Overlord

Episode 10

The vampiress Shelltear once claimed that merely being in the presence of Ains' display of power and authority made her wet (in a sexual sense), and she vociferously argued with Albedo over which of them would be his first – and thus primary – wife. So what might lead her to rebel, as was mentioned in the last scene of last episode? This episode purports to reveal what happened by using a flashback to what Shelltear has been up to on the mission she undertook while Momonga was off pretending to be an adventurer. In the end, though, nothing about her status is at all clear.

Shelltear and her two attendants, along with the butler Sebas and the Pleiades maid Solution (who can apparently eat people by absorbing them into her body), have been attempting to find warriors capable of using martial arts (in the power-up sense rather than the fight style sense), but ambushing an ambush yields no satisfaction. While Sebas and Solution move on to other goals, Shelltear traces the bandits back to their lair, where she finds one initially promising candidate but is ultimately disappointed again. In pursuing the fleeing warrior she encounters a group of adventurers and slaughters all but one – and that one survives because she has a flask from Nazarick, which Shelltear recognizes. (Yes, it's that red-haired woman from back in episode 5.) That leads her to a bigger and stronger party of adventurers which is apparently able to stop her cold despite taking some casualties in the process. Or at least that's what seems to have happened, as she is shown still standing motionless on that field long after the party she was attacking left. So why is she registering as having been mind-controlled on Momonga's roster?

Definitely a big mystery there, but that mystery is a relatively minor consideration against the fun that the episode has elsewhere. Equally intriguing is Shelltear's recollection of overhearing a conversation between Momonga and one of his guild mates back while Yggdrasil was still running, which once again raises questions about exactly how long these supposed NPCs have actually been sentient. (Shelltear's interpretation of that conversation, which was about one player complaining that he had just discovered that his sister had done voice work for the adult game he was looking forward to, is also amusing, as she interprets literally something that is often said figuratively. And you have to wonder that something like that hasn't come up before in an anime series.) Seeing the redhead pop up again was also a nice touch, as is the biting irony of Nephirea's grandmother's comment to her back in episode 5 that people might kill her for that potion, when in fact the reverse ended up happening. And while I think everyone expected that we hadn't seen the last of her, did anyone expect that she would pop up again like this?

But no, the real treat here is watching Shelltear in action, whether in polite but sassy Goth Loli mode or full-bore rampaging lamprey-like mode. That's one damn scary alternate form, that “blood ball” power of hers is no joke, and the voice work backing it up, courtesy of Sumire Uesaka (Sanae in Love, Chunibyo, & Other Delusions!), is outstanding. The musical score is in top form, too. Anime has shown before that watching rampaging monsters who fully embrace their monster side can be fun, and Overlord is now the newest evidence of that.

And what would this series be without yet another awesome facial expression? Really, can any anime series ever even compete on this?

Rating: B+

Overlord is currently streaming on Funimation.