Overlord IV – 01

「アインズ・ウール・ゴウン魔導国」 (Ainzu Uuru Goun Madou Kuni)
“Sorcerous Nation of Ainz Ooal Gown”

To say I’ve been missing Overlord would be doing it injustice. This isekai has always held a commanding spot in my genre favourites, whether it be the flip from saving the world to outright conquering it, the fun had between the characters and their chemistries, or simply featuring Albedo doing Albedo things. As a series it’s had its ups and downs, but I am not about to turn my nose up at a fourth season – and so far at least such thought has proven fruitful.

Given we’re over 40 episodes into skeleton man does fantasy global conquest I won’t bother much with any overview: if you haven’t already seen Overlord you know exactly where to get started. Not like this opener helps either in that regard, as outside of a few flashbacks we’re only looking at some cameos for prior arcs. The maid force; Hamsuke the hamster on steroids; hell even Pandora’s Actor: quite a few appearances of interesting cast, albeit not the ones we’re arguably all here for. That position is rightfully reserved for Nazarick’s finest because nothing says hilarity like having the subordinates vie for attention. Among other things, heh.

While Albedo is naturally top of the pile thanks to that wicked combination of personality and overbearing love featured in all its glory, it was nice seeing Mare and Aura get some well-deserved attention right off the bat as well. The sheer number of cast and varying personalities at play often makes for some wickedly entertaining scenes in Overlord (as proven here), though the number conversely can limit just how many see centre stage for any given arc. Letting Aura in particular flex against Albedo was worth all the accompanying gut busting received here, and was something only made better by the knowledge we have yet to see Shalltear again. Don’t deny, you know full well when Albedo reminisces over lap-time cuddles that the vampiric cursing will truly be a sight to behold.

And as for the meat and potatoes in terms of story, well, that is a work in progress. This episode was largely a filler on that front; outside of kingdom building and Ainz renewing his commitment to conquering the world (now in the name of utopian peace, because that’s never gone wrong before) we’re in wait and see mode, but you can already get a sense of what’s coming. Between Ainz subsuming E-Rantel’s adventurer’s guild for the sake of exploration and diplomatic relations and encouraging his subordinates to independently grow and forge their own paths, expect plenty of surprise encounters, misunderstandings galore, and lots of action to ensure Ainz’s Sorcerer Kingdom can properly maintain the peace.

After all, for all we’ve seen to date there’s still a whole wide world yet to explore in Overlord, and this season will take some important strides along that front. Sit back and keep the popcorn handy boys and girls, this ride is just getting started.