Anime Review #27: Konosuba (Part 2)

I have to admit, the first season of Konosuba did not disappoint. It was funny, and provided a rather interesting twist to the typical isekai plot – you won’t find a strong, reliable hero and his troupe successfully overcoming evil in this one. Upon completion of the first 10 episodes, I was satisfied to know that there would be a second season of Konosuba, which would start right after Kazuma and company’s victory over The Destroyer machine. Today’s blog post, which is the final part of my review of the Konosuba series, will explore my thoughts on the second season.

STORY

“Aw s**t, here we go again”

Brace yourselves, folks, because this season sucks you right into the storyline and doesn’t let you go. Immediately after the events of episode 10, where the town is saved thanks to the heroics of Kazuma, he is immediately rewarded by the townsfolk with a trial in which he stands guilty for property damage in the millions. But wait, you might ask – how was that even remotely possible? The town was spared… except when you put into mind that they destroyed some random guy’s house in the process, off-screen. As a result, the gang must return to their old ways of performing more menial quests – whether it be exploring dungeons inhabited by lovestruck archwizards, or fighting a possessed mask – as they set out to reclaim their lost riches and, in the process, help Kazuma become rich. Along the way, they are joined by a few new comrades: the first being Wiz, a former servant of the titular villain, the Dark King; Yunyun, an old friend of Megumin who harbors some sort of frivalry with her, and Vanir, a former villain-turned-salesperson at Wiz’s shop.

WHAT I LIKED

• Once again, Konosuba shines in the comedic factor this season; moments such as Kazuma’s indubitable luck in Rock-Paper-Scissors, fending off Lizard Runners, “Chunchunmaru” and the whole shtick with the Axis Church followers in episodes 8-10 made this series memorable as can be. Speaking of which, there’s also Aqua’s classic substitute for the Sacrament of Penance, reduced to “Eris pads her chest”.
• Another thing that I’ve noticed is how well-done the voice acting was. There’s so much emotion to it, so much passion and energy put into making the characters realize how ridiculous the situations around them are – not to mention, the sound of Kazuma’s outbursts of shock and Megumin’s “Explosion” never get old.
• Likewise, Kazuma’s facial reactions to the various antics around him still continue and are something that you just can’t help but laugh about and share as a meme or two.
• Subtle religious warfare between the Axis and Eris churches… in my anime? I like that 😉

Season 2’s storyline fit was a good way to continue from where we left behind after the events of The Destroyer.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

• The lack of any sort of continuity with the original premise of Kazuma’s arrival, which was to defeat the Devil King, still bothers me. We are still given no indication as to who he is, what powers he holds, nor why he is so feared. The lack of continuity in this regard is kind of telling – why insert him if they’re not going to reference him majorly?
• To this day I’m not really sure what the point of episode 4 was, where Darkness goads Kazuma into humiliating her to avoid some kind of an arranged marriage. This episode would be (not that it would be appropriate by Catholic moral standards) understandable if the series was 55 episodes long or so, but given how short this season is, I’m not entirely sure why this even made it past planning.

CHARACTERS

Not sure if they’re actual characters from the show, or just an excuse for pure fanservice material.

Like the season before it, many of the main characters’ traits are preserved quite well. Kazuma still remains the “only sane one”, Megumin’s still an explosives-obsessed pyromaniac, Aqua is still Aqua, and Darkness is the same, desperate masochist that we saw in the first season. A small bit of character development happens to characters like Megumin and Darkness, as we learn more about the origin behind Megumin’s friendship with Yunyun, and Darkness being a member of nobility; kind of like how in the first season, Kazuma and Aqua’s past get some screentime. Other than that, there’s not much that really changed compared to the first season; even the new character additions of Wiz, Vanir and Yunyun weren’t all that interesting – you could write them off the storyline and it wouldn’t have changed a thing.

It would have been nice to see something like Kazuma getting close with one of the girls (*cough*Megumin*cough) for a change in this story, or an episode involving a big, dungeon quest where we expand on the lore of the Devil King and his works. But then again, what can you expect from this series which tries very hard to make fun of itself?

MUSIC

Most of the OST from the series that was used in the first season was successfully transferred over to the second season, so there’s some continuity there with the music. Most of them are alright – and they often tend to reflect the tone of the scene quite well. However, the one thing that I liked really much coming out from this season was the opening theme of this series, Tomorrow – sung by the same singer of the first season’s Fantastic Dreamer, Machico. Boy, this song I could definitely play all day – and is probably one of the best thing that comes out from the Konosuba franchise as a whole.

From the beginning of the song, with its nifty guitar riff, and lyrics which just smell of adventure, looking forward to what the new day will bring, and its magnificent chorus with a melody so uplifting and light-hearted, this song left me mesmerized beyond words, almost as if it was reminding me of an exciting event that was soon to come, and was a perfect means of getting me ready for such. In fact, its upbeat tune and lyrics were a big reason why I chose to associate this song as my unofficial theme song during my trip to Anime North this year. It’s that good – check it out below!

Next time you’re going on a trip you’re looking forward to, you might want to include this music in the background.

Not to mention, in true Konosuba fashion, we have a slow-paced, serene ending theme song (titled Ouchi Ni Karetai, or “Wanna Go Home”), that’s fit to help viewers move back, and let every crazy thing they’ve seen sink into their minds. It’s alright, and a little too similar in tune to the first one (Chiisana Boukensha, or “A Little Adventurer”); but compared to each other, I prefer the first one more.

FAVORITES

Favorite character: Is this even a question? Because this whole series there’s only one character who I can unanimously claim as my favorite.

Behold, Megumin – er, I mean, Michael Bay’s daughter.

Favorite scene: As someone who’s nuts about religious history there’s no question that episodes 8-9 were my favorite. Seeing Kazuma lose his mind after getting assaulted by hordes of Axis Church followers, and their reactions towards Eris Church followers was too funny to pass up.

Favorite battle: Watching the crew fight a horde of angry, horny Lizard Runners was my favorite moment this season, as opposed to the final battle between the Poison Slime in episode 10 or against Vanir in episode 5.

Horny, speedy giant lizards: 1, Team Kazuma: -4.

Favorite ‘Kazuma gets trolled’ incident: Honestly, please read the “Favorite moment” section because I might as well be repeating myself then. Alternatively speaking, the whole trial sequence was a goldmine of “Kazuma gets trolled”.

Favorite explosion sequence: Throughout this entire series, Megumin’s explosions are a thing of beauty – but nothing beats the explosion sequence in which she obliterates Verdia in one hit. Just looking at her glee as she prepares her spell was too cute!

CONCLUSION

Season 2 of Konosuba continues the epic misadventures of Kazuma and company, and for what it’s worth, it went pretty well. Sure, the characters are still more or less cliched, but there’s more than enough hilarity in this series to keep the fuel going. Overall, I found Konosuba to have been a series that really knows what it wants from its audiences, how to make the storyline as intriguing as possible while not straying too far from its parody status, and especially how to turn the tables on audiences’ expectations. For a series that’s gained a popular following in recent years, I’d say that given the elements, it rightfully deserves it.

All I can say is, I really hope the movie does this series some justice.

SCORE: 8/10

Nope, still nothing ordinary coming out from this series.

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