Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj, and welcome to another year of Aniween. I have a lot of fun anime to review this month such as today’s anime, Overlord. It’s hard to believe it’s been 11 years since the first season aired. Since making its debut, Overlord has gone on to become one of the major pillars of isekai anime loved by fans and setting the standards for what we look for in isekai anime. In 2022, Overlord would release its fourth season essentially catching up to the novel. Let’s see Ains continue is path of destruction kick off Aniween 26’ with a bang. This is Overlord S4.
Opening and Ending Theme
Our opening for this season is “Hollow Hunger” by OxT. One of my favorite openings from 2022 and continues the tradition of great Overlord openings. OxT’s songs match perfectly with Overlord and this song is no exception. The steady build up feels like a climatic showdown between those that appear to stand a chance against Ains only to fail like so many others before them. If I had to rank this song, I say it’s my second favorite opening behind the first opening.
For the ending, we have a new singer. Instead of Myth & Roid, we have “No Man’s Dawn” by Mayu Maeshima. While I’m sad Myth & Roid didn’t grace us this season, Mayu does a fantastic job singing the ending with lyrics that up perfectly with Ains and reveal his true nature. In fact, the stunning artwork in this ending does a good job revealing the true nature of all the characters. Overall, this is my second favorite ending in the series behind Hydra.
Episodes 1-4
The season starts off with Ains running the nation and approving paperwork (you’d think running a nation would be fun, but sadly there’s a lot of paperwork. If only it were simpler like Civilization). Mare and Aura arrive where we see there’s a little bit of a rivalry developing between Aura and Albedo for Ains’s attention (he’s one popular bag of bones. Scene here: https://youtu.be/CI0njtkNeoA?si=YynhF32EGRpiSRW2). They set aside their grudge to focus on the supply situation in the nation. Ever since Ains took over, merchants have stopped visiting the city (why, he’s a good businessman to work with) and it’s starting to affect their supplies. Ains decides to send Albedo to the kingdom to deal with this situation and while she’s away Pandora’s Actor will serve Ains in her place (that’ll be a delight). Pandora’s Actor does ask Ains the question of what he intends to do with the nation (which is a good question). Will they enslave the people or make the nation better than what it once was? This is something that Ains hasn’t really thought of. As he walks the streets he sees how everyone is afraid of him. He heads to the Adventurer’s guild where he wants the guild to work for the Nation of Darkness which is something the guild normally wouldn’t do (they’re a neutral party. They don’t get involved in wars and don’t side with any nations. It’d be bad for business if the side they were on was the losing side). Ains talks to the guild master where he wants to turn the adventurers into real adventurers, exploring the unknown and building connections that make the nation great. After this talk, we see how Ains has a clear goal for the future. He wants to create a utopia where everyone will ask to be ruled by him (tis a great dream when the world recognizes your brilliance. I too have dreams of the day people would finally wake up and see me as a suitable ruler of the world. Seriously, under my rule there will be universal healthcare. Fair wages for every line of work. Affordable housing. Safety and security for kids wanting to go outside and play).
In episode 2 we start off in the Re-Estize kingdom. We see Renner at an orphanage reading to some kids who became orphans after the events of last season (that massacre was only the tip of the iceberg). We find out that the orphanage was Brain’s idea as he’s hoping to find talented individuals and one day take down Ains (dude, just fall under his rule and you’ll know prosperity). Speaking of Brain, we see him training at a temple led by Vesture a retired adventurer (and our wise old hermit for the evening). Back at Re-Estize, we see the kingdom is now being run by Zanac the second prince since Barbro is MIA (yeah, he dead). Ains sends a representative to Re-Estize for a diplomatic mission, and we see it’s Albedo (oh boy. Someone is going to die). Re-Estize hosts a party welcoming Albedo where a noble’s son named Philip has become smitten by her (doesn’t surprise me). Philip’s plan is to get into Albedo’s good graces in the hopes of scoring points with Ains and help his family and territory prosper (you’re playing with fire. . .boy). He organizes a ball with the help of a wealthy commoner named Hilma (remember that woman Mare dragged away in season 2? This is her). The party seems to be going well and Albedo maintains a calm demeanor but in truth she’s disgusted by Philip lusting for her body and touching her (scene here: https://youtu.be/1d6dtohv0Rc?si=4t9WojyoEbtD4ugI). As the credits roll, we find out that Hilma is Albedo’s puppet. She plans to make Philip as well as the young nobles her puppets to control the kingdom. We also see Renner is in league with her (the rabbit hole goes deeper than I thought).
At the start of episode 3 we get a cute scene where Ains is seeing Albedo off where he tells her to take care of herself like an overprotective dad (they don’t call him bone daddy for nothing). Albedo requests a kiss before she leaves as a way to protect herself from any illnesses and he obliges with a kiss on the cheek (scene here: Scene here: https://youtu.be/TEJK5XorrwQ?si=QwYJmExTi_6tfeHl). We then cut to the Slane Theocracy where the priests are deep in discussions about Ains and coming up with countermeasures against him (my advice, get on his good side and hope that he leaves you alone). Meanwhile, Jircniv is going through his own problems. Apparently, a majority of his knights wish to resign after the war (I’d call it a massacre more than a war) from last season saying that they’ve lost their will to fight (it’s got him so stressed out that his hair is falling out). The theocracy does reach out to him as they seem to want to form an alliance to take out Ains, but Jircniv knows meeting them in his empire would be dangerous and makes plans to meet with them in secret. He meets them at the Colosseum where Ains arrives as a surprise participant. He goes to greet Jircniv and puts him into a trap set up by Ains to prove his loyalty and crush any hope he had at forming an alliance with the theocracy (scene here: https://youtu.be/fr4P4BuC8J0?si=e90B-kLD036DaOPJ). The priests take their leave with most of them believing Jircniv set them up and now they don’t trust him, but he pleads with them to stick around and watch the match in the hopes of finding some weakness in Ains (the funny thing about all of this is that Ains really does want to be Jircniv’s friend. Him showing up at the Colosseum and intruding on Jircniv and the others was by pure coincidence. Although, it is a funny story how he got there).
Episode 4 starts off with a flashback. After Ains sees Albedo off, he decides he wants to proactively advertise the strength of the Sorcerer’s Kingdom in order to recruit more adventurers to his side. He sneaks into the empire with the guildmaster who tells him they can advertise by having Ains fight in the Colosseum. The guildmaster is good friends with the Colosseum’s promoter and arranges a meeting for Ains tomorrow. Ains uses this time to check in with Fluder (hopefully he doesn’t have an orgasm when he sees Ains again) to get information about the Warrior King who he’ll be facing as well as impart some worldly knowledge on him. The next day he meets the promoter, Osk (who has the tiniest eyes I have ever seen. I think he’s in the wrong anime), who will allow Ains to fight but he can’t use magic (well that limits him to only 999,999 ways to kill). We then return to the present where Ains takes on the Warrior King who we find out is a war troll. They have a decent match where it’s obvious Ains is holding back big time, but he is enjoying himself and even makes a deal to recruit the Warrior King if he wins. Ains wins the fight, revives the Warrior King and then makes his recruitment announcement asking adventurers to come to his kingdom and become real adventurers. As Ains is about to take his leave, Jircniv in a final act of desperation says he wants to turn the empire into a vassal state for Ains. Not really knowing what that is he says no for now (seriously, man? I barely have a reason to care and even I know what a vassal state is). Once again Jircniv is overthinking and panicking for his life (scene here: https://youtu.be/-WzNY8aYFOE?si=zwvgCkz2twx3fvG0).
Episodes 5-8
Episode 5 starts off with Albedo and Demiurge talking. Ains has decided to place them in charge on Jircniv’s request to become a vassal state while he’s away. We cut to Ains getting ready to head out to the dwarf kingdom. Last episode he found a sword with runes in it that were created by the dwarves (dwarven technology is always impressive. What they lack in size they make up for it in ingenuity). These kinds of weapons haven’t been seen in over a hundred years. Ains wants this technology for himself and decides to go there in person in order to establish friendly relationships as it might be another human player who taught the dwarves how to do this. Aura will be tagging along as his bodyguard with Shalltear and her family as support where Ains hopes this trip will be a learning experience for her to grow. They get led by Zenberu who had dealings with them in the past, so he knows where their kingdom is. When they do finally reach the kingdom they’re shocked to find out that the place has been abandoned. Aura finds an elf named Gondo who tells them that the dwarves moved to a city called Feo Jera about three years ago. It’s a six-day journey north of their location. Gondo talks about runes where he says the weapon was most likely designed by a runesmith. Gondo comes from a family of runesmiths, but it started to die out when magic casters started to appear and made the enchanting of swords a lot quicker (but pretty expensive. Especially if you want to make high-grade magic items. You’d be better off crafting the runes yourself. It may take longer but it beats losing expensive materials). Gondo wants to revive runecrafting as he believes there’s still untapped potential here and Ains is willing to support him in his cause as long as he’s ready to sell his soul. Ains, Aura, and Gondo meet back up with Shalltear who reports that kobold-like creatures called Quagoa have entered the city. These creatures are the reason the dwarves abandoned the kingdom, as they eat metal from an early age and have fur as tough as metal armor. The rarer the metal the stronger they get and those with colored fur are the strongest of the bunch. Ains orders Shalltear to capture them all and when she does she uses a charm spell on their leader to find out why they’re here (scene here: https://youtu.be/iDTs7rTm9P4?si=OD5zI1gi_Vx4SMW8). It turns out the Quagoa are waging war on the dwarves. They’ve figured out a way pass Feo Jera’s defenses and are going to slaughter all the dwarves inside. This group was assigned to kill any stragglers that escaped the city and fled here.
We begin episode 6 in Feo Jera (it’s more underground than I imagined) with the dwarves fighting back against the Quagoa. Ains arrives and offers to help them which the general of the dwarves accepts. Using the Death Knights, the Quagoa are driven away for the time being (they scare easily but they’ll be back. . .and in greater numbers). With the Quagoa situation under control for the time being, Ains meets the council of dwarves since they don’t have a king and discovers that his two Death Knights were defeated (https://youtu.be/TH6Acpzurb0). Ains suspects it was a player who killed them and if so he may have found the culprit who brainwashed Shalltear. In actuality, they just fell to their deaths when the bridge got destroyed. Returning to the dwarves, Ains offers to reclaim their capital from the Quagoa in exchange for the runesmiths in the kingdom (sounds like an unfair trade. . .for Ains). The dwarves agree to his terms after much deliberation (most of it being how scared they are of Ains. Scenes here: https://youtu.be/bLX_W9WFVT4?si=m3Zb8XDbvsV9mcLd and https://youtu.be/OBmudIclYfs?si=5YA9eOTvRCGf5oZ3) and Ains heads out with Shalltear, Aura, and Gondo to the royal capital. Their plan is for Aura and Shalltear to handle the Quagoa while Ains will handle the frost dragon they supposedly have under their control.
At the start of episode 7, we see the leader of the Quagoas go to the frost dragon to request aid in their upcoming battle. We see that it’s not just one dragon but instead, a clan of dragons who answer to the alpha dragon and have been exploiting the Quagoas to get more gold (dragons: the yakuza of the fantasy world). Their leader, Olasird’arc (that’s a cool name for a dragon) sends their son, Hejinmal to help the Quagoas. Unlike the other dragons, Hejinmal is more of a bookworm than a meathead and spends most of his time reading books (what a NEET. Now the anime does water down the way he’s treated by his family. In the novels his family despises him. Olasird’arc considers him a disgrace and his mothers think he’s worthless). Hejinmal goes to face Ains and the others where he immediately submits to them (see, he is smart). Ains gives him to Aura as her new pet and then he goes to face the other dragons with Gondo. Ains kills Olasird’arc and establishes himself as the new alpha of the dragons (scene here: https://youtu.be/StiYZKomMrQ?si=0Tym37qePljgUod4, well that was incredibly easy). He and Gondo unlock the treasury and are stunned by the mountain of gold (there’s so much here that even Scrooge McDuck would be drooling). Returning to Shalltear and Aura, they approach the Quagoa and give them the choice, have 10,000 join them or be killed by Shalltear. They pick the latter and Shalltear kills until only 10,000 are left standing. 4,000 males and females each, and 2,000 children (scene here: https://youtu.be/Qf_dSum81Ic?si=7gTmic_qxW3pkgIN, in hindsight, this was the quicker path instead of having them do it). And just like that Ains made the frost dragons and Quagoas submit to him, formed a partnership with the dwarves, and now has runesmiths (he managed to accomplish things in two episodes which would have taken any other character two seasons to do).
In episode 8 Philip does something stupid and attacks a wagon of food belonging to the Sorcerer’s Kingdom that was headed to the Theocracy (well you just made the biggest mistake of your stupid life). Hilma gets brought before Ains as a witness and she’s pretty much scared for her life (I mean she got dragged away by Mare and he was the nicest of the bunch. Imagine what the others will do if they find out she had any part in this). Ains manages to save her from punishment and moved by his mercifulness becomes smitten by him (man, why do all the crazy women fall for him?). They send her back unharmed (scene here: https://youtu.be/Hx2wp7ugFks?si=UI6ouTt9gNpWdbaF) and then we learn about his plan to bring down the kingdom. The plan is to incite a civil war and peacefully absorb the citizens, but the problem is it’s moving at a slow pace and the stupidity of Philip has caused them to worry about a hidden hand moving the pieces from the shadows and causing chaos (because let’s face it, nobody would be that stupid to attack them. And if they were then they deserve death). At first, everyone wants to kill the traitors, but they realize that might be a little too extreme only to return to the extreme when they believe Ains brought the empire under his control with ease and decide to make an example of the kingdom for everyone to see. They send a letter to the kingdom threatening war and Zanac (the second prince) says they should offer Philip’s head as an apology. But the king is against it as he believes Philip was set up and this was all a ploy by Ains to start a war (look, I know it’s unbelievable, but some people are that stupid. Go on Twitter and you’ll see what I mean). As the credits roll Albedo arrives at the kingdom and meets with the king where he’s prepared to offer his head to protect the kingdom.
Episodes 9-13
Episode 9 begins with the king’s negotiations not mattering as they declare war (peace was never an option. Only death). They will invade the kingdom one month from now (feel free to pray to your god. Spoilers, Ains won’t be listening) and Albedo delivers a message from Ains saying he won’t be using big spells and intends to enjoy this war to its fullest (scene here: https://youtu.be/_3K094JNLNI?si=h6dL1BsmhOn1Jmzl). A month passes and in preparation for the war, Ains pays a visit to Nigredo the big sister of Albedo (she has a sister?). Ains banned her from leaving Nazarick and we see that she’s an activist for humans and wants to avoid going to war (wow, the big sister is sensible. Didn’t see that coming). While Ains says that’s impossible he’s not against sparing a few in order to spread fear of how powerful he is, but the question is will the others allow it? We then go to E-Naeul a port city where Ains is waging his first battle. The city is fighting against a group of undead farmers led by two death knights where it seems like the death knights will win, but then the unexpected happens. An adventurer shows up flying through the sky in armor like a Mandalorian and wielding a gun (well, it looks we found another player). The adventurer easily defeats the death knights and flies away with Ains expecting something like this happening.
So in episode 10 we find out that the man in the red suit isn’t another player but instead an adventurer named Azuth the leader of Red Drop who just happens to be the uncle of Lakyus the leader of Blue Rose. He’s a noble and a womanizer (he’s definitely the Tony Stark of this series). While speaking with Blue Rose the conversation gets disrupted by Black Scripture, elite forces from the theocracy who have come asking for their help in defeating Ains. Azuth says no as does Lakyus. Returning to Ains, he and his forces easily crush every village and army they come across until they’re finally at the doorsteps of Re-Estize. Before the battle, Zanac and Ains speak with one another giving us the best scene in the entire episode (scene here: https://youtu.be/Nb8TRIo9SrQ?si=psSM6QA1uBYbkHaR, while this season may have some pacing issues you have to praise it for what it does incredibly well). They leave where you can sense the two have formed a deep respect for one another. Ains sees Zanac as a true noble (Zanac knows he’s going to die, but he intends to go down fighting to protect his kingdom. He’s got that Viking mindset) while Zanac sees that Ains is human despite having the appearance of a monster. When he returns to his tent, the nobles who were present stage a rebellion in order to save their own skin. They kill Zanac and present his head to Ains who is pissed. He promises to spare them but he’s going to make them pay by torturing them and orders his men to crush Re-Estize with no mercy as he has lost all interest (scene here: https://youtu.be/Rv6opwhSbs8?si=Hs9yC0Te0ctRZ8l1).
Not much happens in episode 11. As Ains’s army marches on the kingdom, Azuth appears and fights against Albedo. While that’s going on, Ains gets attacked by a mysterious new character calling himself Riku (no, this isn’t a crossover with Kingdom Hearts, they don’t have the money for Mickey and Sora). Riku does seem to hold his own against Ains but he’s not able to damage him so the fight doesn’t really go anywhere. Once Albedo returns Riku retreats and meets back up with Azuth. We find out that Riku is actually a dragon named Tsa and he knows about the players and NPCs. He thinks Albedo is a player and Ains an NPC as she was able to break through a world-class barrier. Ains and Albedo return to Nazerick where we see the Ains who fought against Riku was actually Pandora’s Actor (that explains why he was acting so strange during the whole fight). Ains watched the whole fight and wants to hear their thoughts on Riku.
In episode 12 Cocytus and Aura invade the kingdom (scene here: https://youtu.be/zJ4EVW_3FiE?si=MRu7Cmn7rVPqazis). There’s really not much going on until the end when Brain approaches Cocytus to stop him. It’s a short one-move fight that ends in a flash with Brain dying, however, gaining the respect of Cocytus who won’t ask Ains to revive him in order to preserve his honor and resolve as warrior. Cocytus preserves Brain in ice (brain freeze) and even walks around a building to avoid walking over him (scene here: https://youtu.be/W9ZMoP1VAx8?si=nKqNCONfqmuht_jB, that’s respect right there). As for the stuff with Riku, Ains says there’s not enough information to go off in this battle and believes a second defeat might be necessary in order to get a full gauge of his powers.
In the final episode, we start with Mare psyching herself (I mean himself) up. Back at the castle, the only ones remaining are Renner, Climb, and the king. Renner has Climb hide some palace materials in a secret location while Aura captures the magical items they held in the capital. Once Climb makes it back to the castle, he sees that the king has been killed and Ains has arrived with Albedo and Demiurge. He gives Climb the privilege of fighting him directly (what an honor) where Ains easily defeats and kills him but thanks to Renner he gets brought back to life (scene here: https://youtu.be/MATUgoggU7g?si=mXGC33eklKwJ4PGY). When Climb wakes back up he’s greeted by Renner who has been transformed into a demon and tells him the truth. Renner pledged her allegiance to Ains in return for Climb’s resurrection and now she wants Climb to become a demon with her so that they can always be together. He agrees and Renner takes her leave overjoyed that she finally got what she’s always (and all it cost was her kingdom, family, and citizens. I think we found the evilest person in this anime). She even gets a villainous song number (scene here: https://youtu.be/NLDCzuSexnE?si=_Z_4_oK6VkJ_ELaA. My God, she is an old-school Disney villain. Just have her sing Hellfire and it’ll be the best moment in the entire anime). Near the end of the episode, we see Phillip get his comeuppance from Albedo and Ains destroys the kingdom sending a message out to the world that fighting him. . .is the biggest mistake you will ever make.
Final Thoughts
And that was season 4 of Overlord. Out of the seasons this one probably has the most going on. There’s the situation in the empire, there’s the dwarfs, the kingdom, Tsa, etc. There’s a lot going on but it’s all balanced out and given enough time to be told. While they do skip over a few notable things they manage to show the important stuff. It is nice to see Ains start having some goals on what he wants to do and keep his eyes peeled for any other players in the world. I do feel bad for Climb. The poor kid is so oblivious to what’s going on that it’s almost sad. I don’t know if Renner sees him as a toy or if she’s really in love with him. Whatever the case this girl has cemented herself as the evilest person in this series. I don’t know how you top someone this evil. It is sad to see someone like Brain and Zanac die, but I do like the respect Cocytus shows to him as well as the respect Ains shows to Zanac. I was also happy to see Philip get what he deserves at the end courtesy of Albedo.
The animation is nice. Nothing much has changed from the previous season. Although I will say the CGI has gotten better. The fights are pretty one-sided and I have to admit it is starting to get a little boring seeing Ains and his crew just bulldoze everyone they come across. I’m hoping that they come across stronger opponents in the future who can give them a run for their money. We got a glimpse of that with Tsa so I’m hoping we see more of him in the future.
Final Score
The final score for Overlord S4 is an 8/10. A good follow up to the last season and shows once again just how dominant and strong Ains is. I look forward to when the next season comes out and I can’t wait to see who Ains conquers next or what his next move will be. Season 5 seems like it’ll be the final season for this series once it airs as the novel is also ending soon so I look forward to seeing where we got from here. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
