‘Overlord’ Season 4 Release Date: Why Ending Fourth Installment in a Cliffhanger is a Bad Idea

The production of “Overlord” Season 4 still hasn’t started as the source material issue has yet to be addressed. Throughout the anime’s run, Madhouse has followed a formula of adapting three novels per installment with 13 episodes each.

While the studio still has four volumes left to work on – volume 10 to 13 – the problem is the last two volumes. 12 and 13 have been created as a two-part story and there’s no good stopping point on its plot. As such, Madhouse can decide to cut out a lot of stories for secondary characters in “Overlord” Season 4 to fit everything in 13 episodes, MonsterAndCritics reported.

Or they can choose to adapt volumes 10 to 12, end “Overlord” Season 4 on a cliffhanger, and continue the story on the fifth installment. But this path has another complication. Volume 14 and 15 have yet to come out, with the former slated to drop this year – perhaps on the tail end of 2019.

If “Overlord” Season 4 ended on a major cliffhanger, fans will have to wait until 2021 for the fifth installment since Volume 15 could come out in 2020. Either choice isn’t palatable, but Madhouse’s hands are tied unless author Kugane Maruyama manages to churn out more source material for the anime soon.

There’s also the fact that “Overlord” Season 4 could set up the ending for the series. Maruyama previously said that he has no plan to drag the story of Ainz and is eyeing a conclusion somewhere in volume 20. As such, fans should expect a bloodier conflict against multiple races with Ainz and his army the center of the storm.

Of course, this isn’t set in stone just yet since Maruyama’s decision can still change in the coming years. This is especially true since the author admitted he still has tons of ideas to include in the series’ storyline. As for how Madhouse will handle this situation, the studio hasn’t said anything just yet so fans will have to keep their ears on the ground for any announcement made regarding “Overlord” Season 4.