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Overlord Season 4 Review

The fourth season of Overlord premiered in 2022. It is one of the best seasons of this show and one of the most entertaining.

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“In a story, your anger would call forth

a latent ability that would let you defeat me.

This isn’t one of those stories“

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This is a different kind of season for this series. It still continues Ainz’s streak of truly atrocious, genocidal behavior, but it also introduces new characters and even new elements to the show. The two arcs that it covers are distinctly different, but they are solidly connected with each other. I preferred the former over the latter, but the finale was undeniably an unexpected delight.

The first arc dealt extensively with classic European fantasy adventure tropes and creatures as we get to see dwarfs and even dragons. These are all depicted in a very classical sense, which I found to be refreshing. The highlights were the dwarfs with their drunken and feisty personalities. I also liked those canine creatures, but what happened to them was just so brutal.

The second arc ended with a bang, but how it got there was somewhat uneven. I am not a fan of politics, especially not on shows like this one, so those numerous political discussions honestly bored me. This is where I lost a bit of interest and where the season struggled in pace and structure.

But the final episode was such a crucial one for the series in many ways. It featured not only a genocide and total destruction of an entire kingdom, but it also benefitted from an unexpected, brilliant twist where this princess character was revealed to have been a mastermind villain all along. Not only was Princess Renner a genuinely incredible villain, but she even got a song to boot, making her a hilarious antithesis of a Disney Princess.

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This season did benefit from some great moments between Ainz and Albedo, Mare and others. I love these cozy scenes so well that I always wish that the show includes more of them. The fantastical elements are terrific and the action is low-stakes, but fun. There is one big battle scene where finally a character that was actually strong battled with Ainz and that was refreshing to witness. The animation is somewhat improved and the score is quite good here.