Overlord

Episode 7

With the upset feelings of the night before left behind, Nphirea and his protectors head to Carne Village, where they discover new fortifications and – to their initial dismay – goblins about. They soon prove to have been summoned by the magic item Ains left the young woman Enri a few episodes before, and so under her will are helping the villagers defend it. Enri is the young woman that Nphirea is sweet on (he even contemplates asking her to marry him, since she has lost her parents), and he deduces from what she says about Ains Ooal Gown that he and the armored warrior Momon are one and the same. He confronts Ains about it but promises to keep the secret, and later even implores Ains to teach him magic, which Ains politely refuses. Momonga, meanwhile, has his heart set on battling the Wise King of the Forest, whom he finds with the help of a visit from Aura. However, he is mightily disappointed to learn that the Wise King is actually a giant, intelligent. . . hamster, one that he can tame using only low-level magic. That's still enough to impress Nphirea, the Swords of darkness, and the denizens of e-Rantel, the latter when he uses the hamster as a mount while escorting Nphirea back home, much to Momonga's embarrassment in the latter case. However, all is not well, for a dangerous person awaits Nphirea at home.

A series being too deliberate and methodical for its own good is definitely possible, and that is the trap that Overlord is falling into. For a character as grand as Ains is, we can reasonably expect more than we are getting here: greater schemes, more regular doses of awesomeness, or even just plain more action in general. Instead the series piddles away another entire episode on events that are, by fantasy standards, very mundane; take out the business with the Wise King of the Forest, which is more amusing in the end than actually tense, and the episode almost entirely lacks interest and excitement. Yeah, watching Nphirea moon over the apparently-clueless Enri is cute, but that kind of thing is not what the series is about. The business with the goblins training the villagers with weaponry is more interesting because it is both sensible under the circumstances and a more novel story element, but that and the silly hamster business is not enough. A mediocre artistic effort in several group shots is also not helping matters.

The very last scene, in which Clémentine and her evil grin are waiting for Nphirea when he returns to his house, holds the glimmer of promise that this bland, achingly slow pacing will pick up; at this point she and Ains mixing it up cannot come soon enough. If this is going to be only an 11-13 episode series then it feels like the series is just wasting time on small stuff while there are bigger and broader adventures to be had.

Rating: C+

Overlord is currently streaming on Funimation.