Overlord IV is the fourth season based on the light novel series, at 13 episodes long. Ainz continues to miss his former guild members and it becomes ever more apparent. Although given that he is all powerful and surrounded by the most loyal of servants, you might have expected him to be happier. He wants to create a peaceful kingdom although his servants plan otherwise. Albedo and the others seem to want Ainz to dominate the world instead through showcasing his power.
It can be hard to catch up to the events, especially since like previous seasons, the pacing seems to zip by. There are a lot of strategic movements going on as the characters plan and manipulate to get what they want. Yet it can be confusing to keep track of who’s who, where their loyalties lie, and their place in the grand scheme of things.
Ainz is mostly clueless in the customs of how to run a country, so he leaves it to his subordinates. However, no matter how lost he is, he always appears to know his stuff, as everyone else seems to misinterpret his actions are being all knowing. This even works for his enemies, who have complex plots but is constantly “foiled” by Ainz, who seems to be “several steps ahead”. What is not wrong though is how overpowered Ainz is, both in terms of physical and magical strength, plus he is a lot of passive abilities as well as powerful items at his disposal. He is literally a one-man army, even before considering his powerful subordinates.
Ainz has an inner voice and an outer voice. His inner voice is the one from when he was still human, while his outer voice is deeper and more threatening given he’s an undead. His inner voice tends to have good intentions even if it is hard to show on a face that doesn’t express any emotions. His subordinates are crueler and dominating in comparison. However, despite his subordinates being clever in their own right, it is funny when they keep thinking up excuses for Ainz’s confusion and blunders, as it never occurred to them that Ainz isn’t some clever schemer that has plots within plots.
Ainz likes to see himself as a merciful king and is willing to grant it when recruiting more races to his kingdom. However, he isn’t afraid to dominate and show who’s boss first, because most races underestimate him. Ainz ruthlessly kills them to show his power, and there are many scenes where there is bloodshed everywhere, being a massacre. There are a few moments here and there, where the anime shines with making a previously unlikeable character suddenly be deeper and more complex than before. There is a hint of respect, but then it drops that like a fly and continues on with how it has always been.
The plot jumps around a bit, and the pacing is fast. Therefore, you might not grasp the significance of an event, or it cuts one plot point short to reach another one, before returning to the original. This can make the season lack a consistent hook, as you’re not sure where the plot is heading towards. There is a lot of plotting and some politics, but it doesn’t dive too deep into those thanks to the rapid pacing. It’s usually just a lot of talking or musing by characters, which can be melodramatic. Towards the end of the season, you feel that the events happening have huge ramifications. Although since we never get to understand the motivations of many of the underdeveloped characters (as the anime never bothered to flesh them out), it loses a lot of its meaning, and gives a lot of confusion in its place.
There is an interesting development towards the end of the season, that really helps inject some more intrigue back into the plot. After so long with Ainz being the only player that came into this world, we get some references and hints of other players and what they would term NPCs.
One good decision was that the season finishes off a long running arc that also dominated a lot of this season. Princess Renner was an odd character in that she was working in the background against her own kingdom. We know that she is mentally unstable but was holding out hope for the gotcha moment on why she is doing the things she is doing. Unfortunately, in theme with how the anime is, we don’t get to find out because it skips over all the inner dialogue, so we’re left puzzling at the end of the season when we see the results of her scheming.
Overall, Overlord IV is like previous seasons. It is confusing and poorly written if your only exposure is the anime, because not only is it fast paced, but it skips over too much of the rationale that would help explain the motivations of the characters. As it is, every single character is unlikeable, even when you try hard to find a reason. Sure, they may not be a white knight or a righteous character but when it is impossible to understand why they are doing the cruel and harsh things that they are doing, it is too easy to become confused and not caring about what happens at all.
---------------------------------------------
(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)
