Review of KonoSuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World!
The long awaited sequel?prequel?sidestory yeah fuck that, its more konosuba and I am here for it. Its a worthy continuation of the best and the most renowned and only example Cute girls being dumb as fuck and doing dumb shit in anime, and this time its all girls ? and also all of them chunni master magicians , hell yeah quite the treat in more ways than one. The crimson devil (sidestory is the apt thing here I guess) actually was a bit of a surprise when it was announced , I personally thought konosuba is mostly just a parody and does not have enoughdepth in its plot to warrant a sidestory to enhance its world. I was quite wrong since the way that the author was able to extract a decent narrative , neatly wrap up some plot holes and also expand into this world was quite genius all the while being able to add some very hilarious behind the scene context and cameos that was a treat for the hungry fans of konosuba who have been waiting for a long time for this like me.
Plot (7/10)
The plot has a neat trick since it manages to have the gag comedy we all love from kono suba mixed with isekai parody , while also managing to get out a decent narrative. The plot hole of chomusuke and who she is where did she come from is handled well and we also get a good focus on megumin’s and yun yun’s friendship / rivalry. The whole crimson village characters who made cameos in the movie get a lot more exposure and exposition dumped in and makes them more lovable as a whole package. Lot of kazuma and the other duo of girls are also thrown in the mix at certain places and they also give us some glimpses of the early days of kazuma and aqua. The pacing is good for an isekai and it does very well to prepare us for the sequel to the main story. But for the most part its just a good way to cover some plot holes and a little more exposure to our fav konosuba girl ,megumin.
Characters (7/10)
The characters are there and most of them have a good amount of artstyle and it leaves you curious , but they remain very heavily underutilized. Except of the priest lady from axis cult and the warlord level imouto, komeko we barely have any good recognizable side characters. Back in crimson school there were so many surely quirky girls that were present but we never got much screentime or dialogue with them. The rest of the characters sadly are only ever utilized for gags or make random camoes here and there . Its basically a story about the friendship of yun yun and megumin for the most part.
Art and animation (7/10)
Animation was almost the parent story level in the first three or four episodes but it quickly slides downwards as we get further in, the megumin with demons and yunyun fights were quietly skimmed over, and some of the meme and reaction faces are a shadow of the original work they are still funny enough but that's mostly due to the plot and the VA rather than art or animation. The art is as close to the parent series as possible and there are no complaints there.
Sound and VA (8/10)
As always the VA of megumin does a killer job and most of the comedy hits becuase of her and the VA of yunyun. The OST is mostly the original parent anime’s ost or sometimes a spin on those themes. The op is alright adventure feeling pumped up stuff fitting for an isekai setting , the ED is really unique and cute , and the best one of the season for me.
Honestly if you are a konosuba fan , this is a must watch it sets up the next season and helps wrap up the plot nicely. Its a must watch if you loved the original series and want more of the same with a slightly different perspective.