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The wildly successful Overlord light novel and anime series asks a simple question: what would happen if a gamer got stuck in the world of the MMORPG they played? It’s an intriguing thought or anyone who’s ever spent significant time gaming online, and the success of Overlord across multiple mediums supports this. Now, fans are preparing to jump back into the world of Overlord with the release of Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom, now playing in theaters. 

At New York Comic Con 2024, we spoke with director Naoyuki Ito, who directed the feature film, alongside producer Kentaro Hashimoto. Read on to learn about their approach to making a feature film versus a television show, along with what fantasy world they would choose to get stuck in like Momonga. 

Popverse: What can fans expect from Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom?

Naoyuki Ito: So, like previous seasons, they put a lot of work into the visuals and the animation, the pizzaz. So many little details that are shown through the specific animation that they had planned out. And also the Overlord original works is very heavily reflected in the season as well. So fans and first timers as well can both enjoy this season. So that's something that I hope that people will look forward to, whether it's their first time or if they're already fans of Overlord. 

Kentaro Hashimoto: It is so similar to what the director has already said, but this movie in particular really captures the essence of Overlord and what fans expect from Overlord. Also the mysterious and very interesting storyline is something to look forward to.

Can you talk about why this arc of the Overlord light novel was adapted as a feature film, rather than as part of the TV anime?

Ito: So, for this movie in particular, we decided to adapt it as a movie instead of a TV series because the time frame was a little tricky. So based on the original works and how much content was in the next original works, we decided that a movie would fit better — neatly — in one movie rather than trying to break it up into different episodes. And also, there are a lot of battle scenes in particular, which are also better adapted to a movie, workload wise, than trying to break it up into different episodes.

At what point did you begin working on this project? And can you talk about the process of getting this project off the ground?

Ito: So the project itself, the scenario aspect started, prior to finishing the fourth season. And so the movie adaptation actually started around when the original works of volume 14 came out. So the scenario started prior to finishing the fourth season, but all the work after that came after the season was finished. 

Hashimoto: So for the movie adaptation, there is heavy use of 3D art and animation to describe the worldview and the atmosphere of, Overlord in this particular movie. So when talking about the different staff that would be available for 3D animation, it took some time to figure out who would be on the team. And then after the fourth season ended, we were able to connect the dots and bridge the gaps and actually start working on the project. But, it was around 2022 when we first started talking about it and assigning the 3D art to the different animators.

And I believe you both have worked on Overlord films as well as the TV anime. Is there a difference when you work on a television project versus a theatrical release?

Ito: As producer Hashimoto has mentioned, there was a lot of the same staff that carried on from season four into the movie. But what we discussed in particular was how to adjust the screen size and the aspect ratio, because it differs so much from a television series when it's on the big screen in theaters. So discussing and working through the differentiations together as a team, in particular the vibrance in colors and also the voice acting was actually taken first. So adjusting the animation to the voice acting, also helped us strategize what we could differentiate from what we’ve created in the past.

Hashimoto: So, as Director Ito mentioned about the 3D artwork that we heavily focus so much on in the movie and also adjusting the colors from how they would look on TV versus on the big screen. There's a lot of vibrancy that needs to be adjusted so it looks nice. And other than that, the story. So in the TV series, it's heavily based around the character Ainz. However, in the movie, we decided to adapt the story more with Neia Baraja as kind of like the main protagonist. Also, it is heavily based on the original works, but we feel like we added our brush up to our adaptation in the movie based on the stories and the animation.

I know you can't share many details, but is there a particular moment you are most excited for fans to see in the movie?

Ito: So, as it was mentioned, the story is through Neia’s perspective and only written around Neia’s perspective. So, he challenges viewers and fans to maybe ponder what the other characters that are also involved in the story and how they're thinking, and maybe what their perception is, alongside Neia.

Hashimoto: In the middle of the movie, there is a very notorious battle scene with Neia and the enemies. So, I want fans to really enjoy that part of the movie and also pay attention to the animation, because we put a lot of time and effort into the battle scenes. 

As I mentioned prior, in Overlord, Momonga finds himself transported into his favorite video game. So what fantasy world or video game would you want to be transported into?

Ito: I’m fine right where I am. I don’t want to go to another world. I like it here. 

Hashimoto: I am a gamer, it depends on the person's ability, mental abilities. So, for example, Momonga has, like, real life skills that he can use inside the game. Kind of like a survival of the fittest. He can kind of make it into that kind of setting. However, I believe that if I were to have to be transported somewhere, I would have to be very relaxed and not so much, like battle going on, like fighting for your life type of thing. It depends on the mental capacity of the person. 

It'd be like Animal Crossing. Very, very normal.

Ito: [Laughter] Fantasy is so broad, like Animal Crossing could be fantasy. Science fiction could be fantasy. So he's like really thinking about where he would want to be transported. Would I want to be transported into the game? I don't want to fight. 

I understand that, yeah, me neither.  

Ito: In this world of Overlord, the humans are the weakest. So I‘m trying to stay away from that.  

And finally, can you provide any information regarding the next phase of Overlord?

Hashimoto: First and foremost, the movie comes out, I believe, in North America on November 8th. So, I hope that everybody's looking forward to that, and that they enjoy the movie.

Ito: And also, regarding maybe new information about the new season, we can't say too much yet because, we’re neck to neck with the original works as a current. So once that progresses more, we can start talking about what to expect for the next season.

Relive New York Comic Con 2024 with Popverse's all-star crew of writers, editors, and video producers right here.