Goblins, zombies, and…giant hamsters? Overlord continues to explore its new world with a mixture of fantasy game themes and humor.
Creative Staff
Original Story: Kugane Maruyama
Art: Hugin Miyama
Character Design: so-bin
Translation: Emily Balistrieri
What They Say
Ainz goes undercover on a mission to learn more about his new world. Disguised as the adventurer Momon, Ainz finds unlikely allies – and unlikelier enemies. Sinister forces are threatening the peace of the land, and only the undead overlord can stand in their way!
Content: (please note that content portions of this review contains spoilers):
Momonga decides the best way to learn about his new world is to mix in with the citizenry. Luckily for him, this world has an entire Adventurer class that takes on jobs to make a living. It is right up his alley as he can both make money and gain notoriety in the hopes of catching the attention of the aristocracy. Plus, it is just like grinding dungeons for items and experience points.
While this series could easily spiral into a boring examination of video game themes and jargon sprinkled with panty shots like so many other series, the humor from Momonga’s interaction with his followers keeps that from happening. The humor isn’t just between him and his followers but also the way they interact with each other, especially Albedo and Shalltear. These two are constantly trying to one-up each other in front of their Lord Momonga.
With Momonga out adventuring, he has a chance to spend time with NPC’s, only in this world, they might as well be real people. They aren’t robotic like NPC’s and they have hopes and dreams like real people. This creates an interesting situation for Momonga. Where he would normally shrug his shoulders at the death of an NPC, he isn’t immune to feeling the loss of their life. Will Momonga just work this world as he would a game, or will he begin to empathize with the people around him and assimilate to his new and apparently permanent existence?
In Summary
At this point, it has become apparent that Momonga can’t even log out of the game if he wants. The real question is whether or not he will die for real if he dies in the game. Luckily for him, very few people in this world can even use Level 3 magic. But what if other veteran players from the real world were also caught in this fantasy world like him? If that has happened, then he could find himself in serious danger and this series could be injected with a sense of mortality. Or we can just continue to enjoy the humor behind Albedo’s one-sided love affair with Momonga.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: B
Age Rating: Older Teen
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: September 20th, 2016
MSRP: $13.00
