Review of KonoSuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World!
The main attraction of Konosuba is that it is a complete comedy that isn’t serious. If we compare this season to the previous two seasons and the legend of Crimson movie, it does its job just fine. Konosuba never had a plot in the first place so the fact that absolutely nothing happens in this spin-off shouldn’t bother you given that you have watched the first two seasons and the movie. Right off the bat, the characters are obviously different, and the show is too. I simply think that the series is not as funny without Satou Kazuma, Aqua, and Darkness. Don’t get me wrong,I believe that Megumin and Yunyun are good characters, but the two of them alone could not sustain the levels of comedy that the main cast was able to. There are essentially 3 split arcs in the season. I think the comedy picks up from episode 7 onwards specifically
Plot: [7/10] - As mentioned earlier, there are about 3 main arcs in the series, the first one taking up about 6 episodes and around 3 each for the second two. Essentially, Megumin and Yunyun find themselves in different places in each of these arcs. The story is told in a fashion where a conflict or scenario is introduced at the start of each episode and then largely resolved by the end. It was interesting enough that you will be entertained to watch the whole episode but its nothing special or complex.
Characters: [6/10] - Konosuba suffers without its main cast and it’s evident in this season. The way Kazuma bounces off of Aqua and Darkness for comedy is sorely missed and just cannot be replicated by Megumin and Yunyun. Megumin isn’t a super complex character but her ideas and desire to become a powerful explosion magic user as a prodigious talent leads her into funny scenarios where she is scamming people, blowing stuff up, and yelling at people. Comedy-wise, she functions as a straight man along with Yunyun. Moving on to our second main character Yunyun, she isn’t a great character. She lacks autonomy and clings to Megumin and does not really do anything. She just exists to move alongside Megumin as her “rival.” She is basically the same fanservice-y character from previous seasons. The side characters like dodonko, funifura, and arue don’t get enough screentime to be super relevant in the rating but they are average at best. Arue is pretty funny though. There is barely any Kazuma, Aqua, and Darkness so they won’t be included here.
Art/Animation: [8/10] - Same artsyle, but the animation is still brilliant. The few fight scenes are done admirably and the infamous megumin explosion is always visually appealing. The animation felt smooth overall, did it’s job and a litttle more.
Voice Acting/Soundtrack: [6/10} - Apart from Rie Takahashi on Megumin and Aki Toyosaki on Yunyun there is nothing special in the voice acting department. Same old goofy nonsense. Opening and ending were alright, nothing special.
Conclusion: Konosuba does it’s job in being somewhat entertaining for Konosuba fans, and maintains enough of it's comedic value and goofiness to be an ok watch. However, the main cast is sorely missed and the quality does suffer as a result due to overly repetitive comedy and plot. It is serves as a prequel of sorts and is worth watching for konosuba fans to set up season 3. 6/10 thanks for reading, -nashy