Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo – 03
Megumin always wins for best poses
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So now I know how Karakuri feels when she gets stuck on an otome game. Stuff gets behind. But I gotta write these posts sometime. So here we go with this week’s KonoSuba! |
New Trouble: Darkness
This girl loves to take no for an answer
One couldn’t fault Kazuma for thinking that his party is a little unserious. When Aqua is spending all her talent points on party tricks to look like roman fountain, and Megumin won’t even bother to learn any spells except the giant finisher. So when Darkness, the blonde crusader showed up last week, he tried to warn her off, because he just doesn’t want to saddle anyone else with their party. To be honest, I really like this side of Kazuma. A lot of party leaders would try to get anyone they can into the party, the better they are, the better it is to have them, only to find out that they are a mismatch and cause problems with a breakup later. But Darkness isn’t deterred after he put her off last episode, and comes back to introduce herself to the rest of the group.
Aqua is working on the important stuff…
But this time she’s brought a friend for some worldbuilding. I liked how they worked in the method for learning new skills, and it’s interesting that learning a new skill is easy, but perfecting it is harder. You really just have to see someone else do something to learn how to do it, and then spend your accumulated points on it. So in order to learn how to do some things, Chris teaches Kazuma a few thief skills. And to be honest, Kazuma looks a bit like a thief with the tracksuit and his thin build and sketchy demeanor. He even enjoys the thief skills he learns, particularly ‘Steal’, which is supposed to take something of value from the target.
The real treasure
But this is anime, so it ends up taking something of… value. In another good move for the show, Kazuma is extremely pleased with the result of his theft, but it pulls it off in a way that doesn’t make him seem like a total sleaze, even if that’s what everyone else in the guild hall thinks of him after Darkness’ description of their transaction. But that passes quickly, even after Kazuma strips Megumin of her panties as well (I think we get confirmation of Aqua’s commando nature when nothing happens to her…).
Quelling the Horde
Almost tasteless, but not quite
Darkness’ ecstasy at the apparent sadism of Kazuma’s ability is short-lived, tho, soon to be replaced by a compulsory quest. There’s an invasion coming and they need all the adventurer’s to repel it. Sure, it’s an invasion of cabbages, but anything can be dangerous… and tasty. It’s a good tryout for Darkness, who is true to her word of being absolutely terrible on offense. But her defense is impenetrable, and ecstatic. Again, I liked that the show didn’t go too far. It could have had her shirt rip off or something like that, but didn’t. It ran right on the edge of going too far, and by not crossing that line it kept the show more interesting, I think.
It’s actually not that bad of a party
And much as Kazuma might dislike the idea, he’s now in a party with three weirdos, but at least they’re cute and endearing. And to be honest, they’re pretty capable. Kazuma, Megumin, and Darkness all made a good showing at the cabbage harvest, and Aqua’s… well, not completely useless. And Megumin and Darkness aren’t afraid of the Demon King at all. So maybe next episode they’ll start to make some progress toward that end.
KonoSuba is one of the funniest shows I’ve had the pleasure of watching. I bagged on last season’s Shomin Sample because whoever was making that show just didn’t understand comedy and timing, and KonoSuba is showing how timing should be done. It always hits the right beat, from Chris reacting to Kazuma’s theft to the interstitial scene changes to the debriefing after the great cabbage harvest. I really hope it keeps up.
About Highway
Proving that you don't have to be young to love anime, I enjoy all genres and styles of shows. If it's not hurting anyone else, you should never be ashamed of what you like!
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
I can see how a fighter that loves to take a hit but can’t hit anything would seem to be a poor choice for an adventuring party, but Darkness fits right in this one. And at least she’s effective as a shield.
Besides ending the cabbage invasion Megumin saved them a lot of work chopping up cabbage. Definitely the most useful member of the party and best girl.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Megumin’s the best party member because she’s the best foil for Kazuma. It feels like the writer knows this, and has them share more scenes than the others. There’s something there with them that was just completely missing with Aqua.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
They’re both cut from basically the same cloth, and it’s just he ends up being more “normal” in the face of her. Which isn’t what he needs to be in this world….
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Cabbages always remind me of one thing: Cabbage Love.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Yeah, Aqua may have been tripping on the party tricks, but a goddess needs her worship….
…like you say above, the source material and the show loves writing for Megumi, and that’s probably the best possible way to approach comedy and fantasy…
Now, I just have to find a way to put a swarm of cabbages in my next sit-down RPG…
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
Kazuma even enjoys the thief skills he learns…but this is anime, so it ends up taking something of…value.
The LNs explain that it’s his very high Luck stats that allow him to steal only panties from girls.
Then again, he wouldn’t keep attracting crazy/dumb girls if his Luck was truly high. >_>
Show ▼
This girl loves to take no for an answer.
I wonder if Darkness is a Masochist because she’s a Tank, or is she a Tank because she’s a Masochist?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Well, masochism for some people isn’t something you dabble in, so it’s a self-reinforcing thing.
I would wonder about how ‘lucky’ it is that he steals panties. That kind of behavior sure isn’t going to help him *get* lucky.
I think that the ‘kooky’ nature of the girls is one of those things that’s made a lot of, but in general they’re actually good people to be with.
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
This episode covered half of Chapter 2, Vol 1. So there’s a chance this won’t be a super-rushed adaptation.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I hear that multiples sh*ts really hit multiple fans by Vol. 4?
POWUH: Beginner (20-35) with 35 comments
Other than serious infighting from fan that join Axis Cult (aqua fanboys) after vol 4 and Eris Sect (best goddess fanboys) XD from those that read the translation, i think things are the same. until Vol 6 of course where the LN diverge from the WN
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I much prefer relaxed adaptations for shows. It allows a lot more of the detail that information-dense novels have to come through (even though television has more bandwidth for information transfer, it usually gets used to go even faster from start to finish, instead of widening the picture). Usually that makes for better shows: DxD would probably be a lot worse if they did 4 LNs per season, rather than 2, and didn’t 35th Shoutai do something like 5 LNs in its one (bad) season?
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Kazuma’s a good leader to keep all these ladies together. I didn’t think he’d be so focused on completing his goal of defeating the demon lord at first. Turns out he’s the “responsible” one…although he definitely is a little bit odd himself, as much as he wants to think he’s the only sane one. Still, I’m loving the dynamics between everyone. It’s a fun party to follow!
I liked how Aqua’s party trick actually came in handy in the end. It wasn’t a waste after all! Sort of!
POWUH: 500-599 with 540 comments
Well he tries to keep things sane but with 3 eccentrics and 1 sane man something. Its pretty difficult to keep all of them in check. [spoiler] One of the events that soon comes up is caused by 2 of his party members being so weird :).
POWUH: 500-599 with 540 comments
So how do you spoiler tag? cuz my last attempt failed horribly.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
You need to close it with a [/spoiler] tag as well. It only recognizes it if both are there. If you’re using the buttons on the commenting interface, click the at the start of the spoiler, then again at the end and it will put the correct tags in.
And I don’t think what you put up there is really a spoiler. That’s vague enough that it’s not going to spoil anything. “Hey, some characters do something because of their personalities.” isn’t really a spoiler. 🙂
POWUH: 500-599 with 540 comments
Yeah I thought I might screw up the spoiler tag first try so I didn’t want to actually say an actual spoilerShow ▼
POWUH: 500-599 with 540 comments
Btw, thanks Highway! 🙂
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I think it’ll be fun the more Kazuma realizes that he’s gotten exactly the party he deserves. You could see a little bit of it in this episode, but I think the realization will happen more and more.
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
I like the sound of the cabbages hitting Darkness. They sound so fresh with all the crunching noises they do when they hit someone.
And Fukushima Jun should get more roles like this. He’s perfect for delivering tsukkomis. It has the right energy and timing to it. He sounds like he’s enjoying it a lot.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
You’re right about the sound of the cabbages. I wonder if that was something that they decided that just getting some cabbages was the way to go with that. It’s also a sound that people have heard, since one of the better ways to core a cabbage is just to whack it on the counter.
POWUH: 500-599 with 540 comments
XD the sound the cabbages make, XD your comment made my day.