Original Run: January 12, 2017 - March 16, 2017 Number of Episodes: 10 Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Isekai, Supernatural Based on the Series Created By: Natsume Akatsuki and Kurone Mishima
***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! 2. Reader discretion is advised.***
Series Synopsis
We returGod’sthe story of the reincarnated adventurer Kazuma Satou, the goddess Aqua, the explosion mage Megumin, and the crusader Darkness (voiced respectively by Jun Fukushima, Sora Amamiya, Rie Takahashi, and Ai Kayano).
No matter how much they fight or how much money they manage to make, this team can never seem to catch a break. Granted, much of their misfortunes are direct consequences of their laziness, general lack of concern, and misguided ideas of what a fantasy adventure is supposed to be.
As it is, though, they can only press on regardless of how many things may get broken in their wake.
Series Positives
As a heads-up, I highly recommend reading my KonoSuba: God’s BlessingI’m This Wonderful World! (KonoSuba 1) season one review before continuing with this KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! 2 (KonoSuba 2) post. The two installments were watched back to back, and as such, I will mostly be continuing and finalizing the thoughts I brought up previously.
Also, I would not expect an extended critique or analysis of this season. To tell you the truth – as of me writing this sentence – if this post makes it to a thousand words, I will be shocked.
Much of what I could say concerning KonoSuba 2 I already mentioned when talking about KonoSuba 1. Although there are a few notable points I intend to add, at a minimum, this installment maintained what made its predecessor a fantastic series to watch. But before going any further, I made one claim in the KonoSuba 1 review I must update.
What I said was:
“KonoSuba is now my absolute favorite isekai (please read the review to clarify yourself on the term isekai if need be) anime. It is no exaggeration when I tell you I was utterly astonished by how fun this show was.”
That is still very much true, and my gut tells me it will remain true for the foreseeable future. For you see, any isekai series that wishes to claim the title of best faces a daunting task. As everything now stands:
KonoSuba is among my top favorite anime; f@#$ing period.
I suspected as much after watching the last installment, but out of due diligence, I waited until I had finished KonoSuba 2 to be one-hundred percent sure. With season one, this show proved its excellence. Then season two came and did it again, if not better than before. I don’t remember the last time I saw a series – let alone an isekai series – that kept me fully engaged, attentive, and laughing from beginning to end.
There was never a lull; there was never a break in the flow. KonoSuba 2 was always at full-throttle. This was so much goddamn fun. And a huge factor to why that was the case had to do with this show being more reactionary rather than explanatory.
When something happened in this series, the action never stopped, so the show could detail why it was occurring. Instead, Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness just dealt with it. They didn’t often – or at all – handle problems with grace or competence, but no matter the situation, whatever they did had an effect. Sometimes that effect meant blowing up a mountain or two, but hey, what may have been causing problems suddenly wasn’t. And yeah, some instances were directly the party’s fault, and once or twice they actively made things worse than they needed to be, but why sweat the small stuff when you’re focusing on the bigger picture?
But in all seriousness, KonoSuba worked because it had an excellent cast of characters and this show knew how to use them. I don’t believe I have ever seen a main group of heroes dysfunctional and still be an effective bunch of adventurers. Their teamwork was nearly nonexistent. They were constantly getting in each other’s way, as well as getting on one another’s nerves. The amount of bickering, tricking, manipulating, and sell-out-ing that occurred between these four was astonishingly entertaining. And yet, when the time came for them to get their job done, usually nothing would change, and they would continue with their pettiness.
What did you think I was going to say?
KonoSuba was a blast because it raked across the coals what we have come to expect from not only an isekai anime but a fantasy-adventure story. And the area where this series’ willingness to do its own thing stood out the most was with Kazuma and Aqua’s relationship.
These two were not love-interest. They didn’t share any romantic feelings. There was no secret crush, no awkward tension, no hint that they would ever become a pair, and that was phenomenal to see. Why? It’s because they didn’t need to be. These two were like rival siblings who had to make the best out of their shared situation.
What Kazuma and Aqua’s relationship said to me is that KonoSuba cared more about what it wanted to do and less about the norm. As a result, this series crafted an identity that was unlike any other.
I guarantee there will be more isekai anime in the future. However, none of them will ever be able to do what KonoSuba did masterfully. This series created a league of its very own.
Final Thoughts
WAIT A MINUTE, ODYSSEY!
That’s it? What of the Series Negative’s section? You’re not saying this series was perfect, are you?
No show is perfect. No story exists that doesn’t have its flaws. However, I’m skipping the Series Negatives because I would be like an old man yelling at clouds.
Now, I’ve nitpicked before. I’ve stretched small quirks to the breaking point. I’ve always found something to say, even for the best anime I have seen.
So, if you want to know about the negatives of this series, read the last review. I used up everything I could talk about there, and what I talked about was mostly the possibility that season two might mess things up.
Well, would you look at that? It didn’t.
Trust me, I will not be making a habit of this, but I feel this is the most powerful way I can express how good this show was.
KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! 2 and the whole KonoSuba franchise have earned a recommendation with every ounce of my being. All that is left to do is to watch the movie.
But these are just my thoughts. What are yours? Have you seen this show? How would you advise KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! 2? Leave a comment down below because I would love to hear what you have to say.
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For Anime Hajime, I’m Odyssey, and I’ll see you next time.
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