There seems to be a trend lately of Manga/anime where the main character gets stuck inside a game and has to not only survive but reach the very top.

One such anime is the new series Overlord currently with 11 episodes out BUT this one comes with an interesting twist.

First of all the artwork here is really beautiful with such attention to details! The music score is a pleasure to listen too especially that epic Op that sets the tone for the show.

Then comes the meat of the anime, the storyline and characters.

Set a bit over a hundred years from now MMO games have attended a new level of realism. one popular MMO is Yggdrasil that has been running for 12 years. today however is it's final day and at midnight the game will be shut down. We meet our protagonist Momonga who is the head of the strongest guild in the game, his in-game avatar is an undead (great lich) and after investing 12 years of time and money he gets sentimental and decides to stay logged in for the final day.

He is saddened that his great guild that once included 41 players (requirement is that all are working adults and mythical creatures, no human races allowed!) has over time dwindled to end up with just him as RL took over the player's lives.

he waits as the cloak counts to midnight.... then it counts on?!?! wait the server didn't shut down? why are the NPCs talking to him as if they have free will? the layout outside the guild changed as well and he is stuck inside his avater not able to log out (or see the health/mana level)

This is when the story starts, you are in a strange world BUT you have all the items and power you gathered in the game previously as well as all your NPCs, now consider this from the stand point of someone who as gone beyond the god level in the game!

The twist here is that the protagonist is the villain so to speak, cruel and apathetic as an undead usually is, calculating and a seasoned gamer with his guild being his only priority. his inner thoughts contrast greatly with this image as you hear the thoughts of a middle aged salary man on the inside.

The violence is usually unexpected as this is definitely NOT what an anime hero would do and always done in a cold and ruthless manner of someone that sees you as a bug and nothing more. it definitely earns the 17+ rating.

interestingly enough it follows the manga closely so you can either watch or read, most animes deviate or intentionally leave holes in the anime to force you to read the manga but so far not this one. will you give it a shot? let me know what you think!

I have been watching and liking anime and Pleiades specials so far. I have been thinking of reading manga, but I haven't moved from thoughts to action yet. I hope there would be second season when the current season ends because I feel I could keep watching Overlord for tens of more episodes. There have been animes this season when I have to kind of force myself to watch newest episode because previous episode wasn't that interesting, but with Overlord I don't have that problem. I can't wait for the next episode.

I've read the manga up to chaptar 5 and it's in line with the anime except for this one detail

I remember noticing the difference in words used on actual anime and special, but I passed it as diffent translators doing the subs or something similar. I have watched animes where character's name can change every few episodes because different translators use different spellings (Lou Lou or Lulu in one anime and I have lost count how many different spellings I have seen for Batou from GitS series) so having few different but close in meaning words like that didn't seem weird to me.

But it really was good that Lord Ainz played with Albedo's setting before he got stuck in the game world. I imagine that the anime would be pretty different if Albedo had her original settings.

it would have been the usual generic pandaring XD

I mean I've noticed alot and I do mean ALOT of fan service in anime lately, so much so that it turns me off the series because I just can't take it seriously anymore.

here however the decided to relay on the villian's perspective above all else.

I don't know, he did say the word "bitch" in english when he was reading her setting in the anime so not sure why the change. I have to say if she really was a bitch it would have made more fun then this madly in love character XD

I like the more serious tone of the anime. It has comedy but not too much of it so it's easy to focus on Lord Ainz's plans. I like animes where characters actually think and plan so that viewer can follow too instead of all seemingly pointless action until it's revealed in some flashback that there actually was a plan. Overlord gets lots of points in my eyes for just that villain's perspective.

I don't know how to imagine Albedo with original setting interracting, really. I guess she would probably be just as fiercely loyal as other NPCs so I she probably wouldn't have been bitchy at Lord Ainz but maybe more snappy at other NPCs than she currently is. It migh have forced Lord Ainz to be more reactive and I like that he is calm and collected (mostly because his emotions are suppressed but still).

I see here being a bitch to him too just more towards the other NPCS XD

but I do agree with you, because the focus here is on lord Aniz's schemes it's a fun journey and you want to know what happens next.... seems odd to say that an anime gets points for actually focusing on the main character, where did it all go wrong -_-;

in the specials he see him as a normal salary man without the emotion regulation and... it's kindda degrading from the awesomeness of the main series but still fun for a short. so glad they decided to stick to the manga, the short shows you how it could have gone so wrong :o

I really do hope we get more of this anime, it seems alot of the original series stop at one season but this one is actually pretty good even if the base idea is a rip of many many MANY animes and mangas before it. it was just done in a new and interesting way.

Yes, it seems weird now that I think about it that I give points for anime for actually focusing on the main character. o_o

I first thought of not watching the specials because I didn't wan't to see him with his normal emotions, but it turned out to be fun to watch because he actually seems to be able to keep some form of calm appearance so the NPCs don't suspect anything or at least much. If the actual series would have been like that I probably wouldn't have liked this anime as much as I do now. There is plenty of those "Eeehhh!" shouting animes so Overlord is different for just not having that reaction (or at least I don't remember Lord Ainz doing that).

I hope for more episodes too. I know that if anime sells lots of merchandise it is more likely to get more season, but unfortunately I can't help even my favorite series by bying stuff.

Pandora's Actor is voiced by Mamoru Miyano, I knew I recognized that voice!

I have to say that character is a fun addition to such a dark series but throughout that episode I had a really hard time getting over the opening scene... that was a O.O moment....

The opening scene was really impressive. I can't wait for the coming battle.

I didn't see it coming, too cruel for me I guess ^_^;

hmmmmm I'd rather see who did that to shelltear. for a moment I had a theory but it was blasted away by the latest episode

I didn't expect the fight either until Lord Ainz talked about it. I epected the world item to work and the matter be solved quickly. But now that there is going to be a fight I can't even make real quesses on what might happen, because I don't believe that Lord Ainz will lose but whether or not they can save Shalltear is revealed only during or after battle. Or that's how I feel about it anyway.

That was good theory. The NPCs seem to react strongly to their creators.

there is a prediction going around that the show will be 13 episodes only. not confirmed but I'd really love to see more of this show. so detailed :o

Ainz values the NPCs because they're an extention of his old buddies so I was a bit confused by his plans, first he wants so save shelltear then killer her... which is it? make up your mind already!

no way he'd lose, I am pretty sure shelltear is strong but still weaker then the other NPC as she guards the first levels, we all know that the stronger bosses are at the top levels XD

To my knowledge this season of Overlord is 13 episodes long and so far I haven't seen anything that would have led me to believe there would be second season right after this current season ends. So my wish is for second season early next year or something to be told by next year on the schedule for the second season.

I really like that about Lord Ainz that not only he values the NPCs for their usefulness he also thinks of them as a dear mementos of his old friends. I think he would rather see Shalltear destroyed than see her be tainted or her memory erased or something that would make Shalltear not be the NPC she was created to be.

And yes, I expect Shalltear to be weakest of the NPC bosses.

nooooooooooooooo!!!! I want more of this series :(

for once an anime that earned the R-rating for something other then boobs, butts and random swearing....

you're probably right, I can see him destroying her instead of partially saving her... maybe the elven twins will get some screen time? I mean they do act like her sisters so I'm hoping to see more interactions between them.

Me too. That is why I'm thinking of reading manga after last episode is aired, to get at least little more fun and maybe deeper understanding about characters.

I'm interested in Cocytus (spelling?) most. His comments about wanting Lord Ainz have children so he can play with them (or something along those lines, it was in the earlier episodes so I can remember wrong) made me really curious. I would like to know more about the NPCs, but I don't really want whole episodes centered around them unles the anime gets much longer. The episode centering on Shalltear was good to let us know what had happened, but I much prefer episodes focusing only on Lord Ainz. At least the NPCs can't have tragic background stories so that time is spend episode after episode on their flashbacks. I hope at least.

oh the ice like NPC! that made me smile, he was like an excited new uncle XD

so far the manga is behind the anime, well the translated one anyway, they JN one releases a new chapter per episode release so it runs along side it.

aside from that one thing with albedo there is nothing added or taken, I really do hope this doesn't end up like "the devil is a part timer" where the anime just suddenly stops so you HAVE to follow the manga =/

Yes, that one. :D I thought of hime more as an insect like, but he could have something to do with ice too since I think I remember Cocytus or Kocytys (something like that) being somekind of frozen lake in underworld/hell on Dante's Inferno (I think) and some mythology (Greek, maybe?). I could be seeing bugs in places where they are not, I have habit of doing that.

That is good to know. My main reson for not reading manga that often is lack of time, but the second biggest reason is because I fear I will read further than the anime and spoil the next episode for myself. Unless I'm doing it other way and reading mange before watching anime.

I haven't watched Devil is a part timer yet. It has been on my "watch when you have time" list forever. I quess watching anime before reading manga is better option with that serie, then.

oh the devil is a part timer was ranked high on my favs. it's actually pretty interesting. the trouble is it's a fishing expedition...

the anime is so good that you want to know more about the characters's background since it's only touched on. the anime suddenly stops. no season finale no cliff hanger. just... stops... as there will be another episode next week as usual.

I've noticed this with shorts animes lately, I call it a fishing expedition because it's actually designed to give you just enough to lure you into buying the manga which is has the meat of the series.

that being said I'd still highly recommend it, nice art, good voice acting and characters you'll want to follow. I'd just advise to read to manga after so as to get more of an insight into the maou's past, it's REALLY interesting!

What I have heard about Devil is a part timer is mostly good, that is why I'm interested in watching it and the name alone sounds interesting. :)

Fishing expedition sounds fun name for that. I understand why they do it even if it's annoying for viewer. If the manga and merchandise sell well then it's likely profitable to make anime for that serie. If there isn't enough profit then they can't pay the animators to do the anime. Leaving existing series half way done does sound weird, though. Maybe there was some real life issues that caused the Devil is a part timer to be unfinished.

I remember watching one comedy anime where it was a running gag to have the narrator saying "if you want to know why this happened buy/read the manga" in almost every episode. That seemed like a really low budget anime. It had lots of exactly same headshots of characters where only their mouths were moving and lots of reused movements. But it did have really fun jokes every now and then that made watching it worth the time.