Overlord (LN)

Description

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In 21st century, world entered a new stage of VR games…and “YGGDRASIL” is considered top of all MMORPG…but, After announcing that all its servers will be off, the internet game ‘Yggdrasil’ shut down…or so was supposed to happen, but for some reason, the player character did not log out some time after the server was closed. NPCs start to become sentient. A normal youth who loves gaming in the real world seemed to have been transported into an alternate world along with his guild, becoming the strongest mage with the appearance of a skeleton, Momonga. He leads his guild “Ainz Ooal Gown” towards an unprecedented legendary fantasy adventure!

Associated Names
One entry per line
Ōbārōdo
オーバーロード
不死者之王
오버로드
Related Series
Altina X Overlord Special Collaboration Booklet (Side Story)
Overlord (WN) (Web Novel)
Recommendations
Dungeon Defense (18)
A Berserker Mob, I’m Going to Participate in the Main Story (5)
The New Gate (LN) (5)
Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyusoukyoku (WN) (5)
Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken (WN) (5)
Kyuuketsu Hime wa Barairo no Yume o Miru (4)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Strong misunderstanding
  2. enjoyed my time
  3. OP MC's
  4. light novels
  5. ALLJP+

Latest Release

Date Group Release
09/20/22 Hitori v16c5 part3 +...
09/11/22 Hitori v16c4 part5 + c5...
09/04/22 Hitori v16c4 part4
08/28/22 Hitori v16c4 part3
08/22/22 Hitori v16c4 part2
08/21/22 Hitori v16c4 part1
08/14/22 Hitori v15c3 part2-4 +...
08/07/22 Hitori v15c2 part3 + c3...
07/31/22 Hitori v15c1 part3 + c2...
07/24/22 Hitori v15c1 part1-2
07/23/22 Hitori v15 prologue
07/28/22 Hitori v15 illustrations
06/08/20 Hitori v14 epilogue
06/05/20 Hitori v14c4 part11
06/02/20 Hitori v14c4 part10
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126 Reviews sorted by


BrotherofHavok
BrotherofHavok rated it
June 25, 2018
Status: blu-ray 4 special - prologue part2
There seems to be a majority of reviews that like this story, but I cannot endorse it. In the spoilers below I list off the reasons to read/not read this story. I had to do bullet points because it made explaining so much easier. Simply put, there are 2 good reasons and 2 interesting reasons to read this story, and at least 9 really good reasons NOT to read this story.

I almost gave this review a 1 star, but because there are some really good scenes scattered throughout the series... more>> I felt that anything less than a 2 star review would be too harsh.

Reasons to read this story:

  • Anime/Manga is slow to come out
Spoiler
  • Game world come to life
  • hints that MC is not the only player from the game. Kind of like picking up the breadcrumbs here and there, trying to follow the plot to some far off objective.
  • OP MC / OP MC fight scenes
  • Other Normal evil guys get destroyed
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Reasons to NOT read this story:

Spoiler
  • Character building of non-MC minions serves only to pinpoint which characters will die (RR Martin method). Hint: if its not the MC, and its not one of his minions, then I'm expecting pretty much everyone to die at some point.
  • really felt bad for some of the characters the MC either killed off or the survivors that the MC hasn't yet killed off. 2 little kids waiting for sister to take them from abusive family, but sister is brutally mu*dered. Wow.
  • MC is evil, but really only through association of his minions, that is until volume 7 or so when he starts doing his own evil stuff like wiping out entire armies, but by then I found myself wondering about the MC's character.
  • is the MC evil or good? Grey areas are fine, but what is this back and forth whiplash? Evil seems to be his primary mode, but then random acts of kindness pop up for almost no reason.
  • Albedo - incredibly awkward stalker character. Stalker characters can be good, but generally the MC has to know about them. Here the MC has like an understanding about her infatuation, but knows nothing about her stalker actions.
  • no challenge, MC can cast rank 10 level spells, but rank 6 spells are considered godly to the other races. Will never be challenged.
  • MC saves people, but most of them will end up dead either as soon as he turns around or he'll kill them later on.
  • Entire series is build up of some plot, but I'm not entirely certain the author really knows what plot he's using. Is the MC the only player from the game? Is the MC really turning into his undead-god character? Is he a world unifying force? Will he expand the world and become the center of trade and research in the future? Difficult to say what the author is doing.
  • majority of the story is not from MC's point of view. Nearly the entire Lizardmen arc for instance was from the lizards point of view. Ever wanted to know how lizards mate? Either watch a nature documentary or read this arc. While some instances of this were great, the majority of the time it makes me wonder who the MC really is from time to time.
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Zackarotto
Zackarotto rated it
June 2, 2018
Status: v13
Most of the time, this series has been an absolute pleasure to read. There are so many precious characters inside and out of Nazarick, and the absolute disparity between Ainz and everyone else in the world -- 4th tier spells are at the peak, 6th tier spells are mythical, and Ainz can cast 10th tier spells no problem -- is a delight. Every once in a while, we're exposed to some new low-level character's perspective, and we get to be reminded just how terrifying Ainz really is to everyone he... more>> meets, capable of killing them all with his unrestrained aura alone.

Some small spoilers follow:

I liked these novels more when the focus was more purely on expanding power through creative schemes, where Ainz tries to make Nazarick self-sustainable in this new world by recruiting apothecaries and having his alter-egos perform heroic deeds. In volume 4, when we first actually see Nazarick seemingly as a negative force on the world, threatening to annihilate the lizardmen, I was uneasy with where things appeared to be going, but the lizardmen ended up with a brighter future than they had before. A couple of those who died were even resurrected from death. "Okay, " I thought, "still a bit of a callous approach, but I can get on board." But then in volume 7 we had the explorers pointlessly tortured in Nazarick, and then most recently volume 12 & 13, which I didn't really care for much at all (despite liking Neia), as it's pretty much all war. I thought the point of the elaborate schemes was to conquer the world without Ainz and Demiurge swatting whole armies like bugs, but here they end up doing that anyway.

I also find it rather strange that we haven't seen any deeper insight into the NPCs' thoughts by now. They never even question the nature of their teleportation to the New World, or show any perspective on the changes, despite Ainz encountering obvious differences in the very laws of nature there. His followers are otherwise fully self-aware, and even have abandonment issues, but never directly wonder where their old creators are, or even if they're still alive, or how long it's been. I can obviously understand Ainz not trying to explain that he's a lame salaryman gamer, but to say nothing? He might have said that each of the Supreme Ones was like a great bodiless cosmic being, each having created a puppet body in order to conquer the world of Yggdrasil, and that due to whatever profound magic transported their guild, Ainz ended up with his consciousness stuck to the form he created, whereas his old companions would now have no way of finding him even if they wanted to. It's kind of sad as-is.

Sorry, that was a bit of a tangent. I still highly recommend Overlord, but I'm a little nervous about the future of the novels. I feel like there's no point to the current trend of iron-fisted conquering, as it's a foregone conclusion when Ainz is so powerful, and not suited to the overpowered protagonist genre. (For more on that, just look at the One-Punch Man manga). It's a very creatively built world, and I would rather see more low-key exploration of it. <<less
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ieh
ieh rated it
January 5, 2018
Status: v11
A bit frustrating when you realize the MC is a stereotypical Japanese light novel protagonist. Too afraid to do or say anything that changes the status quo. However, the side characters carry this story with detailed lives and quite amazing world building. Except it all goes down the drain when you realize all these interesting characters with fleshed out lives and their own motivations are all going to be horribly mu*dered by the MC. Usually in increasingly comical ways as he blunders his way through his OP life as the... more>> leader of a cult. I found myself wishing Sebastian was the real focus of the novel as he struts around town breaking everyone's heart. <<less
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Krazyguy75
Krazyguy75 rated it
December 16, 2016
Status: v9
This is a novel I loved.

But this is also a novel I dropped.

You might think these would normally be contradictory... but I couldn't bear to follow the main character anymore. The main character starts out seeming like a fairly ordinary guy trying to act like an Overlord, while his character infringes on his personality. He keeps doing things based on his morality and reining in his dark half, all the while attempting to make it seem plausible as an evil overlord. Those were the good old days.

Then, for almost no... more>> explicable reason, he starts to really become an evil overlord. If done right, this would be fine, especially if you show inner struggle. It was not done right. Instead, he inexplicably starts massacring people to "test his defenses", starts huge wars, and kills innocent people, as well as those that were once friendly acquaintances. Worst of all, it doesn't feel like the character grew; he isn't more decisive or confident. He goes from being an indecisive, low self esteem good ruler to an indecisive, low self esteem evil ruler.

Overall, great world building, slow plot, interesting and fun characters, all eventually ruined by an MC that goes from good to bad in more ways than one.

5/5 beginning, 4/5 middle, 2/5 end. <<less
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Zack
Zack rated it
January 6, 2016
Status: --
The novel's story is quite dark, evil, brutal and despairing at times and the novel's story is quite detailed and exciting to read which draws in the reader's curiosity and interest in knowing more of the story, but sometimes it may be quite tedious to read the highly detailed descriptions and multiple dialogues of the story. But people who are interested more on how the story is developed would find this interesting. Some people who lacked the attention span, patience or the interest in the story and wanted more actions... more>> and excitements immediately may find the novel's start to be boring. But people who actually wanted to enjoy the story's world and development would find that it's story is quite interesting, attention to details and descriptive with points of the story from different perspective.

Many people who started reading and enjoyed the novel are there for the literature story in the first place. Some people may find the story to be developing quite slowly at times due the story development but it comes with a lot of important plot points which might have otherwise caused confusions to the readers if some info points was lacking and skipped just to make the story faster.

The art quality is very good, as many people had said before that the novel's are quite well done but this is something left for people's personal taste and interests... But speaking it in general, the art is very detailed, beautiful. But all in all, it is something that is well done.

One of the main protagonist that you will never expect to see a lot in story even till now. A skeleton as a main character with a blue collar working salesman's mentality behind it. The person is very logical, emotionless but interestingly funny at times, who does the most realistic and logical reactions and actions people should expect if they are transported into another world. Keeping up his act as an overlord outside but whining and shouting inside about tiring things and situations. He also never consider his powers to be overpowered since the his skills are known in games and always think that there is someone such as players stronger than him out there.
The introductions of the many other side characters were also very unique and interesting too. They all have their own detailed designs, personalities, settings and developments.
Sadly the only thing lacking in this novel is a strong enemy character that the main characters have to face and overcome... But it is actually fine, since story wise, the story is actually still interesting and mainly draws the viewers to be more interested on how the process the MC used took over the places or even the world, the perspective and reactions of different people in the story which you normally won't see in other stories at times, and also main point of the story that is expected of how the strong overlord crush the enemy in the end after the intended development for it along with the expectations and despair which all together makes it something even more interesting and refreshing to see too, just like picking the fruits after it is ripe for the taking.
Also it seems there are people rating down the series due to the MC not having an usable underpart? Well, he can actually do it if he wants to and afterall, it's also better for the MC to think logically than thinking using his lower body like some other pe*vert MCs which are annoying. Besides, it seems pointless for some people to even point this out to talk down a good series.

Well the novel may not be a master piece for some people. But it story is a great literature that is the most descriptive, well developed, highly rated and one of the higher quality light novel out there that is highly encouraged by many people to read it to understand their world even more. That is the novel's purpose, as there are many people who enjoyed the novel are there for the literature story in the first place.

Also, there are points which mainly show how different it is from some more commonly known similar series stories settings.

Firstly, unlike the typical hero fantasy stories that are a dime of dozen out there already with almost Similar and Familiar stories and settings. Of course a story from a villain's perspective would perk people's interest than the typical power from friendship troupes, where you always would expect a certain people to survive in the end or just simply no one dying at all. With many things that are being quite common these days, this actually make this novel more unique and stands out.

Secondly, in this world where pretty much everything was cliche, a different, darker virtual gaming world to another world story is actually more new and interesting to people comparing to the typical virtual game or reality to fantasy stories that are quite common out there like no game no life, log horizon, SAO, problem children, etc with similar familiar overlapping fantasy settings or even other different typical stories with a shiny hero or a dense innocent kind mcs, instead a setting different from the typical familiar ones would be fresher one to see.

Finally, if people Do want to immense themselves in settings, atmosphere, plots and details of the story other than just immediate mindless action stories that are dozens out there, they would definitely welcome this novel. Given how much of a potential this novel's story have, even till the latest volume I had read so far.

Overall: 5
Overall, the novel is quite an interesting and addicting read for a story, if the further story's volume continues to be just as interesting to read, it will still easily continued to be rated 5 by me. <<less
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Efu-sama
Efu-sama rated it
September 1, 2019
Status: v13
This is one of the best light novel i've ever read. A few people think that Ainz is a douche or just a plain coward, or the novel pacing is just too slow, or the novel gives too much detail to unimportant even, as I read on previous comments giving a low rates. I just cant relate to their thoughts. I mean, shouldnt it be a total opposites?

First, Ainz is a lovable chara. Because he's undead we dont need to bother about his s*xual interaction with the NPCs, and... more>> instead just focus on the character building and the plot, and isnt that a qualification of a great novel normally? Beside, Ainz isnt a douche and a coward. When you read on part where Ainz dealing with matters (human or monster), he's always thinking carefully of what he should do or he should say, even going as far as using his experience as an ex-salary man.

Furthermore, Ainz is growing, he diligently learns many things, he's a hard-working person, instead of just dumping every responsibility to the NPCs, he's learning to shoulder the burden too. Going as far as acting, I mean he learn how to act as a ruler, how to speak as a ruler, even a tiny detail of his act on everyday basis that seems mundane were all the fruits of his efforts.

And lastly, he's not a coward. He carefully calculates everything, taking every matter into account, and planning for the worst to come.

Actually, I even agree with Demiurge's comment about him being a wise man. He's really a wise man! Apart from his skill to suppress his panic, he's actually very carefully searching his place in the new world. Gathering knowledges and intel, and intentionally kept his skills and his NPCs power a secret. That's a good move for a ruler. After all, blindly flaunting their sheer power is foolish, and he must first gather intel as to know is there a person/a group stronger than Nazarick. So, he's not a coward, he's a carefull person. If Ainz is just a douche and A plain idiot then this is how probably he would do: "he would just barging to the new world, bragging about resources and power blindly, and then will be wiped out by some world class item from the Slaine Theocracy because they're undead and obviosly a threat without having the chances to knowing who they are, or even knowing how there's a world class item there in the first place."

Second, The novel pacing is not too slow. I guess its how the appropiate novels should have. By taking a long time to explain every litte detail in the New world, its just making the reader able to imagine vividly how the novel goes. A good novel is something that can bring the reader to the world where the author set the story on, isnt it? And beside, everything written here was just as important as the main plot. It makes us understand the reason why some character do something, and makes us relate to them greatly.

And lastly, This novel is the kind who has anti hero protagonist! So for you guys who's angry at him torturing other humans, then just scram, this is certainly not a cup of tea for you!

After all, its true that this novel is not a light read. But it is something that worth your time. A novel worth for you who seeks a good story and want to actually read something decent. <<less
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Lahan
Lahan rated it
January 13, 2019
Status: v13
Probably one of the better LN out there I would say.

The Bad:

  • Very cliche story setup.
  • MC can at times be mediocre.
  • The combat and fights are a bit mediocre.
The Good:

  • Amazing world building. I feel this is the best LN I've ever read in terms of world building.
  • Great characters. They are consistent and believable. It feels like all characters have their own motivations and reasons for what they do.
  • MC has flaws and they matter. This is something that many stories with completely OP MC fail at. However in overlord the MCs flaws are relevant (mostly for humour).
  • Very funny.
  • Extremely well written, I could have easily thought this was a book written by a native English speaker based on the quality of the writing / translation.
All over I highly recommend this novel.
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bakarutt
bakarutt rated it
January 31, 2021
Status: --
I love overpowered characters who aren't arrogant and believe that there is no one above them. Couple that with how everything just works out in MC's favor without him meaning it to, and I just find this series hilariously lovable. The side characters are well fleshed-out, and the peeks into the past satisfy my criteria for a world that has a past, a present, a future, and an interactive society amongst various conflicting groups. &Lt;3
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kkgoh
kkgoh rated it
March 17, 2018
Status: v11c4
SUMMARY
Dark fantasy with decent premise, great world building and side characters, but somewhat poorly executed since they get way too sidelined by OPness of MC.
... more>>
Spoiler

The closest analogy would be a story about ants like a "A Bug's Life". There are interesting powerful ants, there are boring insignificant ants. We learn much about the ants' daily lives, societal interactions, power struggles, dreams/hopes/frustrations. Then one day, a big clueless bumbling elephant comes along and accidentally stomps on the ants without realizing it. No, not like Saitama from OPM where he contributes meaningfully to characters' lives. Just stomping on them.
Rinse and repeat for 13 volumes.

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The light novel is the rewritten version of the web novel so it's a lot more fleshed-out. OK read for an almost 10 yr old novel. It's from the era of Jap novels where losers who become OP was still interesting and acceptable. But now in 2018 most readers have moved beyond that.
EDIT: Watch the anime adaptation as an accompaniment to the novel. At least you'll finally figure out what all those verbose descriptions really look like.

PREMISE
One of the original isekai (other world transportation) stories. The MC plays a VR game in its final days and finds himself transported into an unknown world, complete with OP RPG-type attributes. He brings with it his OP dungeon (Nazarick) and crew of bad-ass NPCs.

CHARACTERS
So so. One of the major failings in the novel, even after it was re-written. A lot of other reviewers pointed out the same flaws.
Spoiler

- MC is quite useless. A former salaryman who becomes ridiculously OP, but is still incompetent and foolish even at 13 volumes. Zero character growth, he continues to be plagued by insecurities and is mentally weak. Very similar to Mushoku Tensei, although he isn't that much of a complete loser.
The concept of an OP main character isn't bad if it's done well (One Punch Man). But again, we've moved past the era of loser MCs.
The joke of plot armor and bumbling strokes of genius is so repetitive that you're already expecting it.

- Author tried to add a darker side to MC where because he is an undead, his emotions get suppressed due to a buff/debuff and somehow becomes a psychopath. It was very poorly written since there was no proper transition (a lot of commenters have indirectly mentioned). At the beginning he's mowing down villains and being a good samaritan. Suddenly he becomes a ret*rded psychopath like Trump with nuclear launch codes.
Loss of emotional highs/lows does not EQUAL psychopath. That's a poor understanding of human psychology. Psychopaths are defined by complete lack of empathy. The fact that a debuff comes on whenever he experiences highs/lows means he can feel. Even if he was a loner in his past life, it doesn't automatically mean he should act out on a power fantasy. There's just no justification provided on how and why he becomes a psychopath, and at the same time still act like an awkward bumbling fool in his interactions with other people.

- MC has a team of amazing talent under him, but cannot seek their help to perpetuate the myth of his invincibility. Very inconsistent with the fact that none of his subordinates cares since their loyalty is programmed in. This all comes down to weird Jap culture of "face saving" even if everything goes to shit. Very weak concept to sustain the whole novel.

- Author decided to really embellish side characters (mostly ordinary residents of New World), devoting multiple MULTIPLE chapters to create their backstories, way more than ALL of the primary characters. I get that author wants to establish different POV for readers, to empathize with side characters and realize how a lot of them end up as pawns in larger schemes (inadvertent or not).
Here's the writing problem. When you devote an INSANE amount of content to obvious side characters that don't advance any plot before killing them off, then it's not Game of Thrones, it's just a s*upid WASTE OF THE READERS' TIME. It's a confusion of who the main actors in a story really are. And worst of all, most of them are killed off because MC is just a bumbling fool, which just leaves a bad taste.

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I'd encourage readers to check out "Dungeon Defense". That's how a proper, thoughtful Machiavellian isekai story should be written.
EDIT: I read that author was a HUGE fan of AD&D tabletop games and frequently played the role of Dungeon Master. That explains the character sheets at the end of chapters.
I applaud author's depth of detail and get his enthusiasm for developing characters, but it's overdone with little left for subtext. I'm no longer reading a story, just an insanely complex RPG.

WORLD BUILDING
This is where the novel shines. Great descriptions, epic battles, very well fleshed out. Illustrations are really impressive and create a dark fantasy atmosphere to go along with the novel's theme. The illustrator definitely sold this novel as much as the author. I guess marketing is (almost) everything.

LOST IN TRANSLATION/WRITING
Maybe this is a problem from that earlier generation of Jap novels, or perhaps most jap novels, but they tend to be ridiculously verbose and rambling. Multiple pages go on with characters expressing every thought in their head out loud with zero conclusion. I'm not sure what happened to good old subtext. Conversations fly back and forth with no indication of who is speaking.
It gets so incredibly annoying that I skim/skip through most of the conversations now.
I thought Chinese web authors were bad with verbosity since they are paid by the word, but this takes the cake. I'm not sure if Jap web authors are paid by the word either. <<less
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cpzombie
cpzombie rated it
March 5, 2021
Status: v14
Really good worldbuilding with evil-aligned main characters, the main characters are OP but it still remains super entertaining. Probably my favorite LN series so far, definitely recommend it
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LordGriM1997
LordGriM1997 rated it
May 16, 2019
Status: v13 afterwards
5 star masterpiece

5/5 star plot

5/5 star kingdom building

5/5 star characters

4/5 star fights

2/5 romantic relationship (nothing happens between protagonist and his harem because
Spoiler

lol he undead (no male reproductive organ?)

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colombopl
colombopl rated it
March 31, 2019
Status: v14
Honestly I do not know what to write about his novel as I am confused.

It is the best RPG/fantasy LN I have ever met. I can only repeat others words that everything in a story is well polished. World description and all characters actions are very logical. We can find really wide descriptions of every scene where action takes place. Dialogs are realistic and are not replaced by short descriptions. We get to know a lot about surrounding countries and environment. I have not met so many well described races... more>> in RPG/fantasy story till reading Overlord. One can say the same about skills and jobs of RPG world.

It is rarity to find a story with adult main and side characters. And it is not bland sweet story but very close to this what may happen in a real world (I mean flow of events and intelligent beings behavior). I didn't found s*upid babes following super male. And there is not thickheaded guy who is not aware his surroundings. We will not find any s*upid pe*vert behavior of anyone in Overlord so far. So being short it is vary mature and with some exceptions not Japanese-LN-like story.

But from other side it is hard for me to follow events of a story. At the beginning I thought that Nazarick denizens are kind of evil but rather cool guys that will not cross some borders and generally the effects of their actions will be positive. But with time it appears that Ains Own Goal and at least part of of his subordinates are truly evil. I usually empathise in a story and I want to innocent to be saved or revenged at least at the end of a story. Nazarick is responsible for killing the most kindhearted and good aligned person in RPG world but it would not be very bad as it is still only one person and things like this may happen during struggling for power.

I am really disgusted of Nazarick while knowing that they truly see living creatures as no more as raw materials. So after reading about masacres, torturing innocent people, carry out horrific biological and magical experiments on creatures that can feel I feel sick. I can see with my own eyes women and children that are skinned and cured to do it again. And as I know such things happen to hundred of thousands of intelligent beings. In this case it is truly an act of mercy when Nazarick denizens mu*der thousands of people including defenseless babies. As I know only two Momonga subordinates tried to oppose this deeds and tried to save the youngest ones.

It is a shame that Overlord is the best LN I was able to find as I hate almost all main characters and I feel hopelessness of RPG denizens. I recommend this story to everyone who can turn off ones feelings while reading it.

EDIT: small change after reading vol14 <<less
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Pixeldrum
Pixeldrum rated it
June 17, 2019
Status: v13 afterword
When I first started reading/watching this series in the summer of 2015, I had already consumed a lot of media, in the form of anime, webmanga, and just a little bit of webnovel and visual novels. And I enjoyed (I still do) "genius protagonists" in the series I have watched that make smart decisions, think rationally, and do the best thing that fits the situation. Examples are things like KR webnovel Reincarnator, Emperor of Solo Play, warlock of the Magus World, Death Note, Kaiji, etc etc. Basically, a smart MC... more>> that is able to make the perfect action in response to a situation no matter what has occurred to them.

I aspired to be like those smart MCs. I figured that I would also act like those MCs if I was caught in a similar situation. If I was reincarnated into a different world, there is no way that I would fare poorly, and die as a mere common peasant. Rather, I would slowly level up my power just like those MCs would have.

However, reality would be different, and Overlord expresses that beautifully. Compared to those genius protagonists, I am unable to match. I am no genius, I wouldn't be able to keep calm during a dangerous situation like those MCs would, I do not have the prose, fineness, nor the intellect to scheme as well as any of those smart MCs would have. In reality, if I were transported to another world, I would panic. I would be under distress. I would not know what to do. Rather than thinking about what I should do next, I would wonder how I got there and express disbelief. I wouldn't be able to rein my emotions in, nor would I have any sort of plan going forward.

Muruyama Kugane expresses what a person would actually do in a situation like you see all the time in reincarnation novels in the form of Suzuki Satoru. Just like me, Suzuki Satoru is a normal man, and he does what a lot of other normal people would have done. He acted flustered. He acted foolishly, He couldn't rein in his emotions without the help of his species characteristic, and even then, he was unable to rein in his libido. Satoru didn't have a plan either. Satoru is just like one of us. He represents all of us, on what we would probably be doing if we were transported to another world like he was. No master plan, No massive intellect, and no calm and collected mindset. Rather, a panicked mess of a person that eventually fumbles his way around in the world through time, and even then, that fumbling around was only achieved due to the massive advantage given to him.

While I don't like writing reviews often, I have to give a mention to my #1 novel of all time since 2015. What a great series. <<less
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HadjiAnon
HadjiAnon rated it
March 6, 2019
Status: v13
Easily the best Isekai story out there, I'm not a novel reader, But Overlord made me one.

Blizzard butchered Arthas with World of Warcraft, My favorite character died, Overlord gave me another favorite character which is treasured by it's creator.

You don't have to love the Isekai genre to enjoy this show, Loving villains will do, If you want puny heroes then go back to SAO or whatever, This series' name is OVERLORD.
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alominus
alominus rated it
December 4, 2022
Status: --
How much the MC's personality completely changed is quite s*upid. Watching a village get massacred in the beginning should have evoked some kind of reaction from him. You spent an entire chapter trying to convince the reader that you have emotions but they're just blunted. Him not caring at all about the village is ret*rded. People on anti-depressants with their emotions blunted are still aware that they should be feeling something. This guy doesn't even reflect on it. The only reason he does anything is due to super vague flashbacks... more>> of other guild members. It's absurd and hard to believe. Was he a complete sociopath before this novel starts or something? Like dulled emotions would have this much effect on a person's personality. As if your morals and lifetime experience of right and wrong go completely out of the window simply because you can't experience strong emotions anymore. Ridiculous. The dude spent forever moping about how he changed a single line of Albedo's character background but is completely fine with watching a village get slaughtered almost immediately after being transported into the game. Dude, can't you see how illogical that is?

Completely awful character design with zero thought put into it. The author really missed out on an opportunity for character development (MC slowly losing his humanity) by just immediately making him evil. I can't believe I've just read ~20, 000 words of the MC just monologuing about the exact same irrelevant crap just to prove he has completely lost his humanity from the get-go; if it ever existed at all. Like, not even one warning bell, MC? No idea why this garbage is so highly rated. 90% monologuing about the most inane stuff ever. What a snoozefest. <<less
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Think Positive
Think Positive
March 8, 2021
Status: v14 epilogue
Maruyama's greatest ability lies in describing the different characters POV, how they react differently to the same events. You get the feel for every character, their emotional ups and downs, their wants and fears.

He's also good at hinting at stuff without explicitly explaining them, dropping easter eggs here and there for the story. What's sad about it is that you'll probably miss some info because it was only implied, and was based on something from earlier.

Anyways, good story, for more mature audiences probably. It might get a bit langweilig, long-winded... more>> for younger audiences. <<less
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vapor
vapor rated it
September 27, 2020
Status: v16 epilogue
I've read a lot of light novels, and enjoyed many of them.

In general, light novel quality writing is lower caliber than what you'd expect from a real novel. Overlord is an exception. It would be perfectly at home on a regular bookshelf. At some point, when it is complete, I suspect it may be collated and released as a series of novels. Each individual volume is a good length, but the arcs are typically around 3 volumes apiece, and that would likely fit better in terms of novel length.

The story... more>> itself has the standard isekai tropes, a long time MMO player and guild leader grew up playing a game with his friends, everyone got older and got jobs and moved on, the MMO was set to shut down. Our MC logged on one last time, the server was taking offline, but now he is stuck within the game. He has OP powers etc. But that is where the tropes end. He has a guild castle full of NPCs that now have come to life and revere him, but he has to play the part of a superior leader, which he isn't experienced in, as he was a simple salaryman. He's not your beta male MC, he isn't going to an adventurers guild and fooling around. He's trying to gain information around the world and find other human beings, and find a way home, while being a leader but also keeping his underlings safe.

There is world building, there are threads for plots laid in advance, and things come together with time. The author plays it off at times as if the MC is clueless, but in fact there is ample evidence that he plans things steps in advance and the relies on some level of luck and improvisation on top of that.

The MC is also not a good person at heart. He does some very evil things, albeit his moves are done with the goal of protecting his domain and underlings, and are not cartoon evil. He does have some goodness in him too, but this is where the novel so far is somewhat fuzzy. We may eventually find out the truth on this.

The author planned out 50+ volumes worth of material. It will probably end up around 20 volumes however, unless he decides to continue extending it. Currently volume 15 is due out soon.

If you have the time and really want to read LNs, I think this and Mushoku Tensei are the two that best represent the isekai genre. Again there are a lot that are fun and I've enjoyed reading. But these are the two standouts that you should probably start with. MT first chronologically and then Overlord. Many of the other LNs are heavily influenced by both.

Update Volume 16: I originally gave this 5 stars when I reviewed it back in 2020, although I'd been reading it before that. There's been a decline in quality the last few volumes, with the writer very clearly no longer wanting to write the story, and the editors appear to not touch his manuscripts either.

Today I would give it 3 stars, and if this is the quality it had been from the start I would not have read it, nor do I believe there would have been multiple anime seasons. I do believe the anime can fix some problems, so that could still be worth watching.

The writer now claims they will end the story in 2 volumes, and both should release around the same time, so within the next year the story probably completes. It likely will not answer questions or complete the story, but will probably be an open ending. I question whether this author ever had answers, it's looking more and more like he had some good premises but didn't plan anything out beyond that. It's harder to consider the earlier volumes an example of quality writing with the release of the later volumes. Also the setting really isn't as unique now---one can argue it never was, but the effort was there to worldbuild and start story threads at a level most other works of the time didn't. In today's world, it's a commonplace setting and the ideas aren't particularly unique---they've been handled by better writers who have executed throughout their stories, whereas this only started well.

This is still an important work but my hopes of a literary achievement have been dashed. Read it if you're bored and it catches your fancy, but don't go out of your way for it. <<less
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Rampaging Dragon
Rampaging Dragon rated it
March 19, 2020
Status: v13 epilogue
Hands down the best novel in the isekai genre that you will ever read or one of the worst novels in the genre according to what kind of a person you are.

If you like goody two shoes MC whose only redeeming quality is that they are op and that they make girls fall for them in two chapters, then this definitely isn't for you.

This is one of the darker stories you can get in this genre. The MC and all his minions are incredibly fleshed out along with many characters... more>> from the new world.

There are no shitty cliche characters in this. All characters have their own backstory. If you are a firm believer of human supremacy then don't read it.

All in all this is definitely worth full marks. <<less
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ghendout
ghendout rated it
March 30, 2019
Status: --
simply one of the best isekai LN out there, everything.... almost everything is extremely polished out, the characters are well define, and they are changing and evolving in each chapter

everything they did is make sense (in their point of view)

the world building are extremely detail and well written

simply superb
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srrrahim
srrrahim rated it
April 29, 2018
Status: v13c1
SASUGA AINZ-SAMA!

This novel is dark, brutal, not your average transported to another world and collecting harem member. Our MC is a villain, not your average a heroic handsome man.

There is A LOT of misunderstanding. The subordinates and human around our Ainz-sama always think that he is a super cunning and clever overlord who think 100 step ahead and always has a lot of plan, but he is actually a really lucky guy who get a lot of misunderstanding. I really love the misunderstanding and Cunning protagonis (something like "My Death... more>> Flags Show no Sign of Ending" and "The Legend of Sun Knight")

It`s A MUST READ. Reason ?
Spoiler
  • The big misunderstanding who lead us to the big and complicated plot that even our beloved Ainz-sama didn`t really understand it
  • Ainz-sama subordinated really loyal and strong. They are brutal and strong. The author write them in detailed, and I really love how much devoted they are to Ainz-sama
  • Albedo. She is my favorite girl. Her haterd toward Ainz Ooal Gown and her loved toward Momonga fascinated me ^^. (I smell a huge and complicated plot about her and Momonga and the other supreme being)
  • Neia Baraja. The new character in Overlord. I love her. Her interest is "Telling everyone about how SUBARASHI the Sorcerer King is". I bet she is going to be some kind of foreign affairs ministry in SK `s envoy.
  • THE PLOT
  • THE PLOT
[collapse]

I can never get enough of this novel. You can read it multiple time and never get bored <<less
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