Season 4 of Overlord
Genre(s): Isekai, Fantasy, Military, Political
Age-Appropriateness: 15+ (Violence, profanity, suggestive themes)
Platforms: Crunchyroll, Funimation
Episodes: 13
TheAwersome Rating: 7.7 / 10 (More intriguing than before, but not without gripes)
Premise: Ainz isn’t basking in quite as much glory as he would like after conquering E-Rantel. Once a prosperous hub of commerce, the recent war and takeover have driven trade to a halt. Ainz must find a solution to the economic problems his conquering has brought, while managing his image to both the neighboring countries and his own subordinates. What enemies lie in wait, heretofore unseen? Where will the “helpful” scheming of his underlings lead?
TheAwersome’s Thoughts: I liked this season more than the general previous ones for the most part. The political issues that arose were interesting, and there’s just enough good still around in Ainz that it keeps you hoping he won’t be as callously destructive as he’s been before. And there’s good progress in that aspect, but also a few steps back. The comedy aspect in general is toned down this season, with a greater focus on not having terrible CGI (man those goblins from previous seasons were atrocious) but presenting interesting dilemmas that can’t simply be solved with raw power and military strength.
Unfortunately, there’s still some of the same issues from before, and that’s just simply getting lost in the massive web of countries, organizations, characters, and politics of those outside of Nazarick. There’s also the subplots that don’t seem to contribute to anything larger, be it character growth or plot. The world, premise, and general characters are fascinating enough that I’ll keep watching it though.
TLDR: More interesting than previous seasons, with some of my same qualms about direction and complex, seemingly unnecessary details.
I don’t have a super deep exploration here of the nuance of villain protagonists, (at least not here, maybe I’ll do an opinion piece later) but I did want to touch on some points. Similarly to Macbeth, I feel that Ainz isn’t in and of himself, a truly evil character, at least not initially, you know, keep an eye out for that, I’ma do a big old Macbeth / Ainz comparison later on, I have a headache right now and am already a day late getting this review out.
Basically, what stood out as interesting to me is how often Ainz, because of his pride in wanting to live up to his subordinates’ worshipping views as an infallible Supreme Being, is easily manipulated into atrocity after atrocity, all to save face and not break the illusion and belief of those who adore him and seek his approval. Man, I really have more I want to say on this, so I’ma go into a big Opinion piece later, so keep your eyes out for that, I’ve still got Thanksgiving hangover going on here today.
You’ll Likely Enjoy This if You Enjoyed:
- Previous seasons of Overlord
- Anti-Hero/Villain main character of Saga of Tanya the Evil
- Exploration of struggles that being Overpowered can’t fix of One Punch Man.
At a Glance Anime 