Following the horrific assault on the Re-Estize capital city, the Guardians of the Great Tomb of Nazarick return home to their master Ainz Ooal Gown. After months of laying the groundwork, they are finally ready to set their plans of world domination into action.
As Ainz's war machine gathers strength, the rest of the world keeps moving. The remote Carne Village, which Ainz once saved from certain doom, continues to prosper despite the many threats on its doorstep. And in the northeastern Baharuth Empire, a certain Bloody Emperor sets his sights on the rising power of Nazarick.
Blood is shed, heroes fall, and nations rise. Can anyone, or anything, challenge the supreme power of Ainz Ooal Gown?
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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KatsutoSaki
This is the first time I've ever felt about reviewing a particular show on MAL. Perhaps, my love for this show is significantly greater than any show in existence? What I’m about to state in this review is relatively the truth... Alright, so what's Overlord III about? What has Ainz-sama achieved so far till this season? What were the main events that took place before this season? Has the premise of the series changed? THIS REVIEW MIGHT CONTAIN MILD SPOILERS. So, previously in the first season we see Momonga somehow "mysteriously" getting teleported to a new world or getting trapped into a game called Dive Massively MultiplayerOnline Role Playing Game, also known as DMMO-RPG Yggdrasil (while Yggdrasil being the new release of the game), on which he spent his whole life at, and finally created the guild weapon, the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown, a symbol of the guild namely Ainz Ooal Gown. Now when the game’s about to see its end, we see the guild members leaving the guild, and hoping to spend their lives much better since they had spent most of their life on this game, which they realized was worth nothing. Momonga, being the guild master, was quite furious over the shutdown of the game and blamed his guild members for not spending their last moment with the game. And calling them traitors, when they actually had spent their whole time on the game and without their efforts, the Overlord, Ainz-sama would’ve never achieved such strength and power. Or shall I say such arrogance and ignorance? Now being teleported to a new world, and being shocked at how this event took place. Momonga summons his guardians and orders Sebas, the butler, to investigate the surrounding of the great tomb of Nazarick. And see if they had really been teleported to a mysterious place/world, while ordering the floor guardians to stay on guard. Then we see Momonga-sama taking a tour of the first floor in his great tomb and being discovered by Demiurge. We see Demiurge outsmarting Momonga-sama. Which outrightly surprises Momonga-sama. But being the great overlord, it also meant him being “all-knowing” and he just couldn’t let any of his harem members realize that. Now, while being accompanied by Demiurge, Momonga-sama utters, “...taking over the world might be enjoyable.” Which he obviously didn’t mean it at all, but Demiurge was really surprised and felt outclassed by such thoughts of Momonga-sama. Thus being a side premise of this season.
Continuing on, we see Momonga-sama using the Mirror of Remote Viewing magic item. Where he notices a village being attacked by the knights. To which Momonga-sama rushes to their aid, of course, not with the “true” intentions of saving them. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to call himself an evil overlord in front of his harem. Now Momonga-sama outclasses every knight, and chases them away and meets the Royal Head Warrior, Gazef Stronoff. Now the Slane Theocracy strikes back with a trump card at their hands, a 7th tier magic item. Which again is outclassed by the great Momonga-sama. After the visit to the Carne Village, Momonga-sama decides to change his name to Ainz-sama i.e. the guild name. To which the sole purpose was to spread this name, the name of the guild, and see if he meets anyone else in the new world. His objective was to explore this world and see if there were other players from Yggdrasil, and trying to figure out how he could return back to his own world. Which was the main premise of the season.
Now Ainz-sama orders Sebas Tian and Solution to explore more about this world. And orders Shaltear to accompany him. While him visiting the E-Rantel Fortress City accompanied by Narberal Gamma, one of the maid pleiades, as wanting to be adventurers. To spread the name of Momon, the great adventurer, and again to gain knowledge about the new world. The potion given to one of the adventurers by Momon is taken to the best pharmacist. To which to her surprise is the potion that has the healing abilities of a God. Thus, leading to the meeting of Nphirea with the great Momon-san and Ainz-sama. Momon-san joins a guild for new adventures, since those adventures were of no match to him. Also, so that they could be witnesses to the power of Momon-san, the future’s greatest adventurer. But now, even Ainz-sama or Momon-san isn’t perfect, Clementine, a member of the Slane Theocracy, ruins the plan of the great Momon-san by killing all of the adventurers. To which Ainz-sama responds to by crushing her to death, and killing the rest of her comrades. Meanwhile, we see Shaltear, Sebas and Solution on their mission. And at the middle of their travel, a group of mercenaries halt the carriage and attempt to take them to their place. But they are massacred by them, and later they find out the nest of the humans that attacked them. Now Solution and Sebas part ways from Shaltear. And Shaltear heads towards the nest of the humans to test out the skills of Brain Unglaus, a man who knew martial arts and had fought Gazef on equal terms. To her surprise, is disappointed by the the abilities of Brain as he even fails to pass as a nail clipper. Now Shaltear absorbs all the blood, she had gathered by killing the humans and goes berserk. Massacring even the adventurers who arrived to explore the base of the soldiers turned mercenaries. Until she recovers by seeing the red potion, the potion which Ainz-sama had given to an adventurer. And discovers that the adventurers were actually split in two teams, and the second team was already headed to E-Rantel. Knowing that, she immediately chases them in her blood-frenzy mode. At the end someone amongst that group casted a mind-control spell on her, causing her to revolt against Ainz-sama. Accepting the quest as Momon, Ainz-sama heads towards Shaltear for battle. During this battle we see how great Ainz-sama is, completely surpassing Shaltear. And later revives her and plans to use Sebas and Solution as decoys. Sasuga Ainz-sama was secondarily the premise of the series.
Now outraged by the brainwashing of the only loli in his harem, Ainz-sama immediately launches an attack on the lizardmen. And completely overwhelms them and kills the leaders of the tribe. And makes them accept him as their ruler. This arc was of no importance to the series. The whole event took four episodes of the season. Afterwards, we see the second season focusing on Sebas and on the kingdom. Which again was of no significance. Overlord sure knows how to waste its time on insignificant bullshit. The rest of the season focuses on the Eight fingers. Who are captured by Ainz-sama and are experimented on by his harem. While capturing them, Entoma, one of the insects in the harem, suffers a serious damage by the adamantite adventurers. Who’s later saved by Jaldabaoth, the Demon Emperor. At the end, we see Momon emerges as the greatest adventurer of the world. Since he defeats the great Jaldabaoth. And adds another member to his harem i.e. Evil Eye. Perhaps, the only two lolis in his harem? In this season “Sasuga Ainz-sama” had become more or less a primary premise of the series. The second season itself had so many plot holes, but since the review is about the third season, I’ll only mention the least concerning one in my eyes. That is, no one ever questioned Momon-san about how was he able to beat Jaldabaoth, a magic caster whose power level was of 66+ according to Evil Eye, without casting away his humanity? There’s no way a human could beat such monster. Yet no one bothered asking him anything. And if they had Ainz would’ve had to reveal his identity. Of course, they wouldn’t either, since the whole show is just “Sasuga Ainz-sama” or “Sasuga Momon-sama.” Ainz sure knows how to get praised in every single form.
Story: 1
This season begins with a filler episode; the only episode which was actually worth watching in the whole season. In the episode, it’s revealed how massive the harem of Ainz-sama is; completely unparalleled, incomparable to any harem anime in existence. After the first episode, the story begins its focus on the objective of Nazarick. And thus, the words that Ainz-sama had uttered in the first season. Now Ainz-sama trying to outsmart his harem clearly fails, and then tries to play along their plans, otherwise he wouldn’t be an evil overlord. In simple words, being controlled by them since he’s supposed to be “all-knowing” and great, otherwise, you know, he really wouldn’t be the Sasuga. And the whole premise is “Sasuga Ainz-sama.” The show either forgets its main aim or just casts it away since “Sasuga Ainz-sama” is a very important premise.
In this season, we see Ainz desperately trying to prove he’s the only Sasuga in the world. He tries to stoop to the lowest level just to prove he’s the Sasuga, instead of acting like all-knowing or all-whatever. This season shows that the whole plot of Overlord isn’t as complex as it was meant or shown to be in the first season. From watching this show, it has become clearly evident that it’s just Ainz-sama and his harem squashing ants. And the series gives off the vibes as if even an amatuer could come up with such a mediocre setting.
Since the first season we’ve been seeing Ainz desperately trying to appeal and please his harem. And now, he even goes further by killing and torturing innocent people and accusing them of being evil. Ainz still thinks about his image, despite getting such loyalty and devotion. They wouldn’t dare say “Ainz-sama are you really an evil overlord”? He’s already a god for them. At this point he shouldn’t care about what his harem thinks and just give them orders, yet he doesn’t dare so. Ainz, despite being an evil overlord, still worries about meaningless things.
Continuing on, this series has no plot. We’re constantly introduced to new characters, we get entire episodes of how their lives are, their aim, who they love, etc. What has happened to this series? Why should I care about the ants which will indefinitely get squashed? Ainz will without a doubt rule the world, their fates are sealed from the very beginning. Everyone will either submit to his will or get killed/tortured by him and his harem. This show keeps on introducing more and more insignificant characters who are killed miserably usually with one hit from even the least powerful members of the great tomb of Nazarick. This is a waste of time, yet the show still gets dragged on pointlessly. Ainz can easily conquer the whole world without even using a fraction of his power, yet he and his harem play from the shadows. Plus, the whole series is very slow-paced.
Characters: 1
This show has a very terrible character development. For example take the four episodes in the second season, where we were introduced to lizardmen, their lifestyles, who they love, what they wish, etc. and then they get killed and become test subjects. The third season also does the same, this season has been nothing but a waste of time. Where time is spent on developing minor characters who have no future and will contribute nothing to the plot since no matter what Ainz will have his way and they’ll either get killed, experimented, or becomes slaves; just like lizardmen contributed nothing and their struggle i.e. the drama was pointless and useless.
Animation: 2
The 3D animation looks very cheap and is of extremely low quality. For a third season, this is completely unforgivable. And as for the rest, it’s nothing special. The overall quality has dropped immensely. And almost every character looks the same.
Sound: 2
The voices of the characters in the series was quite satisfactory. This series has been re-using the osts of the first season. It hasn’t even introduced any of the new osts; neither this season nor the previous one. It keeps on playing the same osts which were played in the first season. A very very low effort indeed.
Enjoyment: 1
From the second season, this show had gone down abruptly. And this season is nothing but a disaster with a lot of useless development and unnecessary crap. But I do get the appeal of this show and why many would enjoy it. For example for the harem members. This show has quite a variety of members like vampire loli, a wolf, an insect, a lizard, etc. and there are many other reasons too...
Overall: 1
Snapshot426
You know what? Sometimes it is fun to route for the bad guy. Sometimes you are drawn to the villains of a story by their overwhelming power, how cunning and intelligent they are, or their unquestionable charisma. A good villain always leaves a mark during and after the story is finished. So what happens when you take those villains and make them the protagonist of their own stories? Well you get shows like Overlord. A series that has had three seasons now when we thought it was a one and done series. But nope, Madhouse has stuck to this series with another season. And nowOverlord, in my opinion, is taking its stride.
Why do I say that? Well I'm about to tell you. Sit back, relax and make sure you demand SILENCE! while you are reading this review as I present to you the anime review for Overlord, Season 3. Let begin shall we.
Story: 8.5/10
So Ains Ooal Gown (or Momonga, or Momon or Papa Bone Daddy, whatever you want to call him) has now established Nazerick in the world they they still have no idea how they got there. Now that he has established Nazerick, his next course of action is to take over the world as is power and presence must be known across all of the kingdoms and countries. Or at least that what Demiurge believes and Ains is just rolling with it. In order to maintain control of Nazerick and his subjects, he must essentially go along with it although he never planned it in the first place and confront the nearby kingdoms in order to rule the world.
Once again the show is separated into two story arcs where each arc follows different characters and how they are tied to Ains' plans and objectives. The first arc follows the village that Ains saved back in season one and how they are progressing. The second arc follows the actions of the Empire, a faction that was teased at the end of season two, and how they are tied to Ains progression of ruling the world. Now world building is once again, focused in Overlord and it is one of its biggest strengths. It doesn't just focus on the inhabitants of Nazerick but the people outside it. It helps give depth to this world and its characters. You get invested into these characters to the point where once they interact with Ains Ooal Gown, you hope that they make it out okay.
Speaking of which, the polarity of who to route for in this show has taken full swing in this show. While season two also did this, season three is where I think it now has more weight. As the escalation grows in this show, you hope that some of the world's core characters make it out unscathed, especially when they confront Ains or his subordinates. You want to route for Ains because he his the main protagonist and the character we get invested into the most, but you still want to route for the "good guys" because they are developed enough to get invested into them. Sometimes that is the case. Sometimes it is not. This just shows you how defined the world is and how putting investment into it helps flesh it out.
Characters: 8.5/10
This season really does give us more insight into the mind of Ains Ooal Gown as it shows that he is just going along with the ride. Like I said earlier, Demiurge believes that Ains is now planning to take over the world whereas Ains didn't think on doing that. Now that the other floor guardians believe that, he essentially must do what they believe he will do in order to maintain control of Nazerick. He is portrayed as always being 3 or 4 steps ahead but in reality, he is just making it up as he goes along. He also has to practice his lines and poses in his spare time in order to maintain his image. It's a nice reminder that he isn't some all knowing, all seeing Overlord, but rather a simple, human businessman who was invested into an MMORPG pretending to be an evil Overlord.
Of course that doesn't mean he doesn't do it well because when he requires to do some evil deeds, he will do them without remorse. This season just reminds you that Ains is indeed a straight up villain. The previous two seasons sort of portrays Ains as both being good and bad. While he did some evil things, he also did some good things as well (Mainly when he is under the disguise of Momon). BUT NOPE. This series pretty much gives you a solid reminder that Ains is indeed the main evil that puts all other evils to shame. This season is by far the darkest season we've had because the actions that Ains took in this series are just pure villainy. Word of advice, if you ever threaten Nazerick, dig a grave. Then immediately fill up that grave because your body isn't coming back. Then stick a bunch of red flags into your head as you skip ever so gracefully into Nazerick to never be seen again as you will be remembered as the idiot who went into Nazerick looking like a t**t.
As for the characters that were focused on in the arcs, we have two to talk about. First there is Enri Emmot, a member of the village that Ains saved personally and Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix (we will just call him Jircniv), the ruler of the aforementioned Empire who is always at war with the kingdom from the second season.
So Enri is the main vessel from where we see how the village has progressed since season one. She is somewhat the figurehead of the village as she also the leader of a platoon of goblins that were summoned to protect the village. We see her over the course of the season take more responsibility as she it put into situations where she requires a level head and figure out the best course of action. She is essentially the kind and courageous person you would see take charge as the lead character, unaware that she is serving Papa Bone Daddy who is completely evil. But the problem I find with her is that I don't see nothing more than just a vessel used to show the progression of the village in the show's world building. I don't get invested into her as much than say Zaryusu Sasha from season two because his motives were defined enough for me to get invested into him. For Enri, everything develops around her, rather than she is the main person involved. However, there is good use of foreshadowing where she will have to take center stage and have situations that involve around her in the future.
As for Jircniv, he is a good case of how looks can be deceiving. First impressions might describe him as a pompous a***ole who doesn't give a s**t. But actually, he is not that. He is cunning as he needs to think what is best for his Empire and plans out what the best course of action is that will benefit him and his Empire and to make sure it does not crumble, mainly when confronting Nazerick and Ains Ooal Gown. While he gets less screen-time than Enri. He is the kind of character that you can get invested in because you know definitely, he is going to play a big part in the future.
That's not to say other characters in this show do not get defined enough. From the workers who raid Nazerick to the goblins who protect the village to more established characters like Gazef Stronoff and Nfirea Bareare. Each character is defined enough to get invested into and to look forward to see what happens next for them. Not all of them are hits but the majority of the cast is enjoyable to watch.
Animation: 5/10
I think that I should come to expect that the animation quality isn't going to change for the better. So the animation will always be stuck on good but not great. However, I have also noticed that this season has increased the use of CGI animation and yeah, it does not look good. It just lacks detail and polish as it loses some of the impact of some scenes in the anime. Anyone that has watched episode 12 will pretty much agree with that statement. Trust me, you will notice it when the quality of the CGI animation gets bad. What I don't get is that it uses both CGI and hand drawn animation on the same models and likes to switch between them. Why Madhouse won't stick to one type is beyond me. Probably for budget reasons but that just feels like a sorry excuse of not allocating resources properly. While it does make sense for some character models like the Death Knights since they are larger than the average human, it just looks bad for other character models like the goblin and human soldiers.
Sound: 8/10
Once again, the same soundtrack returns to Overlord III with haunting instrumentals and bombastic choir vocals. It is the soundtrack that can only be associated with a bad-ass, freaking Overlord. But my problem is a lack of notable new soundtracks (if there were any). The ones that I remember are the ones that we are already established with, which is quite a shame. It is not bad as the OST overall is still good but lets get some new stuff in here shall we? Before we start looping in circles.
The opening is something different and yet familiar at the same time. This time, MYTH&ROID swap with OxT to do the opening and my word, did MYTH&ROID and Tom-H@ck do a good job on the opening. The opening, "Voracity," is much better choreographed than the previous two openings and is the most visually impressive out the three openings. The instrumentals as well are much better with them sounding much more heavy than the previous two but still sounding like an Overlord opening. This is also backed up with the lyrics being catchy as hell and able to stop and start without it feeling tedious. This all culminates to being the best Overlord opening out of the 3 IMO and one I have listened to countless times.
I've never appreciated Overlord's ending sequences till now because this one was an enjoyable ending sequence. OxT did the ending sequence this time with a more slower piece of work than their openings but still using heavy, electrical instruments to match the instrumentals with the opening. But what really stole the show were the illustrations used in the ending as they looked gorgeous; somewhat reminiscing the art style of the Light Novel's. I'll have to make sure not to skip these from now on if they keep up this quality.
Conclusion:
So what did I mean when I said Overlord is taking its stride? Well what I meant by that was where we are in the story and how established its world and characters are, Overlord is now going full steam ahead with its trajectory and it doesn't look like its planning to stop until it reaches its destination. While its animation quality has taken a dip and the OST is now starting to go in a loop. Its heart and soul will always be its world and characters because that is what it does best. We always look into the world and its inhabitants and get attached to them before Ains and co. swoop in and probably take over their lives. It is kind of funny how this show has gone from finding out where they are and if there are other players there as well to watching a powerful Overlord start to take over the world.
If you were not a fan on how Overlord II was structured and how the attention was always driven away from Ains, then this season won't change your mind as it is pretty much more of the same. If you were a fan like I was, then you should be happy. I would imagine Madhouse would want to see this anime through since it is popular enough to have three seasons already. And you know what Madhouse? I will still continue to watch Overlord and bow down to THE GREAT SORCERER KING, AINS OOAL GOWN!!!
My Personal Enjoyment: 9.5/10
Overall score: 7.9/10 Recommendation: Watch it (If you haven't already.)
BStrifeSword114
There are four major aspects of Overlord that make it appealing. 1) Protagonists are villains. 2) Protagonists are ridiculously overpowered. 3) Protagonists are non-human. 4) Solid world building. Works well as a hi-fantasy series. These points summarize Overlord well, and if you find them appealing then this series is just for you. Tired of goody two- shoe protagonists who are holier-than-thou with no moral faults? Overlord’s protagonists are nonhuman and villains. Have you had enough of linear progression in storytelling, where the protagonist overcomes progressively stronger antagonists, almost conveniently? Overlord’s protagonist and his minions and the minions of his minions are overpowered compared to the vast majority of everything else inthe world. This is not a tale about knights in shining armor who save the day. This is about the strong and the weak- with heavy emphasis on the strong. No “friendship triumphs over all” speeches to be found here.
The last aspect, which does not apply nearly as much to the anime as it does to the light novels it’s based on, is it’s world building. The map is fairly large, with different countries and a large selection of recurring characters representing each country showing up periodically. They all have different traits and while I wouldn’t call most of them “deep,” the little things they do help give the world of Overlord meaning. They’re not cookie-cutter background characters that do the most predictable and straight-ahead thing. It’s showing the world is alive with many individual people pursuing their own goals. The story is basically a “MMO isekai,” but that it doesn’t go as far as others in the same genre. The MMO feature is just used to explain easily the mechanics of the world and just how powerful Ainz and his minions are. You could almost ignore that fact and the plot works just as well. In essence, this series is almost like Lord of the Rings, with the protagonists being villains.
Story: 9/10
I mentioned in the above two paragraphs the appeal of Overlord's story and characters. To date the series biggest weakness for the light novels has been pacing. Books 4, 5, 7, and 8 are the weakest entries in the currently 13 volume series, and it was primarily because of that fact. A slew of characters for books 4 and 7 in particular were introduced. Many of them weren’t interesting and most of them weren’t important to the plot beyond their respective books.
The anime does glaze over many details from the novels. This works both in its favor and to the vexation of hardcore fans. It skips over many of the details which help make the world feel so alive, while also “fixing” some of the pacing problems a few of the middle volumes in the series had. Season 2 was a good representation of this. This third season adapts volumes 7, 8, 9, so expect more of the same in that regard.
Art: 5/10
The anime’s biggest flaw. Although the CGI they use works out in it’s favor at times, particularly with some battles, at other times it can be jarring. Some animation scenes are lazy, such as the one involving Leinas face in a frame. The goblin battle in episode 11 was borderline comical. It’s unfortunate because So-bin, the illustrator for the novels, does a fantastic job. Sometimes it’s good, but there is a lot of mediocrity here as well.
Sound: 7/10
There are a couple of good soundtracks used here and some of the sound effects work well. The English dub is also respectable. Overall it’s good, even if it’s not outstanding. I still think the first season had the best OP and OST. Still good, however.
Character: 9/10
There are a lot of them, and like any series this can be both good and bad. With so many characters, it’s hard to get significant development on individual characters. When you do get good development, afterwards they may have long absences from the story when the focus shifts to other characters. On the other hand, having so many characters helps make the world feel alive, and with the wide variety, it gives everyone at least a few characters to care about.
As mentioned, this series biggest allure is its ridiculously overpowered, nonhuman villain protagonists. Yet neither are they evil for the sake of being evil. They are wholly dedicated to themselves- and if that means killing a few hundred thousand people in the process, then so be it. There’s just something so self-satisfying about seeing a protagonist like that. You don’t get to see that often enough.
I think an understated emotion for any series is that of admiration. When you admire someone, you tend to overlook their flaws. The relationship between Ainz and his subordinates is a tender one. Unsurprisingly, the light novel does a much better job than with developing it’s characters. The anime is only the general story and cuts some details from the novels.
Enjoyment: 8/10
The animation drags it down, but the story is unique and the characters are engaging enough to keep you invested. Ultimately the most satisfying things in life are the things you didn’t know you wanted until you got it. Overpowered, nonhuman, villain protagonists trying to conquer the world in a high-fantasy setting turned out to be just that. If you love Overlord and are still here for season 3, I highly recommend picking up the light novels ASAP.
Overall: 8/10
Stark700
Franchises like Overlord has a tendency to overrun its ideas with every season. The first season concentrated on Ainz and his goals along with exploring the world fiction while building into the base story. The second season expanded its world although it didn’t exactly live up to its hype when it came to actual character building. Now, here we are. The third season that I crossed my fingers as it’s time for Overlord to prove itself if it’s capable of improving. Realistically, I came into the third season with moderate expectations. The first episode didn’t exactly get me excited after seeing everyone getting a reintroduction. Ainzis still the same as ever while we see the daily lifestyles of his minions. He is trying to live up to his name even though some of his character behavior comes downright as extremely silly. (I mean, he takes a bath in his “skeletal form”. That’s pretty much throws logic out window) No, what we have here is a season that tries to get fans to invested into the story.
Frequently, I see Overlord’s world as expansive. It explores places with fantasy details that you’d expect from an anime like this and from this season, we visit the Carne Village. Here, we’re introduced to a place where goblins exist. Goblins are a common trend in fantasy shows so seeing them exist this season wasn’t much of an excitement. However, the real attention to pay attention to is a girl named Enri. Serving as a leader of the village, she commits to protect its people and ensure peace. Which is to say, she is a key supporting character this season. One of the more noticeable trends I noticed about Overlord is how it’s able to develop its supporting cast. Enri is a character that I grew to admire for her selflessness and courage. This is especially true with the village facing exterior forces who threatens its peace. Similarly, there’s Nfirea, a character with an inferiority complex yet isn’t afraid to take action when the right time calls for it.
But meanwhile, there’s also Ainz and his own goals. Supported by his servants and minions, there’s no doubt that world domination is part of their agenda. Yet, Ainz is a calculating character. Despite being incredibly powerful, he isn’t the type that directly goes on the frontlines often. From this season, he commands his servants like Lupisregina on important missions. His other servants such as Demiurge offer their own advice to him. In later episodes, he begins to show a more dominating personality to prove the testament of his powers.
You better get used to a diverse and growing character cast. In the latter half of the season, we are introduced to Worker Groups of adventurers that includes Foresight, Green Lead, Heavy Masher, and Tenmu. At this point, I feel like it’s where Overlord takes a step back for its character cast. Because let’s face it, some of these characters are going to be jobbed out and treated like fillers. This is proven when some of them fall to victim of the denizens at Nazerick. I can’t even remember some of the names of these adventurers like the one that got tortured by Neuronist Painkill or those killed by monstrous cockroaches. Ainz himself also makes some of these adventurers look fools such as the ones from Foresight. In one particular episode, he shows the difference in their power while crushing all their hope for victory. And to be honest, none of this should come as a surprise. We know how powerful Ainz is and this season continues to prove that. There’s no one who can truly stand a chance against him whether it’s Emperor Jircniv (a character that appeared at end of Season 2) or army by numbers. Even an alliance between The Baharuth Empire and Kingdom’s army feels more like a desperate struggle to survive. When it comes to war, Ainz is able to decimate forces with his powerful arsenal of spells such as summoning death knights and the Dark Young. It’s the type of curb stomp battle that doesn’t last very long.
With season 3’s unorthodox story structure, I feel like it’s important that they don’t make us forget about its established cast. Remember Albedo or Shalltear from the previous seasons? While they get their moment of fame, it’s definitely not on par when they were first introduced. Others like Sebas is pretty much forgotten despite their development from season 2. To me, that’s a bit of shame since I grew attached to some of the main supporting characters. I do have to admit that Season 3 managed to commit to some of its other supporting cast such as Enri though. Hell, even the goblins became relevant with names given by her. I just wish more characters got treated in such a way.
By now, the meme of Madhouse not making sequels should be more long disregarded. Not only did Overlord receive a third season but the break is only 3 months. This implied that the second and third season may have been planned as a split cour from the start. Regardless, I feel like Madhouse should’ve committed more time for at least a half year break to boost its production quality. Don’t get me wrong though. The third season definitely had some great visual quality moments especially during some of the battle segments. World building in Overlord still stands out as a prominent feature that people shouldn’t overlook. And those character designs really evoke emotions. Just looking at characters such as Neuronist Painkill or Shalltear’s killing instincts should be enough to get a reaction. Unfortunately, not all reactions for this season will be positive such as the case with the Dark Young. Thanks to the atrocious CGI, their presence reminds me exactly how NOT to adapt character models for a show like this.
Three seasons of light novel adaptations doesn’t come by too easily these days. And often, they get treated poorly with the pacing or omission of content. Overlord doesn’t fall under those pitfalls but still suffers from its character building at times. I’m not going to lie. I enjoy the novels but this adaptations isn’t really a great representation of value. The fact is, Overlord is a reputation by name but is far from perfection.
MarlyTT
Basically Sword Art Online for people who are too embarrassed to admit they like Sword Art Online or think they're above it when they're not. Three seasons in, and Overlord III still manages to be as embarrassingly terrible as the series has ever been. Apparently Madhouse managed to split up the budget for one cour worth into three, and it really shows. How this series is still so popular despite Madhouse's awful adaptation and the original material's abysmal writing can be very easily described in two words: Power fantasy. But what makes this particular power fantasy so profitable and appealing? It's the fact that the protagonistis a spooky skeleton man with very stereotypical villainous role archetype assets. Ability to summon undead minions? Powers that generally involve darkness(tm) and death? Completely loyal evil minions that are comically cynical towards humans and also have similar abilities, all with their own gimmicks? He's got them all, and kids love him. There's a reason why something like "Dark Flame Master" is a running joke in shows like Chuunibyou, and it's because it's pretty common for kids to love the bad guys more than the good guys. They have cool abilities, look cool, and act cool! It's every kid's dream to be Dark Flame Master. But does that mean every Overlord fan is a kid or a manchild? Not necessarily. The series does have some merit, but it's certainly not the animation or the writing.
The animation is pretty abysmal- The OP animation is incredibly lazily made, and the ED animation is just a slideshow of still images, which goes to demonstrate how little budget went into the show. Add that up with constant stillshots of Ainz's completely unmoving skeleton face and just embarrassingly common usage of bad looking CGI in nearly every episode, and one could feasibly argue that Madhouse really did split the budget for one cour into three. Even the worst of the worst harem isekai shows tend to have fairly impressive, or at the very least, decent looking openings to pull people in, but it seems that Madhouse knew their fans will eat this shit up regardless of how little money they spend on it. There's quite literally nothing positive to say about the animation. The soundtrack is pretty mediocre, and doesn't really distinguish itself from other similar shows, which is also a disappointment.
Then there is the writing of the show, which is easily the worst part of the series.
Conceptually, this should be interesting- It's supposed to be a story from the perspective of the villainous protagonist, which is genuinely rare. Sure, there are plenty of stories where the main character is some variation of demon lord or whatever, but at the end of the day, they still end up being no different from just any generic isekai harem protagonist. Did Ainz manage to separate himself from this common trend? Sure, if being a cardboard with a different coat of paint counts as a separation from the norm.
The issue with telling a story from a villain's perspective is that it's not very easy to make the protagonist likable for the audience to care about. Essentially, when a character becomes too villainous, they become harder to be relatable because they would have to be borderline sociopaths, and the focus shifts from the character to what the character does. One exception to this would be if the character's motives were interesting or empathetic, but Ainz's motives are boring as shit and he's more or less just going by what his minions tell him, so sadly he doesn't make the list. Ainz has never been interesting as a character, and the focus has always been on the spectacle of what he does with his power, rather than him as a character. Basically, he's barely a character, and the power he wields is more of a character than Ainz himself. If a main protagonist is solely defined by their power, then the writing has already irredeemably failed.
The another issue with this is how this different perspective affects the antagonists of the series, who would naturally be heroes, and rarely other villains that belong to other factions nobody cares about. When the focus is mainly on the villainous protagonist, it becomes difficult to portray the would-be heroic antagonists as anything but generic "good" guys. Normally this wouldn't be too much of an issue by itself, but yet another major problem makes this a significant issue: Lack of an actual antagonist. Throughout all three seasons, there hasn't been a single character that was a credible threat to Ainz that also had consistent screentime to get proper development past their character page description. Not only does this make every encounter completely predictable, but it also kills any anticipation for what could happen next because the outcome is always preordained. And when there isn't an antagonist that fits this criteria, then every heroic antagonist ends up being just carbon copies of another with no distinguishable feature of their own beyond surface-level general characterization and motive. And if they're not going to be dynamic characters, it makes them harder to empathize with, which in turn, doesn't make them seem interesting to be distinguishable from every other character. They're essentially cardboards that just say some cliche'd throwaway lines that a typical protagonist would say, and that's all there is to them.
Basically, villains generally don't need much screentime to begin with, because most of the time, their villainy is portrayed just through their villainous actions. Meanwhile, heroic characters need them, because heroism is a trait that requires empathy. Instead, Maruyama decided that it was a smarter idea to make more irrelevant fodders for Ainz to defeat and conquer, and devote way too much time into their vague, generic characterization that will stop mattering after their inevitable loss. If the writing is good, empathy for the characters should ideally come naturally through storytelling that actually adds to the plot, rather than attempting to force it through Overlord's patented method of wasting your goddamn time telling you about how Tom loves his kids and how he's the family man.
When that isn't happening, it's devoted for long inner monologues about the antagonists to think about how strong Ainz and his minions must be, which Ainz and his minions do for themselves already, which just makes it incredibly repetitive and pointless. It's just shit writing at its finest. And the lack of credible, persisting threat makes every arc feel like a filler arc that serves very little to no purpose to whatever the overarching story is, which is why all three seasons of this series are nearly indistinguishable from each other. The common defense for this is "But Ainz is the threat!" but that completely misses the point. The heroes should ideally be a constant threat to the villains as much as the villains are a constant threat to the heroes. One sided victories are boring as shit when villains are the ones doing it just like how it's boring when shounen protagonists always win in the end.
It should be noted that neither an overpowered protagonist nor a story told from a villainous perspective is inherently bad. It's the combination of the two being handled incompetently at the same time that puts the writing of this series into absolute trash territory. Sadly, Maruyama is a terrible writer, and Overlord as a series is like watching a grown man playing with his action figures alone in his room while indulging himself in the same old dance that he's done a million times with his self-insert Skeleton Stu that never loses, which really does reflect in Ainz as a character. Maybe this is some galaxy brain tier 4th wall poetry and all Maruyama wants is for his friends to play DnD with him again.
But just because the writing is complete garbage doesn't mean it doesn't have any merit- One of the most common misconceptions is that something bad can't be enjoyable, which is why a lot of people will really reach to defend the poor writing if they enjoyed the series. Most common method is to cite the original source and pretend it's better than the adaptation when it's pretty much just as bad. I mean, if they enjoyed it, clearly it must have been good! Somehow! You just didn't GET it. But that's just childish narcissism, and a lot of people fail to understand or just refuse to admit that trashy writing can still be fun. While Overlord may be just as poorly written as Sword Art Online, what it has over SAO is that the spectacle is sometimes genuinely fun to watch when the focus of the series isn't on the side characters, albeit repetitive and poorly animated. And that's basically what the appeal of power fantasy is- Watching smug protagonists stay smug while watching smug antagonists getting blown up.
NoizyFrog
Overlords 3rd season continues the overrated story of anime’s most beloved skeleton without facial animations. VERDICT: 3 – Bad. STORY: Slow, boring and confusing. 3rd season starts with a filler episode and proceeds with mediocrity and boredom from then on. The drive behind every action in this show is not apparent to the viewer, so that in the end I was questioning the events happening on screen. Why was Ainz destroying Carne Village again? Next topic is the pacing. Boi does this season move S L O W. In addition, it is void of any substance, significant characterization or development. Noteworthy action – also nonexistent. CHARACTERS: Huh? Weget to see more reoccurring characters in this season, Overlord himself being one of them, since his presence in the 2nd season was minimal. Maybe it was this long absence from the viewer, but Mr Momonga turned into a sadistic psycopath. It was hinted, that due to his undead nature Ainz loses affection towards humans, however presented changes are sudden and harsh, some in between stages would make this development plausible. Oh, and he got another name tagged on to his greatness. What a conceptional disaster.
The second most important character is the blond girl from the 1st season, whatever her name was. Well, she develops some useful skills, reasoning behind this development is yet unknown.
Everyone else is just there as a requisite.
ART & ANIMATION: Wouldn’t look good 15 years ago.
Character models are inconsistent and backgrounds thrive in mediocrity. Animation did not strain the budget either. Just like horrific CGI. Mass produced soldiers, goblins, skeletons or ogres look unbelievably bad, nothing you would expect in 2018: especially those abominations in episode 12.
SOUND: They gave up.
It feels like everyone on this project, be it voice actors or music composers, have enough of this IP. Music is more of the same, sound design got worse or even laughable. Voice act is boring. I was missing new impusles or joy from involved stuff. Then episode 12 happened and I wanted to stab my ears – well done.
One day before the final episode aired, I got a chance to see “Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken”. The amount of emotions or joy blue slime blob shows in 15 minutes surpasses 3 seasons of Overlord. If you are looking for “Isekai” anime with an overpowered non-human protagonist and noticeably better production quality, I suggest the story of the slime.
valtiel01
Based on the reviews, you will either love or hate this show. I already gave a couple of chances with the show, but I failed to like any single detail about it. If I could describe this show, it would be like this: a knight plans a great adventure, yet he moves around insignificant villages to bully peasants with very slow pace. Peasants from other villages don't care about his power, so few of them gather and attack him no matter that he's got thick armor and a powerful sword. He beats them and other peasants. That's what Overlord is about, if you like anoverpowered protagonist who flexes to everyone around after a long drama, you may like this show.
So, the story is poor as usual. It's so prolonged that it's painful to watch, a simple event lasts episodes, full of insignificant events, characters and other stuff. The same formula from previous seasons, lots of long moments where everyone adores Ainz, the moments where something happens and Ainz goes there, long drama starts, new characters are introduced, a drama before action, Ainz snaps his finger and enemies are dead, the end. It's also little odd that Ainz spent time on adventures to spread his name and power, yet some kingdom hasn't heard of him and, of course, played ignorant role - "hey, let's destroy this nobody!", like every other enemy of Ainz in previous seasons. Also... All the events are done to show his power, no matter that they are recycled over and over, ignoring the logic and some characters lose their brain for a while to do something stupid which would just keep the image of Ainz being the most powerful being in the world.
After giving rights on One Punch Man to focus on Overlord, I was stunned that Madhouse came up with this, a studio which has made some great shows and movies. The art is mediocre at its best, but CGI is horrendous. The sound is so-so, nothing special.
Characters are flat like in previous seasons. The continuous problem with the show is that way too many characters are introduced, only simple premises are shown (whether they do stuff for money, fame or duty) and they don't last long at all, after some generic chit-chat they enter combat and die. The harem continues to adore Ainz all the time and make pathetic threats to humans who are trying to fight Ainz. Ainz doesn't seem much like a generic harem wimpy protagonist, but that's mostly because the focus is more on things outside Nazarick. We don't learn anything new about Ainz and the harem, all the new characters are on the spot and get thrown away after they made their purpose to make Ainz look powerful.
Enjoyment? The show could have been fit in one episode. It's way too long, the conversations are dull and boring, the "action" is done in an instant. I don't even know what this show is supposed to be - a shounen, a harem, a comedy, a dark themed show, a fantasy world, a drama? The harem characters are shows as cute and innocent at one moment, the next moment they are horny and want to please Ainz, later they try to look scary and threaten some people. You cannot mix so many things without a bad outcome, I don't know whether LN is like that, even if it is, anime creators should have picked two themes, for example dark fantasy, that could work. Not so many elements to make everything last long and pathetic attempts of comedy or dark moments which confused me that I wondered what was I watching.
If you want to watch or read something with fantasy theme, check out Warhammer, LOTR or Dungeons and Dragons, unless you want a pathetic story about an overpowered protagonist who beats nobodies to prove himself that he's the most powerful being in the world.
BloodRequiem
Cheap isekai anime has ravaged the industry for a number of years now. Without a working vaccine, the disease continues to kill the brain cells of viewers everywhere. The Sasuga Skeletor Sama Series is just another symptom of this plague. The story has been done thousands of times. It's the generic MC self insert type of story. I can literally predict the outcome of every episode after about two minutes since nothing will ever stump Skeletor Sama. He will always achieve victory no matter what. He would conquer the world in 7 days but apparently the author thinks resisting the urge of dicking around inhis harem should be the main obstacle Skeletor Sama needs to overcome throughout the series. After three seasons I still have no idea where this show is going. Then the realization dawned on me. The point of the show is not to actually tell a good story, but for the author to mentally masturbate onto a piece of paper so the target audience will lap up the discharge like a bunch of coco addicts trying to snort a bag of baking soda.
Skeletor Sama is the character equivalent of play-doh. He will change and do whatever seems the edgiest and coolest in the moment. Side characters are irrelevant since the series is focusing on Skeletor Sama himself. They will either circlejerk how they want to bone him or get killed and have only one or two episodes of screen time.
One thing I think studio Madhouse did brilliantly is saving a ton of money not animating Skeletor Sama. If not for the sound and subtitles changing on the bottom of the screen I would have thought that my internet went out whenever Skeletor Sama is on screen. I was wondering why this show looks Master of Ragnarok tier despite it being popular and lucrative enough to have three seasons until I realized that both shows takes place in Yggdrasil where things look cheap and lacking in pixels.
I totally get it. We all occasionally want to just turn off our brain and watch a show like this when we are bored. Sometimes we do have no other choice but to pull over at that really dirty KFC on the side of the road at 3 in the morning. But why would I do that when Popeyes and Church's are just next door, are cheaper, and doesn't taste like diarrhea? There are 40-50 shows airing every single season and are you seriously telling me that you cannot find a single other show on that list that will be a better time spent than watching this?
In conclusion I would just like to say thank mr skeltal for the good bones and calcium to heal my head after slamming it on my desk thinking about the possibility of this getting a fourth season.
dadnaya
How to Overlord in 4 steps: 1) Introduce random characters 2) Give them a little backstory and make them take a lot of screen time 3) Kill them "for the benefit of Nazarick" or enslave them "for the benefit of Nazarick" 4) RepeatWe've already seen this format since S2. Do you remember the lizardmen? The giant Hamster? Tuare? Maybe, probably not though. Not even their names.
They took up so much screen time and then become unimportant, it's not interesting anymore.
Unfortunately, S3 follows the same path, and only a handful of episodes are actually progressing the story, while 80% of the anime is "fillers"
I've been told many times that it's for "World Building" but one does not come at the cost of another. See One Piece, and Made in Abyss to some extent. Both have worldbuilding that comes along with an actual story.
We still don't know anything about the "other players" that might've been Isekai'd as well, and Ainz is the same geek who plays like a lord. And ofc everyone wants his D.
There are no more cool adventures of Adventurer Momonga like in S1, it's just "Let's slaughter people because it 'Benefits Nazarick'" now.
Combine it with horrible CGI and here you go, a recipe for disaster.
One more thing, imagine the titans in AoT. They're scary, right?
Now make them in horrible CGI. Not so scary, are they?
And now for the cherry on top, make the exact same goat voice line play every few seconds. Yes, a GOAT voice line.
Wat
At least OP and ED were good.
Therazeflip
That's incredible and original anime. Significantly different from others in the same genre. Firstly, there is no harem as such, although at first glance it may seem that there is one. Secondly,Unlike the ordinary anime, The main character is imperturbable, self confident, calm and he makes quite rational decisions, there are no emotions inside him. Main hero is rather cruel, what is extremely unusual for protagonist heroes in anime. But even in spite of this, The Main hero have some humanity and steadfastness. Thirdly, in this anime there is an impressive logical and fascinating plot, that does not force you to give up watching, as there are noepisodes that would not affect the main development of events. (Although half the episodes of the 2nd season were not very interesting)
Fourthly, the nature and the abundance of characters, the creation of conditions are helping complete immersion into the world of this anime. Such things as : the map of the world, the state, the hierarchy of society, the relationship of states and social classes, the hierarchy of magic, relationships and other things greatly done.
Fifth, the absence of a huge amount of garbage fan-service (I think there's no need to explain)
Sixth, again I repeat about the plot: it has a very unexpected outcome.
Well, in general, the list of merits can be continued, but those that I have already described have particularly hooked me.
We turn to the disadvantages:
1. The presence of the series, which take a large amount of time, but do not have a significant impact on the main plot (especially important in the second season). 2. There are some not very interesting series, that are quite boring to watch (but there are few of them).
3. The intentional protractedness of some moments in the series.
4. Presence of predictability of some events.
Well that's all. I hope my review will help you. I really recommend watching this anime, as well as for an avid otaku (who has not watched it), as well as for new anime artists, quite INCREDIBLE and ORIGINAL anime.
Kerzic
If you enjoy watching an overpowered psychopathic protagonist, who often comments that he feels nothing for the humans he casually and cruelly slaughters, this is the anime for you. His underlings who are programmed to fawn over him are even more sadistic and evil and really pretty patchetic because of it. No, they didn't actually show the 100,000 civilians his underlings slaughtered to fool people into thinking he's a hero nor do you get to see what are likely the humans that an underling strongly hints he's farming for parchment for scrolls (they get mentioned in passing because the author and anime producers are too cowardlyto actually show that because it might make too many viewers unable to ignore how much of a loathsome villain the titular character is) but you do get to see him and and underling toying with and cruelly killing a group of decent adventurers because, well, he's a cruel murderous psychopath who was the last person on a game server as it shut down because he was probably too much of a scumbag in real life to have real life friends.
I can understand a story doing cruel things to nice people if it serves a point in the story or is done by villains (see Goblin Slayer), but much of it is done in this anime by the protagonist and his minions and it doesn't produce any empathy or character growth because, well, the protagonist and his minions are psychopaths and psychopaths are incapable of feeling real empathy or compassion (there is one exception, that gave me some hope, but it wasn't allowed to override the programmed loyalty and produce any actual rebellion against the titular character).
I watched it through to the end, hoping there might be some redeeming character development or growth, developing empathy, or maybe the defeat of the evil titular character by the few decent side characters that are left helpless against him to make the time I put into watching this mess worth it, but that never happened and the end was total garbage.
Why I rated even the individual elements a 1:
Story: A few of the side characters are interesting but they have zero impact on the overall story and there is no character growth from the titular character. It's pretty much a straight-up psychopath power fantasy where the main character always thinks they're right and never has to face mistakes.
Art: There are many scenes where obvious and cheesy computer graphics are used. Cost cutting was pretty obvious.
Sound: The soundtrack is used to try to make it feel like the protagonist is some sort of hero. It couldn't make me ignore what he really was.
Character: The main character is a psychopath who shows no character growth. His minions are fawning NPC bots, most of which have personalities that can be summed up with one or two words because there is no character depth to them. There are some interesting NPCs but you get to watch many of them get cruelly murdered without any empathy from the protagonist (and some by the protagonist), lose all personality to go along with the protagonist, or they're helpless to do anything to or about him. And many of the other people are also evil garbage. There is no reward in caring about any of them.
Enjoyment: I wish I hadn't watched it. Really.
Tmiller7
With this season of Overlord you truly got to experience how much of a badass Ainz truly is. I think this definitely is the best season overall. Story: With anyone who knows anything about Overlord, you know that the story doesn't mainly focus around Ainz but other characters as well. But I just want to talk about Ainz. Basically this season, he finds out that he wants world domination and focuses on how he can accomplish this. But he also has to worry about intruders, keeping a village safe and who he should alliance with. This season I think hasmore Ainz than any other season!
Art: Art for this anime is always good. CGI though could have been a little better but I'm not too much of a stickler on that shit.
Sound: The opening theme and ending theme to this anime is always so catchy. Especially this season. I never had to skip like i usually do with most shows I'm watching. All the voices of the characters sounded good as well.
Character: Like i said before, Ainz is a badass. You really get to see how powerful he is and how actually evil he is to his enemies. The floor guardians were fun to watch as always as well. If anything I wish there was more yandere Albedo moments.
Enjoyment, Overall: Overall i really enjoyed this season. It felt like it went by so fast. I wish they would make more episodes for a season but that just shows how much I like this anime. Cant wait for season 4 if it does come!!
Nevereal
Just a few words about my disappointement. Minor spoilers ahead. The show's main character Ainz Ooal Gown degrades from a dark but somewhat respectable person (that saves Gazef, gives Enri an artifact to protect her village and avenges his teammates by killing Clementine) to an immoral psychotic madman that brutally slays, tortures and sends to a horrifull experiments hundreds of thousands of people. During those henocides, he hardly shows any signs of remorse, while his subordinates laugh and joke about what is happening. Not only this is abominable — this is also pathetic, knowing that behind the image of almighty "Ainz-sama" hides nothing more than a tremblingnerd that achieved nothing in his own world — a being lower than any of the people he slain trying to become the "Overlord".
This action, around which revolves the main storyline, is plain appalling. And hence, the whole anime deserves nothing else.
Last time I checked, I wanted to relax by watching a bit silly, but nonetheless entertaining fantasy series; not an anime version of "Black Sun 731".
But well, I guess some of japanese people just still have it in them.
ploopploop
So many tens? But it contained so many "fillers"! Well allow me to explain to you why I felt the urge to write a review for this as well as my reasoning behind the given score. A lot people watching this or people that have completed season 3 will share a similar thought "so many fillers!", but first what actually is a filler? A filler is an episode that can be considered a spin-off where the episode/arc has literally no connection or impact on the actual story/plot. For example an episode dedicated to a beach event for a fan service, where the characters after theepisode have no memories about the events that occurred nor will they ever mention it. The MC not having (much) screen time doesn't mean that the story is on halt. The story develops and the others getting screen time is extremely important for the climax.
This season has not a single filler episode, neither did the previous seasons. We have to realize that Ainz his main objective is to figure out if other human beings like him were trapped in the slightly modified version of Yggdrasil. In order to achieve this goal he has established a small building and plans to make his name known throughout the world so that other players might be able to encounter him or to figure out that they aren't alone. And together they might figure out a solution to them being trapped in a game.
Recaps aside. If you haven't watched the previous seasons then this review might be confusing. If you are into anime that are about MC being trapped in a game and absolutely dominating the game with strategic moves while not flexing then you are in for an amazing ride. This show is fairly unique. I do recommend to watch it, season 1 has great reviews. This review focuses on the audience that is already familiar with Overlord.
This season continued where season 2 left off; establishing a small village/city not only to spread his name (which his followers inclined on), but also to do research for the greater good.
Story:
In this season Ainz will even increase the size of his territory more, significantly more. After all his goal has become world domination. Having his name spread through good or evil doesn't matter, as long as it reaches other players and not npc's. That's why we have seen 2 faces from him, the Sorcerer King and Momon of the Darkness. One being the evil lord, showing no mercy to puny beings, obliberating them as he pleases. And the other being the kind adamantite warrior that tries to see the good in everything while helping fellow adventurers.
Both of these are very important in spreading his name, one will be known as an evil person and the other as a good person. At the final episode it will also be shown why Momon's presence is of essence. Even though... we can't actually say that he had planned this from the start. Because after all we know that Demiurge is an extremely clever strategist and planner.
This season shows the potential of Ainz his power as both the "hero" and the "evil" person. It also finally shows how powerful he actually is... well at least it shows what he can do with a single spell, let alone when he tried. And this is something that many fans wished to see animated.
The story progresses further in how those around Ainz help him realize his goal and partly focusses on the small village that once was protected by Ainz.
Art:
As usual the art is very pleasing. It really suits the given theme and setting. The environments are beautiful and the gore where needed is very pleasing. When something gets intense the art shows the details of the scene, making me a very happy person.
Sound:
The sound effects are superb. In combination with the art they really do know how to keep you excited throughout the whole episode, not to mention season. They even paid attention to small details such as ambient sounds and sfx of enemies when the camera was focused at a place where there was no combat, but hearing it in the background made it fairly realistic for that matter.
Character:
The character development is very neat. We learn more and see a lot more about the villagers and their capabilities as well as trust and love towards each other. All these developments aren't fillers because they are necessary for the story. Each and every single character serves an important role in the universe of Overlord. One is a genius when it comes to herbs and potions, the other in terms of magic is extremely advanced, while others are used to simply show how mighty and powerful Ainz is compared to those npc's. Plenty of them had interesting background stories making me love more characters in this show than I anticipated I would.
Enjoyment:
I don't think I need to explain this with the previous points, but I absolutely loved it. Especially when Ainz made himself more known in terms of power. There were moments that I felt sad, but that adds up in the enjoyment factor, because sadness is an emotion, while not positive it was caused in a good way by a show. And that makes it more thrilling, because you can live with the characters and imagine how easy/hard things might just be for them. This makes the show immersive and that is something that not many shows nail.
I do hope this review might've changed your opinion about season 3 of Overlord and perhaps might be just the reason to start with the series.
KoishiHat
(Contains minor spoilers for seasons 1 and 2 but not 3) The Overlord anime presents a protagonist with dubious objectives, confusing character, and half-baked sociopathy. Characters who have no concern for ethics in their quests for a clear objective can be very enjoyable to watch when written well, as exemplified by works like Death Note. The Overlord protagonist, in contrast, lacks both a clear objective and the resolve commonly possessed by such characters to achieve said objective. After being transported to a different world, Ainz's main goal shifts randomly between "being someone fit for his position", "spread his name so former friends can easily find him",and "protect the legacy of him and his friends". However, he does not demonstrate a strong interest in any of these goals, not to mention that none of these hold any weight or significance from the audience's perspective. The main quest he and his servants embark on, "conquering the world", originates from a literal joke and the protagonist himself doesn't even realize this goal until 3 seasons in. In other words, he spent two seasons just doing random stuff and he doesn't even know what he is doing. This would've been fine if this is a slice-of-life-ish anime, where we just watch characters relax, be funny, and be themselves. However, Ainz in his story consistently ends up killing people, and I mean a lot of people, all while demonstrating a clear but also inconsistent lack of empathy towards living beings. At the very beginning of the first season he saved a village being attacked out of what we can only assume to be empathy (he admitted that he didn't have any grand plans at the time). However, he later goes on to wage an entirely pointless war against a bunch of lizardman villages resulting in large number of casualties. Okay maybe he does not see lizardman as humans...? Apparently not because he later goes on in Season 3 to kill literally 100,000+ people for no reason at all. Why?? A sociopath who kills for an understandable reason is a likeable villain, even someone who kills for fun has at least something interesting, notable, and consistent about their character. The Overlord protagonist is a villain for no apparent reason. He's a villain just for the sake of author wanting him to be a villain. His character is such a train wreck that you would wonder how did the author/adaptation team screw this up so bad. He doesn't like killing people but then kills people regardless; he saves a village out of empathy but then casually murders 100,000+ people for no reason. He does not have a reason in his killings. Not for some greater objective stemming from his chracter or even just plain sadistic tendencies. His villainy is the product of some random thought of "what if I conquer the world". He doesn't treat killing as a sacrifice to a greater goal, a necessary evil, or anything of significance really. Most of the times his plans result in massive deaths he treats it as "they had the resolve to die" and try to pretend he's less a twisted mess that he is. Furthermore, none of his plans stand up to 3 seconds of thought. His entire character is "muh friends" to the point of flanderization, like that's his single motivation and defining characteristic. What makes this worse is that the author is apparently capable of writing consistent and likeable characters with their own motivations, when it comes to the side characters that is. However, half the likeable side characters only get the fate of being either killed or horribly mistreated by the terribly written main cast. A confused and unlikeable main character is bad enough, seeing them tower over actual likeable characters only makes this more painful to watch. Ainz is a pathetic pushover that treats everything as childish play of being a villain. He has absolutely no understanding of the consequences of his actions, and doesn't even hit the passing mark for a villain. Why does this exist? Does the author want to experiment with fiction where the main character is extremely flat and hateable with zero redeeming qualities? Does the author enjoy writing well-written characters and killing them randomly for no reason? Does the author want to appeal to edgy teenagers?(Probably this one) Overlord is a confusing mess acted out by confused characters with confusing motivations, resulting from the author's inability to write coherent villains and also his decision to write a villain anyways. This is the only anime that I regretted watching. Not recommended to anyone except people who are like "haha overpowered main character does genocide and killing that's very realistic cool and mature"
AmericanSomnium
This season was pretty hard to stand out in with shows like Attack on Titan or Steins;Gate making comebacks. However, for me, it managed to make an impression enough for me to begin buying the LN's. Starting off, the biggest issue of the season is the poor CGI. That's all I really want to say about it, because it's had this for three seasons. If you are still complaining about how you'll drop the show due to it after watching almost 40 episodes of it, then you really don't have much conviction. This is why I'm also not putting art at an 8 or 9, asI believe most of the character designs are distinct and interesting otherwise. Granted, they come from a light novel with established designs. The biggest problem with this CGI is it can take you out of otherwise enthralling scenes.
Moving past that, the series really shines with two things: Ainz interacting with his subordinates, and Ainz interacting with lesser life forms (read humans). The more Ainz interacts with the NPC's, the more you understand what drives him and what originally drove the guild he and his friends made. What you're supposed to understand is that conversations with these NPC's are, by extension, conversations with his old friends. This is part of the reason I've put character so high. While interacting with humans however, you'll see him full of disdain unless they go to great heights to prove themselves to him. Some theorize this is just because he didn't like humans back in the real world, however the show plays it off as his stats as a Lich making him unable to feel empathy for them. Overall, some interesting conversations and dynamics are shown whenever Ainz talks to someone or explains his plans (Sasuga, Ainz sama).
Sound was phenomenal, almost exclusively for one of the sickest OP's I've seen in a couple years. Easily that has to be in my top 5. But the sounds for battles, fights, and for most voice actors all came off the way they are intended. There's not much else to point out regarding this.
Finally, the story progression is slow but usually pays off in 2 or 3 arcs coming to a conclusion. I won't really go into spoilers, but Carne Village is a major focus this season, as well as the kingdom of E-Rantel as a whole. Finally, we're seeing Ainz interact with and act out towards the surrounding kingdoms, which has really taken the last two seasons to build up to.
At the end of it all, I think Overlord III brought a great show to bat. It really was the highlight of my summer season past Steins;Gate and and ecchi I watched. If you've seen the other two seasons it's really worth your time, and here's hoping for a season 4.
Tobestik
This show is fucking amazing. The characters are believable, the soundtrack is good and the world is super detailed. Another great thing is the main character. The main character is not afraid to commit evils for the greater good unlike the majority of isekai protagonists. The world building is also amazing. However, one problem people may have with overlord is the overwhelming amount of side characters. I think these people are watching the wrong anime, Overlord is not a typical shounen. It feels so satisfying to see a character that has been built up over the course of a few episodes get slaughtered by Ainz.There wouldn't be any impact if they were name less mooks.
GrayRealm
This is a very troubled, very flawed anime with many many many problems. It is also extremely frustrating to watch. *sighs* The main issue is that it is In DIRE need of a better director. The pacing is shot, and too many times the anime starts building up for something important, then the important scene suddenly happens offscreen, is botched in some crazy way, or fail to deliver. Every time you think... but it'll get better! Just soon! Just around the corner! The one awesome episode is nearly there! And then it ends, and you realize that you watched 13 episodes of teasing and cliffhangers thatresulted in nothing.
Another issue is that it utilizes really badly done CG visuals. There are titles that know how to use CG well (for example, Sidonia no Kishi, Ajin 1st season, Seikai Suru Kado)... but this is not one of them. CG monsters look like cel-shaded video game characters, and are not impressive. And there are a lot of CG monsters. I also suspect that they blew half their animation budget on certain creature, judging how horrible certain soldiers looked in comparison.
The most irritating thing is that through all that mess you see glimpses of genius now and then, but the glimpses never blossom into anything bigger.
I suppose at this point I should jsut read the damn sourrce material in japanese. It looks like the writer was onto something, it is just anime isn't good in comparison.
Detailed breakdown below:
Story: 3/10
Good things about it is that we have villain protagonists, malevolent protagonist, monster protagonists... this is a breath of fresh air. Sometimes it results in pointlessly brutal sequences that don't see to have any real reason to be there, and characters being intorduced only to be killed off by protagonsits (in a horrible way), but.... it is possible to live with that.
The bad part of the whole thing is horrible slow pacing, and too much teasing, playing bait and switch and displaying important events offscreen. Remember how in 2nd season certain grand battle with sebastian happened offscreen? Same happens here too. Basically, the anime tries to build up, then slow things down, stretch story arc out, and when you think it is about to deliver something amazing, it fails to deliver.
Compared to 1st and 2nd season there is significantly small number of "awesome!!" moments, to the point where I'm not sure if it was worth watching at all.
As I said, it badly needs better director. There's something good in the source material, just the anime should've been better.
Art: 4/10
A lot more CG in this season, and CG is quite bad. I mean, it wasn't great in 2nd season either, but there wasn't a whole lot of it, but now it is in every frame to the point of being eyesore.
CG Animation is bad, with awkward movement, and certain models look extremely cheap. They definitely haven't gotten hang of this tech in this season.
Certain special effects look like they were lifted straight from the nineties, to be honest. They definitely should take a look at Ajin (1st season), Sidonia no Kishi, and nother CG anime. To see how the technology can be used in better way. Hell, just Guilty Gear Xrd Sign would teach them a lot.
Sound 5/10: Nothing outstanding, although on occasion some themes are real nice. The anime doesn't let those tunes play for long, though.
Characters: 5/10:
I spent most of the time being irritated by poor directing, so I don't remember much about them. Which means they're not very memorable.
Enjoyment: 3/10:
Constant bait and switch with teasing cliffhangers, promises of amazing events around the corner, which fail to materialize. All. The. Time. This results in extreme irritation.
Overall: 3/10;
I didn't like it at all. The anime did spark my interest in source material, but it is too poorly done to recommend it. Might be worth a watch if you're bored out of your mind or something.
MirrorBlanc
Ok, this anime is truly dreadful. Its truly impressive how they managed to execute such an interesting idea so poorly. I will leave the story to the end since it might contain spoilers. First of all, the art is lazy at best. Its generally very low quality, and also very low budget for a show that is in its third season. Scenes that show several monsters/characters literally copy paste the exact character multiple times to create a group. Not even a shadow on the face or any part of the clothing is different. The world feels like rough work at best. The sound isfine, the op and en songs are good imo, but during the show itself sometimes it feels like the mood and the sound accompanying it do not mesh together well. For the first time ever, I actually burst out laughing at one scene because the sound did not match the action and mood at all.
FROM HERE ON OUT, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS
The characters are generally bad. Not a single character from the tomb of Nazarick has motivation, none of them have any real, significant purpose. The main character himself is one of the if not the worst main character Ive seen in a while. It's like he's going with the flow, just like us watching the show. Demiurge says go to war? well lets go to war. Sebas says give Tuare work? well lets give Tuare work. Most of his actions are pointless with no greater goal. What was the point of becoming an adventurer.. Money? They killed 100,000 humans and looted their houses so whats the point.. Knowledge? Then what was the point of sending sebas and solution to collect information.. why did he invite workers to the tomb of Nazarick and pointlessly kill them? To test his security is a really poor excuse. He literally saw the strongest warrior in the land (gazef stronoff) and it should have been obvious no one can get into the tomb of nazarick if Ainz didnt want to. His actions are generally either meaningless or pointless.
Finally the story. The story in seasons 1 and 2 were generally bad, but my god did they exceed expectations for this season. It truly was pathetic. Since the characters are so bad, I hoped at least the story would guide them in a direction that would make the show interesting. It didn't. We still dont really know anything about the world. We know there are a few kingdoms and that they are opposing each other. We dont know why they are opposing each other, we dont know what will happen, we dont know the conditions of each kingdom. We dont even know the reason they oppose each other. Three fourth of the show is a pointless backstory of a little girl in a party that goes to the tomb of nazarick and then gets killled , as well as the life at carne village that pretty much has no effect or contribution to the story at all. It literally felt like an 8 or 9 episode filler in a 13 episode anime.. Finally when something interesting happened and they wanted to make a country, they did it in the most ridiculous way possible. The king of another kingdom that Ainz scared out of his wits tell him to make his own country, so Ainz thinks thats a good idea and proceeds to slaughter 70,000 soldiers as well as one of the few interesting characters in gazel stronoff, all for the sake of one city. There are so many ways this could have been executed better. What even is the point of making your own country if literally in the first episode Ainz says lets put the goal of finding other people from Yggdrasil on the back burner for now.
This show feels like it has no point and that it is not going anywhere. I cannot think of a single positive this show has. If anyone asks me what is the most memorable thing about overlord for you from any season, my first choice would be the opening song of season one and my second choice would be the opening song of season 3. I genuinely don't have any other memorable/impressionable moments. If the opening songs are the only memorable parts of a show, it goes to show how bad it really is.
