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.
If you thought battling Monsters and the Devil Kings
Generals was a neverending struggle for Kazuma, his trail that kicks off Season
Two is easily one of the most fun.
Not
only is his own smart mouth dooming him because it’s Kazuma naturally, but
Aqua, Megumin and Darkness’ attempts to help only make things worse.
Ok that’s a little unfair, they do try their
hardest to keep Kazuma from the death penalty but it doesn’t help when they
point out all of his trademark lewd and perverted qualities right out the
gate.
But Kazuma might be a smart ass
but he isnt 100% dumb.
I like how he
used the trials tools that determine guilt and innocence to his advantage by
saying the one thing that should get him off the hook much sooner: that he isnt
in league with the Devil King.
Still,
this is KonoSuba and even if Kazuma is right, something else will always try to
screw him over.
It’s a tsunami of bad
luck and terrible timing and its what KonoSuba does best, letting viewers
relish in just how bad of a train wreck the situation continues to become.
The Season Two opener gave us two new stand out
characters that hold a lot of promise.
The first is Sena, the Prosecutor overseeing Kazuma’s trial.
First, she is absolutely gorgeous and she
nabs your attention with her good looks and her no nonsense attitude towards
doing her job (so much so she even admits point blank to Kazuma that such an
attitude is a reason she doesn’t have a boyfriend, respect).
Her presence is so demanding that even you’d
think she would put Kazuma away even if the evidence was against him.
But Sena isnt without her good qualities and
she does respect the law enough to admit (mostly) when she’s wrong.
She’s still sticking around because Kazuma
isnt 100% cleared and even gets caught up in some classic Frog adventures and I
hope Sena isnt going anywhere anytime soon.
The other newcomer is Yunyun, Megimin’s self proclaimed rival.
This busty but super shy Crimson Demon mage
could have come off a bit annoying but she’s pretty harmless and she actually
brings out a whole new side to Megumin, one far more in line with the Sorceress
I always compare her to, Lina Inverse from Slayers.
When Yunyun is around, Megumin is a whole new
level of mean and occasionally cruel.
I
love the scene where both of their sad and embarrassing histories were revealed
for everyone to see.
Like I said, it was
sad to see how lonely Yunyun was and how hard it was for Megumin to scrape
by…but this is KonoSuba, where any emotional moments are always crushed by
comedy, but in a good way.
The Premiere was chalk full of wins though.
Kazuma and Aqua’s trip into Keele’s Dungeon
had its moments and plenty of good Kazuma and Aqua banter, so much so that I’m
surprised the show hasn’t tried to hook them up yet. But it just felt like a
meh adventure that reminds you KonoSuba can do and has done better.
It doesn’t have the scares of the mansion
episode from Season One and the overall resolution, while sweet, makes me think
that the missing Wiz intro episode could have taken the place of this one instead.
It also admittedly doesn’t help that Megumin
is kept out of the Dungeon, so she doesn’t blow everyone up, and Darkness is
off on an errand (and apparently being tortured which is both A. not what’s
happening and B. contrary to what they’d have you think, she’s probably
enjoying it).
Maybe adding Sena into the
party with Kazuma and Aqua would have bolstered the episode a bit.
Couple other things of note before we wrap up.
The actual trial of Kazuma was structured
like an outdoor play rendition of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, from the layout
of the courtroom area to the presentation of witnesses.
Even Megumin got in an “OBJECTION” but
there’s a missed opportunity for having the words flash across the screen in
dramatic fashion.
The scene at the end
of the Season Premiere where the gangs house is ransacked by guards because
Kazuma isnt totally off the hook yet was one of the funniest moments.
I don’t know why but seeing Aqua and Megumin
try to defend their booze and explosions just had me cracking up.
Lastly, Megumin has a cat now and it’s
adorable.
In keeping with Crimson Demon
tradition, it has a weird name, Chomusuke, but the way Megumin says it so
cutely, it’ll allow it.
Also Chomusuke
hates Aqua but loves Wiz’s boobs (seriously watch the scene where Yunyun’s
talking with everyone and try not to look up at Chomusuke playing with them at
least twice, it’s impossible).
One lackluster Dungeon Raid aside, KonoSuba is showing
that Season One wasn’t a fluke and this show is still firing on all
cylinders.
The humor is only getting
better, the new characters are instant wins and the returning group of
Adventures are still the loveable, hopeless losers we still love.
Now we just need to get the entire gang back
together and thankfully, we'll be getting to that Next Monday with more Konosuba 2 right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
No comments:
Post a Comment