This novel is truly amazing in conveying a villain as a protagonist, no, not a dark hero just like many other novels with dark story but, the protagonist IS really a villain who doing many atrocities and despicable things and get off scot free! I read the original novel in Japanese (the latest are vol 13 by this day) so I don’t know if they censored it in the translation. For extreme example, just imagine story of hitler as main protagonist, that’s what the writer do in this novel, absurd!
For avoiding of losing a favor from the reader, the writer gives a reason for the lack of feeling and compassion of the protagonist that is because he is an undead. That itself wouldn’t be far from truth if it is just an excuse Suzuki Satoru, the protagonist aka Ainz ool gown gives to himself when he kill another human being and not feeling bad at all (many times he said it to himself as an excuse). In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if he can do the same when he is still a human, killing women and children in cold blood and doesn’t bat an eye at all if it for the benefit of his guild.
At first, most of the enemies are evil people so it doesn’t feel bad when they got killed or tortured (biased), typical mafia story ala godfather. But later, the writer reminded the reader that the protagonist isn’t just a typical dark hero by introducing and change the point of view to some innocent victims or good characters whom their lives destroyed by Ainz ool gown.
In overlord vol 4,
to strengthen his guild, he decided to attack some peaceful tribes of lizardmen and annexed them. Moral lesson (by Ainz himself in vol 12), the strong took everything from the weak. Of course to lessen the guilt for the reader, the writer give some side story such as the lizardmen tribes are in dire need of food so even without Ainz waging a war against them there will be war against each other for food resulting in many casualties. In fact, by annexing them it resolve the food problem and since become the subject of Ainz ool gown the lizardmen are prosper and stronger.
It’s a good result overall…but lets compare it to this:
Nazi german regard Slavic people as subhuman (lizardmen) and in the need of a master to rule against them. They attacking Poland and annexing them. Killing millions civilians, women and children, torturing them to death, forcing them to work to death without food. Ainz ool gown didn’t do any of this in vol 4 yes, but they actually did it in vol 12 and 13, killing, experimenting, mutilating and torturing civilians, women and children. Now let’s take an alternate history, by annexing Poland, it actually making Poland prosper and stronger under german overlord. Still sounds good?
To keep Ainz ool gown as a proper protagonist, the writer cleverly making him appear as some “sub-innocent leader”. He didn’t directly do the torture and mutilation thought he still the one who give the instruction for it. In fact most of atrocities against innocent victims are deliberate acts of his two subordinates alone, Albedo and Demiurgos (mostly Demiurgos). But here is the best part, when Ainz knew about what demiurgos doing to innocent victims, his reaction are “…nani yattenda…” or “really…what is he doing”, one line and the writer leave it like that so the reader can decide whether this is a silence acceptance/agreement by Ainz or he will ask this later. Just imagine that most despicable things Hitler do in WW2 are deliberate acts of his two subordinates Goebels and Himler while he himself is quite innocent from it (laugh).
In overlord vol 7, to make a casus belli
they made elaborate plan inviting some explorers to their lair. Of course to lessen guilt for the reader, most of them are selfish and act for money so when they brutally killed it seems like they deserved it (biased). But the writer cleverly slipped some group of good characters in there who need the money to save their friend from debt. They use the body of the good explorer and his girlfriend as medium for breeding monsters.
. Ainz simply think this is a needed sacrifices to strengthen his guild, in fact this lead to a strong empire to become
! their tributary
due to some funny misunderstanding and coincident at the right time in the right place in vol 9 and vol 10.
Furthermore in Vol 12 and 13 the writer ingeniously created a distorted atmosphere throughout the volumes that made the good one looks like the bad one while the actual bad one portrayed as a good one and treated as a hero and messiah who saved the nation…he is actually the real culprit of the catastrophe itself (Neia is mildly brainwashing the reader by her narratives). This are what make this novel unique and interesting.
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