KonoSuba: God's blessing on this wonderful world!

By Ebel - Monday, May 9, 2016 - No Comments

Superb animation quality, or decent visuals at least, are basically guaranteed in any anime title these days. That acts as a consolation prize for the viewer if the plot is in shambles by the third episode.

On the other hand, throw in a compelling storyline along with wallpaper-worthy animation and you have yourself an instant classic plus. Or at least that’s what I thought.

None of that applies to Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku o! or Konosuba for short. The anime revolves around the adventures of former shut-in NEET Sato Kazuma and his oddball party of three in their quest to defeat the Devil King in an MMORPG world.

At this point, you’re probably thinking that this is yet another Sword Art Online, Log Horizon or No Game No Life clone, right? You’ll be sorely mistaken before the first episode even ends, if you aren’t busy tearing from all that laughing.

Konosuba is proof of how anime doesn’t need to have stunning art to deliver an entertaining end-product. The comedic value provided by Kazuma, Aqua, Darkness and Megumin and the various silly situations they land themselves in had me in stitches all the way till the final episode. Each member of the main cast had their own flaws, despite their advanced Classes. This causes more than a few problems and is the main source of humour in the show.

For Arch Priest Aqua, it would be her low Intelligence stat causing a whole host of problems from the start. Darkness has high HP and Endurance, but her inability to land a single blow and extreme masochism renders her useless as a Crusader. Arch Wizard Megumin only has a single spell in her arsenal. To make things worse, she can only use it once a day as it wrings her mana stores dry. Talk about dysfunctional.

Even the supporting cast had their moments, especially the dullahan, Beldia and air-headed shopkeeper, Wiz. My only gripe with the show would be its ten-episode cour. Perhaps the source material wasn’t sufficient to warrant an additional two to fourteen episodes at the time but I’m eagerly looking forward to the second season.

The short length of the anime also meant that certain character introductions and events were mentioned in passing or briefly explained via the use of flashbacks.

This includes the abrupt introduction of Wiz. She ends up playing a vital role in the three episodes she appears in and is a mainstay in the Konosuba Light Novels.

Konosuba was an unexpectedly entertaining anime, standing out in the Winter season by putting its own spin on the ‘trapped-in-a-game world’ trope. Having a hilarious cast and fourth-wall breaking dialogue by Kazuma sealed the deal for me.

Written by ET