Overlord

Overlord (Japanese: オーバーロード, Hepburn: Ōbārōdo) is a Japanese light novel series written by Kugane Maruyama and illustrated by so-bin. It began serialization online in 2010, before being acquired by Enterbrain. Fourteen volumes have been published since July 30, 2012. The author has stated that he has planned for 17 novels but with enough popularity may continue further. A manga adaptation by Satoshi Ōshio, with art by Hugin Miyama, began serialization in Kadokawa Shoten's manga magazine Comp Ace from November 26, 2014. Both the light novels and the manga are licensed in North America by Yen Press, with a release date of November 8, 2016.

The anime television series adaptation by Madhouse consists of 3 seasons with 13 episodes each, with the first season airing from July 7 to September 29, 2015. Two Compilation film|compilation anime films recapping the events from the first season were released in Japan on February 25, 2017, and March 11, 2017, respectively. The second season ran from January 9 to April 3, 2018, with the third season premiering later the same year on July 10, 2018, after which the last episode aired on October 2, 2018. The scriptwriter for the anime series discussed the possibility of the fourth season at AnimagiC 2019 in Germany, saying that it was "extremely likely" that it would be produced.

Plot
In the year 2126, a Dive Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game or DMMORPG called YGGDRASIL was released, standing out among all other DMMORPGs due to its unusually high ability for the player to interact with the game. After an intense twelve-year run, the game servers are about to be shut down. Within the game exists a guild, Ainz Ooal Gown, once consisting of 41 members and credited as one of the strongest guilds in the game. Now only four of the members remain, the other 37 having quit the game, and only one, a skeletal "Overlord" character named Momonga, continues to play as the guild leader, maintaining their headquarters in The Great Tomb of Nazarick. In the minutes before the shutdown he invites the remaining guild members, but of those only one appears and only for a short while before leaving. While saddened by this, he accepts the reality that his friends have their other lives to take care of and decides to stay logged in until the servers shut down.

When the shut-down time arrives, Momonga finds that the game hasn't vanished; instead, it appears as if Nazarick has been transported to another reality altogether along with its various NPCs gaining sentience. Momonga has been trapped in the form of his game avatar, leaving him unable to use the normal player functions such as General Message, or even to log out. With no other option, Momonga sets out to learn if anyone from the real world is also in this new world with him. Taking on the name of the guild, Ainz Ooal Gown, as a message to any other remaining players, Momonga begins exploring the world in an attempt to figure out what has happened while searching for anyone or anything that could help him solve this mystery, while ensuring the safety of Nazarick. Ainz Ooal Gown seems to have modifications made to his behavior by in-game mechanics, because he demonstrates no moral qualms with killing and other actions that are taboo in the real world. This is a story about the psychology of a creature beyond ethical concerns with near-limitless power.

Gallery

 * Characters