Will the Overlord Light Novel End with Volume 18?

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Will the Overlord Light Novel End with Volume 18?

An unlikely hit, Overlord has become one of the most talked-about works in the otaku community. Overlord first began as a novel series back in 2010 and has since expanded to include an ongoing light novel and manga series, as well as an anime, which has now entered its fourth season. There is also an OVA episode, an ONA series, and a two-part movie. Overlord has been around since 2012 and from what Kugane Maruyama has written in the recently published Volume 16, Overlord is going to end with Volume 18. In this article, we are going to tell you everything we know about that.

In the afterword of the recently published Volume 16 of Overlord, author Kugane Maruyama has written that the light novel series will finish with Volume 18, i.e., in two volumes. Now, he has stated before that it would end with Volume 17 and has, obviously, changed his mind, so we might get another volume later, but as things stand now, Volume 18 is going to be the final one.

The rest of this article is going to focus on the publication of the Overlord light novel series. We’re going to go over the whole publication history and ultimately tell you what the chances are that Overlord really is ending with the scheduled Volume 18, or whether there’s a chance for the series to continue beyond that point.

Is Overlord ending with Volume 18?

Overlord is a light novel series written by Kugane Maruyama and illustrated by so-bin. Initially published online in 2014, it has been published by Enterbrain (Kadokawa brand) since July 2012, and sixteen volumes have been marketed as of July 2022. A manga adaptation by Satoshi Ōshio and Hugin Miyama has been published since November 2014 in Kadokawa Shoten’s Monthly Comp Ace magazine.

A four-season anime adaptation is produced by studio Madhouse. The first season aired between July and September 2015 on AT-X in Japan. Two recap anime films are released in February and March 2017 in Japan respectively. A second season is broadcast between January and April 2018, and a third between July 2018 and October 2018. A fourth season has been broadcast since July 2022.

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The light novel series is written by Kugane Maruyama with art by So-bin. It was first published online in 2010 on the novel publishing site Arcadia, then on Shōsetsuka ni narō in 2012, before the publisher Enterbrain (now Kadokawa) obtained the license rights. The first volume is released on July 30, 2012, and the series will consist of a total of 18 volumes. In North America, Yen Press announced in October 2015 the acquisition of the publishing rights to the series for the English version, the first of which volume is published on May 2016.

The current structure of the series is as follows:

  1. Overlord 1: The Undead King (Japanese: オーバーロード1 不死者の王, Ōbārōdo 1: Fushisha no Ō), originally published on July 30, 2012, English version published on May 24, 2016
  2. Overlord 2: The Dark Warrior (Japanese: オーバーロード2 漆黒の戦士, Ōbārōdo 2: Shikkoku no Senshi), originally published on November 30, 2012, English version published on September 27, 2016
  3. Overlord 3: The Bloody Valkyrie (Japanese: オーバーロード3 鮮血の戦乙女, Ōbārōdo 3: Senketsu no Ikusa Otome), originally published on March 30, 2013, English version published on January 24, 2017
  4. Overlord 4: The Lizard Man Heroes (Japanese: オーバーロード4 蜥蜴人の勇者たち, Ōbārōdo 4: Rizādoman no Yūsha-tachi), originally published on July 31, 201, English version published on May 23, 2017
  5. Overlord 5: The Men of the Kingdom (Part 1) (Japanese: オーバーロード5 王国の漢たち [上], Ōbārōdo 5: Ōkoku no Otoko-tachi (Jō)), originally published on December 28, 2013, English version published on September 19, 2017
  6. Overlord 6: The Men of the Kingdom (Part 2) (Japanese: オーバーロード6 王国の漢たち [下], Ōbārōdo 6: Ōkoku no Otoko-tachi (Ge)), originally published on January 31, 2014, English version published onJanuary 1, 2018
  7. Overlord 7: The Invaders of the Large Tomb (Japanese: (オーバーロード7 大墳墓の侵入者), Ōbārōdo 7: Daifunbo no Shinnyūsha), originally published on August 30, 2014, English version published on May 22, 2018
  8. Overlord 8: The Two Leaders (Japanese: オーバーロード8 二人の指導者, Ōbārōdo 8: Futari no Shidōsha), originally published on December 26, 2014, English version published on September 18, 2018
  9. Overlord 9: The Magic Caster of Destroy (Japanese: オーバーロード9 破軍の魔法詠唱者, Ōbārōdo 9: Hagun no Mahō Eishōsha), originally published on June 29, 2015, English version published on January 22, 2019
  10. Overlord 10: The Ruler of Conspiracy (Japanese: オーバーロード10 謀略の統治者, Ōbārōdo 10: Bōryaku no Tōchisha), originally published on May 30, 2016, English version published on May 21, 2019
  11. Overlord 11: The Craftsman of Dwarf (Japanese: オーバーロード11 山小人の工匠, Ōbārōdo 11: Yama Kobito no Kōshō), originally published on September 30, 2016, English version published on October 29, 2019
  12. Overlord 12: The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom (Part 1) (Japanese: オーバーロード12 聖王国の聖騎士　[上], Ōbārōdo 12: Sei Ōkoku no Sei Kishi (Jō)), originally published on September 30, 2017, English version published on June 23, 2020
  13. Overlord 13: The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom (Part 2) (Japanese: オーバーロード13 聖王国の聖騎士　[下], Ōbārōdo 13: Sei Ōkoku no Sei Kishi (Ge)), originally published on April 27, 2018, English version published on June 1, 2021
  14. Overlord 14: The Witch of the Falling Kingdom (Japanese: オーバーロード14 滅国の魔女, Ōbārōdo 14: Mekkoku no Majo), originally published on March 12, 2020, English version published on June 28, 2022
  15. Overlord 15: The Half Elf God-kin (Part 1) (Japanese: オーバーロード15半森妖精の神人 [上], Ōbārōdo 15: Han Mori Yōsei no Shinjin (Jō)), originally published on June 30, 2022, English version published on TBA
  16. Overlord 16: The Half Elf God-kin (Part 2) (Japanese: オーバーロード16半森妖精の神人 [下], Ōbārōdo 16: Han Mori Yōsei no Shinjin (Ge)), originally published on July 29, 2022, English version published on TBA
  17. Overlord 17: TBC (Japanese: オーバーロード17, Ōbārōdo 17), originally published on TBA, English version published on TBA
  18. Overlord 18: TBC (Japanese: オーバーロード18, Ōbārōdo 18), originally published on TBA, English version published on TBA

Back in January 2022, ahead of the release of the two-part Half Elf God-kin arc, Maruyama confirmed that the story would be split into two parts and that the story would end with Volume 17. Still, the situation changed and in August 2022, Murayama confirmed that the light novel would end with Volume 18. Whether or not he plans to change that later on, it does seem that Overlord is nearing its end so Volume 18 could be the likely end of the light novel series.

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Arthur S. Poe is a writer based in Europe. He has a Ph.D. and speaks five languages. His expertise varies from Alfred Hitchcock movies to Bleach, as he has explored a lot of fictional Universes and authors. He is currently focusing on anime, his childhood love, with special attention given to Bleach, One Piece, Pokemon, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Demon Slayer. He has also written movie reviews and analytical articles and has been featured on sites such as IMDb. He is currently writing for Fiction Horizon on a permanent basis. Most recently, he has been following The Thousand-Year Blood War arc of Bleach, Nier: Automata ver1.1a, One Piece, Digimon Ghost Game, and is waiting for new episodes of Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen. He likes interesting storylines with philosophical Themes, as well as quirky and psychologically intriguing Characters that he likes to debate and Talk about. His aesthetical approach has been influenced By Hitchcock and Kubrick, while his favorite film writer is Roger Ebert.