KonoSuba Anime Review

This post is by guest writer Max Iorio.

Surprise of the Season

Sword Art Online, like it or hate it, introduced not only a new wave of anime fans, but also a new kind of anime that many are familiar with by now: the “trapped in a video game” anime. Since SAO‘s dominance in 2012, “trapped in a video game” anime have cropped up continually season after season, often times being so similar that they have begun to create some of their own tropes. Then along comes KonoSuba, another “trapped in a video game” anime that nobody really expected to be any good. Instead of retreading a lot of the same ground that other shows have already covered, KonoSuba chooses to take everything it presents in its own unique direction, and as a result, it became one of the most beloved hits of the Winter 2016 season.

Episodes 1-2 Review

KonoSuba starts off surprisingly strong. Kazuma Satou, the story’s protagonist, is on his way home when he suffers a tragic death — well, a pathetic death. A death so pathetic that he is laughed at and mocked by a goddess he meets when he awakens. Upon learning that he has died, the goddess, who introduces herself as Aqua, gives Kazuma three options: go to heaven, be reincarnated to live another normal life in Japan, or be reincarnated to live a life in an alternate world that is being terrorized by the Devil King. Having been a shut-in otaku, Kazuma chooses to fight and defeat the Devil King. When he is granted to take any one thing to this alternate world with him, instead of taking a weapon or special ability, he chooses to take Aqua, who reluctantly joins him in his quest.

KonoSuba hilariously parodies “the chosen one” trope.

If Kazuma had chosen some sort of valuable weapon or ability to accompany him on his quest, he may have been able to earn a comfortable living with ease. But since he chose to take Aqua, (who he later calls a “useless goddess”) Kazuma and Aqua don’t get very far very fast, instead having to work long days doing odd jobs to support themselves. This hilariously introduces what KonoSuba is all about. In many fantasy stories, the hero is “the chosen one” or has an easy luxurious living handed to him, but KonoSuba chooses to parody that by presenting some protagonists that are financially struggling and have to face the hardships of physical labor and debt just like everybody else does. Maybe it isn’t as whimsical and romantic as other fantasy tales, but that’s exactly the point. Despite the monsters and magic, KonoSuba paints a kind of dark “real world” image.

Despite the somewhat dark sense of humor, however, we are treated to a bright color palette as far as visuals go. KonoSuba looks gorgeous, showing off sprawling landscapes in each and every episode. All in all, we’re treated to a great introduction to a great series.

Episodes 3-7 Review

Joining Kazuma and Aqua’s party are two other girls: Megumin, a young girl that has an infatuation with explosive magic, and Darkness, a masochistic knight that, despite being very powerful, can never manage to hit her target. This group of four embarks on numerous quests in order to make a living and, possibly eventually, take on the Devil King. In this group, KonoSuba comes through again to put its own unique twist on itself. Typically, the male protagonist would chase after each girl in this situation, but Kazuma doesn’t display any particular interest in any of the girls. While it doesn’t seem that he flat out dislikes any of them, there doesn’t seem to be much of a romantic interest present (well, for the most part), and I find that to be pretty refreshing.

Megumin, with her love for explosive magic, practices it daily on a castle she thought had long been abandoned. But in reality, one of the leaders of the devil king army, Dullahan, had recently moved in, and in his rage the first real conflict arises. Between combating Dullahan, Snow Sprites, and a lot of debt, KonoSuba reveals itself to be more of a slice of life than an action, a drama, or even a fantasy. It’s definitely more about how the characters interact with each other day in and day out than it is about defeating the Devil King, and again, I think that it is a very smart move for KonoSuba to make. A refreshing direction is exactly what “trapped in a video game” anime needed, especially with its recent prevalence.

Episodes 8-9 Review

Within the eighth and ninth episodes, I feel that while the art and characters are as good as they’ve ever been, the humor and the direction definitely take a more perverse tone, and not entirely in a graceful way (well, I don’t know if there really is a graceful way to take anything into a more perverse direction). KonoSuba has never really hidden the fact that it was sort of perverted, but it had at least been reasonably sensible about it for a while. However, an entire episode came through in which Kazuma discovers a shop in town where one can sign up to be treated by a succubus (a demon who exists to have intercourse with men) and mishaps ensue, it lost a lot of the charm that the other episodes had.

KonoSuba’s “worst” is still pretty good.

But thankfully, it wasn’t all bad. Aqua and Kazuma work to earn a proper home to stay in so that they no longer have to sleep in a stable, there is an exorcism, and a lot of fun is had. It may not but at its best, but KonoSuba‘s worst is still pretty good, so there really isn’t too much to be worried about.

Episode 10 Review

On its final episode, KonoSuba manages to pull through with a large battle sequence between the entire city and a large metallic weapon known as the Destroyer. Even if the slice of life elements the show was rolling with up until this point seem to be nearly completely abandoned and the humor takes a back seat, it is a satisfying finale. What we do get instead is pretty nice: a first real glimpse of what can be done when Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness — an admittedly less than stellar party of adventurers — bring their strengths together. And while the final episode may be pretty light on content, seeing some real teamwork from characters that didn’t always work together all too well isn’t the worst way to do it.

Despite being criminally short, KonoSuba managed to provide plenty of humor and personality — enough humor and personality to earn itself a second season. If KonoSuba is as unique, hilarious, and beautiful the second time around as it was the first, it will truly be a blessing on this wonderful world.

What Do You Think?

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