Overlord (Revisited)

Who said the game was over?

So after watching one episode, I reviewed Overlord and then dropped the series. I didn't give it the benefit of the doubt back then, but I did this time, and I realised how much I was missing and how bad my first review must have been. Overlord is definitely better than what my review (may or may not) say, but then again I haven't gone back to check what I wrote. You can find it here on the Blogger site of The Animanga Effect (not giving you a link because this review will sell Overlord to you).



Overlord gives us Momonga as the MC, a player in the MMORPG Yggdrasil. Sadly the game's servers are to be shut down at midnight, so we see Momonga sitting around in his guild, the Great Tomb of Nazarick, waiting for the in-game and real time clocks to turn 12. While there, he thinks of the times he and his guild mates spent building the guild, its reputation, collecting items to create the most powerful of weapons, and of course the guild's guardians, and decides to play around with the settings of one guardian minutes away from the servers shutting.

Or do they?

Momonga closed his eyes hoping to see himself back in the real world, only to find him still in Yggdrasil. Well, not exactly Yggdrasil, but it seems like the world of Yggdrasil had been transported to another world with some changes and new features added to it, and Momonga along with it as he was still logged in. From there Momonga uses the help of his guardians to find out more about this new world and its inhabitants, while looking for anyone else who could have also waited for the servers to shut.

From reading about the plot, you would probably think that this is a copy of Sword Art Online. That's what I thought too when I first heard about Overlord, but rather than being a copy, I thought it was more about similarity. But then I carried on watching it, and Overlord branches out from the "trapped in a game" concept, not just from having the world of Yggdrasil becoming reality, but also with Momonga learning more about this new world and how he uses his knowledge from the game to his advantage in battles and what not, making him one of the strongest adventurers out there. There is some similarity with Sword Art Online in that there is actual death, but that's it really. I will watch Sword Art Online be again since I watched it before setting up the blogs, and because I loved its plot and the seasons that followed. But that's for another time.

Overlord comes into its own with its characters and amazing battle scenes. The latter screams games with the use of gaming terminology and strategies, while the former introduces us to characters with very distinct personalities and great development that whoever is key to the story is fleshed out, even if the development is minor. The ending battle and scenes that follow hint at a Season 2, but sadly it doesn't look like Overlord was picked up or will be in the near future.

As it is, Overlord is amazing. I can't believe I didn't pick it up again sooner after watching the first episode, but I am glad that I did so recently. The series was recently added on Crunchyroll, so if you guys want to watch it, head there for free streaming (I am not promoting Crunchyroll, just letting you guys know where you can watch it for free).