"Too good to be just a comedy," that is how I originally felt at first about this show. Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! To begin, Kono-Suba is a parody of almost every other RPG/Fantasy game or anime ever made. What it does though (obviously I might add) is pokes fun at them while remaining unique in it's own way. Every time I watched a new episode, it was sort of like the events that took place were in between predicable and unpredictable. What worked out in it's favor is that the shows unpredictable nature. Certain moments surprised, like came out of nowhere me a made make me laugh my ass off.
Story- 7/10
Starting with the story, I really admired creativity and uniqueness. To me, it was sort of like Natsume Akatsuki (Original creator) and later the producers of Studio Deen watched a bunch of fantasy anime or played a bunch of games and said "hey, you see how serious this Goddess is? what if she wasn't so serious? what if we added such a crazy personality to her" and things kind of lifted off the ground from there. The final result, the thing that actually matters is what makes me believe that it was well put together. There were most likely lots of people in the development of KonoSuba who have had countless hours, days, years, of experience watching or playing fantasy games along with the original creator to make this show feel so accurate. I personally believe that Studio Deen did a great job with this series. I think that one of the many things that makes an anime great is the studio and creators enthusiasm and passion for a project. When you watch this show, which I would highly recommend, you can tell by the pacing and flow of the show that the creators had a really good time.
Characters- 9/10
Perhaps the number one thing that I loved so much about KonoSuba is the characters. Though it's possible, I don't think I could have asked for a better cast of characters for this show. Aqua, Kazuma, Megumin and "Darkness" are hilarious in their own unique and respective ways. Although some characters are more favorable than others, I personally found myself very found of Megumin, I mean who couldn't like a little girl whose only magic is EXPLOSION!! I find her hilarious, and its' always fun seeing her in action. Aqua is perhaps my second favorite because her personality reminds me of another favorite character of mine from a similar show No Game No Life. Aside from that Aqua's natural, I'm actually going to say natural habit of getting the party into trouble is always fun to watch. I just find it very difficult for myself to dislike any of the characters. In fact going back to that "predictable and unpredictable" statement I made earlier that is something that really works with them. It's like some episodes you don't know who is going to be useful or not. Because it's part of the shows genre, and I want to touch on it a little with this being a harem and all, I am really glad to see that there seems to be (at the moment at least) no romance. Personally, and I am really hoping that (unless there is a season 2) there is no romantic relationships between the characters, I like that Kazuma can be the perverted "Hikikomori" or "neet" whatever he is freely without having to think so much about romance, or "love." I personally think that also works out in the shows favor. I mean, having him fall in love with one of the ladies in his part might be possible however I just do not see it happening. One last thing that I want to add, and this depends on the viewers but at times characters can come off as a bit annoying. i personally found myself annoyed at times with Aqua, Megumin, Kazuma's and Darkness's behaviors.
Art/Sound- 9/10
Now, with the art and animation, it's pretty damn good! we have late 2012-14 animation style going on here. That works great with this show, I do not think they could have chosen a better style for this show. Especially because it had moments, great moments, where I found myself admiring most of the background settings and main focuses example being fights. My most favorite by far was the fight scene between Dullahan and Kazuma's squad. The sound effects, and background music used during this scene really enhanced my viewing pleasure. That aside there are just a numerous amount of scenes in this show where the music and art is visually stunning and spectacular, again please check out this series if you haven't already.
Enjoyment 10/10
Something that I really want to add, in addition to the show being "great" or me saying that it's too good to be just a comedy earlier. The comedy was at first a pain in the ass for me. When I started the show I thought is was absolutely frustrating to see a show with such great potential to be something greater wasted. It wasn't until around episode 4 that the comedic parts sank in and it completely changed my view on the show. Aside from the "serious nature" all of the elements in Konosuba works. There are so many things for fans of both old and new fantasy adventure anime can enjoy. Whether you love the music, art, characters, fan service or just the story, everything in Konosuba sort of plays out kind of naturally for all to enjoy. Personally, although possible of course, I would find this show moderately hard to disapprove of among even the most experienced reviewers and critics. Now to wrap things up, Konosuba in my opinion was a fun work of art. It had potential to be something even greater, it was memorable, and will most likely be a show that fans (such as myself) will definitely keep talking about later down the road. I personally, hope to see a season 2 further down the road. Konsuba totally deserves another run. I think this show deserves and has earned 3rd place for best anime of Winter 2015.
Final thoughts-
Overall I gave this show a 9/10 because it did a great job in all departments, art, animation, character etc. What really played into my rating though was wonderfully hilarious characters.. I could not have asked for any changes in the characters' department Natsume Akatsuki did a really great job making likable, cute and such awesome characters.
