Monday, December 9, 2024

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.
 
Of the four main characters Megumin is fast becoming my favorite.  Like I said last time, she reminds me a lot of Lina Inverse from Slayers without the prone to anger issues.  Her love for Explosion Magic continues to grow and now the bigger the boom, the more Megumin gets turned on like Darkness taking damage from a Monster.  Whenever Megumin executes an Explosion Magic Attack, she does so with the theatricality and total epic bad assery of Lina (and visually it’s some of the best looking stuff in the show).  Still, Megumin is just as flawed as everyone else: like bombing the same castle over and over again without realizing it was playing residence to one of the Devil Kings Generals (more on him momentarily).  I like how despite bravely standing up to him, Megumin did feel guilty for bringing his wrath down upon everyone.  Thankfully, she’s got a good support group, even Kazuma and his smart aleck attitude can take a break for him to start bonding with the Explosion Maniac over her craft.  They’ve probably got the best chemistry out of all the pairs you can make in the party.
 
I loved Verdia the Dullahan.  He was quite the imposing and well designed villain, the close ups on his eye were really well animated.  Also he could summon The Eye of Sauron from The Lord of the Rings to slow down time and fell opponents with ease.  While Verdias did carry the threatening aura a General of the Devil King should have…this is still KonoSuba and that meant even at his more intimidating, he’s still gonna be played for laughs and laughs were provided in spades.  His intro was fun, demanding to know who kept blowing up his castle but the best comedy came from Darkness. On the one hand, Verdia applauded her bravery but was instantly creeped out when Darkness believed he wanted to have his way with her and appeal to her perverted dreams.  Seeing a demonic looking baddie quickly declare “DON’T GIVE ANYONE THE WRONG IDEA ABOUT ME!!!” had me slapping the couch as I laughed.  But the coup de grace went to Kazuma, who found a way to introduce soccer to Axel once he managed to snag Verdia’s head.  Too bad Verdia seems one and done but hey, we got some quality comedy and the party got its first real win, even if theyre now buried beneath a mountain of debt.
 
The most interesting world building development came in the form of Kyouya. Hailed by everyone to be the best of the best, this is another kid who died and got reincarnated like Kazuma by Aqua.  It’s nice to see proof to Aqua’s claim that she’s done this before and I wonder if we’ll see others pop up down the line. We also got to see some more subversion of Issekai tropes as Kyouya with his fame and super powerful sword that only he could use got easily trounced by Kazuma and the girls.  Not only did a low level Adventurer kick his ass but Kyouya got walloped by Aqua something fierce.  Despite Kazuma being Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin and Darkness all like him and don’t want to leave his party (even if he cant wait to get rid of them).  Even an offer from the would be Top Hero couldn’t sway them, in fact it pissed them off.  And you know what, good on them.  Even if they cause Kazuma endless torment, no reason to break up the good thing these guys have.
 
Hmmmm, trying to think of any odds and ends to go over before I close this review out.  Apparently Darkness getting adoration is embarrassing to her and not in the hot way she prefers (the perverted kind with violence and hedonism).  Poor Aqua continues to get put through the wringer, being trapped in a cage being chomped on by Alligators and her party members not believing she’s a Goddess.  That does track though cause Aqua is Aqua and no one would believe this clumsy cutie is a Goddess unless you met her in the afterlife like Kazuma and Kyouya.  Still, Kyouya’s the only guy who’s tried to treat Aqua as her true rank, as Kazuma points out though, he hasn’t spent nearly as much time with her to know the truth. 
 
So yeah, two reviews in and I’ve yet to find any problems with KonoSuba.  I’m sure theyre there but I’m having way too much fun with this Isseaki Comedy to really point them out or care about them.  I suppose if there’s any downside it’s that Next Monday we reach the Finale of Season One,   I’m not ready for the ride to end yet (just ignore that we’re rolling right into Season Two after it’s done) and I’m wondering how it could top the take down of a bad ass looking Dullahan.  Like everything else, I’m sure Kazuma and the gang will luck into something.  See you Next Monday for more KonoSuba, right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.

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