Let’s start by saying that Konosuba had a freakishly awesome first impression. The main character, Satou Kazuma died and is given the option to restart his life in a different world that resembles general MMORPGs. That whole scene from when he met Aqua to when they arrived at the new world was pure gold. I was losing my shit of how funny it was. That in my opinion was a great way to set the mood and showcase the parody nature of this anime. And indeed, this anime clearly shows that things don’t always turn out the way you expect from an MMORPG. Even moments that would normally be a serious threat to the characters would end up having some sort of comedic twist to it. Because of that, this anime is a true parody of MMORPGs done right.
However, even if it was done right, that does not mean it was presented right. While the characters do end up partaking in quests and having to go outside the city, a huge portion of the anime takes place within the city grounds itself. And while it does make it clear that the characters face financial struggles to make a living, I hate to say this but I found that whole concept to be rather boring. Even if the characters, do spend a lot of time within the city walls, it is still possible to make the anime more interesting through the activities that the characters do. Yes, there are moments like that scattered throughout here and there. But it was also revealed that certain events happen outside of screen time and these were just brought up as flashbacks. Taking up the time are the characters discussing on what they will be doing next. By doing that, it makes things confusing and it was disappointing to know that there may have been more exciting things going on than what was being focused on.
The anime would have been better if it had taken a more adventure-based route whereby the characters actually face serious looking threats. And even with the use of parody, it was proven to be effective as evident in EP6 & 10 which turned out to be my favourite episodes. Here, the anime was able to take these supposedly serious moments and turn them into something practically comedic, and in doing so, it made things so much more interesting than most other parts of the anime. Heck, even some of the scenes shown in the opening looked more interesting than what we got in the actual show.
Now, let’s talk a bit about the characters. And the first thing to get out of the way, is Megumin the best girl? And I’d say that is a solid Yes. But it’s not because I fell in love with the character the moment I saw her. Instead, and I know this is gonna trigger some people, it was through the process of elimination. Out of the 3 girls, Megumin was hands down the most tolerable, most adorable and most useful character out of the bunch. Even though her obsession towards explosion magic does creep me out a bit sometimes, seeing her perform her explosion magic was always a sight to behold. Compare that to Aqua who constantly acts all high and mighty and bosses Kazuma around all the time but gets all whiney and pathetic when things don't go her way. There is no competition. And as for Darkness, she was a gone case a long time ago. Her hardcore masochistic nature was just too much for me to handle. Even Kazuma himself isn't an entirely likable character. I liked how he was so excited when he first heard that he could start his life in this new world only to be let down after. However, I don't like how he is constantly not willing to try out more daring and interesting quests. And while I get the idea that he wants to save his butt, it seems that he is a big factor of why I found this anime slightly boring.
And we once again have Studio Deen handling an anime related to MMORPGs (the other being Log Horizon). It is safe to say that the studio has been getting better with their animation. And that's a good thing because I love many of their anime. The art style was really nicely done and much of the scenery can look like nice paintings. However, I still notice the issue of Studio Deen on the character facial expressions. It is not really that hard to pause the anime at any given moment and end up with a weird face. Come on Studio Deen. You're gonna have to pay attention to that or I won't be able to defend from people making fun of you about that otherwise.
Now, as for the theme songs. I am glad that I rather enjoyed them. They are probably some of the best songs I've heard from 2016 thus far. Although, I pretty sure there will be competition.
In conclusion, I still enjoyed watching Konosuba but I feel like it could have been so much better. Seriously, they have not even left the beginner's town yet and I'm like "What the heck? Didn't you say you were going to fight the Demon King?" So it becomes very clear why a 2nd season was necessary for this anime. And I hope that this time, they actually do more interesting things. I have no idea how this anime ended up as Best Anime of 2016 for Arkada. I mean I'll agree with Shirobako for 2015. That anime was amazing. But in this case, I need a bit more convincing. So Season 2, please surprise me.
