English Dub Review: Overlord “Two Leaders”

Of course, you realize, this means war.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Sound the bells and ready the barrels of hot pitch; war has come to Carne Village, and the defense of this burgeoning young town is about to be put to the test. Enri, being the town village, mobilizes to plan the strategy of the village’s defense, while the town militia, assemble to fend off the attackers.

These attackers turn out to be ones of the monstrous variety. A horde of monsters rain down projectile fire and boulders and charge the village with all their might. On the defensive side, Enri and her crew encounter powerful troll trying to get into the village, and Enri and Nfirea use what magic they have available to try and finesse their way around the troll.

Eventually, Jugem takes the troll down, though it comes close to ending Nfirea’s short life. Lupusregina shows up along with reinforcements, and the enemy monsters are soon routed from the village.

After the battle, Nfirea, Enri, and Nemu are summoned to The Tomb of Nazarick, where they are treated to dinner, and discuss Carne Village and its future with Ainz Ooal Gown.

Our Take:

It’s all strategy and warfare this episode, which is just fine by me. I love Overlord when it can get a good plan together. The political and strategic aspects of this show have always been some of the most enjoyable to watch. You’re not going to get a whole lot here in terms of character development, but there are plenty of good character moments that should satisfy most viewers.

The battle itself is one heck of a show. The strategy of the defending militia and goblins is well-reasoned and brilliant, which lends credibility to the reality of these characters and their thinking. Jugem’s passionate speech to the militia also stirred something in me as well; it was a good moment that really bonded me with the denizens of Carne Village.

You know, it just wouldn’t be Overlord without a good bit of bad CGI, and boy oh boy do we get our fair share this time around. The ogres on both sides of the battle remind me of walking golems made of cheese. With the skeletons and other undead last season it wasn’t such a big deal since reanimated corpses are naturally going to walk funny and look paranormal, but when it comes to living creatures there is definitely some work to be done here.

I wasn’t totally on board with Enri and Nfirea’s duel with the troll; it seemed like it mostly distracted from the more interesting battle going on, but it wasn’t terrible. Enri and Nfirea are both smart and empathetic, even if they have to explain their plans out loud for the audience. Also, I feel that as characters, I’ve never been terribly interested in what they do; maybe its cause they’re kids, but things didn’t really pick up for me until Lupusregina came to bail them out.

Ainz Ooal Gown and The Tomb of Nazarick take a back seat for this week so we can let things play it out in Carne Village, which is probably for the better. Cutting between these two locations would certainly distract from the major going-ons of the episode. This is all about Carne Village, and the pacing remains focused on it for sure. Shout out to Nfirea’s and Enri’s blooming romance; that was a cute moment to finish the battle on. Though I felt the dinner section was underutilized, but we might get more of that next week to play out the diplomacy between Carne Village and Nazarick.

Overall, not bad. Keep it going, Overlord. We’re having a good time so far.