This anime season has had quite a few gems. Diamonds in the rough. An old-timey gold mine of quality that’s usually reserved for more big-budget anime out there. Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! or Konosuba: God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World is the most hidden gem you can find. Also, that name is a mouthful so you’ll be seeing Konosuba for short.
Konosuba is a 10-episode comedy anime with so many different brands of comedy you’ll be pausing it just to keep up. There’s slapstick, deadpan humor, running jokes that never get old or feel forced — it’s the perfect mash up. Konosuba is about a young 16-year-old boy named Kazuma who dies in an embarrassingly hilarious way. He is sent to a goddess named Aqua who literally makes fun of his death and laughs in his face. He’s told that he can reincarnate in a world that is akin to an MMORPG game where he can be a great hero and go on adventures. If Kazuma can defeat the Demon King in the game, then he can be reincarnated back to live again. Kazuma, of course, accepts the offer and Aqua tells him he can bring any one thing with him whether it’s a power or a weapon — anything he can think of. Kazuma is thinking as Aqua continues to berate him and he decides to bring Aqua along! There’s an insinuation of an amazing “evil laugh” from Kazuma when they both get teleported to the MMORPG world. Needless to say, the world isn’t as user friendly as Kazuma was hoping as he and Aqua are easily defeated and slimed by giant frogs shortly after they arrive.
Okay, so a few things to note already: The way Kazuma dies is so ridiculous that you will be laughing along with Aqua. Aqua is the most “un-goddesslike” goddess you’ll ever see. She’s brash, always expecting to be worshiped and revered, and she’s a whiner. Kazuma as a main character is a treat. His attitude towards things and situations will have you reeling and most likely feeling the same way he does with all the weirdos he has around him. Speaking of weirdos, there are 2 more characters that become a part of the team that really round out the show. First there’s Megumin, who is part of a powerful race of humanoid demons and is an arch wizard, one of the most powerful mage classes in the world. She has a fascination with explosions and explosion magic and is always mistaken as a little girl. Oh, and she only knows one spell. Next is Darkness, who is a crusader, a warrior-type class with an emphasis on defense. She can take any hit with ease, in fact, she welcomes hits because she’s a masochist. She also has terrible aim and can’t hit anyone with her attacks even if they’re right in front of her. Kazuma ends up being one of the weakest classes in the game and Aqua ends up being mostly useless even though she’s an actual goddess.
So did you notice anything that all of these characters have in common? If you guessed “they’re awful and useless in their own ways” then you win a Dragon Ball. Kazuma gives up on his quest to defeat the Demon King shortly after he realizes just how useless he and his team are. They’re all failures in their own right and seeing them be failures together or succeeding together lets you grow close to them. Even though they’re exaggerated, they’re still relatable — nobody’s perfect, right? The fact that the characters aren’t your typical main characters just makes this show feel fresh and new and it’s a feeling that will stay with you long after you finish watching it.
The animation, while kind of funky (but not in a bad way), actually works for a show like this. The way the characters and their expressions are animated feels more natural than they would if the animation was “big budget,” so to speak. Even though it might not be the case, it legitimately feels like the show was animated this way on purpose. The music has a MMORPG feel to it and sets a nice quaint tone for the series.
One of the shining factors of Konosuba is the voice acting. A lot of voice actors for this show haven’t done many other shows so you can tell that they give it their all in every single line. Kazuma’s voice when he’s making sarcastic remarks is one of the funniest voices I’ve ever heard and I can’t wait to find some more shows with his voice actor in it. Every laugh, every yell, every reaction is over the top and the voice actors make sure you know they’re putting everything into it.
Konosuba is an amazing comedy that anyone can enjoy. It has jokes that occur in the first and second episode that affect the rest of the series. For example, remember the frogs that I said slimed and defeated Aqua and Kazuma? Well they put up a flyer to recruit new members for their team because of how easily they were defeated. Megumin shows up like she’s replying to a Craigslist ad and they go out to defeat the frogs. Long story short, they find out Megumin isn’t as amazing as she made herself seem and Aqua and Megumin both end up slimed by the frogs again.
Kazuma, who now has 2 girls covered in slime with him, gets branded as a perverted freak who’s just into “sliming” girls. Later that day, Darkness also applies to be a part of the team after hearing that Kazuma “slimed” them. With her masochistic tendencies that sounds great to her. Kazuma immediately has a weird feeling about her, which makes for a great face and reaction from him. What really makes this show great are things like that. A random fight with frogs leads to the other main characters being introduced and the slime from the frogs isn’t just a random joke but also a driving force for one of them to join and a running joke in itself. Nothing in Konosuba is used randomly for no reason and is usually chained with something else later on to bring it full circle.
Konosuba is about as good as it gets in terms of comedy. The characters, story, and the voice acting make it a perfect package and it’s highly recommended for any anime fan. You can watch it here on Crunchyroll so it’s easy to find and get into. There’s also a second season that has been announced so you really need to hop on the Konosuba train. Go and watch the show, and if you do let us know what you think! Hope you all enjoy it and try not to get slimed out there.
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