Friday, April 30, 2021

#IReadsYou Review: OVERLORD Volume 12

OVERLORD, VOL. 12
YEN PRESS

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

SCENARIO: Satoshi Oshio
MANGAKA: Hugin Miyama
ORIGINAL STORY: Kugane Maruyama
CHARACTER DESIGN: so-bin
TRANSLATION: Emily Balistrieri
LETTERS: Liz Kolkman
ISBN: 978-1-9753-1296-1; paperback (May 2020); Rated “OT” for “Older Teen”
194pp, B&W with some color pages, $13.00 U.S., $17.00 CAN

Overlord is a Japanese light novel series written by Kugane Maruyama and illustrated by so-bin.  A manga adaptation by writer Satoshi Oshio and artist Hugin Miyama began serialization in Kadokawa Shoten's manga magazine, Comp Ace, beginning in November 2014.  Yen Press is publishing an English-language adaptation of the manga as a series of paperback graphic novels and is also publishing an English-language adaptation of the light novel series.

Overlord asks the question, “What do you do when your favorite game shuts down?”  The 22nd century saw the release of YGGDRASIL, a DMMORPG, or “Dive Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.”  After an intense twelve-year run, the YGGDRASIL game servers are about to be shut down.  Momon decides to stay logged in right up until the very end, but when the servers go dark, he finds himself transported into the game world.  Now, he's been transformed into his skeletal avatar from the game, awesome magical powers included.  But what if he's the villain of his own story?

As Overlord, Vol. 12 (Chapters 44.5 to 49) opens, the “Bug Maid” has arrived.  Now, it is up to two members of the “Blue Roses,” the knight, Gagaran, and the ninja, Tia, to defeat her... except they can't.  They will need the help of the mysterious magic user and warrior, “Evileye,” but when she gains the advantage, another player enters the fray.  He is the demon Jaldabaoth, and he is unbelievably powerful.  So, another player enters – Momon, but this skirmish is just the beginning.

At last, Demiurge's schemes in the kingdom begin bearing fruit.  Between Jaldaboath and a powerful fighter capable of manipulating insects, the beleaguered humans have no choice but to rely on the Blue Roses to save a city.

The Overlord manga is new to me.  I have never read the Overlord light novel series written by Kugane Maruyama and illustrated by so-bin.  The work on the manga, drawn by Hugin Miyama from a scenario by Satoshi Oshio, does make me curious about the novels.

Overlord Graphic Novel Volume 12 is mostly battle manga.  I can't say that I find the characters particularly intriguing, but I am interested in this story line.  The English translation by Emily Balistrieri captures the narrative's sense of conspiracy, mystery, and machinations.  There is also some backstabbing going on, which captures the imagination, so I probably would feel a little better about the characters if I read more volumes.

6 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"



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