Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Bakuen wo!

Megumin is a young and passionate wizard from the Crimson Demon Village, a remote community of mages with red eyes and a flair for the dramatic. She has devoted her life to mastering explosion magic, a powerful but impractical spell that leaves her drained of mana and unable to move for the rest of the day. Regardless, she refuses to learn any other skills.

Along with her childhood friend and self-proclaimed rival, Yunyun, Megumin enrolls in the Red Prison: a prestigious academy for Crimson Demon magic users. There, she learns more about the secrets and history of her clan, as well as the threats and challenges they must face. As she polishes her power at the Red Prison with the help of her loyal familiar Chomusuke and her adorable little sister Komekko, Megumin aims to become the greatest explosion wizard of all time!

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Megumin Main

Takahashi, Rie Japanese

Yunyun Main

Toyosaki, Aki Japanese

Satou, Kazuma Supporting

Fukushima, Jun Japanese

Aqua Supporting

Amamiya, Sora Japanese

Dustiness, Lalatina Ford Supporting

Kayano, Ai Japanese

Wiz Supporting

Horie, Yui Japanese

Chomusuke Supporting

Nabatame, Hitomi Japanese

Chris Supporting

Suwa, Ayaka Japanese

Komekko Supporting

Naganawa, Maria Japanese

Luna Supporting

Hara, Sayuri Japanese

Ogura, Rie Producer

Tokumura, Kenichi Producer

Taniguchi, Hiroyasu Producer

Momoda, Hideo Producer

Reviews

Jun 21, 2023

TheRealist68

Recommended

I’m not going to waste your time with pretentious metaphors, quotations, or examples that are commonplace for MAL as the Megumin spinoff of Konosuba is incredibly simplistic in a way that is not deserving of such a grandiose introduction. It’s just more Konosuba and it takes everything positive and negative that comes with that. To understand the inherent quality or lack thereof of the Megumin spinoff, one needs to acknowledge what made the original series compelling in the first place.

Konosuba’s main strength is its characters and their relationships with each other. With virtually no story to speak of, an episode of Konosuba typically consists of ... Kazuma and the gang shooting the shit in pursuit of whatever the “quest of the week” is. The banter between these characters is uncharacteristically natural for the genre; it almost feels like a relaxing late 90’s sitcom instead of a fantasy isekai. Not to mention that said banter is an absolute breeding ground for some of the best comedy in anime. To keep things constantly fresh, side characters like Wiz or Yunyun are injected into the situation to keep things interesting.

The Megumin spinoff tries to emulate this to varying levels of success. For starters, Megumin is a weaker lead than Kazuma. Kazuma, Aqua, and Darkness don’t make an appearance in this series until the final episodes, so they are replaced by some of Megumin’s classmates and Yunyun, with Yunyun’s role increasing as the show goes on. This is responsible for the worst part of the series: episodes 1-4. Naturally, the chemistry between Megumin and her classmates is far weaker than the chemistry between Megumin and her party. Because the series sticks with the general Konosuba formula, the dialogue and banter suffers. The comedy is watered down, so my impression of the series through episodes 1-4 was less of a comedic parody and more of a campy school-days slice of life. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but it just didn’t have the same impact as the rest of the series.

Ironically, this is changed by the story; practically the arc where Megumin learns explosion. This arc had the vibes of the last two episodes of each Konosuba season; the big boss battle where the series actually has an above-average story. This battle was cool as all hell and it even felt a bit nostalgic. This sequence is the catalyst for the improvement of the rest of the series. From episode 5 on, we get almost exclusively Megumin and Yunyun banter for the rest of the series; a noticeable upgrade from the first couple of episodes of the series. The Megumin and Yunyun dynamic existed in the original series, but here, it’s used to a much greater extent. This doesn’t have much of a negative effect, but if it does, side characters like Ares and Cecily make appearances to keep things interesting. However, the greatest strength of this series is its inherent nature as an “episode 0”.

Worldbuilding is one of Konosuba’s best aspects; in fact, you can almost consider the strong worldbuilding as a parody aspect considering that most fantasy isekai build their world like a 4-year-old builds with Legos. Most things are unexplained and the viewer is supposed to just accept current aspects of the series without any explanation. The Megumin spin-off explains aspects of the original series that were considered commonplace. Some examples include: Crimson Demons perform introductions because they are taught in school that being cool is half the battle of casting magic. Chomusuke is half of a devil king’s general and was brought in by Komekko for lunch. The Axis cult learned its tactics from Megumin and Yunyun. Aside from this, the Megumin spin-off also provides a lot of easter eggs for those that astutely watched the main series. The series understands well that it is a prequel, so it makes no mistake in adding things that the viewer will recognize and enjoy as a fan of the series.

Overall, The Megumin spinoff is just more Konosuba; if you liked the original series, you'll like this. Granted, it is a watered-down version of Konosuba, a Konosuba lite if you will, but it still manages to be compelling. All of the aspects that made the original series are here: the dialogue and banter, the comedy, and the parodying of generic isekai, and while everything present is to some extent worse than the oringal series, Konosuba fans should be able to find some enjoyment in this season. Thankfully, this season gives the audience hope in what should be a bombastic third season for the franchise.

Thank you for reading.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jun 22, 2023

nashyyyyyyy

Mixed Feelings

The main attraction of Konosuba is that it is a complete comedy that isn’t serious. If we compare this season to the previous two seasons and the legend of Crimson movie, it does its job just fine. Konosuba never had a plot in the first place so the fact that absolutely nothing happens in this spin-off shouldn’t bother you given that you have watched the first two seasons and the movie. Right off the bat, the characters are obviously different, and the show is too. I simply think that the series is not as funny without Satou Kazuma, Aqua, and Darkness. Don’t get me wrong, ... I believe that Megumin and Yunyun are good characters, but the two of them alone could not sustain the levels of comedy that the main cast was able to. There are essentially 3 split arcs in the season. I think the comedy picks up from episode 7 onwards specifically

Plot: [7/10] - As mentioned earlier, there are about 3 main arcs in the series, the first one taking up about 6 episodes and around 3 each for the second two. Essentially, Megumin and Yunyun find themselves in different places in each of these arcs. The story is told in a fashion where a conflict or scenario is introduced at the start of each episode and then largely resolved by the end. It was interesting enough that you will be entertained to watch the whole episode but its nothing special or complex.

Characters: [6/10] - Konosuba suffers without its main cast and it’s evident in this season. The way Kazuma bounces off of Aqua and Darkness for comedy is sorely missed and just cannot be replicated by Megumin and Yunyun. Megumin isn’t a super complex character but her ideas and desire to become a powerful explosion magic user as a prodigious talent leads her into funny scenarios where she is scamming people, blowing stuff up, and yelling at people. Comedy-wise, she functions as a straight man along with Yunyun. Moving on to our second main character Yunyun, she isn’t a great character. She lacks autonomy and clings to Megumin and does not really do anything. She just exists to move alongside Megumin as her “rival.” She is basically the same fanservice-y character from previous seasons. The side characters like dodonko, funifura, and arue don’t get enough screentime to be super relevant in the rating but they are average at best. Arue is pretty funny though. There is barely any Kazuma, Aqua, and Darkness so they won’t be included here.

Art/Animation: [8/10] - Same artsyle, but the animation is still brilliant. The few fight scenes are done admirably and the infamous megumin explosion is always visually appealing. The animation felt smooth overall, did it’s job and a litttle more.

Voice Acting/Soundtrack: [6/10} - Apart from Rie Takahashi on Megumin and Aki Toyosaki on Yunyun there is nothing special in the voice acting department. Same old goofy nonsense. Opening and ending were alright, nothing special.

Conclusion: Konosuba does it’s job in being somewhat entertaining for Konosuba fans, and maintains enough of it's comedic value and goofiness to be an ok watch. However, the main cast is sorely missed and the quality does suffer as a result due to overly repetitive comedy and plot. It is serves as a prequel of sorts and is worth watching for konosuba fans to set up season 3. 6/10 thanks for reading, -nashy

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jul 31, 2023

UnliExp

Not Recommended

Funny

Last episode: pretty good

Rest of the show: not so good

Honestly, they needed more fanservice. Like the soypoint "oh wow that's so wacky but cool" kinda fanservice. I know it's adapting source material, but like, for a sidestory, man could they have made it more indulgent.

I couldn't tell you what happens in each episode. There's basically kid Megumin, school, hot springs town, then starting village. Nothing that happens in each one matters. I wonder if this prequel is even required watching since it doesn't look like the villains are reoccurring. Anyways, it's been such a long gap since the original I don't remember it. Skill issue ... I guess.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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