The last episode of the Overlord Season 1 ended in the summer of 2015 and now, the Season 2 has been officially announced by anime studio Madhouse. Even though fans have had to be really patient, the source material piled up, which means that the upcoming season may arrive sooner rather than later. Overlord is written by Kugane Maruyama, while the light novel was published in 2012 for the first time. Currently, the book series has eleven volumes, while Volume 12 should be out September 30, 2017. The manga adaptation that started in 2014 has covered four volumes up until now.
Overlord Season 2 Release Date
The release date of the Overlord Season 2 anime is scheduled for January 2018, but the exact day remains unknown. This is good news because, in a few months, the fans will have a chance to enjoy their favorite show. Meanwhile, Studio Madhouse is yet to confirm the number of episodes in the second season. The source material is available, so there is a possibility that we will see up to 24/25 episodes this season, which would be amazing.
There are several movies and spin-offs of Overlord such as the first compilation title named Overlord: The Undead King, which premiered in Japan in February this year. Also, another film Overlord: The Dark Warrior gave us the first hint at the anime Season 2.
Overlord Light Novel Vs. Anime
There were no differences in the story, and the anime followed the plot of the light novels carefully, which is the reason why Season 1 only scratched the surface. However, characters are different and their aims and goals as well. In the light novels, Ainz Ooal Gown explores the New World outside the gates of the Great Tomb of Nazarick because he is scared his power levels aren’t going to be sufficient and match his strength of the former game world Yggdrasil where in the anime he does so because he is curious.
As you can see, the motivation completely differs, and the light novel gives the readers a better insight into the thoughts of the characters. Moreover, Momonga is slowly losing his humanity to his new Lich form, and Studio Madhouse brilliantly presented this. So far, the anime has used the materials from first three volumes, so there is still plenty of the story to be used for future episodes.
The good thing is that Overlord writer Kugane told Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! that he is “writing with an end in mind,” and has “no intention to drag the story on and on.” He wanted to make the story “believable” to the readers, and he explained why he made his characters undead. He said that a human would have “problems like poisoning or getting attacked in your sleep, but if he were undead, it instantly resolves the issue.” Thus, “because the protagonist was an undead his followers also became non-human monsters.”
Spoilers
In the last three episodes of the Overlord anime, we have seen Ainz Ooal Gown and his NPC followers of the Great Tomb of Nazarik putting down Shalltear Bloodfallen’s rebellion. What happens next? If you don’t want to find out, stop reading here.
In the new season, we will see Ainz who sends Cocytus to conduct an ‘experiment’ and destroy the peaceful lizardmen tribes with his army of undead. Cocytus is defeated in the first battle, which shocked him, so he asked Ainz whether lizardmen could join their forces and fight together. Zarayusa Shasha, a lizardman who united the tribes, has a choice – either to beat Cocytus in his second fight so that Ainz would spare his tribes, or lose and submit to him. We will not reveal the outcome.
Only one volume covers this story, whereas Volumes 5 and 6 focus on the character Climb, bodyguard of the Golden Princess of the Re-Estize Kingdom. Moreover, the fans will get to know Brain Unglaus, the mercenary who lost to the vampire Shalltear. Battles and intrigue of the Re-Estize Kingdom will be dealt with whereas the story will also follow an underground criminal organization called the Eight Fingers. The ending of Volume 6 is when Demiurge, Commander of Nazarik’s NPC Defenses fights against the Demon Lord Jadabaoth, which would be a perfect ending of Season 2 if plans are only to film 12 episodes. Volume 7 to Volume 9 would be covered in Season 3 in that case.
Meanwhile, Overlord writer was asked whether he would consider his protagonists to be an “evil army”?
“While I also call Ainz and the others an ‘evil army,’ whether they are evil is…. it’s probably my ‘chuunibyou’ mind showing but I don’t think they can be labeled completely evil,” Kugane replied. “The world of Overlord operates on the law of the jungle, so I write as if the strong are good and the weak are bad. While some may view their actions as evil, they act on their perception of ‘good.’ For example, you would be confused if someone said you’re evil for stepping on an ant, right? So, I didn’t make these setting because I wanted to express evil.”
