Overlord or How I Became A Lich Necromancer - An Overlord Anime Review

The Inhabitants of the Great Tomb of Nazarick in all their glory

Imagine that you've been playing an MMORPG, one that allows you to play as the Villains if you so desire.  (In D&D we call it the Evil Campaign, while Video Gamers call it the Renegade Path).  Right down to constructing your very own dungeon for other players to try their hand at clearing.  Which you can populate with monsters and NPCs (Non-player Characters to the un-initiated) of your own design.  Things are good, you possess an entire treasury full of extremely rare items.  Have a Guildhall that is so well defended that another party/guild has never been able to make it past the lower floors.  On top of that you're the top guild in the entire game.  There's just one problem, today's the last day before the game goes offline forever.  Your guild is breaking up and it's unlikely you'll ever play together again, since the sea of the internet is vast.  You've resigned yourself to this fate, deciding to wait until the servers shut down.  Much the same way that people await till Midnight on New Years Eve for the New Year to begin.  As the fateful hour strikes something strange happens.  You're still in your Guildhall surrounded by your trusty NPC bodyguards.  The various controls that you used to play the game are gone and you find yourself inhabiting the body of your avatar.  What do you do?  That is the exact situation and question that the protagonist of Overlord Ainz Oon Gown (formerly Momonga) finds himself dealing with.

Now I'm going to be honest with you, I'd been avoiding this Anime for a long time.  It'd been all over the Internet and everyone had been recommending it.  Which honestly made me want to see it even less.  I thought I'd seen this sort of anime before and I wasn't in for anything new.  Part of the reason is because when I think about it we're living in a sort of renaissance of "Transported to another World" anime.  (In Light Novels a genre known as Insekai).  Much like the Moeblob boom that occurred in the early to mid 2000s, Insekai seems to be the cash-cow that all the Anime studios are latching onto. I call it a renaissance because this isn't the first time that there've been stories like this.  Back in the mid 90s there was El Hazard and you probably make the argument that Inuyasha counts.  (If with a twist of the character being able to return to their world quite regularly).  Now don't get me wrong I'm as guilty as anyone else for having enjoyed the Genre.  Three of my favourite anime to come out of it include Drifters, Youjo Senki and Konosuba (which is really more of parody of the genre than an actual example of it).  Though in my defence Drifters and Youjo Senki also fall into a very specific sub-genre of Insekai Anime.  That being the "Villain Protagonist Transported to Another World" sub-genre.  Depending on who you ask the inhabitants of the worlds in those series are in as much trouble, as they were before the protagonists came along.  It's also a sub-genre that Overlord can be counted as part of.  As I said before the protagonist Ainz Oon Gown was leading an Evil guild before he was transported to this world.  Also take into account that in the MMORPG he was playing he chose to play a Lich.  A powerful undead that excels in necromancy.  Right down to the lack of emotions that comes with being undead. 

In terms of quality the show is pretty first rate in terms of quality.  The story as I mentioned is interesting enough to make it stand out from the rest in the genre.  The characters are also very fascinating when given the chance to be fleshed out.  (Which I will admit is very rare as of all the Tomb's inhabitants we only manage to focus on a mere handful).  I will admit that I can see these NPCs being created by a bunch of gamers who watch too much Anime.  There are some cliches present in their concept but obviously they've been lovingly crafted to explore new angles of old archetypes.  The English Dub is also top-notch (everyone has that one non-Anime friend they want show their favourite but won't watch with subtitles), the only real complaint being Clementine's voice.  Though in my opinion it ends up being a strength as one of the series' main villains.  She is supposed to be hated so her having an annoying voice only enhances that hatred.  At least in my eyes anyway.  Overall I enjoyed Overlord even going so far as to buy the first two Light Novels.  (During a recent trip to my nearest large bookstore, the only place I can buy Manga in the area).  Which I believe is the most stunning endorsement I could ever give the series.  I rate it an 8/10, it's good not my absolute favourite but good nonetheless.  

   

Usagi Drop or What to Expect When You're Not Expecting

Pretty much the reaction I'm expecting to get
from my regular Tabletop Gaming readers.
Hope you like the Warhammer 40K joke.

So those of you that have been long time readers of this blog know that I'm an Anime fan.  For those of you that are unaware of that fact I direct you to the High School Tankery post.  I am part of a community on Google+ devoted to that particular subject.  As of late (for some weeks, maybe months now) I've been posting Anime Reviews in that particular community.  The problem is that there is no way to save when you post directly to Google+, so if I get interrupted while writing.  In such a way that forces me to leave the computer and there's a sudden power outage.  All of the hard work I've put into writing that review is gone forever and I have to start over.  From a technical standpoint writing those reviews on my blog is a more efficient way of going about things.  Since Blogger automatically saves what I write at very regular intervals.

Now some of you who have been long time devoted readers of this blog, may be looking at this as a departure from what Stories and Other Such Distractions is about.  In a way you are correct.  Though in another way you wrong.  When I first created this blog I set out with two goals in mind.  Number One to never bring politics into it.  The way I see it there's enough manure being shovelled around by both sides of the spectrum on the inter webs as it is.  Number Two is that this would be a blog about the various things that I enjoy.  It was never meant to be exclusively about Tabletop Roleplaying Games.  It was meant to be inclusively about them.  That's part of the reason that I chose the name Stories and Other Such Distractions.  As a lot of my interests are related to storytelling in some for or another (Movies, Anime, Literature, Tabletop Roleplaying, etc.) while the distractions part was largely meant to be a way to allow myself a little wiggle room.  In terms of topics that I could post about here.  I've been a little bad at keeping with this second policy, but I'm getting better.  I've started posting some actual play reports of Board/Wargames.  I figured that this early into the New Year was a great way to expand further.  Think of it as a New Years resolution.  If any of my readers still aren't happy about it, there is a simple solution.  Skip the Anime Reviews!  Are they gone?  Alright for those of you still here, with that little bit of housekeeping out of the way.  Let's get on with the review!

Usagi Drop (For those you want to skip the Housekeeping section)

Usagi Drop's main characters Rin and Daikichi, you'll be
seeing a lot more of these two.

Let me set the scene a little for you here.  An elderly male relative of yours has died and you've gone back to your hometown for the funeral.  Shortly after you arrive, you discover that the old man had an illegitimate six-year old child that nobody in you family knew about!  What do you do?  That is the exact dilemma that the protagonist of Usagi Drop Daikichi faces at the start of the series.  This being a traditional East Asian culture the girl Rin is shunned by the rest of the family.  Seen as a disgrace to their name and just generally treated like dirt.  She's someone to shunt off to a foster home and never be mentioned again.  At least that's how it looks like things will go until the bachelor Daikichi decides to become the girl's (she's technically his Aunt when I think about it) legal guardian.  

What follows is a cute and heartwarming story as the two try to adapt to the odd situation they find themselves in.  I honestly would recommend showing this to anyone who is considering being a parent.  (Including non-anime fans if you can convince them to sit down and watch it).  Watching this made me realize that a lot more goes into parenting than seems apparent at first glance.  In my personal experience a lot of people rush into having children without really weighing the consequences.  Then again most of the people I personally know (and not through my parents) who have kids.  Were in High School when they made the decision.  (I live in what is essentially the Teenage Pregnancy capital of my Province).  When you first hear people talking about having kids, they start thinking about how wonderful it will be.  The first thought is never "How is this going to affect my career?" or "What are the living arrangements going to be like?" 

Much like the questions that it asks about parenthood.  Usagi Drop's character are very realistic.  I'm sure that everyone has met a precocious six year old at least once in their life.  That would fit Rin to a tee, if you're anything like me she'll quickly become one of your favourite characters.  She's very endearing and cute.  Her precociousness and energy serves as a great contrast to Daikichi's laid-back generic, serious salaryman personality.  There are also a number of other characters that I'm sure you'll recognize from your own lives, not just Anime.  Hands up, who doesn't know an elderly woman who's face lights up whenever her grandkid stops by?  The characters are largely what drives the story as there are no real outside threats to speak of.  Unless you count having to find a temporary daycare, when you're running late for work an outside threat.  

Overall I really enjoyed this Anime, it was cute, heartwarming and sometimes brought a smile to my face.  It also made me question certain things about real life, something I don't often find in Anime.  It was very mature in handling its subject matter of a bachelor suddenly finding themselves saddled with single-parenthood.  (As opposed to some American Hollywood movies).  If you liked the moments in Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, where Kobayashi acted like a parent to Kanna.  Minus the trying to parody Anime tropes then I think you'll like this one.  It doesn't have an English Dub hate to break it to you.  It's not likely to get one either since this is a more obscure series.  Overall I give it a 8 out of 10.  I hope you found this review useful and I apologize for the house-keeping portion taking up about half the post.  It won't happen next time, just think of it as the growing pains of transferring to a new medium.  Until next time have a good day. 

The Hunters: U-69 - Sixth Patrol September 1941

For those of you wondering where the Second Actual Play Report for Yakuza 2019 is.  The short answer is real life got in the way.  The long answer is the GM for that particular game had Homework from College to take care of over the holidays.  We've had a College Teachers strike up here in Ontario which has played hell on our ability to get together online to play.  So the game that was promised for the previous Wednesday ended up being postponed.  This coming Wednesday may very well be a coin-toss, so don't call us we'll call you.  With the scheduled game postponed, I ended up sitting down to play The Hunters again.  What follows is the Sixth Patrol of U-69's career.  If you're just joining us you can find the first actual-play here.  If you missed the last two patrols you can find them here.  Hope you enjoy.

The Departure 

U-69's departure from the U-Boat Pen at Brest in September
of 1941.

Kapitan-leutnant Fechner spent the month of refit, once again petitioning the U-Boat command.  To let him partake in a Wolfpack Patrol in the Atlantic.  A request that was once again denied.  They still sent U-69 to patrol the Atlantic, but still held the belief that U-69 was too green to participate in such a patrol.  So once again U-69 returned to patrol the Atlantic departing from the U-Boat Pen at Brest.  For an uneventful journey into the open ocean.  Fechner was in a foul mood determined to sink enough Allied Ships that upon the Boat's return the higher ups would pay him some goddamn attention!

The Convoy!

It didn't take long for Fechner's wish to be granted, almost the first day after reaching their patrol area.  The lookouts spotted a convoy coming right in their direction!  Fechner gave the order to dive below the waves to avoid detection, and began the approach towards the convoy.  Observing through the periscope Fechner saw four freighters, three small and one large come into range.  The smaller City of Oxford (2600), the Pandias (5000) and the Robert L. Holt (3000), accompanied by the larger Fairport (6200).  Fechner gave the order to fire on the largest of the ships, the Pandias and the Fairport.  Two torpedoes apiece.  

The first two torpedoes fired on the Fairport
as observed by Fechner through U-69's
periscope.

Peering through the periscope Fechner watched as two explosions rocked the Fairport!  They had damaged her but the large freighter was still afloat and didn't appear to be sinking anytime soon.  Compared to the smaller Pandias which fell victim to a single explosion that prompted it to begin its descent to its final resting place.  The second torpedo must have missed or failed to detonate, but that didn't matter.  Its twin had picked up the slack where it had failed.  Now it was just a matter of sinking the Fairport.  Which was slowed and smoking but refused to sink.  U-69 managed to slip away undetected from the destroyers escorting the convoy.  Fechner gave the order to continue following the damaged Fairport.  Which the escort saw fit to abandon to the mercy of the German U-Boat.  The large freighter proved to be difficult prey as it took four different salvos from U-69's deck-gun and two aft-fired torpedoes at close range.  To finally sink her.

The Second Convoy

Having stuck around to finish off the Fairport, U-69's crew had lost the opportunity to pursue the convoy further.  Luckily for them they didn't have to go far to encounter a second one!  Upon sighting Fechner order U-69 to dive to periscope depth, they had used all their aft torpedoes on the Fairport.  So there was no real benefit to making a surface attack on this convoy.  Observing through the periscope three small freighters the Ogontz (5000), the Thurso (2700) and the Tuva (4700) were spotted.  Along with the large freighter Corrientes (6900).  That along with the Ogontz would be their target, the biggest of the four spotted.  Two torpedoes apiece.  Only one explosion was seen from the Corrientes, but it was enough.  The torpedo must have hit the boilers as the freighter went up in flames!  Slowly the Corrientes began to sink below the waves.  While the other target the smaller Ogontz was damaged and still afloat!  

That's when an explosion rocked the boat!  The electric lights went out and Fechner along with his crew were standing in the dark!  "Down periscope!  Dive!" shouted Fechner, realizing it before his crew did.  They were being depth-charged!  The men sprang to follow their Kommandant's orders as another explosion rocked U-69!  At that moment there was a sound of shrieking metal and then a the spray of seawater against metal, a flange had burst!  Fechner cried for the someone to get it under control!  He waited for the next depth-charge to come, but it never did.  The crew stood at their posts drenched from the sudden burst of water which was now under control, alone in the dark.  "Status report!" demanded Fechner to his Chief Engineer.  "The batteries are out!" came the reply.  "Get them fixed!" was all that Fechner offered in return.  "They think they've sunk us!  I want to show them just how wrong they are!  Load forward Torpedo tubes!"  (Overall U-69 suffered 3 Hull Damage, 1 Flooding and damaged Batteries from this initial depth charging).  

The crew rushed to follow their Kommandant's orders.  The batteries were repaired in no time and the remaining electric torpedoes loaded at record speed.  U-69 managed to follow the convoy that believed her sunk with no delays.  Letting the damaged Ogontz go, Fechner wanted to sink more ships rather than finish off leftovers.  This time they'd get within the midst of the convoy and attack at close range.  (The electric torpedoes aren't much good otherwise).  In order to sink the juiciest of targets.  Fechner peered through the periscope ready to pick his targets.  When he noticed something out of his periphery, a Destroyer coming right for them!  "Down periscope dive!"  They had been spotted, they had to get out of here!  Another round of depth charges rocked U-69 shaking her violently!  Fechner quietly wondered to himself if this was it.  Waiting for a watery death that never came.

Aborting the Patrol

Apparently the Royal Navy crew of the destroyer were very confident in their abilities.  For after the first round of depth-charging there was no second.  They must of thought the boat more damaged than it was and had sunk with that last one.  Fechner called for a status report, the Engineer reported that U-69's dive planes had been damaged.  The Kapitan-leutnant cursed at this news, he cursed even more when the Engineer reported that the damage was irreparable at sea.  Which meant they would have to wait for the convoy to leave the area.  So that they could blow the ballast tank in order to surface.  After that it would be a dangerous exposed, surface trip home.  At the mercy of RAF anti-submarine planes.  None of this was anything that Fechner relished.  Giving up pursuit of the convoy stank of cowardice, while he was still leery of planes.  After the run-in that had killed U-69's last Flak-Crew.  There was no other option though, he ordered the patrol aborted and U-69 headed back for Brest.  A thankfully uneventful, but fearful trip.  They returned once more with 65,300 tons of Allied shipping sunk to their name.  It would December by the time the boat was once again ready for patrol.  The men would not be spending Christmas in Brest as they had hoped.  

Wall of the Fallen

The Greek ship SS Pandias sunk by
U-69 in the Atlantic in September
of '41.

The American freighter SS Fairport
sunk by U-69, part of the same convoy
as the Pandias.

The British SS Corrientes sunk by
U-69 in September of '41 part of a
different convoy than the Pandias
or the Fairport.

Conclusion

I really thought this was the end for Fechner and U-69, this was the first time.  That the boat had ever taken any really significant damage or had been forced to abort a patrol.  Again U-69 returned home with her Electric Torpedoes largely unused, which has become something of a tradition.  One that is annoying to both me and the boat's Commandant, since coming back with torpedoes.  Is something of a mark of shame among German Submariners.  I don't think they can really complain though, since U-69 has sunk just as many ships in six patrols as most Aces have in their whole careers.  (Don't quote me on that though).  If you liked this actual play, be sure to +1, comment down below and follow this blog.  As always have a nice day and may the dice be ever in your favour.

The Hunters: U-69 - Fourth and Fifth Patrols May 1941 & July 1941

So it's here the actual play report for my fourth and fifth patrols of the Hunters: German U-Boats at War 1939-1943.  If you missed the first one you can find it here.  If you missed the second and third ones, you can find them here.

Fourth Patrol

U-69 sinking the Canadian Ship SS-Carbiou.

It was a pleasant May morning when U-69 departed from the U-Boat pens at Brest.  Kapitan-leutnant Josef Fechner the boat's commandant was eager to get back to sinking Allied shipping.  After the nearly disastrous patrol of February earlier that year.  Where the boat's flak gun crew was killed by an attack by an RAF anti-submarine plane.  An episode that was nearly repeated when a plane was spotted overhead!  Fechner gave the order to crash dive without hesitation, the trauma of the last patrol still fresh in his mind.  Other than that minor incident, U-69's return to its preferred hunting-ground of the British Isles was uneventful.  As was the majority of its patrol overall.  Fechner was worried that he would return home without a kill to the boat's name.   A fear that proved unfounded as they spotted a lone ship upon the horizon.  While he was still cautious about being ambushed (he didn't want a repeat of the Thirlby incident, read here if you need clarification) he didn't want let a single British ship escape on his watch.  The small freighter was identified a the SS Caribou weighing in at 2200 tons.   The Kapitan-leutnant order U-69's deck-gun to fire upon the ship.  A task that took more rounds of ammunition than it really should have.  Eventually the ship did sink and U-69 slipped away unharmed.  Returning to Brest with no other ships sunk than the puny Caribou, a fact that Kapitan-leutnant Fechner was not pleased about.  

(I remember being really weirded out when I did some research on the actual Historical SS Caribou.  For those of you that weren't aware, the Hunters includes tables of actual historical ships that were sunk by U-Boats.  Or at least served in the Battle of the Atlantic.  It turns out that ended up sinking a piece of Canadian history!  With the exact same U-Boat that sank it in real life about a year early and on the wrong damn side of the ocean!  For those of you that are interested in reading a little more about the Caribou, you can click this link).

Fifth Patrol 

After refitting in Brest U-69 was once again ready for another patrol in July of 1941.  Kapitan-leutnant had petitioned up the chain of command for U-69 to be assigned to a Wolfpack Patrol in the Atlantic.  (I almost made the roll to missing by rolling a 2 instead of the 1 that I needed).  The U-Boat command carefully considered the prolific Kommandant's request, but ultimately decided that he was still too green for such an assignment.  U-69 didn't end up being sent back to the British Isles like Fechner had thought however.  They'd still be going to the Atlantic just not with a Wolfpack like he had hoped.  The trip to the Atlantic was uneventful and at first it appeared that the entire patrol would be that way as well.  Until a Convoy was spotted on the horizon!

It was night-time so Fechner gave the order to dive, surfacing once they were within the convoy's midst.  Which gave U-69 its pick of four different targets.  The large freighter Thomas McKean (7200 tons), the tanker La Brea (6700) and the small freighters Stonepool (5000) & the Tweed (2700, as a side-note the Tweed is like a bad penny, I ran into it last patrol as well).  Fechner ordered torpedoes from the forward tubes fired on the Thomas McKean and the La Brea, two apiece.  While the aft torpedo was fired on the Stonepool.  Of all of these only found its target in the La Brea damaging her motive capabilities but not sinking her.  U-69 slipped away undetected by the convoy's escort of destroyers, only resurfacing after they'd abandoned the La Brea.  (This was the first time since I started playing the Hunters that an escort that ever abandoned a damaged ship.  I thought myself particularly lucky).  U-69 finished off the damaged La Brea with a torpedo fired from its aft, sending the damaged tanker to the depths.  Though honestly Fechner would rather it had been the fatter freighter the Thomas McKean, but he wouldn't look a gift-horse in the mouth.  

Weather Reporting Duty, U-69's assignment for the rest of
their fifth patrol.

Fechner was eager to find another target, when an order came over the U-Boat's radio.  U-69 was being reassigned to weather reporting duty for the rest of the patrol!  An assignment that left Fechner in a foul mood, they'd barely sunk a ship this patrol and the higher-ups were ordering him to report the weather!  Needless to say he was pissed when U-69 docked once more into Brest.  At which point he busied himself drinking and filing reports.  Which insulted the brass' lack of strategic thinking without outright insulting them.  (You know those kind of reports that have "With all due respect..." and the like?) U-69 wouldn't be ready for duty again until September of 1941.  The boat now had five patrols under its belt and 47,200 tons of Allied Shipping sunk to its name.  

Wall of the Fallen

In terms of ships sunk this was one of U-69's more unsuccessful patrols.  With only one ship sunk to a patrol, usually U-69 averages 2 or 3 ships sunk.  Putting them in a very special 3% minority among U-Boats in actual history were lucky to damage a single ship, let alone sink it.

SS-La Brea sunk by U-69 in July of
1941

SS-Caribou sunk by U-69 in May of
1941

Conclusions

Overall these were two of the more boring of U-69's patrols so far.  With only two ships sunk between the two, on the bright side both of them were counted as successes.  So that won't interfere with Kapitan-leutnant Fechner's chances of getting promoted.  If you liked this actual play report be sure to +1, comment and follow this blog.  As always have a good day and may the dice be ever in your favour.