KonoSuba: God’s Blessings On This Wonderful World Part 1 Episodes 1-3

After dying an embarrassingly pointless death, Kazuma Satou receives an offer from a Goddess: pass on to the after life or be reborn in a Fantasy world under siege by the monstrous Devil King.  Eager to live a real life JRPG, Kazama accepts the latter.  But the life of a hero isnt all its cracked up to be, especially when Kazama’s party consists of a ditzy Goddess, a Mage who loves Explosions and a Crusader who gets turned on by damage and danger.  And this is the quartet that’s supposed to take on the Demon King?  This world might be in more trouble than it realizes.

KonoSuba is a title that’s been popping up here and there for me over the years.  When people talk about the Issekai genre, it’s actually a contender for Sword Art Online’s coveted throne and I’ve seen characters like Megumin and Aqua cosplayed at a lot of conventions.  I got a chance to see an episode back during Katsucon 2024 and while my plan was to do a First Impression, as soon as I watched the first two episodes, I knew this had to get onto my review queue ASAP for 2024.  Low and behold, we’ve come to it at last, the perfect feel good Anime for the Christmas Holiday.  If it seems like I’m singing praises a bit early, it’s because I’ll admit I am.  For a guy who frowns at Issekai Anime (though there are plenty that I like), KonoSuba appears to be an instant winner and we’ll be spending all of December going through the first two seasons and the Legend of the Crimson Movie.  For now, let’s start with Season One’s extremely promising opening.
 

Hail to the King Baby!!!: A Godzilla Retrospective Part 5

Previously: Following Tri Star Pictures’ costly failure with their own take on Godzilla, Toho resurrected the King four years after the end of the Hesei Era for a new series of epic battles that took Godzilla in several creative new directions.  The culminated in the Millenium Era’s conclusion just as Godzilla celebrated his 50^th Anniversary.  Once again, the world waited anxiously for his inevitable return.

T5W#485-Top 5 Human Characters in Godzilla Films (Written by JMT-117)

What’s usually the one most common weak link in any Godzilla film?  Nine times out of Ten, it’s the Humans.  No one goes to Godzilla films to watch a bunch of normal civilians get into mostly pointless shinanigans while Monsters are terrorizing a city.  However, there is that one time out of ten where a Godzilla film produces a Human character worth investing time in along with the Kaiju action, it’s rare but it’s doable.  And to help point out the exceptions to the rule, as promised, my friend JMT-117 is back with a new Godzilla themed list of his own to close out the T5W portions of Godzilla Month III.  So without further ado, let’s turn things over to JMT with his picks for the Top 5 Human Characters in Godzilla Films.

 

Godzilla: Final Wars

The world faces its greatest crisis as a race of evil Aliens unleash Monsters all across the globe.  With the valiant warriors of the Earth Defense Forces stretched to their limit and compromised from within, a desperate plan sees them turning to the one force capable of standing against this invasion.  The King of the Monsters is resurrected to face an army of his greatest enemies, some of whom have been reborn more deadly than ever before.  Whether the world lives or dies, the final march of Godzilla marks the beginning of Earth’s Final War.

When an icon as big as Godzilla (pun plenty intended) turns 50, no one more than he deserves an epic adventure worthy of such a milestone.  Godzilla: Final Wars, the final entry in the Millenium Series and, at one point, proposed as the final entry in the entire franchise, both takes advantage of the celebration but not nearly enough.  Oh yes Godzilla is here but more often than not, he’s competing for screentime in his own film against another film that could be good on its own but decides to slot itself into this anniversary project.  The end result is a bit of a cluster cuss mess but it’s still a lot of fun, for the most part.
 

Hail to the King Baby!!!: A Godzilla Retrospective Part 4

Previously: Godzilla roared back onto the silver screen 9 years after the end of the Showa Era with The Return of Godzilla in 1984.  What followed was a seven film saga connected across ten years of spectacular Monster throwdowns while also returning Godzilla to his more menacing atomic horror roots.  But film studios across the sea wanted to take a crack at their own Godzilla film and Toho decided to send the King of the Monsters out in a fashion so epic that it made headlines worldwide.  The King was dead, Long Live the King.