オーバーロード IV Overlord IV
Synopsis
Overlord IV is about E-Rantel, the capital city of the newly established Sorcerer Kingdom, suffers from a dire shortage of goods. Once a prosperous city known for its trade, it now faces a crisis due to its caution—or even fear—of its king, Ainz Ooal Gown. To make amends, Ainz sends Albedo to the city as a diplomatic envoy.
Meanwhile, the cardinals of the Slane Theocracy discuss how to retaliate against Ainz after his attack crippled the Re-Estize Kingdom’s army, plotting for the Baharuth Empire to take over the Sorcerer Kingdom. However, when Emperor Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix arranges a meeting with the Theocracy’s messengers at a colosseum, he is confronted by none other than Ainz himself.
With their secret gathering now out in the open, the emperor and his guests learn that Ainz has challenged the Warrior King, the empire’s greatest fighter, to a duel. With Ainz’s motivations beyond his comprehension, Jircniv can do nothing but watch as humanity’s future changes before his very eyes.
Reviews
The great return of the best isekai ever made after a long 4 year rest. It’s been a long while of no Overlord and we all thought Madhouse had thrown in the towel but they are back with Season 4 and so is everyone else. Since 2018, we’ve been handed a lot of new shitter isekais that nobody asked for or wanted and now Overlord IV is back to reclaim his throne like Ains as the ruler of isekai.
Story
The main flaw of isekai is that it boils its settings and interactions to just a single kingdom and then a single village off to the side. Chad Overlord, however, expands the world to multiple kingdoms who all have a relevant place in the story. And not only that, the little poor village right next to the kingdom troupe that isekai’s use is creatively built into Overlord as something Ains “saves” just like a typical isekai but in reality just wants to rule over. Every troupe that isekai’s have, Overlord uses but puts its own little Overlord twist into it. Finally, the overpowered mc actually uses his power and does shit with it instead of being the typical “I want to protect everyone I love and save innocent people cause.. idk I’m a isekai protagonist what else am I supposed to do?” Yeah fuck you bitch this is Ains Ooal motherfucking Gown we’re talking about. Chad Ains uses humans in this show as pawns and has the most badass group of servants to back him up. To the Floor Guardians to the Pleiades to the infinite number of undead guards he has at his disposal, Ains tramples everything in his way and does so in such an entertaining way.
Art
The animation during the fight scenes are fantastic but lets address the elephant in the room. Good lord Madhouse fix that piece of shit CGI you got. They have the most stellar animation and then in the background some of the worst CGI characters that ruin the moment. I understand budget and time constraints but, gawd dayum.
Sound
One of the only shows that doesn’t have a single bad opening
Characters
Easily one of the best supporting cast of characters I’ve seen in a while. While most of them end up sucking Ains’s balls, they all have their own personalities that seem to play off each other in an entertaining and enjoyable way. Not to mention of course how god damn badass all of them are. They could tear you into a million pieces and they know they can. Ains is such an amusing character to watch as his title doesn’t justify his presence. He rarely knows what’s going on but because he is in such a high position, they all think he’s a mastermind genius which is a funny take on a protagonist. But when he does know what he wants, he can be seriously intimidating and show his true power. All the supporting cast are super intriguing and it is a blast watching them and Ains slowly but surely take over the entire world.
Enjoyment
Through all 4 seasons there was never a point where I would say I was bored. The story flows through each season and it was a great time watching the story expand from a skeleton man having a vast labyrinth to him moving multiple pieces at once and claiming entire kingdoms under his name. The character interactions with Ains are also a treat to watch and it really adds a bit of humanity to the same people who think humans are less than dirt. And while they do show human-like characteristics, they would easily torture and kill anyone Ains requests and it is such a cool concept to a show. Overall, it is a super fun ride and a new branch off of the isekai genre that took the world by storm, including my own intrigue.
Overall
Just as Nazarick sits on top of humanity, Overlord IV sits on top of the isekai genre and will live on as a classic in the respected genre.
