An OP Fantasy Done Right: Overlord

Synopsis

The end comes for the virtual reality game world of Yggdrasil in an hour and a powerful dark magician and guild master by the name of Momonga decides to stay at the guild that he had built along with his companions until the final hour. But as he sits on his throne and the final second strikes, he awakens to find not in his room but rather still in the game and not only that but the NPCs seemed to have come to life?

The Good

There are so many fantasy theories involving either being brought or reincarnated into another world where the protagonist is either an otaku or is a clever character who maneuvers himself in the new world but ultimately becomes a higher known figure. Here we have an anime that takes a whole new twist to the concept of not only the wakening in a new world but also the concept of an overpowered protagonist in the beginning.

With Ains’ situation, the protagonist usually ends up either panicking before adapting or strategizing on how to do things on his terms. The series brings an even mix with the idea as it makes the interesting distinguishment between Ains’ real voice and character voice. Rather than having his real self take over, his real and game character end up somehow merging in mindset and his personality is affected for the rest of the story.

The idea in itself is already interesting, but the way the series implemented it presented a sort of two sides of the same coin kind of scenario. Add to the fact that he lies between the line of a villain and hero and a viewer will find many interesting notes to enjo about the show. But not all lies with the protagonist as the secondary characters also hold their own interesting qualities and bring an amount of comedy to the series with their antics.

Plotwise, as stated, the idea of things was quite intelligent, but the execution of things was what made the series work so well. Rather than taking focus entirely on Ainz overpowering everyone in the new world the story takes on a more strategic route of worldbuilding and intelligence gathering while also showcasing the different abilities of the characters. Not many aspects were to overplayed and the general layout of the story worked for the most part.

The Bad

One of the main issues that can be said about the series is that they make their villains rather obvious and clearly predictable for defeat. With such a twist for the heroes, it would have made sense to make equally as interesting. They could have made them like figures in the shadows observing the anomalies of the characters and such. But if you look at the bigger paper, it could also act as a balance act for the main characters.

Then there is also the general strategy of the characters in learning more of the world. When looking at the big picture you cannot help but think that the plot is going rather roundabout on things. While it does make for a good strategy, the presentation somehow made a limited presentation of the world and there are certain points that could have been fleshed out better. Honestly, the overall flow of the series seemed a little rushed and went on different points that could have been given more context.

Even the ending point ended up not as satisfying as the beginning was. Sure, it brought an epic battle and a hint of a second season, but in this writer’s personal opinion, it could have expanded more into a look into the other possible characters of the world to play a part in the story. Other than this, the only flaws are mainly in the plot execution.

Conclusion

It’s a completely refreshing fantasy story involving a character ending up in a different world and is a clever enough series to do something different with it’s main characters. A lot of the points of the story is thought provoking and holds a solid design to it. There is some issues with the plot execution, the portrayal of villains and the overall world building but it can be looked away with how well the characters are handled. Overall the series is a worthy watch for a new type of fantasy series involving a character awakening as his game character.

Rating: 7.5/10