What does a Dungeon Master do when his friends are too busy to play with him? Why he creates a series of novels based on his campaigns and the world with in it, of course! This seems to be the impetus that, Kugane Maruyama, Overlord‘s creator, used to write this series according to a 2017 interview in the Japanese magazine Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi!. And my goodness, if I was to put this story into the context of a D&D campaign, Mr. Maruyama seems like the type of DM that has the talent and vision to pull you into the story, but at the same time torture you for fun, but you don’t mind because his story telling kept you hooked.
Originally published as a web novel under Shōsetsuka ni Narō, a Japanese novel self-publishing website, and later picked up as a light novel by Enterbrain, with English and Manga adaptations by NA: Yen Press and illustrations by South Korean artist, So-Bin. Overlord was adapted into an anime in 2015 by Madhouse studio, licensed by Crunchroll, and directed by Naoyuki Ito. For me this was one of those series where both the anime and the books were great, but of course, there’s more character depth when you read the books.
Overlord centers around our protagonist, salary man Satoru Suzuki, who is the last remaining player and leader of the guild Ainz Ooal Gown, a guild once made up of monster-themed and misfit character players in the VR game YGGDRASIL. The game creators announced they were permanently shutting down YGGDRASIL. Feeling nostalgic, and like a captain going down with the ship, Satoru decides to remain logged into the game as his max leveled Overlord Lich character, Momonga, until the servers are shut down. He takes one last tour of the great guild dungeon he and his friends created, and the NPC guardians that they designed, the ever present reminders for Satoru of his friends long gone.
Reaching the throne room, he takes his seat on the leader’s throne. He takes stock of his NPC followers and decides to tweak the personality profile of one Albedo, a succubus and leader of the guardians, but decide against tampering any further, viewing them as the ‘children’ of his friends. He decides to fall asleep as the timer continues wind down to server shut down. Satoru awakens, but not in the real world. He’s still in the game. Or is it? He discovers that his NPCS are alive, with personality, and await his command. Satoru now must navigate this new paradigm where this gathering of evil-themed monsters, demons, and other creatures, now look up to him as the all powerful Overlord of Ainz Ooal Gown. Will he retain himself, or embrace the role whole-heartedly?
That question was what got me hooked into this series. Unlike most stories of the Isekai genre, stories of people being transported to other worlds, usually by death by truck, Overlord took a lot of the tropes and turned them on their heads. Most protagonists usually fight to save whatever world they get brought to. They’ll fulfill some sort of power fantasy, have some form of harem or romance, or are out for some sort of revenge against their bullies, but not Satoru. Sure, he still has the over-powered abilities, but it’s what he does with them and how they affect the world around him. From the dungeon guardians, the new world nobility, down to the peasant, the ancillary characters of this story are just as well written. In a fantasy world where, as Maruyama describes in the same 2017 interview, follows the law of the jungle where might makes right, we’ll see decisions made that will put you on an emotional roller coaster. You’ll cheer at the death of some, and cry for the others. I’ll try not to go into further plot points as Maruyama has really weaved a world and story that is just as complex as a high fantasy can get or, dare I say, even like Game of Thrones. You know, before it took a nose dive those last 2 seasons.
The anime movie Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom is set to hit U.S. movie theatres on November 7 2024. I’ll be sure to watch this one when it comes out. This movie is technically going to be season 5, so if you want to check it out, I suggest you watch the anime to get caught up. Seasons 1-4 of the anime cover the events of volumes 1-10 of the light novels. If you’re afraid that this will be one of those shows that doesn’t know when to stop, don’t worry. Mr. Maruyama has announced that Overlord will conclude in volume 18 of the light novel.
You can pick up the light novels and manga at your favorite book seller, and all 4 of the current seasons are available for viewing at Crunchyroll, Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video.
With the spooky month winding down, why not watch a show about an undead lich lord? I highly recommend this one.
*****
English (US) · 