Konosuba (update)

(Update: at the end of the last episode, a second season was announced.)

The Farce is strong with this one.

Kazuma, a gamer NEET (well, not quite, he goes to high school) boy goes out to buy a new game and figure; sees a girl about to get run over by a truck, and leaps to push her out of the way. Ends up dead, and he’s awarded (by a cute goddess) the chance to be reborn in another world as an adventurer

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, to fight the Devil King. “So, at least I saved the girl, and that was worth it.”

“Not exactly…” says the goddess. “The tractor would have stopped in time to miss her.”

“Tractor?”

“Farm tractor. Not truck. But you were convinced it was a truck so you ended up dying from shock.”

“It gave me a heart attack???”

“Well, no. But the shock caused you to pee your pants in fear. So the girl and farmer laughed at you.”

“Augh!”

“So then an ambulance was called. And the paramedics laughed at you.”

“I died from embarrassment?”

“Well, that didn’t kill you.”

“What?”

“Your parents arrived at the emergency room and burst out laughing. That gave you a heart attack and killed you!”

“AUUUUUUGGGHHH!”

And that starts Konosuba’s ridiculous send-up of the whole reincarnated hero/harem/magical girlfriend fantasy world genre. Of course things get no better for our hapless hero. He’s allowed by the cute goddess to take one thing into the new world: a skill, a weapon, whatever he wants. So after studious consideration, he picks the goddess, of course. Her name is Aqua, and she’s a senior water goddess. Naturally he can’t pick her — except it turns out to her shock, he can, and did, so a replacement goddess shows up to greet the newly dead. They’re bundled off to the parallel dimension where fame and fortune awaits. After all, he’s got a goddess in his hip pocket.

Except for one thing… She’s an idiot, and almost totally useless. They end up in the Starting City of Adventurers, which is so peaceful, there’s almost nothing for them to do. Oh, and they ‘re broke, no gear, no money, not even the fee to register for the Adventurer’s Guild. Eventually they find work as laborers, and live in a stable. They find friends among the townsfolk, settle in,but finally remember the whole “adventure, gain levels, and defeat the Devil King” quest. Oh yeah, that.

So they find a low-level quest, and Aqua is more than useless. She almost gets eaten by a giant frog. Desperately, they search for new party members, and end up (over the first few episodes) attracting a two more girls. Megumin is a loli fire demon archmage that casts Explosion. ONLY. At high power. No lesser spell will do. Oh, and she can only cast it once a day, after which she collapses. Then there’s the busty, cute Darkness, an oddly named crusader, who is strong and tough and so clumsy, she can miss a stationary target. Repeatedly. Oh, and she’s a total masochist, so the hero’s efforts to ditch her only turn her on.

Aqua, Darkness, and Megumin

It’s not just the absurdity that sells this farce, it’s that the animators went all the way. The dramatic pauses, the faux dramatic music, the supporting characters, and the continuing gags (not to mention some nice eye candy) all combined, don’t make this top-tier entertainment, but definitely a well done, over-the-top show that takes nothing seriously. Of course, they accidentally end up becoming famous, especially after the cabbage harvest. The flying cabbage harvest, that is… Of course, poor Aqua. She somehow ended up with nothing but worthless lettuce…

Cute girls, but no nudity. And so far, only two panty shots…. sort of. Recommended.

Edit: Eh, eheheheheheheheh. Never mind the sort of. Episode 9. The disturbing part… the girls, er, succubi, weren’t even that attractive. I kept wanting to ask the one talking to Kazuma if she had some kind of skin rash, the way she kept rubbing herself.