User blog:Armada 371/Maruyama Interview translation from reddit.

Headline: surprise at the reality that something that aimed to polarize 'OP stories' was accepted

Interviewer: Please tell us how you feel about getting 1st place in [Kono Light Novel ga sugoi!2017]'s tankobon텻ovels department

Maruyama Kugane (below Maruyama) I'm honored to be 1st place. I thank everyone who picked Overlord out of so many other works. I'm so thankful that it's like I'm dreaming while standing

Interviewer: we've heard before that Overlord is kind of a anti-theses type of novel what do you fell about a novel like it getting 1st place?

Maruyama: while it's not an anti-thesis to light novels I was trying to polarize it by writing something out there even by 'OP story' standards. I that only a small minority would stick with it, but when I look at it now it feels like it wasn't polarizing rather around Karuizawa (TL note: a resort in the north east). why so many people accepted this novel is something even me the writer can't understand

Interviewer: the number of readers grew a lot with the success of the anime. with Overlord becoming a hit, did anything change around you?

Maruyama: compared to before there where a lot more people picking up the books when I went to look on release dates. everyone on the release dates of Overlord I Maruyama am watching. don't be surprised.

Interviewer: what was the trigger for starting to write Overlord?

Maruyama: it was hard to find works that appealed to me, so I thought 'then lets try to write my own' that was how it started.

Interviewer: we've heard that the inspiration for the novel was TRPG.

Maruyama: one of the reasons that I started writing is because my TRPG group stopped gathering. even in the settings for Overlord TRPG is a big part

Interviewer: is it your preference that the protagonists are an evil army?

Maruyama: while I also call Ainz and the others a [evil army] whether they are evil is.... it's probably my 'chuunibyou' mind showing but I don't think they can be labeled completely evil. the world of Overlord operates on the law of the jungle so I write as if the strong are good and the weak are bad. while some may view their actions as evil, they act on their perception of 'good'. for example you would be confused if someone your evil for stepping on an ant right?. so I didn't make these setting because I wanted to express evil

Interviewer: is there a reason for making the protagonist an undead?

Maruyama: in the process of making an ideal protagonist I started chipping away problems and as a result it formed as an undead character. if he were human there would be problems like poisoning or getting attacked in your sleep but if he were undead it instantly resolves the issue. my 'chuuni byou'mind makes an appearance here as well. and because the protagonist was an undead his followers also became non-human monsters

Interviewer: what's the reason for the followers being former NPCs?

Maruyama: it was the result of solving the problem of how could he gain loyalty as an absolute ruler. while Ainz is the ruler of Nazarick he's originally a normal salary man. with that kind of normal person becoming an absolute ruler of what kind of being would loyally serve him and that was the result. basically I took the thing that I couldn't accept in the internet novels I've read and tried changing it around in my own way kind of like writing a fanfic.

Interviewer: if that's the case is Ainz thinking like a normal person also a result of clearing up problems of the OP protagonist?

Maruyama: while I don't know how much the Maruyama that just started writing had planned out when he mad the protagonist his character is something I thought a lot about. for example if a normal human was reincarnated in another world he wouldn't be able to speak evenly with a king from that world right?. I think by showing those aspects I tried making an 'OP story' that was believable.

Interviewer: there are a lot of colorful but is there anything that you take care of when thinking up these characters?

Maruyama: one is to make sure the people in power aren't stupid so the reader can accept them. while Overlord is part 'misunderstanding story' the key is to get the readers who see the misunderstanding not say 'that doesn't make sense' and become cynical. I'm pretty cynical myself. so I'm careful about the circumstances of the misunderstanding and try to make it so that the characters thoughts are logically explainable. even though I'm kind of uneasy as to whether or not it is acceptable

Interviewer: speaking of acceptable the development with Zircniv in vol 10 seemed to be digging deeper and deeper

Maruyama: I'm glad Zircniv was so liked by the readers. I think by introducing him in vol 7 and having him appear in vol 9 & 10 the readers would be able to accept his actions and end

Interviewer: the novel version and the web version have many differences is there a reason for adding them?

Maruyama: the main reason was because it was being published as a novel and people would be paying money for it I wanted it to be enjoyable to people who were reading the web version. the reason for putting characters in for example Albedo Ainz is the boss of Nazarik and it was hard getting him to go outside. so I put Albedo in to get Ainz to go out and expand the story. the difference in the story is very telling how much a little change can effect a tale. I'd like it if people reading the web version can get new surprises by reading the novel version

Interviewer: if there are so many differences don't you get confused sometimes as well?

Maruyama: yeah. it's a bit of a problem. if you try to read both parallel to each other both the reader and the author would get confused the only solution is to try harder

Interviewer: was making changes in the novel version your idea?

Editor: when we first met I heard about things h wanted to change and that he wanted to add a heroine. although I didn't think that Albedo would be such a shocking character (lol). while when the novel version first came out there was resistance against her in the end she became a very popular character. she got 2nd place after Ainz in the popularity poll we did a while back.

Interviewer: speaking of popular characters Evileye placed 4th. even though she didn't appear in the anime.

Maruyama: I guess she's fun as a gag character. while I didn't think she would place this high I do think she is a character that has presence. there might be people who like her religiously

Interviewer: do you have a character you like?

Maruyama: I like them all. I don't have a character I don't like. while there are times I have to read back the books for characters that haven't appeared for a while, there aren't any characters that I find writing for hard. while there aren't that many main characters, when you put them in a list there are a lot of them even if you just consider ones that have illustrations. and there are even more characters with just names

Interviewer: so-bin's art is really remarkable, are there any characters that you think differently of after seeing their illustration?

Maruyama: no not really. considering I don't just leave all the character designs to so-bin. I decide on an image for the character while coming up with their settings. for example Albedo has a spider web around her chest, or the length of the sword should be around 90 cm. I give him these little details to design characters with. even though I do think just leaving it all to him would also work.

Editor: the editorial staff comes up with the images for the illustrations used in the novels and checks with Maruyama. and for the covers we have him choose a scene for us.

Maruyama: I had so-bin redraw the cover for volume 11 a couple of times. to make the dragon look more intimidating. so that when they see the cover again after reading the coercion that the readers felt becomes a gag later.

Interviewer: a lot of times in Overlord the enemy characters are defeated in an instant. the first illustration for vol 6 left quite an impression

Maruyama: building them up to seem strong and then having Ainz defeating them in an instant is kind of a running gag of the series. it's funny. and it also serves to show just how much of a gap there is.

Interviewer: you said in the Kono-Light-novel 2015 interview that you liked Kenkyaku Shoubai (TL note: a drama series in Japan).

Maruyama: in the sense that an enemy written to be strong is defeated in an instant by the protagonist, I guess it might have had some influence. but I'm don't always have that kind of great works at the front of my mind when I'm writing. like in Kenkyaku Shoubai they have a scene where they are eating like it's really good, but I can't write to make it seem that good.

Interviewer: excluding Kenkyaku Shoubai and TRPG are there any other influences?

Maruyama: I don't read many light novels so influence from that front is very slim. because I usually read web novels as I said before I read those and thought [I would do this] it really was like writing fanfiction

Interviewer: which so-bin illustration do you like?

Maruyama: it feels like it gets over written every time. he just keeps getting better and better. I have wondered how it would look if the so-bin of now drew the illustration for vol 1. if I had to pick I like the cover art for vol 2.

Headline: speaking in just ideas for story lines 50 volumes worth! but no plans for writing all of it

Interviewer: how much of the world have you planned out?

Maruyama: if your talking about the entire world setting it's a bit up in the air. I have some vague ideas floating around for example there are multiple countries in the middle of the continent and they will eventually make an alliance and will fight against the floor guardians in a huge war. and the reason for making Gargantua is to make it fight a company of golem cavalry. so I haven't made detailed settings for every country on the continent and who lives there and what level they are. but I have thought of settings for the characters that I plan to write in Overlord. like who existed before. it lacks depth if it doesn't have those settings. I like TRPG's so I try to put those details in when I can

Interviewer: speaking of settings there are foreshadows set up several books before right?

Maruyama: the little foreshadowing has more of a surprise factor if they're set up several books beforehand after all. moreover I as a writer want to be able to say [I had it planed all along] with a smile. while I don't plan on recovering all the little plot threads scattered about up til now I been able to recover them almost as planned. I'm amazed I was able to write to this point. at first I thought it might end in 3 volumes (lol). if it really did end at vol 3 all that foreshadowing would have completely gone to waste.

Interviewer: speaking of 'as planned' vol 10 was a lot different than the preview that was in vol 9

Maruyama: originally the empire story was planned to end in 50 pages. but that didn't happen now did it. after I started writing I realized that there was a lot to write about. even vol 4 with the lizard men in the web version went from 40KB (1KB=512 letters) to 300 KB so this isn't a new thing.

Interviewer: do you (editor) get the plot beforehand?

Editor: basically he explains it vocally and then we have a discussion about it after that it's waiting for the first draft. when I asked for a progress report I thought 'yeah that wont end quickly' (lol). as the series goes on I feel that readers have grown attached to the characters so for episodes that dive in to the characters I ask to give them pages even if it makes the overall length longer.

Interviewer: do you think differently when you write the novel version as to when you wrote the web version?

Maruyama: not really. for people uploading on [let's become a writer] (TL note: a Japanese web novel site for aspiring writers) I do think they try to hype it up in episode one but I never bothered with it myself. that and episode one was easily over ten thousand letters long.

Interviewer: is there a particular reason for choosing Arcadia (TL note: the Japanese fanfic.net run by an individual) to upload your novel?

Maruyama: because the site I usually read on was Arcadia. since I wasn't reading on [Let's become a writer] back in 2010. Arcadia had [Ultra acceleration Burst Linker] (later known as Accel World). it's nostalgic really. but after the incident in 2011 there was a time when you couldn't even access the site and the very existence of the site it self was at risk so Overlord moved over to [Let's become a writer].

Interviewer: how far into the future have you thought out the series?

Maruyama: right now assuming the story of Overlord is 20 volumes in my head I have enough planned to write 50 volumes. while I have foreshadowing for those as well I wont be recovering the 30 volumes worth of it in the 20 volumes so I want the readers to relax and read.

Interviewer: how are they supposed to relax with that!?

Maruyama: well those are for other times. I'm saying I wont pack everything to bursting point. I'm a writer that likes OP stories so I wont do thing that would betray the readers expectations. I hope they can be sure of that when reading. and because I'm writing with an end in mind I have no intentions to drag the story on and on. even up till now I've had things that I had thought out but didn't write and it's not good to make the story too big either.

Interviewer: is there a chance that those ideas might eventually be written as side stories?

Maruyama: for those I want the readers to understand what I wanted to write after they read the epilogue of Overlord. though I don't know how many years later that would be (lol). if there is a chance it might be written as a special novel.

Interviewer: assuming Overlord ended what would you like to write about next?

Maruyama: ...a love comedy. a modern school love comedy-'like' work to be exact. the exact opposite of Overlord... or so you could say. there will be a lot of girls. but I don't know a lot about pro-wrestling so I would have to do a lot of research.

Interviewer: what? pro-wrestling!?

Maruyama: well I have a lot I want to write about. while I haven't planned it out yet pro-wrestling is part of what I want to write about.

Interviewer: what makes you realize that you are a professional writer?

Maruyama: when so-bin sends me his illustrations I have that moment of 'I'm a writer now'. when what I wrote is illustrated by someone else I feel the reality that I'm making something. visuals are important. while a novel can pack in various information an illustration can convey a lot of information the moment you see it.

Interviewer: Overlord got green lit for a movie right?

Editor: yes. the first movie [The undead king] is slated for 2017 February and the second movie [The raven black hero] is slated for the next month of March.

Maruyama: are there any new scenes?

Editor: for the movies it's made so that even people who've seen the TV version can enjoy it so I hope that you look forward to it.

Maruyama: and Maruyama has put some effort in and apparently that information will be released tomorrow.

Interviewer: does vol 12 have a scheduled release date?

Maruyama: if nothing goes wrong vol 12 will be released August 2017 and vol 13 in December. I thought the episode was going to be long which is why I split it into two volumes. but the schedule isn't set in stone so you'll have to wait a bit.

Interviewer: is there anything you would like to say to the fans of Overlord?

Maruyama: getting 1st place in the novel/tankobon field of [Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi 2017] is all thanks to you the fans. really this story wasn't chosen to win prizes but the editor found it because the readers of the web version said that it was enjoyable. so I think the fact that Overlord managed to even come this far is due to the fans. if you've seen the special thanks in the credits for the first episode of the anime you can understand that I thank you from the bottom of my heart and hope that you will continue to watch what happens next.