KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World!: The Movie-Legend of Crimson

The Crimson Demon Mages are some of the most powerful magic users in the world, their power feared even by the Devil King himself.  But when their village comes under attack by demons in search of a weapon that could leave them helpless, even the best need to call for backup…and theyre about to get it in the form of Kazuma Sato and his merry band of screw ups.  For Megumin, it’s a long delayed homecoming.  For Kazuma and the others, it’s a chance to earn some major cash.  But is this a fight even they can win on pure luck when even the Crimson Demons are having trouble?

After two gutbustingly funny but criminally short seasons of KonoSuba, I found myself a bit depressed that the main story was on pause until Season Three arrived.  However, that wasn’t totally true.  Here we have the Legend of Crimson movie which serves as a fun little adventure to pass the time in between TV Seasons and if you love everything about KonoSuba thus far, there’s no reason you wont enjoy The Movie.  Granted it doesn’t feel like a movie and more like an extended 2-3 part episode and doesn’t take full advantage of “The Movie” aspect until the final battle.  But this is also KonoSuba and its formula has been damn near perfected across two TV Seasons.  In short, no need to rock the boat too much and ruin a good thing when its already working as is.
 

KonoSuba: God’s Blessings On This Wonderful World 2 Part 3 Episodes 7-10

Basking in the glow of another major victory, Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin, Darkness and Wiz take a trip to the town of Arcanretia, famous for its Hot Springs.  What should be a nice bit of R&R becomes anything but when Kazama discovers the real reason why Aqua brought them here.  Soon, the crew is accused of sabotaging the Hot Springs and an angry mob is ready to burn them at the stake.  Of course, there’s something else fiendish at work here.  Can Kazama, Megumin, Darkness and Wiz clean up another of Aqua’s messes and save Arcanretia before its wiped off the map?

When it comes to ways to top your previous seasons epic final battle against a walking Spider Tank, I have to hand it to ya, KonoSuba continues to surprise me just when I think it cant.  The Season Finale took us the furthest from Axel we’ve ever been, had some extra friends join in on the fun, present yet another hilarious character from the Devil Kings entourage and personally gave me yet another episode I would easily slot into a Top 5 list of Best KonoSuba episodes…across these first couple of seasons anyway.  Let’s not waste any time getting into the climactic finale of a very strong overall second outing for this Issekai legned.
 

FIF#224-Code Geass: Roze of the Recapture

Years after the death of Lelouch Vi Britannia and the fall of the mighty Britannian Empire, history seeks to repeat itself once more.  Remnants of the former empire rebrand themselves the Neo Britannian Empire and seize control of Japan, once again classifying it as Area 11.  In the midst of this chaos, two siblings emerge, Britannians who fight against their nation to protect the Japanese.  They are Roze and Ash, “The Nameless Mercenaries”, gifted with advanced Knightmare frame piloting skills and secret powers long thought lost to time.  Though their mission is to liberate Japan and crush Neo Britannia, for Roze, there’s much, much more at stake.

 
It's been a minute since Sunrise announced a Ten Year Plan for continuing Code Geass.  Since the original series concluded, we’ve had the Lelouch of the Resurrection movie and the Akito the Exiled OVA.  Both were better than expected, so I’m surprised Sunrise is taking so long to churn out more content for the franchise they want to make the next Gundam for Mecha Anime.  Well, the wait his halted for the time being as we now have Roze of the Recapture.  This new sequel was released in Japan as a quartet of feature films throughout the Summer of 2024 but for international broadcasts, it’s been chopped down to 12 episodes (three for each film).  Don’t know why they don’t just release the movies as is but hey, it means I can close out Season Nine of First Impression Friday with a look at some brand spanking new Code Geass.
 

T5W#489-Top 5 Best Titles Ive Reviewed in 2024

Merry Christmas Dear Readers from the Gundam Anime Corner.  And wouldn’t you know it, this also happens to be the last Wednesday of 2024.  That means you’re not only getting a special extra review of Konosuba 2 but also I get to list off my favorite titles that I’ve looked at this year.  2024 felt a bit rocky overall in terms of my working on the blog (not that you’d know).  But I still managed to come across some solid titles.  Heck three of them on this list are all Perfect 10/10s…but are any of them my absolute favorite of the year? Well let’s not waste anytime and jump into my Top 5 Best Titles Ive Reviewed in 2024 and see who made the cut.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3

Sonic, Tails and Knuckles are back and this time they’re up against a powerful force from the past.  His name is Shadow, a Hedgehog who has been imprisoned for over 50 years.  Now he’s escaped and wants revenge for a wrong that cannot be forgiven.  Against a foe capable of matching their combined might, Sonic and friends have to turn to their sworn enemy, Dr. Robotnik, for help on this one…and he’s not the only one playing their own dangerous game with Shadow.  But when the stakes get personal, how far and how fast will Sonic have to go to stop Shadow from destroying the world?

The Sonic the Hedgehog movies have a very personal place in my heart.  While that might influence how I look at them a little bit, there’s still no denying that the first two films are awesome and helped begin the break away from the dreaded Video Game Movie curse (still some duds there though, see this years Borderlands).  And with the promise of fan favorite Sonic frenemy Shadow the Hedgehog and even more Jim Carrey, Sonic 3 looks to continue that positive hype train.  But does it reach the same heights as its predecessors or is if going a bit too fast.
 

Gunpla Builder Christmas Special-The Gunpla Tree

Every Christmas, my Dad used to go super hard on decorating the house.  Mostly on the first floor, we’d have lights, figures, Nativity scenes, villages, and, of course, the tree.  Since his passing, it’s been kind of hard figuring out how to fill that void, honor his holiday memory and try to carve my own Holiday Decorating path.  Well this year, I decided to try something different.  Someone a while back, maybe even last Christmas, asked me about whether or not I could use my Gunpla as Christmas Ornaments on a tree?  The thought stuck with me and when I was breaking out the army of Christmas decorations I had in storage, I looked at one of those smaller trees and thought, “Wow it would be so cool to put my GM Sniper in one of those branches like it’s waiting to pick off a Zaku.”  And thus, The Gunpla Tree was Born. 

KonoSuba: God’s Blessings On This Wonderful World 2 Part 2 Episodes 4-6

Darkness returns to Kazuma and the others with a desperate plea: helping her escape an arranged marriage.  While Kazuma thinks he can get a sweet deal out of this arrangement, trouble is brewing back at Keele’s Dungeon.  Another of the Devil King’s Commanders has appeared and he has the ability to turn members of Kazama’s party against each other.  It’s do or die time for Team Kazama: to save their town, to deal another blow to the Devil Kings forces…and maybe find a way to get out of their crippling debt if theyre lucky.

Is it possible KonoSuba 2 might be quickly becoming one of the best Anime sequels ever?  Quite the claim to make at the start of a review but I think it’s a pretty sure yes.  Especially if, like me, you’re a big Darkness fan then this set of episodes is for all of us.  But we also got a new Devil King General, Kazuma upping his game and getting the band back together for some classic KonoSuba adventure.  Let’s jump back into this sucker.

FIF#223-Ranma ½ (2024)

Ranma Saotome is a Martial Arts prodigy with a pretty big secret.  Thanks to an accidental fall into a cursed Hot Springs, Ranma turns into a girl whenever he falls into cold water.  Unfortunately, he and his equally cursed Panda father, have brought this trouble back to Japan, where Ranma finds a world of trouble waiting for him.  Now he’s possibly falling into an arranged marriage with the youngest daughter of his fathers best friend, a girl who cant stand him, guy or girl.  If the curse doesn’t kill Ranma first, everyone wanting to get their hands on him, or his heart, probably will.

 
The Anime world seems to be going through a bit of a Rumiko Takahashi re-renaissance doesn’t it?  Just a couple of years after Urusei Yatsura got a new era reboot, we’ve gotten a new go at Ranma ½.  I’ll admit, even though I haven’t watched too much Ranma (outside of one First Impression and my Review of the first Ranma ½ Movie a few years back), I’ve been pretty curious about this one.  The previews looked fun and, better yet, after dealing with a mostly darker and depressing reboot of another beloved 90s Anime (cough cough Sailor Moon Crystal), it was nice to see Ranma’s humor looked intact.  So, how is the long awaited first episode of a reboot of a beloved gateway Anime?
 

KonoSuba: God’s Blessings On This Wonderful World 2 Part 1 Episodes 1-3

Kazuma Sato, savoir of the town of Axel, is now a wanted man.  Desperate to prove he’s not a terrorist, Kazuma must rely on the ones he cant rely on at all to save his life.  While Darkness embarks on a dangerous quest that could set everything right, Kazuma, Aqua and Megumin find more trouble coming to their doorstep in the form of Megumin’s self proclaimed rival: Yunyun.  Then there’s a potential new Undead outbreak that even Aqua’s magic cant fully deal with.  The life of a reincarnated Adventurer just got a whole lot harder for Kazuma, and he hasn’t even gotten to the Devil King yet.

When I first started watching KonoSuba this year, I never expected to fall in love with it as hard as I did.  It’s hard not to when the comedy is on point, tons of tropes from one of the most oversaturated genres in Anime (Issekai) get flipped on their heads, and the main quartet has some of the best group chemistry in Anime ever.  When I reached the end of Season One, I knew I wanted to get right into Season Two, hence why we’re spending all month of December with KonoSuba and getting right back into things today.  The start of this set is kind of special since the Season Premiere is actually the very first episode of KonoSuba I saw back at Katsucon 2024.  I was already laughing my butt of plenty without context but now it’s good to have it cause it shows that KonoSuba was already well on fire before we got to this point.
 

T5W#488-Top 5 Gunpla I’ve Built in 2024

Well 2024 is almost over and my Gunpla craze is still in full swing.   Over the last 12 months I’ve added an impressive 66 new models to my ever growing collection and I might be able to squeeze in one more build or two before the new year cause you better believe a few models went on the holiday gift lists.  I know I’ve been a bit quiet on the talking about Gunpla front for a bit, particularly with a shortened second season of Gunpla Builder Thursday.  Time needing to be managed better cause of work is having me just focus more on enjoying the build rather than deep diving but I do wanna add more Gunpla material to the blog in the coming year.  As I work out those details, today on Top 5 Wednesday I’m listing off the Top 5 Gunpla I’ve Built in 2024

 

KonoSuba: God’s Blessings On This Wonderful World Part 3 Episodes 7-10

After slaying Verdia the Dullahan, Kazuma and company’s rep has skyrocketed…as has their massive debt for damages incurred to the town.  Though desperate for money, Kazuma relishes in his newfound fame even if he still cant shake his danger prone party of beautiful disasters.  But when a massive mechanical Mobile Fortress sets course for Axel, Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin and Darkness must prove their earlier victory wasn’t a fluke (even if it kind of was).  This is the time they become true heroes…or meet a horrific end, and one is more likely than the other.

Well we’ve reached the end of KonoSuba and Kazuma and company are no closer to defeating the Devil King than they were when Kazuma and Aqua first came to this crazy world.  And you know what?  That’s perfectly fine.  I’m in no hurry to see this series reach its ultimate end goal and clearly, neither is the show itself.  There wasn’t even a major build up to the climactic boss fight against a giant mechanical Mobile Fortress.  Instead we got four very fun, mostly stand alone adventures of different kinds that continued to pile on the comedy while also doing some fun world building.  Oh and Kazuma and the girls got a place to live so progress was there too.  I’m super eager to get into Season Two but first let’s break down what went down in the Season One Finale.
 

FIF#222-Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft

Lara Croft.  Trained by the best explorers and survivors, she has overcome so much since her journey to the island of Yamatai.  But all of that has come with great cost, a cost that is consuming Lara’s soul.  But when a beloved artifact is stolen from her families collection, Lara puts grief aside to track down this theif and reclaim this treasure.  It’s another worldwide adventure filled with danger, mysterious forces and the destiny Lara can only run from for so long, the one that leads to her becoming Lara Croft, the Tomb Raider.

 
No one can deny that Lara Croft is more than just one of the greatest video game characters ever created.  While we’re long past the time when she was an icon so enormous she was being used to add campaigns not related to her own franchise, when you hear her name and that there’s a new game coming out, its cause for excitement.  The “Survivor Trilogy” reboot that comprised of 2013’s Tomb Raider, 2015’s Rise of the Tomb Raider and 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider, dialed back the overall smoldering sexiness factor of the character in favor of a more fresh faced beauty whose trials and tribulations made her all the more attractive compared to the “ahem” assets of her original form.  While we wait for whatever game will follow that pretty awesome trilogy, we have Lara Croft’s first animated adventure to keep us company.  Is it an trip worth taking?
 

T5W#487-Top 5 Anime Set During the Holidays

The Holiday Season is upon us once more (and I’ve already lost Whamageddon thanks to my stupid work radio).  While we’re all out buying gifts for family and friends and prepping the house with decorations, for Anime fans this is definitely a time to relax, keep warm and catch up on a show or two with lots of Anime binging.  And while that’s an all fine and good marathon option, there’s also those Anime with a ton of holiday cheer (or at least a ton of snow).  So to kick off the month of gifts, hugs and cookies, here are my picks for the Top 5 Anime Set During the Holidays.

KonoSuba: God’s Blessings On This Wonderful World Part 2 Episodes 4-6

Kazuma’s dream of being a heroic Adventurer isn’t going as well as planned.  He’s got a party assembled but it’s the most ineffective bunch of beautiful idiots ever assembled.  And just when things can’t get any worse, Megumin goes and accidentally picks a fight with one of the Devil King’s Generals…who’s none to pleased his castle is being used for target practice by the “Explosion Maniac”.  Kazuma’s crew might still be new and inexperienced.  But this is their mess and one way or another, they’ll have to clean it up.

So I have a small confession to make: I’m absolutely loving this series.  The comedy is top notch, the cast is a blast and every new episode is a breath of fresh air for me.  That said, it is hard as heck to take notes when I’m having this much fun and it makes me wonder if I can really give this show a proper review when basically I could probably sum up every review with what you just read.  But no, I am committed and I shall continue chronicling these reviews like completing a quest (just not getting paid for it).  Anyway, if last weeks intro episodes set the bar for KonoSuba, this weeks sophomore outing needed to prove it wasn’t a fluke.  Quest Complete: It wasn’t a fluke.
 

FIF#221-Dragon Ball Daima

Goku’s defeat of Majin Buu has sent shockwaves across all worlds.  In the Demon World, King Gomah succeeds King Dabura, learns of the powerful warriors of Earth and seeks to prevent them from foiling his future plans.  Using Earth’s Dragon Balls, he turns Goku and his allies into children, hoping it will lessen their fighting strength.  But Gomah has no idea who he has just messed with and soon Goku is on a new journey into the Demon World to undo this spell, bringing along old friends and encountering new possible allies in the process.

 
Almost 30 years after Dragon Ball Z first dropped in the US, the franchise continues to be one of the most beloved and fiscally reliable Anime in the world.  Dragon Ball Super’s successful run and it’s two subsequent feature films just reinforce that little fact.  But for anyone who thought Super ended too soon, new Dragon Ball has arrived, the very last we’ll sadly see written by Akira Toriyama before his passing earlier this year.  And it looks like Toriyama’s final tale to tell might be a bit of a redemption for another failed Dragon Ball venture that never involved him.  That said, are we really ready for Chibi Dragon Ball that’s actually cannon?
 

T5W#486-Top 5 Thoughts on the Mobile Suit Gundam: GQuuuuuX Announcement

Hold onto your Char Masks ladies and gents, we have legit fresh new Gundam news. And not just any news: we’ve got a brand new Mobile Suit Gundam TV Series on the way for debut sometime in 2025.  And it looks…interesting.  A brand new unorthodox design. A new female lead.  Plus a union of two Anime powerhouses behind two of the greatest Mecha Anime franchises of all time?  Let’s not waste any more time on this one and get into my Top 5 Thoughts on the Mobile Suit Gundam: GQuuuuuX Announcement.

 

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.