Overlord III – 09 – Paving the Way

Faced with the overwhelming, terrible power of Aura and Mare, Emperor El Nix can hardly ignore a demand to travel to the Tomb of Nazarick to apologize personally. Though El Nix is such a busy man, the ensuing trip ends up being a rare opportunity for an afternoon nap, as well as a quick assessment of his potential queens, from Princess Renner (“praiseworthy but somewhat sickening”) to an “old hag that stays young with magic.” Ah, to be an emperor…

But once he and his retinue arrive, they are immediately reminded how much more powerful Ains Ooal Gown is than them, from the Maids who can control the weather (and whip up some top-notch Tang) to a healthy supply of Death Knights (who are relegated to serving said Tang). Nix’s Head Wizard Flugel is both terrified and amazed, almost to the point of rejuvination. His laugher is both out of sheer awe and wonder, but also kind of an “Oh shit, we’re so screwed.”

Once Nix & Co. are finally given an audience, things are actually quite cordial until Demiurge (in an animalistic disguise) talks out of turn, taking offense to Nix thinking he can use honorifics as if he was on equal terms with Lord Ains. Ains uses Demiurge’s little diplomatic snafu as an excuse to forgive the emperor for allowing his lord to send Workers into Nazarick.

This comes as great surprise to the young but cunning emperor, and uses that to suggest an alliance, in which Ains would start up and rule a country, and the empire would assist in any way they can. Ains agrees to this almost too easily for Nix to believe, but decides he’ll take every concession he can get, especially from a would-be foe he has absolutely no change against.

Once the two parties part ways, El Nix is confused by the ease with which his head wizard decides to jump into a coach and accompany him back to the capital. Nix knows Flugel well enough to know he wouldn’t be able to resist sticking around to try to acquire some of the immensely powerful magic he witnessed during their parlay.

And El Nix is exactly right: behind his back, Flugel has already met with “Momon” and agreed to give him “everything he has” in exchange for becoming the student of a tenth-tier “god.” Not sure he can truly rely on Flugel, El Nix plans to bring all of the human powers together in an alliance against Nazarick, all while pretending to be a friend to Nazarick.

Everything’s all going according to plan…only it’s Demiurge’s plan being carried out, not Ains. Ains actually doesn’t really know quite where Demiurge is going, and since he’s the boss, he can get away with ordering Demiurge to explain everything…for now. If I didn’t know better, I’d say Demi knew how ignorant Ains was to his plan, and was moving against him.

Of course, I know better…Demi would never move against his lord…or should I say, Sorcerer King—the winner in the throne room brainstorming session for a new title for Ains once he has his own country to rule.

Overlord III – 08 – Never Root for Humans and You’ll Never Be Disappointed

In Demiurge We Trust remains the name of the game, but our gallant band of good-hearted workers end up pawns in his grand scheme to advance Nazarick’s stature in the world, and that leaves a rather nasty taste in my mouth, because they’re very likable pawns with a noble goal.

I know there’s a human in Ains Ooal Gown who probably shares some of that taste…but isn’t letting it get in the way of following the plan. In a way, he’s letting himself be a pawn in that plan; playing the role he’s been assigned.

The workers know they’re doomed as soon as they walk in the arena. Ains removing a ring so Arche can see how powerful his magic is (it’s powerful enough to make her vomit) only confirms what they already knew: they’re hosed.

When begging for their collective lives doesn’t work, the team does their best, but of course everything they can throw at Ains bounces off him harmlessly. The difference in power is simply too overwhelmingly great. So they work to get one of them away: Arche.

Unfortunately, while Arche can fly, she has nowhere to fly to; they’re not really outside but on the sixth floor of the tomb. Ains dispatches Shalltear to retrieve Arche and fill her with fear and despair before delivering a painless death.

It seems Arche is resolute to the end, and Shalltear failed in the first objective. but as Entoma ends up with her voice in a later scene, using it to describe all the ways her various parts were distributed among Lord Ains’ many underlings, her second objective of killing her did.

Not long after, the next stage of Demi’s plan is set in motion, as Aura and Mare arrive at the imperial capital on the back of a giant golden dragon to deliver a message—Lord Ains is pissed, and demands a personal apology or he’ll destroy the entire country.

To prove he means business, Mare rends a great crack in the ground, and all of the dozens of amassed soldiers surrounding the dragon fall to their deaths, leaving even the proud, fearless young emperor looking dumbstruck. He’ll no doubt have to rely on his grizzled head wizard Paladine at least a little longer.

Overlord III – 07 – Ain’t No Party Like a Nazarick Party

Just as the loose alliance of worker teams begins their infiltration of the mysterious ancient tomb, Momon leaves the rest to Narbarel and teleports back home to Nazarick…which is the tomb all the workers are infiltrating. Ains has orchestrated a kind of “open house” to test the mettle of the unsanctioned adventurers, and no doubt this is also part of Demiurge’s larger plan to create a name for Nazarick that will echo throughout the land.

Lord Ains watches from his throne room monitors with Albedo as the teams move in—all but one, led by a grizzled elder who decides to cede the exploration of the tomb to the other teams in exchange for ten percent of what each of them find. In this way, he’s making his party a tidy profit without risking any of his comrades’ safety.

Making the other teams their “canaries” would be a great plan…if five of the Pleiades Six Stars weren’t waiting for them outside. The five-man party would be no match for even one of the maids, but they’re not there to fight, only observe as the undead “Nazarick Old Guards” rise from the ground and take care of business. I must say, it is pretty cool to see so many powerful maids assembled, even if they don’t even lift a finger in the battle.

The parties within the tomb don’t fare much better. Some are teleported to some god-forsaken sub-dungeon of the tomb where a Cockroach King (possibly voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya?) greets them enthusiastically before feeding them to his vast “family” (who tire of cannibalism).

Another unfortunate worker ends up the singular captive of Nazarick’s “special intelligence collector” Neuronist, who fancies herself far more suitable a mate for Lord Ains than either Shalltear or Albedio. And then there’s the samurai-esque shitbag whose name I intentionally did not remember, because I didn’t like the fact he had three elf slaves (whose ears he apparently clipped).

Mr. Charming ends up facing off against Hamasuke, who’s been training hard with the Lizardman and has something to prove, which makes him far more dangerous than if is head wasn’t in the game. It’s great to see Hammy in action after so long, and hear his old-fashioned manner of speaking.

Hamasuke’s opponent proves no match for his speed, claws, and the Slashing Strike martial art taught to him by Zaryusu. As for the slave elves, after healing and buffing him once, he rushes back in and gets both hands sliced off, and from then on they wash their hands of him, grinning with glee as their master and tormentor is polished off by a giant magic hamster.

Thus ends a very small and minor mini-story within the story of a skilled but arrogant warrior who was also a monster. We were shown rather than told what the dynamic was, and were as pleased as the three elves when he got what he deserved.

Finally, the team we spend a lot of time learning about last week, led by the pauper noble Arche, end up teleported to an arena, where Aura serves as MC announcing the impending battle between them and the leader of the Tomb of Nazarick, Lord Ains Ooal Gown…whom I’m assuming will be holding back quite a bit.

Overlord III – 02 – Chili con Carne (Village)

Unsure of what to do next due to his relative inexperience as an overlord, Momonga opens the floor to his subordinates, and gets a rude—well, polite awakening when Demiurge immediately suggests they’re working towards a path to world domination.

That didn’t exactly occur to Momonga until now, but he pretends to know exactly what Demiurge is talking about, making for a hilarious exchange between the flustered Momonga’s inner thoughts and Lord Ains Ooal Gown’s unswerving resolve.

OverLord never disappoints when it comes to interpersonal humor, and this opening scene is no different. But it’s also a productive scene: the decision is made for the Tomb of Nazarick to declare itself its own country, separate from the complications of being merely an organization affiliated with another nation.

When Demiurge is asked what made him think they’re on the path to world domination, he holds up Carne Village (which we haven’t been to since the first season) as an example of Lord Ains experimenting on a smaller scale with ruling something, rather than pillaging and destroying.

That provides a nice segue for our return to Carne, where Enri is still stacked, Nphirea is still eccentric (and has yet to confess his love for Enri), and Nemu is still adorable. We get a nice slice-of-life act with the humans and friendly goblins working together to rebuild the village.

In a private moment, Enri angrily ruins a knife after thinking about all of the hardship she, her sister, and her fellow villagers were forced to endure. It’s a lot for her toned shoulders to bear. Meanwhile, Nphi’s goblin friend works out a plan where he’ll do various bodybuilding poses when it’s time for Nphi to say something cool to impress Enri.

When word comes from a goblin scout that there’s…something lurking deep in the forest, Enri decides to go in anyway. She has no choice: herbs that have to be harvested immediately grow within the forest; herbs she needs to create potions and medicines that will net capital for the village.

She and Nphi are escorted by a three-goblin team, and shortly after coming upon a prize crop of their treasured herb, something comes out of the forest: a young, wounded goblin being chased by a beast. Enri and Nphi overrule the cautious goblins and decide to fight the beast and save the kid.

Thanks to the brute force of the goblins and the handy potions and magic of Nphi, the beast is defeated and the child healed. He is a member of the head family of a tribe, and warns that the “Giant of the East” has allied with the “Demon Snake of the West.” Sounds like two worthy foes Nazarick need to sink their teeth into.

Overlord III – 01 (First Impressions) – Chillin’ Like Villains at the ‘Tomb

OverLord is back…again, after taking the Spring off. And rather than go off into an entirely different direction within the world of Yggdrasil, we spend all of this  first episode with the gang we know and love, most of it within the walls of Nazarick.

Ains Ooal Gown grants Sebas and Epsilon rewards of their choosing for their intel-gathering services in Re-Estize. Sebas asks for sundries for Tuare, and Ains grants him some gold to buy what he likes, as long as he goes on a nice date with her in E-Rantel. Epsilon gets non-innocent humans…to do who-knows-what with. Nothing good, most likely.

It’s a relaxing episode in which Ains finally reveals all—which amounts to a stylized skeleton—the human player within happy he’s found a satisfying and effective way to wash such a strange body. Meanwhile, Eclair ends up snatched up by Shizu Delta as if he were a plushie, when his ultimate goal is to rule the whole Tomb himself.

Ains splits up his Guardians by gender and has them participate in group leisure activities. Albedo, who is with Shalltear and Aura, summons a badass bicorn, but cannot ride it, and Shalltear discovers the reason: a “pure maiden” cannot ride it; much to the shock of all. But it makes sense: most of Albedo’s existence is spent in the throne room, presiding over the Guardians and their movements. No time for the succubusing she was ostensibly created for.

In another private moment, Ains’ player worries his lowly office worker background doesn’t lend him the charisma or bearing necessary to properly “operate” an overlord as impressive as Ains…though it’s clear by how his servants regard him that he has nothing to worry about as long as he keeps on keeping on.

His kind words to them, referring to them as his treasures, sends Albedo into an amorous frenzy, and not even her overlord can stop her from essentially dry-humping him. Later, when the sexes are in their respective baths, there’s a disturbance on the women’s side, and Ains recognizes the voice of a fellow “supreme being” i.e. player. That could be interesting.

Overlord II – 02

Overlord II takes a deep dive into the tribal Lizardmen (and women) corner of Yggdrasil, this week, and in doing so demonstrates that even with non-human characters, the show excels at straightforward yet immersive world-building.

The Green Claw tribe has been given eight days to prepare a “desperate and futile defense” against certain doom, and considering fourth-tier magic was used to deliver the message, the tribe’s head priestess fears the worst.

Zaryusu Shasha, while a traveler and no longer a member of any tribe, is nevertheless sent by his brother and tribal chief to speak with the other four tribes about forming an alliance against their mutual enemy, believing that enemy is depending on their remaining disunited.

We get a cursory look into the Tomb of Nazarick where the confident penguin Assistant Butler Eclair enthusiastically prepares for the day he’ll rule Nazarick—by keeping it thoroughly and obsessively clean.

Zaryusu rides his trusty giant hydra to the lands of the Red Eye Tribe, where he is shocked to find their acting chief and head priestess, Crusch Lulu, is an albino lizard. He is immediately smitten with her, which catches her off guard, but they are able to find common cause with relative ease.

I feel like we spend a great deal of time in that hut with Zaryusu and Crusch, but it also feels like time well spent, as we’re able to learn a great deal about the conditions that led to her leadership.

In a dire food shortage the former chief resorted to cannibalism, which Crusch and the tribe endured for a time, but eventually there was an insurrection, and she was their leader.

Her description of the trials she and her people have endured are vivid and well-told, and Zaryusu, while initially a bit forward, treats her with the respect she’s due. I was legitimately please to hear she’s all for an alliance.

I also appreciated the very human behavior assigned to these anthropomorphic lizards; I never forgot they weren’t human but I could still easily sympathize and empathize with both of them, and there was a good portion of casual humor mixed in to keep the proceedings from getting too stodgy.

Crusch (wearing a bush to protect her pale skin from the sun) accompanies Zaryusu to the next tribe, the war-loving Dragon Tusk. Their leader, Zenberu, knows why they’re there, but Zaryusu will have to prove he is strong before they ally themselves with Green Claw and Red Eye.

Meanwhile, Cocytus prepares for battle, I’m assuming it will be against the Lizardmen tribes (I may well end up being wrong, of course). If true, the show puts us in an interesting position of rooting for the underdogs and caring about their plight, all while feeling a kind of kinship to Momonga and his cohorts.

The lines of hero and villain are blurred, despite the fact one side is fighting for survival, while Cocytus merely seeks to distinguish himself in glorious battle. I’m eager to see where this is all headed.

Overlord II – 01 (First Impressions)

It’s been over two years—833 days—since I last watched or wrote about Overlord, so an immersive episode packed with exposition wasn’t the worst way to be introduced back into its world.

In a lengthy eight-minute cold open, we meet a good number of parties I either have fuzzy memories about or don’t know at all (I haven’t read the light novels).

But the bottom line is, many of these parties spread far and wide throughout the world know of Ainz Ooal Gown, which is precisely how Momonga wanted.

When we finally meet up with the big dude, he’s in Momon Mode, taking out a giant lizard with help from Hamasuke; Nabu by his side. It’s not a tough opponent at all, more of a warm-up, like this episode.

From there, he returns to the Tomb of Nazarick where Albedo is waiting for him, as eager as ever for praise and, well, more physical contact than Momonga’s player is able to consent to (seeing Alby and the other NPCs more as children). Still, Flustered Skullface is always welcome.

Momonga then has a seat, unfurls a big map, and methodically points at each destination, as Albedo gives a report on all the various projects his guardians are working on, from the building of a Fake Nazarick in the nearby great forest, to the status of the investigation to find the one who used a World Item on Shalltear, forcing her to fight her master.

Shalltear is drowning her overwhelming guilt in drink, so Albedo suggests Momonga issue some form of punishment in order to exorcise that guilt, which he considers. He also sends Cocytus off to fight Nazarick’s “first war”, though the details on whom it’s against and where are not shared. There’s also a talking penguin with a very stern look on its face, which…cool, cool.

The episode closes out with a visit to the land of Lizardmen; specifically, Zaryusu, a supposedly disgraced yet respected warrior, and the grizzled chief of his tribe, inspecting Z’s first-of-its-kind fish farm.

Then inky black clouds coalesce and swirl above the village and a super-creepy ball of purple skeletal faces with red eyes announce it is a herald of the “Great One”, declaring death unto the lizards.

So yeah, was this episode a bit all over the place? Sure. But it was still fun. And after so much time, it was great to see the gang back in action (or planning future action) while meeting a few new faces.

Lastly, after the credits, we have a nice little auspicious note from original creator Maruyama Kugane thanking the fans of Overlord for making a second season possible, and dedicating the season to us; a gesture I appreciated.