OVERLORD SEASON 3 (REVIEW)
By: RogueSymbiote
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Summary
Ainz Ooal Gown continues his quest for power and knowledge alongside is trusted servants. To Ainz’s surprise, Demiurge announces what he believes to be their master’s ultimate goal of world domination. Carne Village serves as a tool for Lord Ainz as Nfirea is beginning to unlock the formula for powerful healing potions. As the village grows, Enri is named Chief to her dismay.
Ainz learns of two creatures of power known as the Giant of the East and the Demon Snake of the West within the region. Upon locating them, he discovers that the Giant is in fact a large troll while the Demon Snake is a naga. The troll refuses to follow Ainz and is quickly and brutally dispensed with. The naga is horrified and pledges eternal loyalty to its new master. Lord Ainz then sends the undead Giant of the East along with other trolls to test the skills of Carne Village. Enri, Nfirea, the goblins and human townsfolk prepare for battle. After successfully defending the Carne, Enri and Nfirea are summoned to Lord Ainz’s home to celebrate.
Many adventurers are gathered and offered substantial reward for the assault on a site of ruins. Those ruins are unfortunately the Great Tomb of Nazarick, Lord Ainz’s home and guild headquarters. The unknowing adventurers quickly realize the grave mistake they have made, but it is already too late for them. Lord Ainz orders their torture and demise by the hands of his servants who take great pleasure in fulfilling their orders. Ainz eventually confronts the final remaining souls and demonstrates why they have absolutely no hope of surviving.
Ainz demands Emperor Jircniv of Baharuth apologize for his citizens’ intrusion of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Witnessing the power of Ainz and his underlings, Jircniv proposes an alliance to help Ainz claim E-Rantel for his own. The emperor realizes he stands no chance against this inhuman being and secretly plots to join forces with the other kingdoms in hopes of defeating this powerful foe. Months pass and the battle between Nazarick and Re-Estize commences to the horror of many. With a single spell, Lord Ainz kills 70,000 Re-Estize soldiers and summons five gigantic monsters of pure nightmare.
Warrior captain Gazef Stronoff stands firmly against these monstrosities in hopes of protecting King Ramposa III. Lord Ainz admires Gazef’s courage and agrees to a duel in exchange for allowing the Re-Estize army retreat without pursuit. In the blink of an eye, Gazef is killed by a death spell at the hands of Lord Ainz. King Ramposa III has no other option but to cede control of E-Rantel over to the Sorcerer King. Upon entering E-Rantel, Lord Ainz’s procession is confronted by the adamantite ranked adventurer Momon, the alter ego of Lord Ainz. A show for the people of the city is put on and Momon stands as the defender of the innocent of the city while agreeing to carry our Lord Ainz’s wishes if anyone falls out of line. Utilizing Momon as this symbol of protection for the people of E-Rantel now allows Ainz to have a direct line of communication for any potential uprising in the city.
Summary
Overlord season 3 has some great and not so great elements. The humor continues to be ever present throughout the series. The back and forth banter between Ainz and Demiurge are fantastic and revealing that Albedo is a virgin succubus is ironic gold. The intro music is hands down one of my favorites in all current running anime. The score is pretty great as well. While the animation is inconsistent at times, the majority is beautiful, especially when portraying magic. The character designs continue to be unique and esthetically pleasing. While the overall narrative of the season was a bit lackluster, the twist at the end with Momon confronting Ainz was exciting and sets up many possibilities for next season.
Now for the not so great. The abundant use of CG animation this season was distracting. I understand that animating large groups of soldiers is time consuming, but opting for subpar visuals is a disservice to an otherwise beautifully animated series. Pacing was a reoccurring issue. The first episode was almost painfully slow, most scenes with the human royal families dragged on for far too long and the rushed ending with Gazef’s death eliminated any possibility for emotional impact. And why in the world did the giant beasts that Ainz summoned sound like goats?!?! They were visually terrifying, but the moment they made a noise I was completely taken out of the moment. Season 3 struggled to incorporate characters they spent entire previous seasons introducing and building up. Overall, there were a lot of missed opportunities.
I know it doesn’t sound like it, but I really do enjoy Overlord. Is it the best anime out there? No. But do I have a lot of fun watching it (when the episodes are on point)? Absolutely! I’m a sucker for fantasy style anime with magic, monsters and fighting. Here’s hoping that season 4 gets announced and kicks it up a notch!
Box Set Review
Overlord season 3 box set includes all 13 episodes on Blu-ray, DVD and digital. The box art is an epic portrait or Lord Ainz Ooal Gown. Special features include commentaries for episodes 8 and 13, video commentary for episode 11, Play Play Pleiadas 3, special preview collection, chapter 1 preview, commercials and textless songs. You can order your copy of Overlord season 3 right here!
Note: Funimation provided us a review copy in exchange for an honest review.
