Isekai Quartet 2

Episode 3

After their failed attempt to filch liquor last episode, Subaru, Aqua, and the trio of Tanya's subordinates were all assigned to detention for the day. Honestly, given the individuals present at this school, that this didn't happen earlier is rather surprising. Really, what fun would this scenario be if someone didn't eventually get punished for something? And how fitting is it that the much-put-upon Aqua is one of the victims?

One of the constant struggles of school discipline policies is finding a way to make detention sufficiently unpleasant that students will want to avoid it at all costs. This school solves that problem quite easily (if also unethically): just bring in a professional torturer! Hence we have Kyouhukou, the regal-looking cockroach from the Overlord setting. He's an obscure enough member of The Great Tomb of Nazarick's minions that even Overlord fans might not remember him offhand, as he is mentioned a couple of times by other characters (he was responsible for getting information out of some captives, including the Eight Fingers) but he only actually appears briefly in episode 7 of season 3, where he welcomes a couple of teleport-trapped adventurers into a pit where they get swarmed and eaten by cockroaches. One can imagine that such similar treatment befell our miscreants – minus the being eaten part, of course – so their zombielike states afterwards is quite understanable.

That turns the rest of the episode into a “rescue them from detention” scenario, and I have to give kudos to the elaborate (if also ridiculous) scenario the others set up to allow them to perform a “good deed” to get off detention. Megumin using EXPLOSION to light a Bunson burner – even if it is contained under shield spells – is all kind of absurdity, as is the sheer amount of water which comes out of the busted pipes; a flood-level catastrophe I did not expect. Still, the way that the detainees worked together to gather the water and divert it outside, before it floods the principal's office and harms his stash of quality cigars(1), was a nice display of teamwork and apparently the reason why Roswaal looked the other way on the whole affair.

Though those scenes offered the episode its action highlights, there were a couple of other choice tidbits as well. Easily the most amusing was Rerugen's efforts to keep from being overwhelmed by Emilia's gentle “good girl” nature; this is even funnier because of the stark contrast Emilia unwittingly presents to the devilish girl that he knows from his setting (i.e., Tanya). Roswaal flatly rejecting Kyouhukou's offer for social tea was also a turn away from his easygoing nature; even regally-dressed cockroaches don't get much respect, I guess. Labeling Aqua's use of water manipulation as a “parlor trick” is also a KONOSUBA in-joke, as her first water-generation skill was exactly that.

All-in-all, it's not the funniest or sharpest of the series' episodes but it was entertaining.

English Dub: This also premiered on Funimation this week, with episode 1 now being available dubbed. Just like the first season, it carries over the dub casts from all of its component series. This is the first time that I have heard Filo and the more mature Raphtalia in dubbed form, and I am much more satisfied with Erica Mendez as the latter than Briann Knickerbocker as the former. Still not crazy about Billy Kametz as Naofumi (he doesn't sound quite gruff enough), but he's at least passable. Other performances vary between satisfactory and good, with Ray Chase's Roswaal continuing to be a highlight.

(1) – General Rudersdorf, the principal, was notorious for constantly smoking cigars in Saga of Tanya the Evil.

Rating:

Isekai Quartet 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.