When she was just
a small girl, Megumin of the Crimson Demons witnessed a feat of magic so
incredible, it’s all she wants to have.
Now, Megumin has come to the Red Prison Magical Academy. Here she will meet friends who want to be
rivals, out of control teachers, and group of classmates who think that
Explosion Magic is a joke. But it’s no
joke to Megumin and there’s no one who can stop her from learning the spell
that will become her claim to fame.
It’s been a
minute since we’ve visited the wacky world of KonoSuba. While we wait for the announced Season 4 of
the home series, this month we’ll be looking at the only (so far) franchise
spin off focusing on everyones overdramatic goddess of destruction:
Megumin. Incase you didn’t tell from the
synopsis, this is a Megumin origin story centered on how she came to acquire
explosion magic and become the megaton delivering maniac she is. KonoSuba spin offs aren’t a bad idea, especially
when you pick the right character to follow in their own adventure. The question here is: can Megumin handle her
own tale without the back up of her fellow adventurers? That’s what we’re going to find out this
month as we begin KonoSuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World!
I guess to just
jump right into that aforementioned elephant: yeah, this is a different beast
of KonoSuba without Kazuma, Aqua and Darkness around. Part of what makes KonoSuba one of the most
successful Fantasy/Isekai Anime of all time is the comedic timing and personal
chemistry between it’s core group. This
goes double for Kazuma being from the real world and his fourth wall
breaking/self aware take on everything in this fantasy world and the tropes
that come with it. Take away those two
elements and any KonoSuba project without it runs the risk of feeling bog
standard and lacking. Are Kazuma,
Darkness and Aqua missed? Sure they are. But KonoSuba Explosion (guess that’s how I
can shorthand it), isnt without its perks and dare I say, it’s still very fun
to watch.
It’s easy to see
why Megumin has become one of the most stand out characters in the
franchise. Her flair for the dramatic
and her always visually awesome explosion spells have become the stuff of
legends and she never fails to impress or entertain. And way back before the days of Kazuma,
Megumin is just what you’d expect: exactly the same tiny explosion happy maniac
she’s always been, just around a different crew and without her explosion magic
yet. Megumin shines with her endless
determination, signature poses and her endless torment of poor Yunyun. I do like her early days with her self
proclaimed rival. Yunyun’s still the
gullible shy girl and Megumin can usually one up hear easily. Still, Megumin is in desperate need of actual
friends, people who do want to get to know her beyond their own selfish reasons
like most of her classmates. So it’s
great to see her terrorize Yunyun but also be friendly to her in her own way,
even if she refuses to call it so.
While lacking the
same comedic gold material of the KonoSuba quartet, there are some fun stand
outs in Megumin’s supporting cast. Her
little sister, Komekko is freaking adorable and thrives off her sisters energy
(also gets congrats for beating up the mailman? Poor guy). Pucchin, Megumin’s class instructor, is a
freaking hoot. He perfectly embodies the
overconfident and over dramatic attitude the Crimson Demons are best known for
and you can see how some of his personality rubs off on Megumin into the main
series. He’s also part of one of the
best scenes of this opening set, where he, the school staff, and some local
business owners get so caught up in blowing up monsters they destroy their own
town without restraint and are forced to put the whole thing back together in a
single night. Though if anyones a true
rival for Megumin in her class, it’s Arue, who looks and acts like everything
Megumin wants to be, including certain assets and quiet yet super effective
delivery of dramatic announcements.
Lastly, there’s the mishaps of Bukkorori, a hapless stalker who doesn’t
see the error of his ways constantly ogling the object of his affections: the
rightfully so proclaimed most beautiful of the Crimson Demons, Soketto.
While not as
rapid fire with its comedic delivery as its parent show, KonoSuba explosion
still has laughs aplenty. From spells
gone wrong to the girls being forced to kill cute monsters to level up to
Yunyun have to wear a bag over her head for a stupid (but hilarious) plan, this
is a funny series, if not as side splitting as KonoSuba has made me used
to. I will say, that without Kazuma and
the rest of the gang, Explosion can feel like a generic magical girl school
Anime, which isnt a bad thing but as I said, KonoSuba has set a standard that
the main show somehow continues to meet season after season. Nothing completely against Explosion, I still
like it. Some stronger laughs in future
episodes could definitely help it go a long way.
While it has a
ways to go to reach the heights of its parent series, KonoSuba: An Explosion on
This Wonderful World! is still off to a solid start thanks to focusing on the
right character and still leaning into KonoSuba’s penchant for never taking
things too seriously. If anything,
seeing Megumin have to deal with what she has to deal with only gets me more
excited for when we get to the moment she shouts her very first
“EXPLOOOOSIONNNNN!!!!”. Yeah, this is
gonna be fun and the fun continues with more KonoSuba: An Explosion on This
Wonderful World! Next Monday right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
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