Product Info

Studio

Kadokawa

Director

Naoyuki Ito

Genre

Action, Adventure, Animation, Fantasy

Rated

R

Theatrical Release Date (NA)

Nov 8, 2024

Film Length

2hr 15min

Purchase From

The 2024 film Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom is an highly anticipated anime film that’ll leave fans disappointed with its pacing and predictable plot.

The Fallen Kingdom

The film takes place between episodes 7 and 8 of the fourth season of the Overlord anime series. It is a movie adaptation of the Roble Holy Kingdom arc of the light novel, which has not been animated in the televised anime series.

For those not familiar with the series, Overlord is about a human who finds himself transported into his favorite MMORPG as his avatar, Momonga (later Ains Ooal Gown, after the name of his guild), a skeleton with enormous power and a large following.

However, the film doesn’t focus on Ains but instead on a squire named Neia Baraja and the head of the Holy Kingdom’s military, Remedios Custodio. The kingdom finds itself in a dilemma when Demon Lord Jaldabaoth attacks with his demi-human army. Neia, Remedios, and other soldiers escape and journey to find Momon, a powerful adventurer (who also happens to be Ains, though it’s kept a secret to the public). Ains mentions to the Holy Kingdom soldiers that he is more powerful than the adventurer and lends his aid to take down Jaldabaoth.

Remedios, who does not like the idea of working with the undead sorcerer, places her squire Neia to assist Ains instead of herself. The film shifts its focus towards Neia as the audience witnesses her growing respect of Ains’s philosophy and power. Ains takes a liking to Neia and gives her gifts to aid her in battle. Those who’ve watched the anime series know Ains has something up his sleeve. Those same viewers will also be disappointed that they won’t see much of Ains’s followers in this film.

Taking Your Time

The pacing in the first half goes quite fast with the surprise attack of Jaldabaoth and the confrontation of Ains. It slows down in the second half, where the story mainly focuses on Neia having to save the kingdom. It feels like the story should have been made into a regular TV season to help with the pacing rather than stuff it all into a two hour movie.

Viewers who’ve watched the anime series will clearly see where the story is going from a mile away. Typically, the show makes things intriguing in terms of how the story will unfold, but that doesn’t get translated to the movie. You want it to end sooner. Without spoilers, the corny scenarios with Neia during battle and the confrontation dialogue are rough to watch, even though it’s intentionally supposed to be corny.

Visually Engaging

The Sacred Kingdom’s animation, done by MadHouse productions, is great and makes the movie interesting visually. Carrying the dark fantasy and violence from the anime series, it feels like you’re watching an enhanced version of the show. Between the more detailed battle scenes and the better blending of CGI and 2D animation, it’s obvious that the film had a bigger budget to work with.

The soundtrack, composed by Shūji Katayama, works with the film’s dark and foreboding tone. Even during moments of quiet or emotional scenes, the music scores played their part well. The movie’s ending vocal track, “WHEELER-DEALER” by OxT, matches the vibe with its dark, heavy beats. The voice acting is also top notch and of no surprise considering the experienced team that has worked on the original anime series.

All that being said, while watching the synopsis at the beginning of the film, it was difficult reading the subtitles because the screen displayed two sentences at a time for only a few seconds. Even for an experienced subtitle reader, that was too fast. Slow it down a little, please.

The Last Kingdom

Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom may not be the most impressive anime film due to its story and pacing, but its animation and sound quality is top notch. Here’s hoping any future theatrical outings are treated with a bit more care.

An early screening provided for this review. Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom releases in theaters on November 8, 2024. Fans can visit the movie’s official website for tickets and information.