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Harleyquin



Joined: 29 May 2014
Posts: 2815
PostPosted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 9:27 am Reply with quote
#7

It was only in the first episode in the first season that viewers got to see how Nazarick fended off a huge-scale raid when they were still in the game world of Yggdrasil. Viewers following this series are now positively salivating to see what Ains and company have planned for a small group of adventurers hailing from a world which is vastly inferior in power to the Nazarick visitors.

It starts off very innocuously with two groups making preemptive treasure grabs from the outer chambers. Even the initial horde of skeletons was deliberately sent along to lure the raiders into a false sense of security. It's when the groups split up that the screws are REALLY turned on. Viewers are introduced to two new Nazarick denizens as well as the job responsibilities they bear (leading to absolutely horrid deaths for the unfortunate victims who happen to be present).

Well done Hamsuke! You've actually proved Ains's hypothesis that characters who were mere NPCs in the game world can grow and develop in the new world. The swordsman got what he deserved, although I'm not sure what's going to happen to the kept elves since the orders were to take on ALL of the intruders, not just the swordsman.

Foresight is probably lucky that they're in the Colosseum and Ains is personally coming out to face them. If the plan is to leave at least one party alive to spread the word about the new nation, then Foresight is going to be the "lucky" group. How many survivors are left alive to actually spread the word is another matter, although I'm guessing the mage might be the one since she is the only person who can make a connection between Ains and Momon.

For the first time in a long while, it's two consecutive episodes of action with Nazarick denizens administering the absolute beatdown on the world's best warriors. I'm really looking forward to see what happens afterwards, especially as the Bloody Emperor and his court mage aren't even joining in the fun right now.
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 22, 2018 1:37 am Reply with quote
Well the tomb was made to be dungeon, to invite challengers into challenging it, so it is kind of good to see someone finally try. Although they are way out of depths in level, that they likely stand no chance on the first level.
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Harleyquin



Joined: 29 May 2014
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 28, 2018 10:04 am Reply with quote
#8

Ouch. Foresight are no chumps in the world they inhabit, but Ainz without using his usual magic regalia and with a regular sword and shield still made them feel like they had no chance of escape or victory (it doesn't help he's immune to every attack they throw at him). Once he dropped the melee gear, it took less than 5 minutes off-screen to incapacitate them all. I noticed elsewhere spoiler[that the heavy chains worn around the lizardmen and Ains are supposed to reduce the combat potential of wielders in favour of increased XP gain], but even with the handicap it's another episode where the power differential between Nazarick and most of the world they now inhabit is rammed home without subtlety.

Looks like Entoma is a big beneficiary of the raid. I like what Ainz had to say about "recycling": it is the most honourable way to commemorate the foolish thieves and leaves nothing to waste, no matter how much Ainz found the workers beneath them he still found a way to make them serve him, the denizens of Nazarick and the memory of his absent compatriots.

Viewers are told from the beginning that this is part of Demiurgos's grand plan to announce Nazarick as an independent force in its own right on the world stage, but there is one thing still nagging me. From the post-credits scene it is clear the Bloody Emperor was responsible for planning the raid and hoped to pin the blame on the stooge noble who paid the workers up front to hide his involvement, but where did he get the information on the Tomb in the first place? Did he ascertain it via his court magician or did Demiurgos manipulate the court in some way? Based on what the Foresight leader had to say, there are two competing narratives with the other being Demiurgos himself telling the workers personally they had permission to raid Nazarick; Ains did not want the other guardians to hear about this aspect of the plan hence the order to cover their ears.

Nothing like a statement of intent by flying in with a tame Gold Forest Dragon and then summoning a minor earthquake to kill off the elite palace guards surrounding the dragon. Ains wants an apology, but he's effectively declared war on one of the strongest kingdoms in the new continent. Now to see what the Bloody Emperor, his court mage, the four Bodyguards and the rest of the regular army can do.

The Pleiades skit has settled into its theme for the series for several episodes now, but I found the turn of Hamusuke and the Death Knight more hilarious than the past two weeks. Probably because it's the first time the pair have featured and Ains himself isn't dismissive of their comical posturing.
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Harleyquin



Joined: 29 May 2014
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2018 9:50 am Reply with quote
#9

This would be probably the first, the only and the last time an Emperor is made to look like a puppet dancing on somebody's palm. Although it's all part of Ainz/Demiurgos's master plan to conquer the world, it has to be so baffling to be the beneficiary of random whims when incurring the wrath of said person would result in complete and utter annihilation. After all the action from last week, it's another change of pace with a few surreal vignettes thrown in for good measure (I'm not going to get over the sight of a Death Knight squadron being reduced to catering duty).

Although Demiurgos has worked out the Emperor's mentality completely, there were a couple of things that stood out after the end of the episode. I have a suspicion Demiurgos deliberately chose his toad exterior because his otherwise normal human shell is known to the Court Wizard, hence the latter's knowledge of the Great Tomb and the plot to send in workers as an expeditionary force. The other was Demiurgos actually acknowledging the potential and capabilities of Princess Ranna, which is saying something since everyone who knows what she's capable of is absolutely terrified of her, including a potential candidate for her hand in marriage.

If Demiurgos is plotting to get the Emperor and his Court Wizard to take each other out and tear the Empire apart from within, he's certainly got an easy hand to work with especially after what Momon did. But if the next course of action is to let the Emperor proceed with his secret alliance and find something or someone to kill Ainz and the others, then viewers might well see the mysterious characters from Season 2 episode 1 make another appearance. To date, the old woman and the Dragon are the only ones to mention the word "Yggdrasil" in this new world.

Not altogether surprising that Cocytus's suggestion for Ainz's new title was the one that was taken up. 魔導王 isn't half bad, especially after Cocytus explains his rationale behind the name. The other names sounded too bland or just plain silly.

No idea how this arc is going to finish since there's so many ways it could develop. What I would like is for this arc to have at least one more high-quality action set piece. The OP has already hinted at what that might be, but I honestly have no clue how or why that setup could take place. If the Second Season OP is any indication, it WILL come to pass but very late on. Unless Ainz is under a handicap like the first season finale, it'll be a walkover unless the opponent is also a refugee from Yggdrasil.
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Harleyquin



Joined: 29 May 2014
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 11, 2018 9:21 am Reply with quote
#10

Back to the Kingdom this week as the series airs another of its preparatory groundwork episodes for future actions scenes. No action at all, but the world building is interesting for those who have been following this since the start.

Ains declaration of a new kingdom has the unexpected side effect of precipitating yet another battle between the two old adversaries. The first third is all about the factional bickering as the King no longer has absolute dominion and is highly reliant on his nobles to provide the military muscle needed to enforce territorial sovereignty. Although Reuvan was marked down as an opportunistic schemer last season, Princess Renner was right to ask for his help since he really is one of the few nobles who has his country at heart and does the best with the hand he is given. They really should have listened to Gazev Stronoff, since Ains is sending his catering crew as a fighting force and that's far too overwhelming for whatever Kingdom can muster.

The scene between the three soldiers is either a really obvious death flag for one or all of them in future episodes, or something which might foreshadow future developments to occur in the upcoming battle. Stronoff and Unglaus are only thinking about the Empire's premier bodyguards as the stiffest opposition they could face, but they're in over the head and it's going to require an act of mercy if Stronoff and Unglaus have their backs to the wall.

The crown prince is going to regret not talking to Carne village personally. Technically the army there is under the Kingdom's authority, although de facto it answers to Ains. The big goblin army and the few Ogres under the village chief's command would have helped, but the crown prince's arrogance in just sending a captain to finish the job is going to come back and bite him if the trend in this series is anything to go by.
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 12, 2018 4:36 am Reply with quote
I suppose everyone in the kingdom's army is a week away from retirement, as they show each other pictures of their sweethearts that they are totally going to marry.
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Harleyquin



Joined: 29 May 2014
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 18, 2018 10:44 am Reply with quote
#11

I wonder how many viewing the first part of this episode would have rolled eyes and burst out laughing as the crown prince makes the biggest and final miscalculation of his military career.

All he was asked to do was gather intelligence and ask people nicely what kind of personage Ains Ooal Gown was, instead he thinks he can bully remote villagers into submission with his crack army originally intended to fight another state in an undead-plagued field. Yes the result was completely unexpected as far as Ains and the prince were concerned, but there have been enough hints about Enri's potential for a while now and it doesn't really need an explicit in-series explanation to figure out why a magic item originally intended to summon a small group of goblins would suddenly morph into an absolute monster of a summoning item.

This episode is actually predictable in leading viewers up the garden path for the use of the second horn. The actual effect is hilariously overblown. If Enri felt like it she could march up on the now defenceless E-Rantel kingdom and declare herself the new dynastic ruler (and swallow a few of the neighbouring weaker kingdoms if any to her new dominion).

I don't know if Mare knew what the actual effect of the horn would be when the audio cut off to focus on Ains trying to get over his complete astonishment. His expression at the end was absolutely priceless though.

With the crown prince's misadventure, it looks like dynastic politics in E-Rantel has irreversibly shifted momentum to the second son and the real power behind the throne. That's assuming the rest of the army doesn't get annihilated in the coming weeks by the combined might of Nazarick's catering crew and the Empire's expeditionary forces. It would be a shame to see Gazev Stronoff, Brain Unglaus and Climb meet their ends on the battlefield, but the only thing saving them from utter annihilation would be a sting in the tail since Demiurge's grand plan to announce Nazarick to the world as an independent kingdom has yet to fully show its hand.
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Harleyquin



Joined: 29 May 2014
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 25, 2018 9:30 am Reply with quote
#12

Now I know what that black blob in the background of the series's homepage is supposed to be.

In quite a few ways, the spell itself is a disappointment. A lot of people die instantly and the black hole descends to gobble up the corpses and then converts the life force into the braying multi-headed abominations. Depending on the amount of raw material available, the number of abominations will vary. Ains was not expecting to get five (New record according to Mare) but even one of those would have been enough to get the 24000 strong E-Rantel army to run for the hills. I'm not sure why Ains even bothered to use his spell accelerator item; maybe the spell's completion would have taken half a day which is a luxury he probably didn't have with some footsoldiers starting to close in.

The abominations bleat and bray a lot and don't really do a lot besides stomp around and squash humans like insects. Yes the terror aspect is enough to get most armies to its knees, but considering this is a magic tier that no one in this world is supposed to be capable of I was expecting a bit more. The others were talking about the Thirteen Heroes, so if they were confronted with this spell I doubt they'd run screaming, after all Gazev, Brain and Climb still have the spirit to continue fighting. Maybe a few more gimmicks like breathing fire or long-ranged magic attacks would have given the spell more oomph. Unless Ains deliberately limited the attacks to stomping since he was looking for four individuals who had to be kept alive...

The Emperor got his wish for Ains to attract aggro from the rest of the world onto Nazarick, but if it comes at the price of his expeditionary force it's a heavy one indeed. I'm fairly sure Demiurgos has factored that into his grand scheme as well.

Good luck Gazev Stronoff and company next week. Even with the best gear E-Rantel has, he's got no chance of defeating Ains. He's got his duty to perform, but even if he kicks the bucket I'm hoping the animators will show off what he's capable of with the kingdom's finest armour and weapon at his disposal.

A cute note from this week's credits: the screams of terror from the soldiers this episode were recorded from the same screams which were the reaction of the viewers to this episode in an advance airing. Besides that, it's nice to hear the long version of the ED song since I'm not sure it's going to be given the same treatment in next week's finale.

Good luck to comedy Ains as well in his final mini-episode. He's got a bit of a mess to clean up even with the toy he got from Pandora's Actor. He might want to use the hammer on himself as well the way things are going.
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DuskyPredator



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PostPosted: Tue Sep 25, 2018 9:47 pm Reply with quote
Harleyquin wrote:
The abominations bleat and bray a lot and don't really do a lot besides stomp around and squash humans like insects. Yes the terror aspect is enough to get most armies to its knees, but considering this is a magic tier that no one in this world is supposed to be capable of I was expecting a bit more. The others were talking about the Thirteen Heroes, so if they were confronted with this spell I doubt they'd run screaming, after all Gazev, Brain and Climb still have the spirit to continue fighting. Maybe a few more gimmicks like breathing fire or long-ranged magic attacks would have given the spell more oomph. Unless Ains deliberately limited the attacks to stomping since he was looking for four individuals who had to be kept alive...


They did seem to be directly reference to Shub-Niggurath, “The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young”, of Lovecraftian fiction, I guess as her children. Such Lovecraftian aspect have found themselves becoming a part of things like D&D, and thus straight up maddening terror.
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DuskyPredator



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PostPosted: Wed Oct 03, 2018 4:50 am Reply with quote
Season 3, Episode 13 (finale)

Instant kill!
I guess it may make sense that past the battle if they want to stick to their guns against an evil force, showing the other two Ains' power, although how much it helped could be in question, other than be very afraid. Possibly that the sword had hidden potential, which on that I did not really notice while watching, but the sword does have a kind of resemblance to the Moonlight Greatsword, which could fit in with hidden potential. But even if they decide to mount an attack, they have set up Momon to intercept such actions, and have control outside of just fear. I wonder if they had Pandora's Actor playing the part.

I have been much more of a fan of this season over the second, or really also the first season, where I think the series has been kind of flawed in execution. Special mention for the OP, I really like it, especially when it gets deliciously evil with the laugh. It has that sort of having fun in following the bad guys, which is what this series can offer. But I also enjoyed the following more of the village, in a not evil sense, but Goblins were fun.

I give the third season a rating higher than the previous seasons, which would be an 8, but I think it actually just pushed a bit above that, so I give it a rating of Excellent (9/10), it feels like it is finally living up to its already high potential.
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Tony K.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 04, 2019 2:33 am Reply with quote
So, I'm like, really late to the party, but I binge-watched all 3 seaons a couple of weeks ago, and am 2 episodes away from rewatching it again with my girlfriend, 'cause I told her I thought she'd like it, and turns out she does.

I'm amazed at how great this show is at world-building. It never even addresses how or why the dude is stuck in the game, but the world itself and all the politics, planning, and expansion is just so engrossing, I stopped caring about halfway through S1 why, how, or if he'll ever get out.

He literally is an absolute overlord, thus far, and I am thoroughly enjoying the ride. In fact, seeing things unfold hit me with the urge to start picking up random RPGs so I could customize/build characters, again. I really don't know how else to describe it. It's really adventurous and fantastical. A definite Excellent / 9, overall for the whole thing, thus far.
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Harleyquin



Joined: 29 May 2014
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 8:42 pm Reply with quote
Season 4 #1

A lot has happened over the intervening four years since Season 3 aired. Regardless, this franchise is still going strong and I'm hopeful another high-quality adaptation is in store for viewers who have followed this since its first season.

For a starter episode, nothing much is going on since long-time and casual viewers need to be brought up to speed with developments since Ainz won his new kingdom through force of arms. The internal struggle between Ainz the Overlord and Ainz the human player stuck in a fantasy world against his will is still in play, but it's going to get even worse now that he's acquired huge territory all of a sudden and lacks the confidence he can properly pull off the façade of leadership. He still cares about the legacy of his guild, but his insistence on growth beyond the set parameters is going to backfire on him one day. After all, Albedo has been having doubts about Ainz's actions for some time now but is keeping her frustrations in check for now.

If this adaptation is to have some kind of overarching story arc, it's probably going to come from Ainz's desire to convert the local adventurer's guild into more than a simple monster-slayer hangout. That, or Albedo and Demiurge have outsized roles to play as ambassadors/secret agents of the Ainz Oaol Gown kingdom.

A slow start for now, but this is usually the case with this franchise. Madhouse is still fronting this so the quality is not in doubt. It's whether or not the source material adapted satisfies expectations (which are high given this franchise's reputation).
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Harleyquin



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PostPosted: Tue Jul 12, 2022 11:00 am Reply with quote
#2

A reminder to viewers: Re-Estaize was the kingdom which fought and lost against Ainz and his army when the bleating shadow monsters stomped the unfortunate victims. The crown prince's army took a detour to the wrong village, where the red cap goblins finished off royalty and common soldiery alike. It's still recovering from the loss of its military power, and is now ripe for the picking by Albedo and Demiurgos. There are some in its ranks who have seen opportunity from the recent crisis, but it's clear that there's only going to be one winner from the eventual coup: the scheming Princess Renner.

Ainz has completely lost control of his minions and is leaving it to them to get on with their schemes! It's been coming, but Momonga the salaryman has finally given up on actively managing his minions and is granting them full authority in exchange for some peace and quiet at his end. I wonder if he even remembers the conversation he had with Demiurgos when they talked about the wider world as a box of jewels, since he confesses he can't understand why the minions want world domination when it was his off-hand remark which was the spark.

Renner's brother Zanac is so dense he couldn't make the connection between Renner's suggestion of a doubled tribute during Albedo's visit and her obvious communication with Ainz's kingdom on the sly. No better than his impetuous elder brother, whose death has been cleverly concealed by Ainz and the others. It wouldn't surprise me if he died some horrible death later in this series, all the while lamenting how things ended up the way they did. Renner's "dog" Climb will likely survive, since Renner likes her talentless pet and his loyalty is something she cherishes. I'm certain that was the bargain made between Ainz and Renner, but she's got other tasks to do as well before the rumoured invasion.

Brain Unglaus has mastered Gazev's signature sixfold slash, but he knows he alone won't make an iota of difference against the great obstacle that is the Sorceror King. No wonder he's playing the long game against the kingdom with the orphanage proposal; they need all the help they can get even if viewers know it wouldn't make any difference whatsoever unless Ainz and the others saw fit to pretend to lose for some ulterior purpose.

There are a lot of new faces in the OP animation, as well as returning ones like Evileye and her fellow party members from season 2. It looks like they'll be facing off against Ainz's kingdom in some capacity later on if that scene is any indication, but viewers will have to be patient since the series is building up slowly.

For those who can't remember who Hilda Cygnaeus is, re-watch season 2 when Sebas and the others take out the Eight Fingers and Six Arms syndicate. She used to be one of the leaders in charge of narcotics, so she's human but is fully loyal to Ainz and company or her life is forfeit.

That peculiar scepter(?) Albedo is wielding in this episode and the OP animation: I can't remember seeing it in previous seasons. Usually she's bare-handed, while in season one she was in full armour and wielding a greatsword. I wonder if the scepter is going to play a part in this season, but I'm probably overthinking it.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 12, 2022 8:49 pm Reply with quote
My problem with this franchise is that I have not read any of the source material and I watch each season once as it comes out. That, coupled with my notoriously bad memory, means I simply forget a whole bunch of stuff which makes watching a... challenge. Oh well, First World problems. I hope that at some point in the not too distant future, Ainz meets up with one of his former gamer companions.
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 15, 2022 6:29 am Reply with quote
The dude touching Albedo, has crazy levels absolute stupidity, that Albedo will most certainly make him regret it that death would be a blessing.

Also, too me a moment until the knight guy had his head on the princess's lap, that I remembered that she is an absolute psychopath.
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