Man, I’ve been waiting for this forever. While not one of the four animes I’ve watched (out of hundreds, yes, I have no life) that I’d rate 10 out of 10, Overlord is one of my top five favorite anime. Anyway, word from supposedly reputable sources in Japan have confirmed that work has started on a four season for the show–although that can be a slow process–and also that there will be a movie.
Now, there have been previously “films” that we merely recap movies allowing people to catch up for the next new season. Although a full season of the show would only run maybe three and a half hours, so I don’t quite get the point. However, I’m hoping the insane success of the recent Demon Slayer anime film, the biggest box office hit in Japan ever, will coax other shows to try their bony hands at it. We’ll see.
No word yet on when the fourth season will air. I think all the show’s fans like to see it done right than done fast, though. I hope they keep the same studio working on it, rather obviously given that it’s one of my favorite shows. The one criticism I’ve heard is that the CGI elements, when used, can be jenky. This is true, but man, that’s way down on the list of things I care about. And the things I do care above, the show does spectacularly well, especially characterization and worldbuilding.
The first three seasons were on Hulu, but I think they only offer season one now. Maybe Netflix will grab it, it would be nice to have it available for a larger audience. You could definitely binge all three seasons in a week or two if you’re diligent, though, and there are trial codes for both Crunchyroll and Funimation out there, and both services stream it. I can’t imagine anyone here wouldn’t like the show–you can get a sense of it from the second season opening featured above–but I should note that it can get pretty dark at times (not nearly all the time, but when it does…). It’s no Bofuri, that’s for sure. Still, highest recommendation.
