Overlord is an anime series that first aired in 2015 in the dark fantasy and isekai genre. Isekai anime, in which the story is shaped by journeys to game universes, has had an important place in Japanese culture for years. Overlord, which is among the 100 most popular anime of all time according to the many lists, is one of the products of this culture. Adapted from Kugane Maruyama’s light novel series published since 2012, the anime has had three successful seasons so far. Successful studio Madhouse has been involved in all seasons for the adaptation, and the possible season four is expected to be out of the hands of the studio again. The studio is also known for its long-running animes such as Chihayafuru. Seasons of the anime licensed by Funimation are watched worldwide and are broadcast locally on leading channels such as Tokyo MX and AT-X. Now the fans in Japan and around the world are excited for the fourth season of the anime. Let’s remember the series and take a look at the details of the fourth season.
What is the plotline of Overlord?
Our anime begins with the announcement of its closure, 20 years after the opening of Yggdrasil, a Dive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (DMORPG) style game presented in 2126. On the last day of the game, Momonga, the leader of Ainz Ooal Gown, one of the strongest troops in the game, who wants to stay here until the game is closed, falls asleep hours before the closing. When he wakes up, he realizes that the server has been shut down, and he has transformed into his avatar, the skeleton mage. He immediately controls the NPC (Non-player Character) Pleiades in his troops and realizes that they also have consciousness. He exits their territory, the Great Tomb of Nazarick, to check around and realizes that this is not the game map. This is a new world now! Momonga now wants to take over this world and find real players, if any, who were dragged into this world like him.
Our character is the most powerful mage in Yggdrasil. Indeed, we have seen in all the seasons that his strength is enormous. However, it is a little difficult to say that there are opponents who will force him. Despite being so strong, Momonga moves forward by making very careful moves. In addition, the effect of Momonga on the peace and diplomacy of the three great kingdoms in the region where Nazarick was teleported was huge, and new wars, new alliances, new enemies were inevitable.
When is the fourth season of Overlord?
Overlord anime had been renewed for a fourth season. On May 8, 2021, according to the news on the anime’s official website, a fourth season is on the way and the good news is not limited to this; also a movie of the series will appear in front of the audience (the movie will cover the Holy Kingdom Arc of the novel. Funimation has also officially confirmed the news and announced it on their website. On December 17, 2021, more information about the new season was shared on the anime’s official website. According to the announcement, the new season of the anime would air in 2022.
Later on, Kadokawa revealed new details about the new season of the anime. According to the announcement published on June 13, 2022, the new anime season will begin airing on July 5, 2022. The release date is also seen in the anime’s 3rd and possibly last trailer released for the fourth season. Details about the anime movie will be shared later.
How many seasons can the anime have?
How many more seasons the anime will get in the future depends directly on two main factors: the light novel and the popularity. As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, the light novel, the original of the series, is written by Kugane Maruyama and illustrated by so-bin. The LN has been published since July 30, 2012, by Enterbrain. The anime is still ongoing today and has reached a total of 14 volumes. However, last year, Maramuya announced that the light novel series would end in Volume 17. The first 9 volumes of the light novel series were adapted for the first three seasons of the anime. The remaining volumes are 5 for now and a total of 8 with the volumes to be published. In this case, we think that the anime may have a 5th season, but maybe the fifth season could be a finale due to limited source material.
What about the popularity of the anime?
We mentioned that anime is at the top of many lists. The popularity score of the anime is 97,1%, and according to Myanimelist, Overlord is the 74th most popular anime of all time. The anime’s official Twitter account is followed by 153k people, not a bad follower count. On the other hand, the anime’s Google search volumes are on par with popular animes such as Goblin Slayer and Dororo.
Another important criterion is the disc sales figures. Disc sales often directly affected the decision for the new season. On average, an anime is expected to sell at least 4,000 copies to get approval for a new season. Overlord Season 2 and Season 3 disc sales took place in 2018. Season 2 disc sales averaged 6280, and in Season 3, it increased its sales by selling 7,222 units. Both seasons seem to have achieved their goals.