Overlord II

Episode 8

Over the past few episodes, I've been emphasizing the quality of Overlord's supporting cast, and I still don't think the strength and importance of those characters can be overstated. They allow the series to (yet again!) function just fine without its titular character making a single appearance.

As with the first full episode of the lizard man arc, this episode focuses primarily on two characters who aren't even affiliated with Nazarick. Sebas does round out the main trio for this episode, but unlike last episode, he's not the viewpoint character this time. That responsibility instead falls to Climb, who was built up to take on that role last episode. I won't exactly say that he comes into his own this week, but he's gradually becoming a more interesting character than his role as Princess Renner's pet soldier would have suggested. His earnestness and devotion to both principle and his lady have their own charms, so it's not hard to understand why Sebas takes him seriously upon their first encounter. He may even see more some of himself in Climb.

Brain is the more intriguing addition to the trio, though. He's already shown signs of growing beyond the simple one-shot adversary role he had last season, and this episode continues to elaborate on the way he's been shaken by fear. The story seems to be suggesting that his lack of devotion has both led him astray and left him weaker than he should be. This is reinforced by the scene in the first season where he abandoned his underlings to save his own hide after realizing how utterly outclassed he was by Shalltear. So where will he find the devotion he needs to pick himself back up?

Sebas, meanwhile, seems to have embraced the “help those in need” philosophy. More importantly, we finally get a taste of what he can do in battle, apparently as a specialist in unarmed combat. Sadly, his part in the main action scene against the assassins is limited by its split focus with Climb and limited animation. He comes across much more impressively in the scene where he demonstrates his technique to Climb, which communicates a more genuine vibe of intimidating strength than usual for anime.

We also get to see more of Blue Rose, including a scene showing their leader struggling to master a cursed sword. The scene has such an overwrought chuunibyou vibe to it that I suspect the parallel may have been intentional. (It's definitely played for humor at least.) But as the title – “A boy's feeling” – indicates, this was primarily an episode for the male characters. Given that their trio is about to raid the underground brothel at the same time Blue Rose was preparing to do so, things could get interesting next week even if Ains or the other Nazarick denizens don't appear. At this point, they're more of a highlight than a necessity.

Rating: B+

Overlord II is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.