Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! Chapter 12 Discussion

arkhangelsk2017 said:
OK, what can be said about this one. First, the book is mostly about Darkness (a first since Book 7). Megumin ironically fades out short after she's declared the winner of the relationship contest. Which we knew was the most likely result the way the books are being written anyway - the only other serious contender is a troll ending.

The author's skills at writing relationships is improving and it is the first "romance" segment I actually took time to read through.

The decision to really make Iris a Little Miss Perfect is also finally placed into a systematic context - to act as a plot device to push Megumin's anxieties, jealousies and insecurities through the roof. OK ... whether it is pre-hoc or post-hoc, it's nice to see that there is a plan. IMO it really isn't the best execution of such a plan, but at least I didn't react to the realization that there was a plan by thinking "Author, if this is what's offered, I'll prefer no plan at all."

Still, I must feel a bit sorry for Iris. She started out, in the web novel, apparently as a 3 chapter plot device object. Her role is expanded (probably from commercial pressure) in the light novel, but despite the rather substantial word-count allocated to her (as well as a norm-breaking amount of combat capability), and the fact she has two books where she's almost displaces every other female character, she somehow never really graduates from being an object to being a subject. And at the end here, in Book 12, she's again a plot device this time for Megumin - in fact, even the combat capability now seems more to this end then a real "gift" for her.

Well, Iris' far from the book's main point anyway, and neither is Megumin. The book soon almost completely devotes itself to Darkness and her attempt to actually tax the adventurers. The book's "climax plot" is particularly conventional - in essence it is about saving Darkness' cousin, who is of course frail and fell sick. As usual with the traditions of the good books of this series, this bland plotline is well executed with unexpected and funny twists which nevertheless made sense in the context of this world.

An excellent book. The OVA is frankly a bit standard fare, but the book is excellent. I suggest people buy it with real money if they can read Japanese.

IrisBestGirl said:
Wow this is the first time I saw you said something nice about Konosuba.

arkhangelsk2017 said:


Well, I'm pretty sure I have lots of nice things to say about Konosuba, since I actually buy the LNs and continued even though I bumped into this forum at a time when the author seemed to have lost his touch to varying extents for three books in a row (4 if you count that little 5 page short story in the Illustration Book). That's like 25%, and in a contiguous segment. Something must have motivated me to buy Book 11 nevertheless, which I'm pretty sure I said was where the author got most of his touch back.