Overview (Spoilers Below):
As Ains muddles his way through ruling his new kingdom, he continues to ponder over a particularly important question. Everyone in his kingdom and the Tomb of Nazarick is also waiting for his answer. What kind of kingdom does he wish to create?
Our Take:
The anime adaptation of Kugane Maruyama’s light novel series has logged back in for another series of isekai gaming adventures of Ainz Ooal Gown and his NPC allies. The episode establishes Ainz’s internal conflict regarding what kingdom he wants to create when his former guild members leave. The only members besides Ainz that reside in the realm are the Floor Guardians: Albedo, who’s extremely loyal (and horny) to Ainz, and twin sisters Aura and Mare. While my lack of knowledge about Ainz looms around my head, it’s not to say that I didn’t connect with him right away. Despite his creepy appearance, Ainz has his heart in the right place as he seeks to provide equality in the kingdom for humans and non-humans.
He does this by establishing an orphanage to recognize young talented individuals. Ainz also has Albedo visiting E-Rantel to deal with the lack of resources and seeks permission from Ainzach, the Master of the local adventurer’s guild, to absorb the guild into his kingdom. For the latter, it will have the adventurers explore unknown lands and establish diplomatic ties with undiscovered kingdoms.
The first episode of Overlord IV did deliver some decent moments to keep me curious about its concept. The animation by Madhouse was modestly impressive despite the episode having a dialogue-driven plot. Additionally, the English voice cast did a suitable job voicing their characters, including Chris Guerrero as Ainz and Elizabeth Maxwell as Albedo. Although, it does leave me with more questions than answers due to my lack of experience with the previous seasons. Maybe if I take the time to watch the first three seasons, I might get a clear idea of the show’s world-building and characters. Until then, I would say that it was a fine start to my journey inside this MMORPG world.