Overlord - Anime

After days of nothing but studying it’s always good to get loose and enjoy some free time with something you love and had I been a gamer I probably would have been 48 hours into some hectic gaming session, or better yet the next best thing is some anime about gaming seems to be the cure for a quick fix for my little nerdy heart. Enter Overlord, the anime that brings another gaming world to life.

Aside from being another anime that makes me question why I am not a hardcore gamer, Overlord proves to be yet another intriguing story based on a character that gets pulled into a world of gaming and left to his own devices. The premise reminds me of anime like Sword Art Online and Log Horizon and thus has me anticipating quite a lot from it while still keeping me slightly wary as to the fact that yet another anime took this route. Still I won’t complain as long as it delivers and to some extent I have to say it sort of does.

The story revolves around our lonely hero who is logged into a seemingly outdated game that has had most of its players now moved on to other commitments while he roams alone as a dark lord in his castle built by him and his friends. In the final hours that he spends in saying farewell to the game and all the memories made there something happens that has him waking up unable to leave the game.

Along with his inability to log out he discovers that all the NPCs (Non-Player Characters) have somehow come alive beyond their usual selves. Curious to the extent of the change our hero explores the world further and discovers that the game he once knew has changed into a more real world than it was before and that he was now more than just a character in a game.

Intrigued by these changes our hero then takes on the name of his previous clan as he decides to embrace his new world and maybe even conquer it.

Though the introduction to world is a bit flimsy and the story basically jumps right into the plot of being stuck in a game, the overall idea is familiar. Still that kind of laziness grates a bit, however, the story does make up for it in character development of our hero as he slowly realizes he has now become this ‘overlord’ of sorts and we see his personality change to that of his new persona.

Another treat is the NPCs who have now become their own individuals as they serve their master. The varying personalities are fun to watch and their extreme devotion to their overlord is a source of great enjoyment.

So I’ll admit it’s a shaky start to liking the anime at first, but it draws you in as you continue to watch and enjoy the antics of the group who wants to take over the world they’ve been thrown in.

Tokyo Ghoul - Anime

In the many anime that I have been watching recently I have noted a significant amount of them lacking in one thing that has had me quite irritated and that has been character development. Sure they had some decent story and/or surprise plot, maybe lots of fan service or even a bit of moe factor to keep one distracted for a time. But the juicy bits of the trial and tribulation that make up an individual’s character and make you feel for them, has just been lacking… or at least for me it has.

Until this happened…

Tokyo Ghoul blew me away with its first season of which I finished in a day. The struggle we watch the tragic protagonist, Kaneki, go through is rich with so many developing points that build his character and break it down at the same time that it’s hard not to get drawn into his world and mind as you follow his story.

It starts out almost mundane as you watch a seemingly background character get dragged into a dangerous situation that almost costs his life then it turns out that he happens to be the main guy. It’s an interesting twist.

From mundane to suddenly dragged into the strange, we watch as Kaneki is thrown into panic as he begins to realize he might not have survived his attack unscathed as he notices certain changes.

It’s exciting to see how he deals with everything mentally in a world that hates ghouls and here he is, being something in-between. The conflict is interesting, especially as he gets to know more and more ghouls and they turn out to be totally different to what the news makes them out to be.

Then you have that ending of the first season and the sudden transformation Kaneki is forced to undergo. All I can say is…omg.

Who the hell ends a series off like that!?

Anyway, Season 2 followed and I must say I became a little confused by a few things. I felt like I missed some pieces of information.

Character development slowed down in this season, so it wasn’t as good as the first. It was as if the first season built up to this and this was meant as the execution. Whether that execution worked is up for debate.

Personally, I think it was a good season 2. That being said I expect a season 3 to exist simply because I feel like season 2 didn’t explain too much, or show too much other than some pretty cool fighting and some feel moments.

Season 2 focused less on Kaneki as it spread out to other characters and storylines, but I feel like the overall plot wasn’t highlighted enough and if you didn’t read the manga, like me, you’d be a lost fish swimming in a big fish tank waiting to see some coral at some point only to be fed some flakes every now and then and then fished out of the tank suddenly.

But that ending though, I cried. 

It was a good anime to watch. I’m glad it found its way across my eyeballs and I will definitely hope for a season 3, though something tells me I shouldn’t hold my breath for that.

Seiken Tsukai no World Break - Anime

This one is a bit tricky to describe… At first Seiken Tsukai no World Break comes across as just another one of your average harems. You have the main guy entering a seeming average school and suddenly being surrounded by all the pretty girls. Then you slowly realise the school isn’t as average as the story goes and our main guy is introduced pretty early as something special, because why not? These days you already know he has to be so most plot lines don’t bother hiding it for long I guess.

Anyway, here we have a school that takes in a bunch of kids that have lived past lives and, because of the abilities this provides them with, they now train to be ‘saviors’ in a world ravaged by what they call ‘metaphysicals’, monsters who attack the common folk and obviously need to be dealt with.

Our hero stands apart as he is revealed to have not lived one but possibly multiple lives previously making him stronger than the average savior as he gains additional abilities learned from those past lives. It’s an interesting take on the whole reincarnation theory.

The story progresses on as our hero ‘awakens’ to the memories of his past lives and we see how his growing harem connects to each of his lives both past and present, unlocking more and more of his abilities as he grows stronger and gains the attention of some important peoples.

I have to admit though I find a bit of his general personality a bit lacking as he just goes with the flow of everything around him. Most of the show gets carried by his harem’s actions and story while he just gets plucked in the picture where convenient, it’s slightly irritating. I’d like to see a bit more character building on his side. Hopefully when more of his memories have been ‘awakened’ this will happen, who knows?

Anyhoo, it’s a good anime to watch to pass the time I guess, especially if you’re into the harem thing. Other than that, I suppose the story could use some work as well as the characters, but that’s just my opinion.