[This review is spoiler free!] TL;DR: If I had to rank the Overlord series, the LN is supreme. If you are a detailed oriented person, I would definitely recommend this. If you are curious and don't like lots of words, the manga is the right one for you. If you are interested and like good animation (and that's about it), the anime could be it for you!

I would like to preface this review by saying that I have not finished Overlord in its entirety. I have watched the entire first season and skimmed through the second season of the anime. I've also read 13 chapters of the manga and just barely started the Light Novel today.

This review in particular will be mostly focused on the light novel and manga, respectively. If you haven't or are considering watching the anime, don't. Honestly, don't even bother with the manga either.

In terms of writing, the light novel is superior in every way, shape and form. The chapters are long, and detailed. Although I've just started the light novel, the amount of detail greatly impressed me. It was more than enough to convince me that Overlord might actually be somewhat worth the hype it gets. Everything the anime and manga lack can be found in the light novel; although, it is also told at a considerably slower pace.

In the first chapter of the LN, a single NPC maid that is never mentioned again gets probably 1000+ words of pure description. From her slender build, to her "ample bosom", all the way to her expressionless manner and the former guild member/mangaka that designed her maid outfit. That is the level of description we are talking about. Albedo, the fan favorite, gets 5 beautifully descriptive paragraphs about her looks alone too, In terms of writing, the LN outshines any other forms of Overlord. However, if you hate reading and get tired of looking at words for an extended period of time, the LN is **NOT** for you.

Even I, a big fan for LN and reading, grew a bit tired after the first chapter. It felt like it went on forever, and ever. Reading all 90+ of these will definitely be a treat though.

The LN expands on so much more lore and background than the manga or anime could ever dream of. Not only does it give a better perspective on the real world that Ainz and his former guildmates lived in, but it better details his motivations.

To begin with, in the anime, I thought Ainz was simply looking for his friends just to do so. He was very quick to accept the reality of the situation and settled in without a second question. Without a doubt, this aspect is still present in the manga and LN, however there is a semi-proper explanation about it, which I greatly appreciate. Any details you might be confused about or simply curious on could most likely be answered from reading a chapter of the LN. (Add: The characters are a lot more fleshed out too.)

As mentioned earlier, if you are not interested in a ton of words, you should then look into the manga, which is the second best thing. Compared to the LN, the manga feels like more of a cash grab. However, this doesn't mean it's a bad thing. You can expect some chapters that break the fourth wall though and tell you to buy the newest volume though. Overlord got adapted into an anime surprisingly fast compared to other hit series, which isn't totally shocking. Nonetheless, the manga is much faster paced than the LN and anime.

This does have it's own faults too. During certain arcs, characters will mysteriously pop in and out of scenes at their convenience. At first, this puzzled me. The anime does a better job at explaining these random appearance, but they can be easily overlooked. If you are someone like me, who watched the anime before reading the manga, you might feel like the pacing is **too** fast, however, after the 7th or 8th chapter you will quickly adjust to it.

Comparing the anime to the manga, I definitely liked the Ainz manga design. Although the manga tries to be too edgy at times by hinting at sexual punishment and rape at times, the darker and less animated/cutesy Ainz is definitely my preferred. After the anime adaption notice, I found the art improved a bit which was also nice.

If you've read this far into the review, I take it you are interested in the Overlord series. You can read my anime Overlord reviews, which are also located on MAL. Given how harshly I've critiqued Overlord until this point, the manga and the LN (mostly) certainly are something. I reviewed season one of Overlord to be mediocre at best, and season two to be a total snoozefest. If you truly are interested, start with the LN if possible. If you aren't into that, the manga isn't half bad either!

(Almost anything is better than the anime, in my opinion,,,)