Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Konosuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World!
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Hiroki not Takuya
 Posts: 2528 |
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I have the opposite reaction. It gets a little old and insufferable that the writer feels compelled to "slyly" have the S1 Konosuba cast keep showing up practically every scene to remind the viewer of a show they like better to keep interest in the present one up. Especially when such brushes aren't plausible or organic in the least. It's supposed to be a big enough town but it seems everywhere Megumin goes, there they are... If a story's appeal is just that it leads to the start of a better story, it fails. If only this prequel had more going for it on it's own it wouldn't be so egregious. As it is, the Konosuba movie did far more for expanding the Crimson Demon and Megumin's story, making this prequel seem superfluous. |
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jdnation
Posts: 2007 |
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Well, finally clocked in the finale.
I was looking forward to this show. Konosuba has been an A+ of a comedy this entire time. However, I didn't love this Megumin spin-off show. Only the last two episodes really approached the level I was expecting, the graveyard one being the best. Though there are maybe 1-2 chuckle-worthy ones per episode throughout the season. But I really didn't feel like Megumin or the Crimson Demons were enough to carry the brand. These characters only work when you have a normie like Kazuma to bounce their zany stupid antics off of. Kazuma and Aqua are what really make this series. Kazuma in particular. So this spin-off without them doesn't hit the highs. I guess it's because Megumin and Darkness are kind of those one-note repeatedly-run-the-gag-into-the-ground characters, so the whole I-can-only-do-Explosion schtick gets old and annoying. It really only works when it's a dynamic between Megumin and Kazuma and the group that occasionally comes up when needed, so you know Kazuma can't count on her until it matters, then there is the awkward romantic/horny/cowardly tension between them that's a lot of fun. So when the gag is essentially that character, just as you can't really make a show revolving around the specific gag, it's a bad idea to make one about this character, which is what this season does, and to be fair, it was an admirable effort, but leaves much to be desired. Maybe if Megumin grows more as a character throughout Konosuba, a sequel series could've worked, but prequel-wise, there's not much there, as much as they push the friendship angle. Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next season of actual Konosuba. |
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Minos_Kurumada
Posts: 1036 |
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It's just me, but, I thought both the original show's and this one's point about Explosion magic it's not that its bad, just so impractical in the daily life of an adventurer that you are better learning something else.
You do high amounts of property damage, you can only land it on immobilized targets, you have one shoot per day, you are completely exposed and defenceless after using it. The only way they got around using it in the OG show was first using the whole town to immobilize the Moving Fortress, later, using an skill (Drain) that you normally would have no way of learning. Latter, Kasuma had to make up a complicated plot that ended on him dying to immobilize the Slime enough time for Megumin to cast it. The show itself makes the point that there are wizards who learn it to work at demolition/construction companies. 99% of you problems can be fixed with Fire Ball, there is no need to kill a fly with a bazooka when a newspaper its enough. |
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spacedin
Posts: 44 |
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No, the stuff against explosion isn't to make Megumin an underdog. Gotta remember the main point of the Konosuba work that this spun off from: Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin and Darkness are fundamentally good but deeply flawed people. Because of their flaws they need each other because no one else wants them. But because (very) deep down they are decent people they benefit from each other's presence and become much better people together than they ever would have been alone or with other parties. Why? Look at the setting ... more of the same. Very few good people. Vanir and Wiz became decent only after dying. Balter is one of the few actual nice people and Darkness refused to marry him because of it!
So explosion is a macguffin in that there is nothing notable about explosion itself. Instead its entire meaning comes from how it influences the characters. Take the Marvel movies: not only did we never learn anything useful about the infinity stones but their powers were never consistently depicted. It was all about the characters' conflict over them. So not only is there no real reason or explanation why explosion is bad, another power like hypnosis, electricity, the sharingan etc. would have fulfilled the same narrative purpose. Which is that it is bad for her but she lacks the character makeup to resist it. If she could her life would be amazing: she is extremely intelligent with incredible talent and power so she would have wealth, fame, friends, be able to provide for her family etc. But because she can't resist explosion ... well look at the results. Of course explosion is going to look awesome to the viewer because it makes the show more entertaining. But had Megumin never gotten hooked on explosion she would be far more effective in 99% of situations. That she can take out a foe that no one else can in the other 1% doesn't change that. The only reason why she is useful in Kazuma's party is because the other members have complementary strengths/weaknesses AND Kazuma because of his video gaming in his previous life is able to come up with strategies to effectively use her. No other party has either that mix of members - for good reason - or a very effective and unconventional strategist. For some reason everyone who follows Konosuba only focuses on Kazuma's flaws, or regards his flaws to be worse than everyone else's. That truly is not the case. Look at Megumin's own family. Megumin's mother tried everything possible to push Kazuma onto her 14 year old daughter because she thought he was rich. And while everyone loves Komekko's cuteness, they ignore that she is already EXTREMELY SHADY at a very young age and that it is much more likely that she will get worse as she gets older than better. So it isn't explosion, but rather Megumin's desire for it - some fans even call it an addiction and even speculate that it is the rush that she gets from performing the explosion, which appears to be some sort of huge adrenaline or endorphin spike, other fans more benignly claim that it is a low self esteem thing and explosion makes her feel special - and what it says about Megumin as a person that actually matters. |
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MFrontier
Posts: 11467 |
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I enjoyed this spinoff/prequel.
I feel much more invested in Megumin and Yunyun's friendship even if on some level I feel like Yunyun still deserves better. I hope someday Cecily can return to Axel and bring her level of ego and depravity to the main series. I feel like the Demons really got a bum rap in this show. |
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Covnam
 Posts: 3672 |
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I enjoyed this spin-off, but it didn't live up to the main series unfortunately. While there were some good bits (like Yunyun in this episode when she learns Megumin was awake) here and there, it just wasn't as consistent.
I also would have liked to have spent more time with the Crimson Demons. Perhaps that's just because of my expectations, but I thought we'd spend most of the season there. |
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nyaa
Posts: 115 |
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While it utilized characters from the original series and was a prequel it just didn't capture the feeling or charm of the original 2 series. It did have a few funny moments but overall was flat and lacking entertaining qualities. Here's hoping the upcoming series recaptures the character of the original.
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