OVERLORD 2 SEASON 2 COLLECTOR'S EDITION

Overlord 2 Season 2 Collector's Edition
Released By: Manga Entertainment
Rating: 15
Running Time: 325 mins
Due Out: Out Now!
Reviewed By: Sandra Scholes

For those who like online role-playing games in an anime setting, this has a lot to offer in terms of setting, character and plot. Even though I didn't see the first season I can tell this has the potential to be a fan favourite which will be talked about at conventions for months to come.

Set in a medieval time period where opposing factions wage war on each other to gain control of vast amounts of land, only their guile and destructiveness will have them reach their goal. In the advent of the Six Gods 600 years ago a 7th Seat's Thousand Leagues Astrologer prediction went horribly wrong. The plan was to prevent a dragon lord from destroying the lands, but instead, Cedran and Beaumarches were killed in battle, while the rest had to retreat. The fact that this anime reminded me of Fate/Stay Night in its early days was only a small reason for wanting to watch it.

I could see that beyond the plotting and fighting in an obvious shonen anime was a mainly character driven story. The mayhem and deviousness kept in as a means to entertain. The characters whether seen as good or bad have good natures inside and act as though they care about their kin and associates. Take as an example Lord Ains. He is a lord who looks menacing in a Skeletor kind of way with a skull for a face, yet he has an unlikely new wife who is lovely and seems to adore him. Albedo, you would think would be scared of him but she is smitten and wants to try out her newlywed role-playing fantasy on him.

Lord Ains has no idea what to do when confronted with Albedos affections and seems to lack any experience with the opposite sex. Lord Ains does, however, know how to prepare for war and plans to trick would be invaders into a dummy Nazarick. As it is an MMORPG setting, there is a mixed bag of characters some of whom look quite normal, then there are talking dragons, cute animal characters you would expect and some who end up in awful circumstances that give the whole anime a sense of realism away from it being cute and twee if it was a lower age rating. There are other things that caught my attention too, that didn't fit into the medieval setting, Lady Ains eating a burger and one character playing with a Rubic cube.

Albedo thinks the Slane Theocracy would be the nation to watch out for in the event of an invasion as they once fought and lost, which would give them grounds for exacting revenge. Then again, Albedo thinks all nations could have a grudge against them. I felt in a way that the story trailed off a bit early on with the lizard men of the Great Claw tribe (which lasted four episodes) rather than carrying on with characters I had grown to like. Thankfully the story did get back on track with what the surrounding nations were going through. I already have my favourite set of characters and there are some strange names; Sebas Tian and Solution are a couple I thought worthy of a mention. The production value is good, the colouring is enough to convince you you are in an RPG, and the character renderings are good enough to show real emotions, while the settings add to the overall look of the anime. Battles, fun, adventure and tragedy are some of what to expect from the world of Overlord 2.

Bonus Material:

The Collector’s Edition set includes:
13 episodes on DVD & Blu-ray (2 DVD & 3 Blu-ray discs)
Rigid Collectors’ Box with soft touch finish
40-page art book with character designs, sketches, and backgrounds
3 art cards featuring gorgeous season 2 artwork
Fabric poster approx. 45x60cm


On-disc extras:
Chapter 3 Commentary
Chapter 6 Commentary
OVERLORD II at Anime Expo 2018: A Message from Minoru Ashina
OVERLORD II at Anime Expo 2018: Interview with Kugane Maruyama & Naoyuki Itou
Play Play Pleiades 2
Special Preview Collection
Chapter 1 Preview
Promotional Videos
Commercials
Textless Opening & Closing Songs
Trailers