got nothing better to do this summer besides watch anime any so why the hell not
disclaimer: i am a loser who genuinely enjoys isekai slop (the tasty kind), hates shonen (with few exceptions), avoids popular titles (the hype scares me), and is very picky when it comes to animation (pls just be visually appealing i beg)
also: this is MY page, n i run a STRICT program. there will be no slurs, witch-hunting, doxxing, excessive arguing, or pedo shi on my watch.
if u got recs give em, and ill give u my honest opinion, but i cant promise it'll be what u wanna hear.
overlord is prided as "the anime that redefined the isekai genre", and as a more recent enjoyer of the series for the past two years, im inclined to agree.
however, its not for anything it does differently, not necessarily at least. all of the character tropes, plot lines, and moral dilemmas have already been present in anime since forever. thats not what makes it special.
what makes overlord unlike other isekais is that it incorporates ALL of these elements, simultaneously, and ridiculously WELL. anyone could find something they love about this anime, and for a chronically online chud like me its a goldmine of entertainment and introspection.
ill try to avoid heavy spoilers as best i can, but if you were looking for a reason to watch this anime (4 seasons is daunting ik but i believe in you!), then take this review as a sign.
lets first start with the world: worldbuilding, exposition, etc.
overlord is set in a high dark fantasy vrmmorpg called yggdrasil. this experience is turned irl when our mc finds himself stuck within the game, with no way to logout or contact an administrator. the npcs show sentience rather than simply moving around as pawns, with their own thoughts and feelings. even his human emotions and desires seem to have been substituted with those of his avatar, a towering skeleton monster with a booming voice and an aura of death and destruction.
this world has all the things i love about fantasy and fiction in general: the inhuman characters and designs, a vaguely historical context without being too recognizable or off, morally grey main characters; and of course, the potential to become part of or even lead something bigger than yourself. what makes it better is that the mc never desires power or uses revenge as his main goal, his desires are simple and clear: to protect those under his care, by any means necessary. as the series goes on, it is revealed just how far he'll go, and just how many will follow.
my second category is the character design: themes, vibes, n allat jazz.
all of the side characters and supporting cast in overlord are unique in both appearance and personality. they each have a specific function within the kingdom, certain specialties and secret goals of their own. it is obvious from the first episode that they act like real people, albeit sheltered and selfish in nature due to their isolation within the tomb.
their designs even given an in-universe explanation: each one carefully planned and crafted by our mc and his friends, reflecting their equally unique interests. that being said, all of them have some aspect of perverseness to them, as expected of a group of chronically online gamers, but its so silly and even directly addressed sometimes that it just adds to their charm. they likely know why they look the way that they do, but are proud of it, just as they are proud to lend their skills to the mc.
speaking of him, his design is gorgeously monstrous, in every sense of the phrase. nothing about his appearance or frame even hints at any sort of humanity. despite being a 'skeleton monster', he barely resembles a human skeleton at all. he makes for a towering beast of bone and flowing robes and glowing red eyes. you can almost imagine him making the avatar in character creator and fanboying over all the badass details (i certainly am). his stature and appearance demand obedience almost instantly, not to mention the immense power he possesses, always to be respected, always the largest thing in the room. its attractive in both a personal and narrative sense: you understand how he commands the respect that he does, how he draws others in constantly with his natural charm and presence (even if he has to fake it sometimes). and you want to be part of his retinue too.
my last and final category is plot: the main story, the twists, the gorey details, the meat and potatoes of any anime or novel.
oh my goodness where do i begin. as i said in the world building category, our mc's main goal is to protect the npcs turned loveable subjects under his command, whatever the cost to the outside world. but he has a secondary goal, that is, to find his friends again. these two goals often overlap in their progression and escalation, but protecting his people usually wins over his personal loneliness. to compensate for missing his friends, our mc makes genuine connections with who he comes in contact with while fulfilling his goals. even if these connections mostly end in tragedy on their part, he never forgets them and the impacts they made on his character.
that's another aspect of this anime. it gets dark. interspersed with dark humor and morally grey moments are scenes where there is no right option, no heroic path, no straight line to follow. people die, people that the audience gets to know on a personal level, people that we wish could be added to the main cast. but realistically, we know that this was always how it was going to end; and the protagonist knows it too. the pain he feels with each enemy he faces, some familiar, some that hurt to look at, some that remind him of those he once loved; they all build him into a monolith of sacrifice. his own suffering is worth it, if only to hold dear what he and his friends created together. he'll likely defend them to his dying breath (or until the world ends, which is even more likely), and you cant help but agree. after all, despite everything, what truly matters is ensuring the happiness of the ones you love. im sure that given the chance that mc has, any one of us would make that choice. i certainly would.
if you've made it this far, thank you for reading my loser ass take, if this motivated you to start overlord let me know. and if u wanna debate me id be happy to (respectfuly!!).
ill be doing good and bad reviews in succession to avoid favortism. the whole point of this is to expand my personal library outside of my comfort zone, so ill try to not be too much of a weenie.
doing a rating from 1-10 because that gives me more room for nuance and thought in my reviews
10 - omg this is one of the best pieces of media ive ever consumed pls make more of these for eternity i worship the ground this anime walks on i love the plot the artstyle the writing EVERYTHING i F*CKING LOVE THIS ANIME
9 - ok this is an amazing anime but theres one teeny tiny itty bitty thing about it that i dont like and its bothering me enough to scale it down
8 - has the potential to be a 9 or 10 but is off in someway, it could be the pacing, an overplayed trope, or a bad 2nd season but its enough to be lower
7 - the thing that would slightly annoy me if it was minor is important enough to the plot to be included near constantly and it highkey pisses me off, could be way better if they handled certain elements better
6 - the annoying thing is becoming unbearable and inescapable and is directly harming my enjoyment of this anime
5 - great concept, poor/boring asf execution
4 - has elements bordering on, if not already, gross and uncomfortable
3 - worse combination of 5 and 4, has the audacity to be boring and have uncomfortable elements
2 - artstyle points only, everything else is trash
1 - EW GET IT AWAY FROM ME I WISH I COULD BLEACH MY EYES AND EARS PLS STOP MAKING THIS FOREVER
Sonic and Knuckles as a pair are fascinating to me because you literally can't make their dynamic not work. They are so versatile that you can, quite literally, have it all with them.
Friends? ✔️ Opponents? ✔️ Brothers? ✔️ Lovers? ✔️
Definitely, I think if other ships such as Sonadow and Sonamy got hit with the sibling beam, it would be 9/11 in the community. Can you actually fucking imagine the carnage? Sonic and Knuckles never have that problem. Sonknux Gaytiers released the same year we got a movie where Knuckles got assimilated into Sonic's family unit and no one batted an eye. Everything just works with them. I also believe they're the most successful pair to depict in fanworks because they've never run into the issue where one of them ends up OOC to make it work. There's no need to because they have something that is just always successful.
I don't know how they did it but Sonic and Knuckles ended up with such an extremely perfect and finely tuned bond that no matter where they are, in what form or iteration, their dynamic is going to hit every single time. That's incredible to me, tbh, it genuinely fascinates me.
Have you done your daily prayers to our lord and savior Lord Ainz Ooal Gown, Leader of The 41 Supreme Beings, Master of The Great Tomb of Nazarick? I hope you have. Us lowly humans should be honored to even exist in a world where his infinite splendor can reach us. The very fact I am allowed such mercy as to spread the gospel of the great one is proof of his excellence and his greatness.
Praise Ainz Ooal Gown! Long live the Kingdom of Darkness!
kinda wanna start posting my personal anime reviews on here, since crunchyroll removed that function a while back and reddit seems like more of a place to argue ur faves than actually discuss and criticize
i could also use it to recommend some of my personal faves to other people so they get more attention and potentially more seasons
YOU. WILL. WRITE. oh you want to write so bad. all the motivation is here. the plot is so good. words come to you so naturally. YOU ARE GOING TO WRITE. RIGHT NOW.
are people under the impression that aromantic people never want to have close personal relationships with the people in their lives. "oh i wish i was aro it would save me all this drama!" actually human relationships are always deep and complicated and messy and have the potential to hurt and help and change your life and being romantic is just one possible aspect of that. aromantic people want to be close to the people around them just like anyone else. and i know the real issue is that people think romantic relationships are the only way to be truly close to someone else but it's weird and off-putting to constantly hear the implication that aros are somehow fundamentally incapable of forming relationships that would impact their lives negatively cause they don't wanna go on dates with people. not even mentioning the aros who do
"omg the snowstorm left ice and snow everywhere and the citys not picking it up and theres nowhere safe to walk omg what do we doooo"
yea thats what happens when your government kidnaps and imprisions the productive hardworking people of this country that do the jobs that actually benefit society. now get ur lazy ass up and shovel that driveway.
better yet be a good neighbor and offer to shovel their driveway, give ur kids $20 to do the whole street, go outside and be productive and communal and empathetic u loser.
