Review of KonoSuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World!

Konosuba is a huge show; as of writing this, it’s #38 in popularity here in MAL. And I think most people will agree that the main reason for this is its humor. Whether you think it’s funny or not, it makes a way stronger attempt than most of the isekai before and since to shine thanks to its comedy. Through it, you end up caring about the story and the characters, which is awesome. That’s why when they announced this spin-off, my initial reaction was mostly negative. I don’t really care about any of the characters enough to see them go on an adventure on theirown, without the rest of the crew, since most of the humor comes from the interaction between the characters we now know and love, particularly Aqua and Kazuma. So having a show with only Megumin, and have it be a prequel, so there’s not even a chance for interaction with the rest of the party? As I said, pessimistic going in.

And it might have been this low bar that made me realize week-to-week, that the show had no business being as good as it was. Kudos to the writers to keep the show funny without needing to lean on the character dynamics from the parent show except for cameos. Megumin got a lot of (needed) development and a chance to shine here, and Yunyun was an amazing foil. The art was pretty good, particularly some of the early explosion scenes, and the pacing was pretty decent.

I still think Megumin isn’t the best character for a spin-off. Having a main character who can only do magic once a day results in a lot less action than I would’ve liked to see; and the high-budget nature of the show kept making me wish they’d just used the time and resources in a new Konosuba season instead.

But oh well, all in all, if you’ve liked Konosuba so far, I think you’re going to like this (though maybe not as much). If you haven’t liked Konosuba, first, why are you reading this? And second, probably not for you.