KonoSuba – God's blessing on this wonderful world!

NarNeir Jan 13, 2016

8

Before you read this it should be mentioned that this is my first review, so sorry in advance if its a mess. KonoSuba is another story that takes the "Average boy in fantasy world with RPG like aspects", but instead of making it semi-serious with a main character who is like a god, they go for a more simple comedic version of the setting. With the story being more comedy focused, don't be surprised if it doesn't go anywhere big. The biggest factor for this show is comedy. A good majority of the jokes are more young aduilt focused. I'm not really that knowledgeable about comedy, but figured I'd say something on about it. The Art, Animation, and Sound is rather average, maybe slightly above, but nothing note worthy. Then again the animation has its points, or maybe that's just me. If you can accept some flaws then I would recommend this show to people who wouldn't mind a more comedic verson of the fantasy RPG like world setting, or if you want something to pass the time with. But if you want to know for yourself if this show is for you, I would say go and watch the first episode, as that will give you a good indicator of what you can expect in the episodes after.

ThatAnimeSnob Mar 17, 2016

5

Konosuba is a good example of average beating flashy trainwreck. Although superficially it’s yet another trapped in a videogame show filled with fan service and otaku pandering, it is mostly a satire of JRPGs and nothing more. It is not making videogames to be harems masked as serious death games (Sword Art Online), it’s not stuffed with politics that go nowhere (Log Horizon), and it doesn’t treat its characters as proxies for misery porn (Grimgar).At the same time, it is not excelling at something either. The visuals are ok but far from great, the plot is there but it ain’t much, and the characters have personality but it’s fairly simple. What it manages to do in order to mitigate that is to not become stale after a few episodes (Ixion Saga DT), not go in circles without having a feeling of progression (Mondaiji), and not repeating the same joke in every episode until you no longer give a shit (One Punch Man).Did I find it hilarious? After the first episode, no I didn’t. Is it the best in what it’s doing? No it isn’t (Mahoujin Guruguru). Is it the best in the season it came out? No, but it’s definitely the funniest (Shouwa Genroku). Am I looking forward to the second season? No, there is nothing left to explore. Most of the first season was spent on introducing and getting to know the characters. Unless they keep introducing more characters or flesh out the setting, which I doubt they will, there is nothing they can do to keep it fresh. So there, well done, 5/10 but I am not interested for more. Now back to waiting for more Jojo to come out.

SpanglishJC Mar 22, 2016

9

I decided to pick this up a couple of weeks into the 2016 winter season, and I can tell you that I do not regret my decision to watch in the slightest. KonoSuba is definitely one of my top 2016 anime and probably one of the best anime comedies I have had the pleasure of watching. Anyway enough nonsense, let's get into the review. The Story and Characters The setting is that of a fantasy world, specifically a town that would normally be considered a 'starter town' in an MMORPG game. Our main character, Kazuma, is reincarnated in this world after he dies in the real world in ridiculous fashion. He meets Aqua, a goddess, whose role is to help the deceased move onto the afterlife, and… ok you can get the rest in the synopsis, moving on! The story of the show throughout is fairly loose. There is an overarching plot involving a Demon King, whom is only mentioned, that needs to be defeated so that Aqua, whom Kazuma had brought with him due to a loophole in the 'you can take anything you want into this new world' rule, can return to her previous post. Apart from that, the show follows a fairly episodic structure where the party of four get up to all sorts of silliness, whilst keeping character progression throughout, i.e. abilities learned are remembered, things they have acquired are kept and such. The overarching plot is not resolved by the end; however I do not hold it against the show as it never put too much importance on it. It was what went on in each episode that I felt drove the series forward, because of the main cast progression, ultimately affecting the later episodes as they improved as a team. So, to elaborate on the characters a little, the part I believe is most important for a show like this, we have our main male protagonist Kazuma, the leader of the group and generally rather cynical of his fellow part members and the goings on that happen around him, Aqua, the main female protagonist, a goddess with the demeanour of a whiny teen and a large ego, Megumin the explosion crazed Arch-Mage who enjoys the occasional monologue about herself in an attempt to sound cool, only to come off as weird or strange and finally Darkness, a crusader and a masochist, loving the thought of being put in harm’s way or being 'defiled'. All four characters are incredibly flawed people, and the idea that they could be an effective party seems laughable at first. One of the most compelling aspects is how they do manage to grow as a team; managing to overcome difficult obstacles that would have been thought to be beyond them. This is highlighted in the final episode when the group is faced with the task of bringing down a large, mechanical foe. Sound and Animation The sound effects work well, and the OP/ED is pretty good. Not much for me to say other than I felt the voice actors did a great job in bringing their characters to life. No faults in the VA as far as I am concerned. I can talk a bit more on the animation. Overall I thought it was well animated however it was a little rough around the edges, which I actually liked. I thought the sort of crude look it had worked for it as the show was set in a fantasy world that was deliberately not all that one would expect, and instead was far less fantastical, much to Kazuma's dismay. There were a lot of amusing faces here too. Rather strange eye positioning every now and then and just outright bizarre looks. Conclusion I really enjoyed this show a lot; I can wholeheartedly recommend this show if you are a fan of the MMORPG type anime whilst also liking a lot of comedy. In fact if you really like comedy anime then I think this will be for you anyways, even if you generally do not like the 'person in a strange world' genre. A second series has been announced and I really hope they can continue to impress. A SpanglishJC ‘review’