Overlord and Youjo Senki

Hello everyone. This is Justin and this is the Otaku Mind. Isekai anime has taken over the anime industry for quite sometime now. While isekai anime is nothing new, it’s been around for year, it didn’t start getting this level attention until a couple of years ago. It started with No Game No Life which got the ball rolling and showed us how great and unique isekai anime could be, but there were 4 animes out there that I believe made isekai anime such a popular genre and it helped changed it for the better. Those animes are Konosuba, Re:Zero, Overlord, and Youjo Senki. I like to call these animes the Four Horsemen of Isekai. They were new, fresh, original, great, and stood out from all the other isekai animes that came before and after them. I’ve already talk about Konosuba and Re:Zero and just how unique and different they are. Konosuba was lighthearted and funny. It showed us how much fun you can have with isekais and not take them seriously. Re:Zero on the other hand was dark and cruel. It showed us that isekais don’t always have to be bright and colorful. They can be violent, brutal, and downright sadistic. So, what about Overlord and Youjo Senki? What makes these two animes stand out from other isekai anime and puts them in the same league as Konosuba and Re:Zero? Well that’s what we’re here to discuss today. Come join me as we take a deeper look at Overlord and Youjo Senki.

The Main Characters

The first way these two animes stand out is the focus of the main character, Ainz and Tanya. Both of these characters are overpowered and can be seen as the villains of their own story. Now having the main character as a villain is nothing new. It’s been done in animes such as Death Note and Code Geass, but these were the first isekai animes we’ve seen where the main characters can be seen as the villains of their own story. Ainz is a leech and is the leader of a bunch of monsters who hate humans and show no mercy when killing them. Despite Ainz not really being a bad person deep down, he’s shown that he’s not afraid to kill other people to get what he wants and isn’t afraid to be merciless just like everyone else in his group. Tanya is also unbelievably evil. Despite having the appearance of a cute loli she has the mind of a ruthless salaryman who shows no remorse for any of his actions. She’s sadistic and isn’t afraid to kill other people if it means earning her points with the top brass. Plus, we’re rooting for a character who has possibly met God, rejects Him, and has declared that she’s going to kill God and take His place in that world. That is as evil as you can possibly get. Yet, despite these two characters being seen as the villains in their stories, we love these two. You can’t help but love how Ainz is being forced to go along with this world domination plan his followers have come up with but embraces it and how he’s forced to act like an overlord when really he’s just a salaryman trying to figure out how he got here and if it’s possible for him to get home. For Tanya, you can’t help but love how much joy and passion she gets out of destroying others and how underneath that sweet face is a demon whose just thinking of multiple ways to kill people and what she’s going to do when she gets her hands on Being X. On top of that these are OP characters done correctly. Despite being OP, they have a personality to their characters. Even though Ainz is a skeleton they really get a lot of great expressions out of him. He’s ruthless and merciless but has a sense of honor and fairness to him. He takes his opponents head on not afraid to face them and show them that he’s way more powerful than them and he can be kind and caring to those he considers his allies and those that he believe will benefit him. For Tanya despite her ruthless personality she truly is dedicated and remains loyal to her country. Even being ready and willing to go rogue just to make sure her side wins completely. Even though she may not show it, she does care for her squad and may possibly value their lives more then her life. While Tanya’s powers come more from her determination and drive to survive, when she does call upon her divine powers she shows everyone how she’s in a league of her own.

A good knowledge of their world

The second way these two animes stand out is a good knowledge of their world. In Overlord, Ainz is in the world of his favorite game. A game that he has spent hours upon hours playing and has become familiar with everything in it. The only real change is that the world is a lot bigger than he had originally thought but he’s adapted to it. He’s clearly the strongest being in this new world (as far as we know) and he knows how to manipulate it. He knows when to show off his strength to get others to submit to him and knows how to work from the shadows to get others to move the way he would like them to move. Ainz knows that there are still mysteries in this world that he doesn’t know but at the same time he knows how to work around those mysteries to get the answers he seeks and then use them to get more information that will benefit him in the future.

For Tanya, her world is basically an alternate version of our world during WWI where magic exists. While she doesn’t display it as much as Ainz, Tanya clearly has an idea of how this world’s history will play out if things are allowed to proceed the way they are now. Hence the reason for her outburst at the end of episode 11. For her everything up until that moment was victory but this one little slip up spelled defeat for her. She’s adjusted to this world exceptionally well and is not afraid to use its resources to her advantage to protect herself or to get ahead. When entering different worlds the main character usually has no idea what to expect from this world, but Ainz and Tanya do have some knowledge about their worlds. Whatever knowledge they don’t know, they’ll quickly figure it out and use it.

Character-driven stories

The final way these two shows separate themselves from other isekai is they are focused more on the characters then the actual world they’re in. If I had to describe Konosuba and Re:Zero, these two animes seem to place a bit more focus on the worlds that the characters are in and seeing how they’re going to interact with it. Both animes seem to be more plot-driven and have the characters change from the experience somewhat. In Overlord and Youjo Senki it’s kinda of the opposite. These two animes seem more character-driven. Rather then have the characters interact with the world, the world is interacting with them and the characters will interact with it. However, these two characters won’t change. Ainz and Tanya don’t change who they are as people and won’t change their methods. If anything, it’s hinted that they will not only continue to use the methods and act the way they’ve been acting but will only get more sadistic and diabolical as time goes on. Both of these two have a goal that only benefits them and no one else. They’re not afraid to use any means necessary to achieve their goal and will do it alone if they have to. The world on the other hand will change because of their actions. Sometimes these changes are good and sometimes they’re not. There’s no telling what the actions of Ainz and Tanya will have on the world but what we do know is that the world will never be the same and Ainz and Tanya will not change because they have no reason to change and don’t want to change.

Conclusion

So what makes Overlord and Youjo Senki stand out? It’s because of the focus and direction of their main characters. Characters who are seen as the villains of their stories but at the same time are characters who we cheer for. Characters who have some knowledge of their world and not completely in the dark like other characters in isekai anime. Finally, stories that are driven by the characters and not the plot. If Konosuba and Re:Zero showed us how to view isekai worlds from a different view then Overlord and Youjo Senki showed us how to view the characters of isekai words differently. Characters who don’t always have to be on the side of good but can be seen as evil or somewhere down the middle.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.

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