Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Bakuen wo! Episode 5 Discussion

wetmath said:
I'll be honest, this episode was extremely disappointing for me. Allow me to explain.

1. Let's start with where last episode left off. A crap ton of flying monsters suddenly attacks the village, and when Megumin rushes home, she's shocked that Komekko is missing. But next, when they see that Kuro/Inky/Chomusuke is getting dragged away by two monsters, there's a whole scene where Megumin steals Yunyun's dagger and throws it at the monsters and misses.

I think putting a joke/light hearted scene here is completely inappropriate. Megumin's sister is missing and possibly kidnapped or dead but they choose to waste time. What I want to see is Megumin in a dillema, panicking and deciding whether to save Chomusuke or look for Komekko first. Even if Megumin is confident that Komekko is alive and able to protect/hide herself safely, she should not be standing around and saying things like "oh chomusuke is gone but let's bid her farewell instead of crying"

2. Next, when they find Komekko, Megumin does have a dillema between learning advanced magic to save her sister or saving up points to learn explosion. Yunyun sees Megumin hesitating and realises what she's thinking. So she learns intermediate magic in her stead so Megumin can save for explosion magic.

There are a couple things wrong with this scene. Why is Yunyun smiling at Megumin when she learns intermediate magic? Just as how Megumin is reluctant to learn advanced magic so she can learn explosion magic, Yunyun should be reluctant to learn intermediate magic so that she can learn advanced magic. But we don't see any hesitation, reluctance, or regret from Yunyun.

Then there's a continuity error. If Megumin barely got enough exp to level up and learn explosion magic because she killed the duxion, why wasn't she able to learn explosion magic right here? The answer is that this scene was animated incorrectly. In the light novel, Megumin reluctantly pulls out her adventurer's card, but she doesn't look down and realise that she can already learn explosion magic, because while she's trying to muster courage to learn advanced magic, Yunyun interrupts her by learning intermediate magic and using the lightning spell.

3. When Megumin runs with Komekko in the forest, she suddenly bends down to Komekko and asks if she loves her. Even if she can't be the strongest sister. Komekko responds she loves Megumin and will be the strongest in her stead. Then they run back to Yunyun.

Out of context, this scene doesn't make any sense. What is Megumin trying to say when she asks Komekko that? Why do they start running back to Yunyun? Again, information from the LN is left out. Megumin feels indebted to Yunyun and doesn't want to abandon her, but she also wants Komekko to be safe. So she tells Komekko to run away to the adult villagers, while Megumin goes back alone to save Yunyun. Komekko refuses and insists on staying by Megumin's side, so they run back to Yunyun together.

4. Ignoring the continuity error previously mentioned, I will say that the scene where Megumin realises she can learn explosion was pretty well done. Megumin crazed in laughter, and flashing back to episode 1 where the mage lady uses explosion magic. The music that goes along with this is great too. I'm glad that they used this OST again. This is the level of emotion I've been expecting this entire episode.

I think the magic aura around Megumin when she powers up for explosion magic could have been animated better, and made more dramatic, but I'll forgive it I suppose.

Back to criticism. This episode should be filled with chaos, panic, urgency, distress, dillema, and other extreme emotions. But I didn't feel much of that. Up until Megumin learning explosion magic, this episode is just a sequence of events that unfolded. It is not a story, it's just a bunch of things that happened. No connection, no emotion, no thought process, and hence no relatability to the characters.

I had even higher expectations for this episode because I read the light novel, where it was executed amazingly. Yet, I think even for the average viewer, this episode doesn't feel like a big climax like it should. I don't like the way this was handled, especially story wise. What a letdown.