+ The art and music is pretty good! This is especially impressive considering it was made by a relatively new studio.
~ As a comedy duo, Megumin and Yunyun are nowhere near as funny as the usual Konosuba cast (Kazuma, Aqua, Darkness, Megumin), let alone funny enough to carry an entire season.
~ The plot begins at Megumin's hometown, and stays there for half the season. The story does pick up once we leave the Crimson Demon village, but it makes the first half of the show incredibly dull.
~ The show's jokes start and die with its premise alone. Jokes are supposed to have a structure: setup, bait, punchline. Sure, a village populated by chuunis sounds like a funny premise, but where's the punchline?
= Prequels usually struggle because we already know how the story is going to end, thereby removing any tension from the whole story. A good prequel succeeds by making the journey to that predictable ending as interesting as possible. Unfortunately, this Megumin-centered spinoff just isn't very fun or interesting. The problem is the lack of meaningful conflict; Konosuba's main characters (Kazuma in particular) had selfish, often perverted goals that naturally led to conflict and comedy. Yunyun's motives, by comparison, all revolve around Megumin; her sole purpose as a character is to be Megumin's ineffectual voice of reason.
The show is far from unwatchable, but the jokes are forgettable and the characters are bland. You could give it a watch if you really enjoy Megumin, but you won't miss anything by skipping it either.
