Story - 7/10
Konosuba starts off quite normal at first, when a otaku is just trying to get home to play his new game. Unfortunately he dies on the way back home after suffering heart attack of thinking a truck hit him but in actuality it was a tractor that didn’t even hit him. After this he given the option to be reincarnated back to his original world completely or be reincarnated into a fantasy world with MMORPG elements. He is also given the option to take one thing with him into the fantasy world, normally this would mean some special power or item, but instead he chooses the Goddess who mocked him for his death and so begins the miss-adventures of Kazuma and Aqua as they try to get through this fantasy world.
The overall story in general is not really all that interesting. It’s setup to be really basic, go an defeat the Devil King. Unfortunately that’s where the story starts and doesn’t progress. By the end of the show, it felt like the character never really progressed on their journey to defeat the Devil King. But each scenario the characters face hits really close to home. They are able to come up with funny and relatable situation that us gamers have at least experienced before, and the accuracy is quite funny. They do a really good job of parodying the video game genre in general. I like how they were able to take a common genre and concept and make something interesting out of it, by really focusing on the comedy rather than the serious stuff. I like how they are able to make something seem so serious at times, but completely destroy your expectations and surprises you in a good way. That being said, with the lack of proper story progression, the show doesn’t really go anywhere, and there is a small time skip min the middle of the series and can you leave you wondering a bit, because they don’t build the world that much.
Characters - 9/10
The protagonist of Konosuba is Kazuma Satou. Kazuma initially is just shut in neet, but then is forced to live in the fantasy world and get by it. So seeing as he knows all the rpg tropes, he thinks he can live an easy life in the fantasy world. Throughout show, Kazuma sort of develops, but not in the way you would think. He kind of gets to the point where he sees how incompetent his party mates are and strives for a different goal. What makes Kazuma such a likeable character is that, he is really relatable. During the anime I felt so much connection to Kazuma, because I’ve experienced what he has, always complaining about his team and he deserves to complain about his team, because he has to put up with them a lot. But another reason, he is such a likeable character is because, he is different from most rpg protagonist, as he is a complete douche himself.
Aqua is the other protagonist of the show. She is a goddess who reincarnates other people into the rpg world. However, she is a bit of a bitch. If things don’t go her way, she will always make a complaint about it. She always let others know of her status. And if it wasn’t for her overpowered stats, she would just be an annoying useless character. However she does spend all her points on useless abilities, but that doesn’t stop her actually doing work in battle because of her stats. Throughout the show, she doesn’t really change all that much, she pretty much stays as a trash character for the entire show.
The third member of the party is Megumin. The chunibyo mage who can only use one magic skill and that is the all-powerful explosion, but after using it once she literally cannot move anymore making her a literal glass canon. As for development wise, she probably gets the most, but that’s not saying too much because not a lot of the characters get development. She does grow in a way where she starts getting along with her teammates. Her personality and actions brings out a lot of the enjoyment into the show. Also my pick for best girl of the season.
And the last member of the party is Darkness, a Crusader tank class sort of here. Although she possess great strength and defence, she possess zero accuracy meaning although she can take a hit, she cannot give one back. And also she’s a masochist, so getting hit for her is actually a good thing in her book. She is a bit of a confusing character, although she has this side of her, she does have a serious side, where she reveals her chivalry. She probably gets the least attention in the show compared to the others.
What I like a lot about Konosuba is the characters. Each character brings something unique to the table. They all have their main talent but also their main faults which colide with each other giving memorable moments. Each character is very entertaining in their own way and the interactions are some of the more funny interactions I’ve seen.
Animation and Sound - 7/10, 6/10
At first, I wasn’t interested in watching this show, because it’s Studio Deen and when I saw the art work, I thought it looked horrible. Well the art style and animation is really nothing special, but they seem to know that they have a pretty bad messy art style. The characters don’t feel in proportion ever and there is not a lot of details put into them. Where the animation does shine is when magic is being used. Obvious that’s where all their focus in animation goes to. Because the magic scenes look gorgeous, making it look like they’re not from the same show. Especially Megumin’s explosion magic.
The soundtrack is really not that special. They tend to reuse some of the same tracks over and over again, and none the tracks really stood out too much. The opening is rather forgettable, but I do love the ending song performed by the 3 main girls give off such a calm vibe to the show. I always want to not that the voice acting for the main characters are really good. Each one brings a lot of personality to the characters.
Enjoyment - 10/10
Konosuba at first wasn’t on my list to watch because it didn’t look that good from the art work. But I checked it out and by god, it was awesome. It’s a very funny comedy about a really relatable character I can get around. The jokes hit straight at home with me and I loved every moment of it. The character personalities were all really nice to see, add they with the situations they got themselves caught in, really entertains you throughout the show. It’s just really the character interactions paired up with clever jokes, that make this anime very entertaining.
Verdict - 8/10
As we draw closer to the end of the review, I give the story a 7. The story is rather basic and the concept is nothing new, it has been done before. But I like how they take the comedic approach and make it fun story with very funny scenarios for the characters to be in.
For the animation and sound I give it a 7 and 6. The art style looks rather basic and messy at times, but it seems to be well aware at that. But the animation is amazing when they really try especially when they use magic. The soundtrack is nothing too special and the OP is rather skip able. Personally I loved the ED, because it’s so calm and relaxing. But what stood out the most for the sound was the voice acting was really good, as they were able to bring out a lot of the characters.
For the characters, I give it a 9. Sure there wasn’t much development from the characters, but they were the best part of the show. Their each individual personality brought so many dynamics to the show, and their interactions are quite fun to watch. Plus they are all such likeable characters.
For my own personal enjoyment, I give it a 10. The anime hit really close to home for me and a lot of the jokes they used were very clever as they were very relatable. I didn’t ever feel bored watching this, as the characters and their actions were very fun to watch. It was nice to see expectations killed with a funny joke. The different personalities were really enjoyable to see.
So for the overall score of Konosuba, I give it a 8/10 after rounding it all up. Even though it has rather basic concept, the comedic approach to it hits really close to home, especially for gamers. I recommend to Konosuba to fans of the RPG genre while also to those who love comedy, because this legit very funny.
