©Courtesy of Kadokawa 

Imagine a figure like Skeletor from Masters of the Universe, except he is a good guy. Perhaps “good guy” is too strong a term, but we can at least say he is complicated. Now imagine you are that character. This is the position Satoru Suzuki found himself in. He was the last player logged into a formerly popular VR MMO on its last day of operation. When it went offline, he stayed inside. After four seasons of the anime series (based on Kugane Maruyama’s light novels), Suzuki has grown quite comfortable in the formerly online fantasy world, turned real. In fact, he secretly pulls strings to expand his power and political domination in Naoyuki Ito’s Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom, the first theatrical feature in the Overlord franchise, which releases this Friday in theaters.

Frankly, Suzuki never had much going for him IRL, so he quickly embraced full-time life as the feared Sorcerer King, Ains Ooal Gown. Initially, he searched for other “players” similarly stranded within the offline game. However, such concerns are an afterthought for him in the new film. For franchise newcomers, this might explain a brief but otherwise incomprehensible bit of dialogue. Aside from that exchange, the story of Sacred Kingdom is largely self-contained.

©Courtesy of Kadokawa 

The demon Demiurge lays siege to the titular kingdom, after magically incapacitating its virtuous defender. Out of desperation, Paladin Remedios Custodio leads the remnants of her honor guard to Ains’ Sorcerer Kingdom seeking emergency assistance.

This will be a delicate negotiation ill-suited to the hotheaded Custodio (whom Ito apparently toned down from the light novels, which depict her as a nasty pain in the neck). Although widely respected for his wisdom, Ains rules over undead subjects, which carries a stigma in the theocratic Sacred Kingdom. Even though they need his magical powers, the Royal family cannot allow the perception of their troops serving under his command. This produces a tricky balancing act that Ains is well prepared to exploit.

 

Fortunately, Squire Neia, a poor swordsman whom Custodio orders to serve as Ains’ temporary attendant, has a talent for mediating between the Sorcerer King and the Sacred Kingdom’s power structure. Frankly, as their rapport grows, Neia’s loyalties start shifting to Ains. Of course, he can use an advocate like her.

The narrative strands of Sacred Kingdom might be easy to pick up, but the ending offers absolutely no sense of completion (especially if you stay for the brief post-credits stinger). Clearly, this story will continue, as diehard fans might hope and expect.

©Courtesy of Kadokawa 

The fantastical geopolitical intrigue is richly complex and the Madhouse-produced animation often evokes a sense of otherworldly spectacle. Yet, even though the discrete plot points are accessible, newcomers might still feel like they are missing something because they lack the proper familiarity with characters’ attitudes and psychological development.

Regardless, Ito fully capitalizes on the dramatic contrast between the under-sized but formidable Squire Neia and the monstrously imposing Ains. Their subtly evolving dynamics greatly differentiates Sacred Kingdom from other anime franchise feature spin-offs.

Of course, Ains Ooal Gown is quite a striking anchor to all the fantastical skullduggery. To put it simply, he looks cool. That is often true of the film as well. The animated world-building is quite impressive. Despite the “Isekai” elements (in which characters are transported to a fantasy world), this is undeniably a film for anime fans who also devour multi-novel epic fantasy series from the likes of Robert Jordan and George RR Martin. The intricate details and expansive cast-of-characters are a good part of the appeal, which The Sacred Kingdom duly supplies.

Arguably, Ito’s approach is very much fan-focused, for those who passionately consume the fantasy genre, rather than more casual viewers (who mostly know fantasy from the Tolkien films and a handful of streaming series). If you do not enjoy being immersed in a darkly complex fantastical realm, you will likely get antsy during The Sacred Kingdom.

However, fans who appreciate a big otherworldly but vaguely medieval canvas and a healthy dose of Machiavellian scheming will enjoy Ito’s latest adaptation of Maruyama. Arguably, spending so much time with a protagonist who looks like Ains Ooal Gown is quite a novelty. Recommended for fans of the franchise and other sprawling epic fantasy series, Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom releases this Friday (11/8) in theaters.

©Courtesy of Kadokawa 

Grade: B-

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Here’s the trailer of the film.