KONOSUBA - God's blessing on this wonderful world! 2

Episode 9

We didn't see much of Aqua last time around, so she (more or less) gets the feature treatment this week. This is her turn to shine make a fool of herself, and she doesn't disappoint.

Given that Argenrita is the stronghold of her faith, you would think that Aqua would be right at home. And indeed, she is – as an Archpriestess, anyway. Problem #1 is that no one will believe that she's actually the Aqua, and problem #2 is that she has a tendency to go around purifying the hot springs, which just like the tea last episode, saps them of anything that makes them special. Whether she was doing this accidentally or because she actually believed that the impurities were harmful to her followers is unclear, but whatever the case, she ends up doing more harm than good (including a miserably failed attempt to convince the locals that the Devil King Army is attempting to weaken the city). This results in the episode's great irony; the citizens who revere her so completely treat her physical form like a pariah. In fact, it looks like the townsfolk have decided that she's a witch in league with the Devil King's Army by episode's end. That leaves the lingering question of whether this was just a concluding gag, or if the plot is actually going to continue from there next episode. Regardless, would you actually expect any higher degree of competency from Aqua?

The rest of the episode is mostly just little tidbits. We see that Kazuma and his companions aren't the only visitors being harassed by the recruiters, and that Wiz apparently doesn't handle being near Aqua's tears too well. (They apparently act like holy water.) And oh yeah, the Dullahan from the first season is still trying to beckon Wiz to the Other Side. There's a bath scene where Megumin and Darkness correctly surmise that Kazuma would try to spy on them, but Kazuma also encounters a sexy lady with pointed ears in the mixed bath. Some kind of demon, perhaps? Somehow, I don't think we've seen the last of her or the other guy who was frustrated by all the recruitment drives, since they were too pointedly focused on to just be disposable characters.

Overall, the episode had a slightly more serious (or at least less frivolous) tone, and I'm not convinced that it was intentional, since I didn't see any good reason for it. Because of this, the humor comes out much flatter and thinner than most episodes of this season. It still has its entertaining moments, such as the whole business with Aqua taking confessional at Eris's expense, but it definitely lacks the verve that last episode showed. One other minor highlight is getting to see Megumin in street clothes for a change, and YunYun's increasing desperation in the Next Episode text is still pretty funny, but the formula that has been clicking so well for the series so far is just off this week. The first season also had its ups and downs, so I don't regard this as sign of trouble sign.

Rating: B-

KONOSUBA - God's blessing on this wonderful world! 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.