavily implies that members like Ulbert were actually quite twisted people irl, though that hasn't been very explored so far, at least in the main story.

[@liamnidas]

@@admontblanc I hope it does get explored. I'd like to see the people responsible for such twisted creations.

[@RubicGirl]

Lack of character growth doesn't mean it's bad writing. It's all about character development: learning about their likes, dislikes, goals, dreams, aspirations, and flaws. That's why Cowboy Bebeop is considered an all time great. The characters in the show never really change. In fact, that is their failing as characters and is kind of a tragedy. It's through this that we see the interactions between characters and see conflict arise. And Overlord absolutely has well developed characters. Yes, they have a shared universal goal. But that makes them actually very interesting as they disagree on how to achieve or go about achieving such goals. Therein conflict arises. They don't agree how to go about worshipping the Supreme Beings which is literally coded into them. Yes, you may not like them as characters(that is your opinion that you are entitled to), but we definitely see interesting interactions due to this. For instance, the disagreement between Albedo and Demiurge and even Cocytus. Or the conflict between their personal desires and their wish to serve Ainz. Shalltear and Sebas. Or how their own programming limits them from helping Ainz such as Cocytus and Shalltear. Or how they put their own respective creators above even Ainz. Even the twins disagreeing on how to walk down stairs(it was in the novel to be fair, but the novel really is better than the anime due to the animals tendency to cut out materials). That's not the hallmark of bad writing. Far from it. The writer is clearly talented to be able to make interesting interactions and conflict through limited personality traits. And STILL have their own individuality shine through it all.

[@Zikkar]

Well said

[@liamnidas]

Overlord definitely does have good writing. I just wish the NPCs progressed more in these four seasons

[@skem9622]

Something I think really helps Overlord work is that your POV characters can change with each scene, and by having such a large main cast that means you can get glimpses of gears turning before the action, allowing the world to feel properly sized as a couple of characters can disappear for a few episodes before turning back up in a new location to work out their plans.

[@liamnidas]

Completely agree

[@Tex_Teufelhunden]

ONE OF US! ONE OF US! ONE OF US!

[@liamnidas]

I'm on the team now

[@Olav_Hansen]

It's not necessarily that the main characters don't have a lot of character building... they don't have a lot of character. They have memories, but their real personalities/development from 2d to 3d character only started after starting the isekai. The thing that made me realise this was when Cocytus was made to pick up 'real life skills' subjugating the lizardfold, as most of the characters don't have real wordly experience.

[@liamnidas]

Hopefully, the anime can push them more to gain that real world experience.

[@historyking9984]

One thing I wish is that Ainz and company face more challenges . It doesn’t have to be hard battles but imagine the money influx messes with the economy, or a plague and they have to solve it or something political that they can’t just beat with power. Another issue is that the floor guardians besides Cocytus and Sebas don’t really grow. Like the moment of Cocytus losing due to neglecting to study his enemy or the terrain was a great lesson and growth for his character. An example of what I didn’t like was Ainz goes on an entire speech about how a leader is responsible and having all the responsibility folllowing Philip going against their plans . Albedo first meant to punish her subordinate but then Ainz takes responsibility as her leader. Literally a day later the king offers his head to Albedo taking no responsibility just like Ainz said and giving the prefect example yet Albedo not learning from that lesson declares war on the kingdom despite the king acting as Ainz said a leader should and that lesson. Some people say oh it’s about Ainz and company winning and how the world isn’t fair . How it’s a refreshing twist of the overpowered hero to the overpowered villain, but now we just have the same problem but reversed . It gets boring Ainz just squashing everything easily and it’s not just him but everyone. Eeven the pet hamster is in the realm of hero’s . One Punch man is the perfect example of handling overpowered properly. Saitama is overpowered and broken but there’s still strong characters like the S class who are extremely broken and powerful but who might occasionally face a challenge. And then there’s weakling hero’s who can get tossed around like nothing or dominated or even grow .

[@remipearce597]

I would like to say that with the Re-Estize Kingdom the issue wasn't with the king taking responsibility as that actually shocks Albedo (given she thinks so little of humans and heres one doing something a supreme being would suggest) but the actual kingdoms destruction was the intent from the beginning as it was a demonstration of Demiurges plan of showing the carrot and stick which he expected to take much longer as the Baharuth empire was the carrot willingly submitting and prosper while Re-Estize was to be given the stick no matter what, it baited into starting conflict (though Philips idiocy shocked everyone except Ainz and Shalltear of all people which sped up the timetable significantly) As a side note there in fact was one point which was cut from the anime where Ainz nearly called off the final victory as Prince Zanac actually really inspired Ainz though that didn't matter as before he could change plans, the corrupt nobility of Re-Estize kill him and present his head to Ainz

[@trafalgarlaw8373]

There were a couple of significant problems with Overlord. The concept is cool, but the holes really start to show if you're being a bit more critical. 1) Pointless dangling threads that have no impact on the actual story. The less bad type is the one like Sebas': fun story, but its fully self contained and ends up having 0 impact on the bigger plot. The worse type promises to be more, but isnt. This is stuff like carne village or the lizards. The anime, from early on, promises power and world dominion to our powerful group. And then we see the plot involve new, seemingly irrelevant characters, that we either presume or are told, are for the strenghtening of nazarick. Ains gives the mission of recreating potions, testing. And after 4 seasons of this, the influence it has... exactly 0. Same with the lizards. None of it even approaches being as powerful as nazaricks original stuff, so it feels pointless. The dwarven runes also fall into this. A new "goal" for the sake of power, that works out... only to be completely irrelevant. Same with training the hamster, although thats at least not an arc. 2) Ainz is... dumb? Not all of his plans are bad, but he just has no clue what's going on and things just work out because hes op. Now, that's a funny gag for a 12 episode show, not a massive story that's trying to be complex. When demiurge has an insane plan, Ainz should at least grasp some of it. 3) Related to 1 and 2... the plans suck. The main problem is usually that they're irrelevant, because raw power would've worked better. Plans are satisfying when they are smart, smoothly executed, to overcome a difficult objective that would've failed without that plan. The overlord plans are not that. Demiurges plan as the demon was the closest thing, but even then it accomplished little that mattered. 4) Intimidating one kingdom into becoming a vassal kingdom makes sense, but repeating it is pointless. And the emperor was actually interesting, and it would've been cool to see him try things... but ains is so much higher that it doesnt matter. Plot methods repeat, and thus it gets boring. Theres only so many times you can milk the "build tension and then have ainz oneshot everything and flex with how amazing and powerful he is! The humans grovel and cry on the floor, and the floor guardians cry at his greatness. The girls try and get with him." 5) The genocide of the kingdom... everyone kinda knows it was shit writing. The great masterplan of "me kill everyone to scare!" as if he didnt annihilate tens of thousands of soldiers with one spell in front of everyone already. All because some individual stole what amounts to nothing. It's petty, and makes him look unstrategic. It also kills the whole momon plot idea. And this stupid "carrot and stick" philosophy to justify it as if it wasnt total nonsense. We have interesting characters like the prince, princess and count, but all strategy is thrown away. And there's not even anything to bargain for. It's just pathetic. And don't hit me with this "its to show he's like, really evil now" We already knew, its shit writing. Disney villain type shit 6) The emotion calming gets annoying. I get it, how do i justify not fucking albedo etc when shes on me? Just make it impossible, in a frustrating way where he COULD, and does kind of want to, but is forced to not want to in the moment. Losing emotions is gonna make a character more boring. And if youre taking away emotions, AT LEAST have them be strategic, calm and calculated. But no, hes still shortsighted and petty. To address some things you said 7) The whole "Protagonists are op" thing killing characters we root for is interesting for a bit. But pretty quickly its not that we "hope that the good guy will be able to triumph, but know deep down that this is where their story ends" No. You already know they're gonna die. There is 0 tension. 8) "Its good for the main cast to not get character development because they'll stay around, and for the side characters its good they do, because they'll be gone" is such a dogshit take lmao. You have limited time in a story, and you should use part of that to develop your characters, starting with your main cast. Otherwise, they become bland. Killing off developed characters does hurt more than bland ones, true. But if it's repeatedly, for no real reason, by less developed characters, it just ends up as annoying. At the same time, you start to not really care about "developed" characters as theyll probably get butchered anyways. And they do 9) Worldbuilding: main characters dont really count as worldbuilding, they're a seperate category. And the previous players are also backstory, not a part of this world. To the actual worldbuilding: it's vast, sure. It includes... all the stuff you'd include in an isekai setting. But it's not that deep. We get a simple backstory for the faction, that's not the same as what it's actually like. What's different about the human kingdoms, aside from the one super religious one? What do people in the first one do, anything about their culture at all? The world building is nice, sure. But its surface level 10) Nice character design indeed 11) She's great, and a favorite. Actually interesting. Although her betrayal of course doesnt actually matter, because nothing really does when you nuke everything like a petty dictator

[@liamnidas]

Overall good points and fair reasoning. I'll respond to the points based on what I said. 1) I slightly disagree. Because sometimes they do survive. Or they face a fate worse than death like Climb. Being defeated doesn't automatically mean death. Tension is not necessarily the response the author is going for. For example, when Brain died. There wasn't any tension. But sadness since you knew your favourite character (in some cases) was absolutely going to die. 2) That's not my take. I want both the main characters and the supporting characters to get development. That's the reason I bounced off the show initially. Because very little was done with the NPCs and I still think more should have been done with them. That said, if I had to choose between the humans and the NPCs I'm glad that in their short time the humans get the development they need for their deaths to be impactful on me personally. As the NPCs will have plenty of opportunities to develop themselves throughout the entire story. Just as Sebas did. I certainly don't think it's good for the main cast to net get development. That was literally my biggest criticism of the anime in this video. 3) History and lore do count as world building. That's literally us learning about their culture. The races of characters and the power dynamics between kingdoms also counts. The coding that went into the NPCs and the reasons behind their personalities is also world building as it lets us know who made them and where they came from. And how the guild operated in the game. And a bit about the world before Ainz was isekaied. 4) Yep, some of the strongest in anime in my opinion. 5) Fair.

[@trafalgarlaw8373]

@liamnidas Damn, thanks for responding. After the last plot point it cant get much worse, so lets hope overlord gets better. Id personally love to see some actual diplomacy or relevant stats, some way the humans would actually be relevant Also slime, im hoping that continues nicely

[@liamnidas]

@@trafalgarlaw8373 I agree with that. There isn't much diplomacy and I think it's fair to be disappointed by that. I'd love to see more of it too. Also, I need to check out Slime. Will try and catch up to it and make a video on it at some point in the future. Just currently got a few other big anime I want to smash through first.

[@freshskittles92]

potentially the main aspect about overlord that i really love is the disparity between normal humans and the monstrous entities of nazarick. i love the like almost cosmic horror aspect. when brain is fleeing from shalltear, when those mercenaries invade the tomb... fucking peak.

[@liamnidas]

That was awesome. Especially as it kickstarts Brain's fantastic arc.

[@trooper8835]

It’s funny you mention the NPCs character growth, because Ainz is trying to see if the NPCs characters can grow. So I suspect that if there is NPC growth it will be slow and deliberate.

[@liamnidas]

I'm sure that's the case too. I just wish after four seasons, at least one of them had developed more. Or even if just the characters were put into situations more often that could lead to change. It's like Ayakonoji from Classroom of the Elite. After three seasons he hasn't changed at all. But he is trying to change, or at least curious to see if he can. So he puts himself in situations to try and change himself. Th NPCs of Nazarick just disappear from the show for large stretches of time.

[@ChibiButo]

One of the things you're forgetting is that kadokawa allocates a certain budget for the show and madhouse is just the animation studio so they have to work with what they're essentially given.

[@liamnidas]

You're right. But that still doesn't change the fact that the animation is weak. Blue Lock season 2's animation is terrible. But the reasons why make it clear that the studio and animators are not really responsible for it looking that way despite animating it.

[@canadiangopnik7007]

Overlord is hands down my favourite, but I can't bring myself to choose a favourite character, if I had to narrow it down though, Aura, Shalltear, and Renner are probably my top 3

[@liamnidas]

Renner is such a great character. Pure evil.

[@BVSSIC]

Both this and Slime Datta Ken are like my favourite isekai in terms of worldbuilding. To me, Slime is the yin of overlord's yang. Both having similar flows, and both going for a similar end-goal, but the approach the main characters go about it feels very different. Some key factors that are different obviously! Ainz got put into the new world with an entire hidden kingdom, but Rimuru has to build it from scratch, etc. I think both anime are so nice for the plot and worldbuilding. I kind of love that I can deep-dive into the lore of the world for hours and just read on stuff and be like "wow yea, that makes total sense." It's incredibly satisfying to see such a machine of a world in both shows. of course the way the story is presented is very limited, and I don't blame the writers of the show for that when you only get 12 episodes. Basically, Overlord just needs more episodes in a season to cover more details of an arc, because it deserves the detail.

[@liamnidas]

I completely agree. Give this show a few more episodes per season so that some of that juicy lore can better come to the surface.

[@JazzyBoy02]

It’s such a huge thing that Ainz isn’t dumb. It’s played up that he doesn’t know what everyone’s talking about, but he has some crazy skills. Managing a top MMO guild where everyone is a working adult? Managing to keep it afloat when you’re the only one left? He’s not educated, but he’s got tons of skills from the world of 2138. People don’t give him enough credit. He truly is the ruler here. Doesn’t ever get cocky with the power he has and it pays off big time. He’s like iron man in the sense that he does his best to learn from his mistakes.

[@liamnidas]

He is a lot smarter than people realise

[@admontblanc]

@@liamnidas it's also overlooked, because never directly stated, how his undead body and build attributes might be influencing his intellectual prowess, after all his body, racial and class specs affect him in every other regard so even if his personality is that of an average man with severe lack of confidence, his body in the NW is that of an extremely powerful creature with possible the highest intellectual and wisdom stats possible. On top of that he has certain feats like Dark Wisdom which was what allowed his character in Yggdrasil to bypass the max limit of learned spells, in a real world setting that would by itself translate into amazing memorization and analytical skills beyond anything a human could. There are fan theories about how these things are why everything seems to work out so well for him all the time, despite his apparent bumbling through the situations planned out by Albedo and Demiurge, the running joke of the story being that Ainz is just faking it until he makes it, but the real joke might be that Albedo and Demiurge are actually correct and it's not just their bias making them think Ainz is truly a supreme being they cannot match, despite the fact that he himself doesn't believe it. Personally I lean into this theory because it is logical and consistent with all the other things we are told and shown about how Suzuki's humanity and even his personality are being slowly overwritten by his character design, and in this regard I think his own self-evaluation should be seen with mistrust, like he is sort of an unreliable narrator when it comes to his own situation.

[@liamnidas]

@@admontblanc That's a really interesting theory. I think I might buy into that one too.

[@trafalgarlaw8373]

The "skills" of keeping the guild is just plot, lol. Not like he ever actually does anything with it. When it comes to actual plans, which is what an empire building ruler should be great at, he sucks. He doesnt follow whats going on from Demiurge, his plans are either "i have more power so i win" or "this plan is completely pointless because i could just skip it and win". The only relatively decent idea is momon, but he then... completely nullifies the point by destroying the entire kingdom

[@liamnidas]

@@trafalgarlaw8373 To be fair about Momon, he isn't just a hero to that kingdom. In fact he stays where Ainz resides which isn't the kingdom that Ainz levelled.

[@tinotantiado]

brain had one of the best character development for me along with renner. brain from being a run of the mill hoodlum to redeeming himself after an encounter with a monster. found his place and his strength and manages to overcome it by nicking the nail of shaltear. i was sad when he was ended but im glad he met a warriors death. as for renner, whoo boy.. the dancing scene and the scene where she finally revealed her true self was *chef's kiss*

[@liamnidas]

I completely agree. Brain was definitely one of my favourite characters because of his character journey. and that scene of Renner dancing has been seared into my memory.

[@chaosgilleon6433]

"You heard the deal, Tell Neuromist not to kill them. Not until they beg for death. **Grabs arm** and even when they do beg for death, she doesn't need to be in a hurry about it." One of my favorite lines in season 4. Ainz's English voice actor is an absolute treasure.

[@liamnidas]

Such a great moment. One of the few times where I was ok with Ainz being a little evil.

[@Isomblevous]

The NPCs don't change? You should watch it again a pay attention to Shalltear, her personality chnges after her defeat against Ains

[@kingwolf9447]

Really the only character that doesn't change is Albedo, and Demiurge to a degree However most of even the NPCs have a bit of character development, especially Sebas and Shalltear. In of itself it's not perfect, most of the NPCs are relatively boring and really need more to them

[@Laroac]

exception to the rule

[@jakob3044]

@@kingwolf9447 Albedo to be fair was never a favourite because of her character, which is perhaps the flattest in Nazarick. No, it was more due to another part of her that is not flat in the slightest, two things specifically, maybe a few more.

[@kingwolf9447]

@@jakob3044 she is a walking sex joke, not really much of a character. It's a big shame because Shalltear has quite a lot of sexual jokes attached to her, but she has actual development. She changes primarily after the fight with Ainz and than again during the Dwarves related arc. Albedo is wasted potential.

[@VexLooter]

@@kingwolf9447 they're acting upon their descriptions/traits that has been attached to them by their creators.

[@setogod7]

the song used in the anime before the grime guy leaves is so hitting the feels as so many times has there been such a time like that the song is called the era had been shining

[@JadenFayle]

I absolutely love Overlord. I am big into D&D, so each tidbit and Easter egg that is put in with spells and items makes me happy. Its even helped me in a few campaigns! The world of Overlord is very well developed. My favorite character is Lord Ainz. In his regular world, he's from this dystopian future that has corporations working people to the bone to avoid worse conditions being outside their protection. Much like the rest of the Overlord world though, the context is hinted at, and buried more in the other media. His care for people's working conditions, trying to implement days off, vacation days, and the like are things that he and his friends probably did not get a lot of time to enjoy (like the intro with the ooze guy saying he felt how his avatar looked). Take the same weird morality - and apply it to the other governments present. Re-Estize has so much corruption, that taking over the crime syndicate gives Nazaric control of half the country. There are a lot of layers to the world. Its my favorite anime!

[@liamnidas]

This anime absolutely boasts some of the best world building in an anime. Hand down. Also you've added another wrinkle to Ainz that I previously didn't notice so thank you.

[@yassine6419]

The fact that this is a villain Mc story is what i liked and what made it special if you want anime about characters getting devolleped over thé course of the story this isn't for because if you pick any anime by random you'll find said thing this is about power and comdyand loyalty and how a game settings became real the npc are Designed to bé loyal if you change their characters that also means you can weaken them or worse weaken the mc

[@_saltydragon_1337]

Favorite character Zesshi💜

[@liamnidas]

I'm interested to see where the anime takes her

[@PalmeriGiacomelli]

Overlord's Albedo has a lot of character, and that's why I like her, even in a game as Lord of Nazarick Code: 8KThankU

[@Bardic_Knowledge]

I honestly think the biggest thing about Overlord a lot of people miss is that the story isn't about Nazarick vs The New World, it's about Ainz vs Social Expectation. He's overpowered, yes, but that's so that the combat side of things doesn't impact the social encounters that are more compelling. Then again, this is my opinion, and an example of how different people can take different things from the same story.

[@liamnidas]

It's a very fair opinion. Either way its shows how good this series is that people can connect with and like different parts of it.

[@sambatphu806]

The term “double isekai” has never been more true! I’ve seen anime that are isekai twice but nothing like this, it’s a literal double isekai.

[@joeatnara7518]

Overlord grew on me. The episodes follow the light novel volumes. 3 episodes per Volume. Although there are funny slice of life type episodes either in the beginning or ending of each season. Little things like not washing before bathing is a big faux pas. Or Ainz's body pillow. Or how Mare cried when Ainz would not give him up. Even a peck on the cheek to prevent colds. Of course I love the SPLAT episode too.

[@liamnidas]

It grew on me too

[@GoldenBeHolden13]

The first time I watched season 4's ending I actually swore off of Overlord, recently I gave it a second chance and realized season 4 has an astounding level of depth to it that has been building up since season 2, it was a slow burn buildup. My favorite character is Cocytus for his character design and sense of honor. He stands up to Ainz in defense of the lizardmen though Demiurge covers for him. And in that you see the comradery between the floor guardians.

[@liamnidas]

Cocytus is a very noble character. I have a soft spot for him myself. I'm very glad that it was him that Brain came across.

[@Azrael178]

The weirdest part of overlord is that while it cuts a lot of things, the little things that suggest that the cut thing exists are still there. So when you rewatch it after reading the novel you constantly see little movements, or offhand remarks referencing the cut things so you are constantly pointing at the screen like that one Di caprionmeme it really feels like the team wanted to include those but had to cut it out due to limitations rather than didn't think showing them was important. This anime feels like it was made by people who loved the story but were not allowed enough budget and time to express that love properly, rather than the factory production line of most isekai

[@liamnidas]

I agree with that. Reading some of the comments on this video and knowing what I know now, I understand certain moments more. It does look like despite the flaws, the people that worked on this anime were fans of the source material.

[@admontblanc]

Sebas is also the oddball of Nazarick as one of the few NPCs that has a good alignment.

[@liamnidas]

One of the best characters in the entire anime

[@RathalosAkantor]

If your morality only centers on "If this being is human" then you will absolutely hate overwatch, but even the prince said it himself "He's more human than all of us" when ainz said all he wanted was happiness for his "people"(which is not the right word because they're anything BUT humans.

[@MrDe2060am]

The light novels take the anime story and fill it with more world building and character developments, it truly turns this story into one of my all-time favourites

[@liamnidas]

I'll have to read them one day

[@MrDe2060am]

@@liamnidas you can also listen to the audio books, narrated by the English Ainz voice actor. That's what I did, quite addictive

[@liamnidas]

@@MrDe2060am Ainz English VA is really good. I watched this in Japanese but I've seen enough clips of the dub to know that he's really good.

[@zirezyxenfryx6358]

I never thought I'd meet someone who thought the NPCs were shallow. But here we are.

[@liamnidas]

Quite a few of the comments agree with me. Apparently a lot of their development was cut out in the anime.

[@Sharyf]

The more I rewatch it, the more important details I see and enjoy it even on 6th rewatch.. and i'm not even a rewatch person in general. Its one and only anime's novel source, that I've read+ cd audio novels, and it did absolutely deliver on details that show had to skip and character development. I think its waaay underrated for its realism of politics and relations that most isekais lack, giving main hero absolute devotion after 1 duel or a public speech.

[@liamnidas]

I'm not a rewatch guy either yet it got me crawling back. I need to get into the light novels because it seems that it answers some of my complaints with the anime.

[@ODDnanref]

I gotta say though. The anime cuts a lot of content. Some hints that the gods the theocracy worship used to be players. The Platomum dragon's dad being the cause for the isekai of several players. The fact that Yggdrasil magic is available in game probably being because of a world item changing reality to make it possible, etc. For example after Shalltesr gets mindcontrolled he gives every guardian a world itrm. Because the inly way to be immune to a world item effect is to have one yourself. There is so much here. Ainz did not go on a ramoage forst, he went to investigate the world. His entire adventurer lapse is a multipurpose mission. He does not trust others to get proper informstion as they all hate humans. So he goes hinself. He wants to know if the world currency can work as replacement for Yggdrasil money. He checks he can use Yggdrasil money instead lf current kingdom currency. Finall, he evaluates the power scaling of the world. The guy us not a multidisciplinary genius but he is smart. Then of course you have the entire thing the guardians added to his actions, like plan yo peacefully take over, etc. Despite not being a genius, he is smart enough to know when ithers will do a better job and so he delegates.

[@liamnidas]

Ainz is a lot smarter than he gets credit for. And I do wish the anime didn't cut out so much.

[@ObiwanNekody]

I've enjoyed Overlord since the fan translation of the webnovel day, and I think the LN is pretty great. The Anime is fun and watchable, but it really highlights how much of a power fantasy it is at its core. This wasn't a problem for me until I ended up in a few conversations which basically boiled down to power fantasy good and anything else bad, which has really turned me off of them in general. Current events don't help evil protagonist stories being less enjoyable for me either...

[@liamnidas]

I think that's fair. Hopefully, the anime will be able to capture more of the vibe of the light novel going forward.

[@iamwhatitoture]

One thing that's in the anime, but a lot more in the novels is the real world that Ainz comes from. Every now and then you get some snippets about how dystopian the real world is: You can't see the sky due to pollution, forests are basically nonexistent and the guild members work for black companies.

[@liamnidas]

I really wish that they incorporated that because that sounds so interesting.

[@miyayume_eclectic_dream]

You sentence "Villans killing good guys" 🤣 can I explain to me who are the good guy and why. I have seen all seasons and re-watched Overlord and I have read LN. So there are no good guys at all....exept Gazef with his moral code to defend the inocent and be loyal his king [and only smart one to say don't start a war against Ainz] I love Overlord.

[@whisperofthebookworm5341]

Prince Zanac is pretty much just as good as Gazef ideals wise.

[@liamnidas]

@@whisperofthebookworm5341 Prince Zanac was a sleeper hit character.

[@trafalgarlaw8373]

Bro he genocided entire nations. Civilians and kids at home. And armies consist of thousands of soldiers that are just... soldiers. Normal ass dudes, drafted or not, trying to make some money and serve their country. Even if someone isnt the paragon of good, that doesnt make it ok to genocide them.

[@hserwah8842]

Why do people keep thinking Ainz get Isekai into the game world? Even if you don’t read the novel and only watch the anime, it is not hard to figure out that he as his followers got Isekai into entirely new world.

[@liamnidas]

I'm not sure if you're referring to people in general or this video specifically. But I do say that he was isekaied into another world. It's why I say he was double isekaied. Because had he just been isekaied into that other world, then he wouldn't be in his undead avatar and Nazarick would not have come along with him.

[@ssjwes572]

I watched the first season and went on to read all the LNs after everyone said it was a one and done, there wasn't going to be a second season. I never gave up hope because I liked the story so much after reading them.

[@liamnidas]

I need to jump into the light novels. I feel like I've missed out on so much.

[@Zikiru]

If there is one thing I learn about creative companies, is that all because they share the same name, doesn't mean they share the same team. For example, in Square-Enix, the team that made FF14 isn't the same team that made FF15 that isn't the same team that made Dragon Quest. The point is, it's no surprise Overlord wouldn't have the same quality as One Punch. Mad House isn't a single team and we're always gonna have fallible people who are lacking.

[@liamnidas]

Oh yeah, absolutely. It was more to do with the fact that a lot of people say that Madhouse declined in quality after one punch man. And overlord's animation is often held up as the example. So I wanted to point out that overlord season one still came out during Madhouse's golden age. And that it was a very weak looking anime for that studio as a whole.

[@jasonau4566]

Head Cannon Theory: Ainz got Isekai'd after dying in real life while connected to the virtual sim. Conveniently and painlessly he did not even question his previous life and looking forward to his afterlife.

[@liamnidas]

I have a feeling his original body is dead too

[@xsardes336]

And the most incredible part of it all. One of the best scenes in anime history aka. Renner Song is COMPLEATLY anime-oryginal, so at the premier, even novel readers went crazy with hype...and now with season 5 confirmed (there is not enough source material tho) we are all collectivly wondering will we go anime-oryginal for X more seasons...they showed they can cook a great scene...hell a greater one than author himself could write (and he is absolute genious so thats A LOT), but can they make entire oryginal seaaon that would match His quality?

[@liamnidas]

It would be cool if they could include some of the stuff that they cut out from the light novels

[@russellhallett]

I think you still don't quite get it he's not evil he's just protecting what he cares about most coming from a gaming perspective, he was escaping to a world from a dying one made memories and bonds and everything that's left ends up in a new world

[@willm772]

I think either Shaltere or Cocytus changed the most, Sebas did not change at all really, we just got to learn more about him.

[@liamnidas]

I get that. Although I would say that Sebas does change because in season four he tries to persuade Ainz to not wipe out all the humans. Even going through improper channels to get a meeting with him. I don't think he would have done that in season one.

[@jacobe2995]

Some of the characters were done dirty in the anime because in the books they definitely did go more into their personal growth.

[@liamnidas]

At least it gives me a reason to read the light novels.

[@nimbusshadow-wings]

People who complain about the main characters being overpowered miss the point. Unlike most anime were the conflict is "oh no! this person is stronger than me! i need to get stronger too!" the conflict is internalized for all the main characters. Ainz/Momonga is trying his best to keep the guild his freinds built happy, forcing him to act like a supreme entity all the NPCs think of him as, even though he isnt, and the fear that comes with them finding out hes a normal dude, as well as threats from the outside. Albedo struggles with the fact she loves Ainz so much, and that the guild he loves abandoned them all, icluding her and Ainz, struggling to make him happy an earn her love. Sebas struggles with the absolute loyalty he has for Ainz/Momonga, while also living up to his creator's example. All the NPCs and Ainz all have interwoven internal conflicts, thats what makes it so interesting. Mwanwhile the side charicter's conflicts result from the fact that to Ainz and the NPCs consider almost everything outside of the Great Tomb of Nazarick an after thought, something beneath much notice, forcing these character's to fought for survival against what is essentially the barest of attention from the Main characters.

[@liamnidas]

I completely agree. The main characters should be overpowered in this instance as they're meant to fundamentally "rock the boat" of this world that they've been isekaied to. It also adds more depth to the humans as they have to face a threat that they literally can't overcome. At best they can clip their nails.

[@groovyhoovy2606]

In the books the floor guardians start to have more development with time to the point albedo is potentially plotting behind Ainz’s back demiurge is almost never at the tomb shalltear lost her ego for the most part thanks to mare Sebas doesn’t really change cocytus starts to grow into his leadership position and is in charge of se real different species mare and aura don’t really change you just learn more about them and by the newest book Ainz is considering retiring because he’d much rather explore the world

[@liamnidas]

It really sounds like so much from the light novels was removed in the anime. Especially when it comes to Albedo.

[@groovyhoovy2606]

@ Definitely I bet when the next season comes out they will completely cut her worrying about demiurge figuring what she’s doing out because they didn’t set it up at all

[@liamnidas]

@@groovyhoovy2606 Most likely. Unfortunately.

[@striderreborn1467]

I had to write a review of Overlord Season 4 years ago to explain this, but here's the show's biggest problem, which can also be applied to the movie: "Given that this is a long and drawn-out story that’s adapted from a series of Light Novels. It mostly suffers from most of the same problems as its previous seasons where certain parts of the show feel censored or character/plot details are sometimes ignored resulting in either KZbinrs or fans who have actually read the light novels in advance pointing out certain pieces of the story and lore that were meant to be told that have consequently either been ignored entirely or left in the cutting room floor. And upon research, that’s sadly mostly the case here. The Casual viewer isn’t going to be given the same amount of detailed knowledge/info about character stats, skills, races, locations, powers, etc. For example, While the presence of the character Shalltear Bloodfallen within the show’s universe establishes the existence of Vampires, There’s a heroes guild called “Blue Roses” who also has a short vampire girl in their team named “Evileye” that was introduced in Season 2. And at one point, Evileye briefly mentions being part of a war hundreds of years ago. The main problem? The Anime itself never outright explains that she’s a Vampire, nor does it further talk about her experiences in that particular war which if better written within the Anime, would’ve given its audience better insight about her as a character. I had to look it up because not even the later seasons of the anime mention these details either. And it feels like a lot of these essential pieces of lore/info were clumsily left out for the sake of pacing and censoring the bloodier and more brutal moments the light novels were often known for."

[@liamnidas]

Well put

[@dcorderoch]

I see the 3D cgi as quite fitting, because the monstrosities shown are literally not from the world they now roam, so even though they look bad, it's fitting that they look so out of place

[@liamnidas]

Fair point. It does make them stand out.

[@borischan5252]

i'm still surprised that there is no figure for the last stance for the 2nd prince

[@liamnidas]

They need to make that asap

[@sharkt9877]

6:05 yooooo that xenoblade music in the background! That’s the music from Alcamoth I do believe.

[@666falco666]

I really liked overlord since day 1, many of the sistem used are from TTRPGs like DnD 3.5 (race levels + class levels + prestige classes) if you're a old player/DM you will spot many spells and feat combinations also magical items like the "wish ring", this also inspires me to make my own custom setting for 5e.

[@liamnidas]

I believe that the creator of Overlord was an avid Dungeons and Dragons player. He used to be the Dungeon master hence why Overlord has such good world building. It's also why he wrote Overlord because him and his friends were playing D&D less together.

[@mrmechpunch4653]

The shallow depth of the Nazzarick guardians you mentioned feels very much intentional... Ains on multiple occasions tries to get them to act more... "human-like" in spite of their creator's programming... and since these guardians used to be nothing more than a inanimate objects with a few sentiments attached to them... I find their simplistic personalities justified. While the creators did give them fairly detailed character descriptions and to a degree personalities they still are just guardians, who live and breathe for a single purpose and I can only assume that this is not lost on the author of the series. it is hard to teach a machine perfect autonomy. Yes... Sebas by comparison to other guardians feels like a more interesting character, but he is still just a guardian with priorities, while he would save a person in peril, he wouldn't object against Ains much. Cocytus is also a decent example... despite being presented as a brute with fierce loyalty, he is a guardian with probably the 2nd highest level of "free will", if you can call it that... he openly and almost without hesitation tries to argue against the extermination of the lizardmen... while yes, there was a semi-decent reason for why not to kill them, Cocytus acted of his free will and feelings, just because he respected the lizardmen. Ains is aware of the "mechanical" nature of all guardians and tries his hardest to teach autonomy/character development without compromising his image. I have no comment on the "otherworlders" because you are right about them. Though I have to admit that compared to you I am a sucker for a good Villain main lead and/or a well written revenge anime (except redo of healer... that stuff gives me nightmares, even Nazzarick would be jealous of.). And my favorite characters in Overlord are: Ains, Gazef Stronoff and Emperor Jircniv (personality-wise) and Cocytus (character design-wise)

[@liamnidas]

I think that's really fair. It does make sense that they'd essentially be blank slates to some degree. I just would have personally preferred that they had more development. Or broke through their programming like the androids in Detroit Become Human. I'm really worried that one day I'm going to end up watching Redo of a Healer for a video. I don't want to. But the allure of making that video may become too much for me. Also, Emperor Jircniv was such a great character. Glad he's still around despite all my other favourites slowly falling one by one.

[@ninjamasterryder198]

Legit just finished my 10th rewatch, now I want to rewatch it again thanks to this video. Also, I think Lord Ainz has way too much aura for this stinky universe he got transported to

[@liamnidas]

Honestly his aura is so strong it could destroy the world if he really wanted it to,

[@The-Autistic-Strategist]

I was hooked midway through episode one back in the summer of 2017. I have welcomed each new season with a rewatch of the whole series!

[@liamnidas]

I'm assuming you'll be rewatching it again soon with the new movie on the way. Plus there's the rumoured fifth season around the corner.

[@RamsTheNameCom]

A big issue with the Overlord Anime is that the series has great plot ideas that often fall flat due to cringe writing and boring filler scenes. This is mostly an issue for episodes involving the lizard people or trolls, but can occasionally effect Ainz's party or the humans. The idea of focusing on a tribe of warriors that are far unpowered, getting ready and fighting a war against Ainz they know they can't win.... Is really good on paper. But in the anime, those lizard people episodes are full horrible cringe dialogue and boring filler. Even the main cast isn't safe from cringe, with the worst case being when Shaltear sees the nerdy dragon pee itself and ask Ainz if "he's autistic". Ainz then says "No, there's nothing wrong about this dragon. It pees because it's claiming ownership of us. It is proud to be working with us". Then Shaltear asks Ainz if she can pee on him..... And it's just bad. It's just cringe.

[@liamnidas]

That's very fair honestly. Overlord will sometimes have these moments that drag it down a little. I'd honestly rather the anime had cut those sections out instead of the compelling character work that it left out from the light novels.

[@wheresprototype3507]

The overlord anime was done dirty by 2 thing's. One, the animation, the first 3 seasons had a lower budget studio and I've heard rumors of season 3 having proper problems. The 2nd is how much they cut, they cut out most of the context and have removed full scenes or shortened them. It actually almost feels like a different story. Also season 4 was done by a great studio, however, the producer didn't care for Overlord. So in quality, it only got a bit better.

[@liamnidas]

All four seasons as well as the movie have been done by the same studio Madhouse. But like other studios, Bones for example, it's possible that there are actually multiple studios under Madhouse and it got passed off to one of the stronger ones for season 4.

[@GamesBeatGamer]

I love that Pandora's Actor calls Ainz father

[@liamnidas]

Same. I hope a lot more is done with his character because I find him so interesting.

[@kaiquebrasil1031]

Dude, that's strange. Your optics and how you enjoy Overlord is so far from the way I do but I can understand it perfectly, and that is really cool :D

[@liamnidas]

Shows that there's a lot of different things that someone could love about this anime

[@gurth-quake1627]

So much overlord love recently, this is like the 3rd video recomended to me this week.

[@liamnidas]

And the love will only get stronger after the film.

[@DibsAtraiyu]

If you think about it... Cool design and very static personality are very on point for the NPC. Each one was created by a different member of the 41. So they each have different design philosophies stemming from there creator. And even the interpersonal relationships between them mirroring there creators naturally ((sebas and demiurge being opposed to each other been mentioned as the same as touch-me and Alberts relationship. Same with shalltear and aura giving the same argumentative energy as bukubukuchagama and her little brother.) Im digressing. What I'm saying is them being unique yet static fits the npc considering they were created to be extremely loyal and being so strong means they don't have to many chances to grow. Even the penguin is perfectly loyal despite his ideas to take over as the next ruler. But i do love seeing various shifts or works if there personality. Like cocoytus Purposefully taking the long way around Brain...as a sign of deep respect because walking past a warrior is considered disrespectful. ((I'm still holding on that Brain gets returned later since he was frozen to preserve his body. Since Brain was a Nazerik sided character in the Webnovel as a shalltear thrall) But ya someone else made a video that pointed out one more thing about this series that's great... Characters act there IQ. Be in over thinking of jerckniv or the manipulative nature of the sociopath... But there isn't any moments of "shit happens because the smart guy decided to not be smart or not use the item to win" that is something that's absent that is annoyingly present on so many shows now days.

[@liamnidas]

Good point. I'd also love to see Brain return somehow. Potentially my favourite character. Also completely agree about the character IQs. Great to see no character all the sudden starts acting dumb for the sake of the plot. There are enough dumb characters in Overlord already to force plot points if needed. Like Phillip.

[@chrisadams3046]

I cant be the only one who laughed when he said Cid isn't delusional.

[@liamnidas]

I said Ainz is "kind of like Cid from The eminence in Shadow, if Cid wasn't completely delusional." Cid is perhaps one of the most delusional anime characters of all time 😂

[@limontree476]

I've called Overlord the Lord of the Rings of anime. You can watch the show/movie and get the general plot, but if you want to deep dive into the lore there is a whole ocean of info you can sift through.

[@liamnidas]

That's a pretty good comparison. I've only ever dipped my toe into manga. Still getting through Berserk. But if I ever fully dive in, I'll be damn sure to read Overlord. Seems like some pretty compelling stuff was removed.

[@mathiasiversen7848]

I like the fact that the "NPCs" of the great tomb are pretty static in their nature and lack development - they are literally scripted, thus making the small changes more meaningful. Sort of a prewritten destiny type thing.

[@liamnidas]

I can see that. And that's sort of what I assumed would be the reason for them staying the same. I just wish that there were other characters at least who would be sticking around for longer. Because all the really interesting and developed characters, outside of Ainz, all end up dying.

[@innesboyle5917]

Two reasons I love Ainz is that one he's undead, which means his character has no humanity, and secondly he isn't a smart person but in the light novels the reason he seems like such a smart person to the NPC's is that he's a good actor and story writer also his characters int stat is maxed out.

[@liamnidas]

He is a genuinely good protagonist with so many layers

[@D3M0N196]

the first 18 seconds of this video were way too relatable, it's the same for me until i watched it on netflix recently XD i knew about the anime for quite awhile but never watched it bc i didn't think it'd be that good but when i watched it a few days ago my mind changed, it was so good i binged it for an entire 24 hours, the extra time spent reading a bit of the light novel online

[@liamnidas]

That's what I need to do now. Read the light novel. Got to fill in the blanks left by the anime.

[@MichaelSigala]

Coincidentally 1:46- the new movie is about an act demon lord (rank, js like in tensura). Agreed, Ainz undeniably hold power onpar if not greater than a demon lord. However, it is not known at this time if a seed is required in order to receive such title and buff. (Ainz is Sorcerer King, but ykwim) the new movie releasing next wk should shed some light

[@liamnidas]

Hopefully, it does. I'm really invested in Overlord now, Something that I would have been surprised to hear myself say only a couple months ago.

[@steppenwolfltp]

I wish they made like 14 or even 16 eps per season, I know budget ain‘t that high, but we could have had so much more content from the novels a damn shame. Still in my top 3 due to the novels, world building and characters.

[@liamnidas]

Completely agree. Even if they just adapted more content per episodes and we had to wait for later seasons. I think I would have preferred that.

[@shagaru-9]

Dark fantasy is my favorite genre, I'm a fan of the d&d universe and I'm mostly rooting for the Antagonists in Shows... so finally having an Anime like Overlord where the Author almost shits on the "the power of friendship and the good guys will win in the End" thing is such a win win for me. Also the Anime tingles the little gamer senses in my brain with its well thoughtout mechanics and systems. So yea I love the show and I hope we will see our Overlord turn the world into an Paradise one day * evil chuckle **

[@liamnidas]

There is no better leader than Ainz. I'd swear fealty to him **nervous laughter**

[@zakurn1086]

Mad House could not make Season 1 Overlord, the same as Season 1 OPM in terms of animation quality, because despite being the same studio working on these anime, this is not all there is to it, it's not that simple. You simply disregarded that different directors worked on these, each merging their expertise with the author's vision, using the resources they had available, most likely competing for resources, since a studio has a limited amount of staff, which are not all the same in skill level, overworked and underpaid. On top of all that, the director from One Punch man Season 1 (Shingo Natsume), did a herculean effort to produce the best anime he could, he used everything, every contacts he had, he had to outsource A LOT to make it come to fruition with the level of animation he envisioned and felt the series deserved, that's why you can distinctively notice difference in animations during tense moments in different episodes, because different people, directed and made them other than Shingo. And on the other hand you have Overlord season 1, directed by Naoyuki Ito, using only in house resources, having to compete with other directors for the animators and having a far less ambitious project on his end, not taking anything away from his work, but this was simply the cards he was dealt and I truly enjoyed Overlord in all of it's seasons, despite the choices made in animation.

[@Zikkar]

Thank you for speaking sense

[@liamnidas]

I know that overlord would never have One punch man's level of animation. I said that in the video too. However, it does show that madhouse were not past their peak when Overlord released. And plenty of madhouse anime after look better than overlord season 1. Including Overlord season 4. My point was not that overlord should've looked like one punch man. But instead that Madhouse absolutely had the capabilities to make overlord look better than it did.

[@admontblanc]

You're not wrong but none of that makes it any less disappointing in this regard. As someone who doesn't care one bit about OPM I wish Overlord had been given the treatment all the major anime productions have these days and had the best animation that money can buy you. I still enjoy enjoy it a lot, it's definitely my favorite isekai along with Mushoku Tensei, the one thing I'm grateful is that the anime allowed me to discover this series and the LN is one of the best things you can read in the modern era if you enjoy DnD based content.

[@liamnidas]

@@admontblanc True. It's more annoying given how successful Overlord is for Madhouse. Out of all their anime, it seems like the one that should get special treatment. Yet it rarely does.

[@RickySama240]

Overlord is one of my all time favorite anime shows! I also got into the light novel which is something i thought i'd never get into for any series. The story is soo deep for an isekai and i love the world building it has done! 😄

[@liamnidas]

Completely agree. Gotta get round to reading those light novels myself.

[@severien42]

He didn't get sent to the game itself. He was transported to a completed different 2nd world along with the game assets of his guild. It is highly hinted at (but not confirmed, and a leading fan theory), it was the dragon king who did it.

[@liamnidas]

That's why I said he was double isekaied. First into his avatar and into Nazarick. And then into this second world. If he wasn't double isekiaed then he would be in his original human form without Nazarick and the NPCs.

[@severien42]

@@liamnidas That's not double isekai. At no point did he get transported or ended up in the game world. He was simply transported to the new world as his ingame avatar.

[@liamnidas]

@@severien42 Yes but Nazarick was transported with him. First he went into the game world and then into this new world. If he hadn't in some way gone through the game world then he either wouldn't be in his skeleton avatar form or have Nazarick and its residents with him. He still has access to all the items and spells and weapons from the game too. He wouldn't have that either had he not gone through the game to get to the other world.

[@severien42]

@@liamnidas He NEVER went into the game world. Unless you are suggesting by simply playing a game you are isekai. Does that mean people playing WoW are isekai'd? The impetuous of why Ainz was transferred has not been fully explained. It is HIGHLY suggested (and a leading fan theory) it was related to Wild/Dragon Magic that did it--specifically the Dragon King. Since his consciousness was in game at the moment of shutdown the magics yoinked everything near a World Item and then brought it to the new world. And since Suzuki Satoru mind was there still, the magics brought him along with the other stuff to the New World. His mind was thus now permanently attached to the game avatar manifest as real. He never went to the game and it is not a double iseaki.

[@liamnidas]

@@severien42 To be fair, he's in a VR world. And if Sword art Online counts as an isekai, which it does. As does Shangri la frontier. then yes he is isekaied just by playing this specific game.

[@noi5e28am]

I read the Light Novel first when I ran across it in the translation forums. It was an entertaining read up to chapter 8. Sucked as it basically takes years for a volume to be released. However I do like it, evident that it has been with me for these years to wonder about.

[@liamnidas]

And apparently it's only gotten better too.

[@andritsiry]

Well, the anime doesn't`do justice to the character. The novels are more developed in terms of NPC growth.

[@liamnidas]

It's a shame because they've cut so much out of the anime adaptation.

[@Nanohamage]

i don't think this story is about evil conquering the world, this story felt more like it was about journey from normal human to monster, you can see ainz in begining saving human village and tearting them nicely even tho he is confused whether they are just npcs or real people, on top of that ainz body is greatly affecting his mood and therefore actions as showcased in anime. To top it off the whole time he's scared from both outside threats but more importantly from nazarick NPCs because they are almost as powerful as him and actually evil so he has to keep this charade of evil king to survive, he's not even particularly smart he just has a lot of knowledge from the game but he doesn't understand any complex plans NPCs form and is mostly just agreeing on them out of fear. so in the end he's just average guy with average iq and moral compass, who is just trying to survive and find his friends or possibly go back home using his vast knowledge of the game and loyalty nazzarick holds toward him

[@liamnidas]

That's a very interesting way of looking at this anime. Ainz is definitely worsening and becoming more of a monster.

[@Toralian89]

I'd argue that Ainz ain't that evil compared to other rulers of New World - he genuinely cares about his subordinates, even not original guild ones. He's the only thing that stops denizens of Nazarick from tearing the world apart like in the short novel with EE. His goal of creating a kingdom where all races can coexist is genuinely good. Well more like forced to coexist. But in New World before players showed up humans were considered food for pretty much every other race. So there isn't really an option but to force it. Might makes right. And Ainz is mostly merciful leader considering how out of the league he is even for oldest New World beings like dragons, that mostly don't care at all about lesser beings. Zanac in the end acknowledges that Ainz isn't the ultimate evil that wants to ruin everything\everyone and wants mostly the same for Sorcerer's kingdom as he does for his. Re-estize could've escaped it's fate multiple times if not for meddling of some stupid or malicious people and others giving up on it. Staticness of Nazarick is intentional. Because they're the new constant in this world that other people try to deal in their own ways. They're not main characters that need to evolve, get humbled or overcome something - others are.

[@liamnidas]

I guess you're right about Ainz. He is holding the NPCs back from essentially starting the apocalypse. That's an interesting way of viewing the static nature of the characters.

[@mikbinx6541]

the thing is, the anime believes perhaps a litle too much in "show dont tell". so if one wants to you can keep rewatching the series as you try to read into their feelings and who the characters actually are.

[@liamnidas]

I agree with that. Sometimes it holds back a little too much information.