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Quatermass

Sergeant-at-Arms
Dec 7, 2010
7,736
2,950
#1
Before we go on, no, this is NOT any relation to the games Rhianna Pratchett has worked on, though it does have not dissimilar themes.

Okay, so, where to begin? This started as a web novel by Kugane Muryama, before being published as a series of light novels (Japanese term for novels about 180-300 pages long, usually published as a serial series). Twelve books have been released so far in Japan, and the sixth volume has recently been released in English, which I just finished reading. The first three books have been adapted as an anime series, and recently, a second anime series based on the next three books in the series has recently started transmitting in Japan.

The beginning seems pretty cliched, especially by Japanese 'trapped in another world' story standards. An MMORPG allowing users to connect their minds directly to it is being shutdown, and Satoru Suzuki, an overworked salaryman of the 22nd century, is Momonga, the head of the guild Ainz Ooal Gown. He stays logged on in a fit of pique when the servers shut down, only to find himself becoming the character he was playing as, and the NPCs of the guild coming to life. Oh, and the Ainz Ooal Gown guild has been transported to a new fantasy world different from the MMORPG.

All very well and good...except Ainz Ooal Gown was populated by non-human characters. Momonga is turned into the lich he was playing as, and he has a bunch of NPCs who are more than willing to conquer the world for him.

Now, if that sounds dark, it is. It's a pretty dark and violent series with some very disturbing elements...but it also has a strong undercurrent of humour. One of the main sources is Momonga himself, who has to act like an overlord in public, but in the confines of his skull, is frequently trying to cope with the situation he isn't suited for. And then, there is Albedo, a high-ranking NPC Succubus that Momonga tampered with the settings for in the last minutes before the game shut down, rewriting it on a whim to say that she is in love with Momonga...and when she comes to life, she is very much crazily in love with him. And considering he lacks the equipment being a lich (and thus a living skeleton), he can't...well, bone her (please don't hit me!).

Plus, the series is filled with some awesome fights, most of them one-sided (as Momonga, who takes up the name of his guild partway through the first book, is Level 100 by the MMORPG's terms, as are most of the NPCs in Nazarick that we see). One fight in particular ends with the deadliest bearhug you have ever seen, and it couldn't have happened to a more deserving person.

Anyway, just to give you guys a taster, I'm posting a link to the opening titles of the anime. During the first part of the titles, we see the main characters. In order, they are respectively Momonga/Ainz, Albedo, the Dark Elf twins Aura and Mare (and despite their clothing, Mare, the one in the skirt, is actually a boy), Demiurge, Cocytus, Sebas Tian, and Shalltear Bloodfallen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMoVmSV4yA8
 

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