Jul23

First Impression – Overlord

By , posted under ANIME, First Look, Overlord

Overlord 02

Whose Momonga is it, anyway?

I’ve actually been withholding this post for a while because there just wasn’t enough to talk about.

 

 

Skeletal Overlord

Overlord 0201

I am boss.

The first thing you have to know about Overlord is that it is slooooooooooooooowwwwwww… The show goes at its own comfortable pace, taking a full two episodes just to give us a cursory introduction to Momonga and his minions. I suppose the slow pace is fitting with Momonga’s character, as he is made out to be a careful and methodical person. Instead of freaking out at being transported into a game world with no apparent fellow players in sight (though the astute viewer may realize that the defeated heroes in the cold open of the premiere are the players who had previously tormented Momonga when Yggdrasil was just a game), he calmly assesses the situation and makes informed decisions based on his observations. A rather welcome change from the typical hot-headed hero. The show also makes a point to reveal that this may not be Momonga’s real world personality, as the hero finds his unemotional responses to certain situations surprising. This adds a layer of extra complexity onto his character, as we are left wondering just how much of the “real” Momonga lies underneath his new skeletal visage. Kudos to the show on this detail.

Minions

Overlord 0101

Their children will be beautiful.

As far as the minions go, Albedo is clearly the one who stands out the most. As the overseer of all the other minions, she is Momonga’s second in command. And her obsession with her master (resulting from some careless meddling of her character on his part) borders on disturbing. The third episode reveals that she views humans as inferior beings and doesn’t hesitate to raise her weapon against them. This hints that perhaps inhuman beings harbor some innate scorn for humans, which might explain the changes in Momonga’s personality after being brought into the game world. Likewise, it seems that humans have a fear or distrust of inhuman beings such as Momonga’s new skeletal form. This status quo does not bode well for our hero’s attempts to gather information about the game world, as I can see the village turning against him if and when his true appearance is revealed. Should such a thing occur, there would no doubt be a bloodbath as Albedo is likely to go berserk if any “lowly” humans dare to raise a hand against her master. And once word spreads to the rest of the minions, their prejudice against humans might stir them into violent action.

Overlord 0102

Loyal servants.

As far as the other minions go, all of them share an absolute reverence for Momonga as their ultimate creator and one of the so-called “41 supreme beings” (the members of Momonga’s guild when Yggdrasil was just a game). Knowing this, I don’t foresee any sort of internal struggle within the Great Tomb of Nazerick, reinforcing the notion that any future major conflict can only take place between the inhuman NPCs and the human NPCs. Perhaps the final destination of the show, then, is to have such a conflict break out, with Momonga caught in the middle as he struggles to regain his lost humanity. But that’s probably reading way too much into things at this point. It’s admittedly equally likely that our hero just wins over the game world, one village at a time, without much violent incident beyond the occasional slaughtering of unsavory brigands. So we will just have to wait and see how things play out.

Extra Albedo

Show ▼

As mentioned, Overlord takes an extremely relaxed pace when compared to most other shows of similar nature. It will prove difficult to attempt weekly coverage of the show if such a pace continues, so don’t be surprised if my coverage of the show remains intermittent. However, seeing as episode three suggests that things might start picking up, I might be able to cover the show more regularly moving ahead.

Overlord 0301

A gesture of kindness.

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25 Responses to “First Impression – Overlord”

  1. Di Gi Kazune says:
    July 24, 2015 at 12:56 am
    POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments

    FINAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLYYYY.

    Now, Mare is the best girl. >_> Dibs on the twin LOLis already. BB can fight for Shalltear.

    Two things I’m going to say and let the rest of you all spam comments:
    1) It’s faithful to the LN and it does indeed go slowly at its own pace.

    2) Do NOT get attached to any of the the characters. I mean it. Show ▼

    Safe to say the least, the Nazarick characters are sorta safe… sorta.

    *DO NOT CLICK if you don’t want to be ruined for marriage spoilers*
    Show ▼

    Okay, I lied, #3 – Remember their alignments. Various states of Evil. Ainz reminds me of a person I know of… Me. >:D

    #4 (I lied again, see what I told you about alignments…) All of them view hunams as inferior. Bugs. To. Be. Crushed. Well, most of them. Also, I shall use Shana references interchangably. Like how Sakai Yuuji is enjoying himself in this world with his trusted lieutenant Sydonnay. And Tiamat appears later.

    #5. Mwhahahaha? 😛 I want a Mare-Teddy. Remember, good *younger siblings* should always obey their onee-chan.

    As a preemptive strike, I find this series is interesting as it bring out the saying: “Who really is the monster here…”

    Reply
  2. Di Gi Kazune says:
    July 24, 2015 at 7:56 am
    POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments

    Oh yeah, forgot:

    FKYA! Pleiades Maids! 😀

    Reply
  3. zztop says:
    July 24, 2015 at 12:13 pm
    POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments

    (Momonga and Albedo’s) children will be beautiful.

    I have no idea how Albedo and the followers intend to make Momonga produce an heir, since he’s now missing the most important bone(r) of all. (>_> “)

    Perhaps they should ask him to grow some extra flesh first,hmmm? (￣ﾍ￣ )

    Reply
  4. skylion says:
    July 24, 2015 at 2:05 pm
    POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments

    While the show had some interest in a unique “reading you all the cool stuff off my character sheet…oh excuse me while I update the patch for Albedo hotness and subservience cause that won’t bite me in the bony ass later on cause damn, I sure don’t need a character foil at any given point to make it a touch more interesting at some point, but that’s OK cause I got a cute trap as minion and his reverse trap sister cause that can only be topped by a moe bug that wants to be an uncle” narrative gimmick…it did get long in the tooth.

    It’s gotten better once he got out of his castle, but like you say, you could not really give an elevator pitch on what the story is about…

    Reply
    • Di Gi Kazune says:
      July 25, 2015 at 10:37 pm
      POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments

      Did you like your Mare loaner? :3

      All the characters have quirks programmed by their creators. And since the creators are humans… The Guardians are extensions of their creators and indirectly shows the creators’ personalities.

      Reply
  5. zztop says:
    July 24, 2015 at 5:23 pm
    POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments

    The first thing you have to know about Overlord is that it is slooooooooooooooowwwwwww…

    I’ve heard the anime’s really streamlined the source light novels a lot here. The LN tended to get bogged down in lengthy, verbose explanations of worldbuilding and magic (similar to Mahouka’s super-detailed discussions of magitech).

    …the hero finds his unemotional responses to certain situations surprising.
    Momonga’s lich body is affecting his emotions.

    Show ▼

    Other than that, he’s perfectly fine and in complete control.

    Reply
    • Sumairii says:
      July 25, 2015 at 10:57 am
      POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments

      I’ve heard the anime’s really streamlined the source light novels a lot here. The LN tended to get bogged down in lengthy, verbose explanations of worldbuilding and magic (similar to Mahouka’s super-detailed discussions of magitech).

      Goodness, so this might already be the sped-up version? Sounds like reading the LN is akin to reading a textbook.

      Reply
      • Di Gi Kazune says:
        July 25, 2015 at 12:31 pm
        POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments

        An interesting textbook. Basically for people who are interested in detail in certain aspects. I skipped much of LN4 and read only the bits I found interesting. There is a lot of internal monologue.

        Basically, the series is not for those looking for a quickie.

        Reply
  6. Joojoobees says:
    July 25, 2015 at 6:15 pm
    POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments

    I really like the pace. It makes me think the show is building methodically towards a more subtle storyline. Other shows that move faster tend to focus on action and have very un-subtle character dynamics/motivations.

    Reply
  7. HannoX says:
    July 25, 2015 at 7:15 pm
    POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments

    While I’m glad that the pace is starting to pick up, I had no problem with the slowness of the first two episodes (well, the first part of #1 could have been a bit faster). It makes sense that Momonga would first check on his minions and explore his immediate surroundings and see how this world is the same or differs from the game world as far as his abilities go. When in an unfamiliar environment first explore your immediate surroundings, take stock of the situation and then expand your attention outwards.

    Momonga is going slow and careful, which shows he’s a thoughtful character and not a hot-head who just rushes forward. That doesn’t mean he’ll be slow to take action when it’s called for as witness what he does to the brigands attacking the village. He’s the kind of hero I prefer.

    Reply
    • Di Gi Kazune says:
      July 25, 2015 at 10:34 pm
      POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments

      Momonga is going slow and careful,

      The completely correct approach to going about something you don’t know about. Even NGNL reflects that (in an absurd way). You really don’t want to be caught with your pants down in a bad situation.

      Reply
  8. BlackBriar says:
    July 25, 2015 at 8:03 pm
    POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments

    Though the first two episodes were slow, they did well to lay the series’ groundwork and was rewarded by how well the third went. More and more, since he got trapped in that world, I’m under the impression Momonga is steadily being possessed by his own avatar.

    Side note: Until Momonga acquires flesh and blood in the near future, I’ll be scratching my head to how he’ll be able to sire children to Albedo and Shalltear.

    Reply
    • Di Gi Kazune says:
      July 25, 2015 at 10:32 pm
      POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments

      Side note: Until Momonga acquires flesh and blood in the near future, I’ll be scratching my head to how he’ll be able to sire children to Albedo and Shalltear

      It’s MAGIC! 😛 Don’t think too much.

      I’m under the impression Momonga is steadily being possessed by his own avatar.

      Yes and No. I would say in D&D alignment he would be Lawful Evil like Sargonnas. He has his own code of honour. Unlike Tarkhisis.

      Reply

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