KONOSUBA | 1st Episode Impressions

My friend, Dael, said that I should check out KONOSUBA -God’s blessing on this wonderful world! because it is an anime he thought I would enjoy.  All of the suggestions he has made up to now have been pretty legit, so I figured it would not hurt to give it a chance.  Thus, since I was needing to add more content to RoKtheReaper.com anyway, I decided that it would be good to start with his anime recommendation.

KONOSUBA starts off fairly the same as most anime in which someone is transported to another world; a simple plot in which brings the main character from their everyday life into something akin to which they could only imagine in their wildest dreams.  Satou Kazama is an advent gamer, someone who normally plays alone by himself and spends all nighters in front of his computer.  However, that changes when he dies unfortunately after going out to grab a store-exclusive game and attempts to save a girl about to get ran over by a truck.  At least, you would believe that is what happened, but that is not what unfolded.

The episode starts off by making you think that Kazama died a heroic death and yet the events being explained by Aqua, a goddess who greets those who die young and guide them to the afterlife, paint a different story.  Hilarity ensues and you already get the feeling that this show’s comedy is top notch.  Just the pure savagery in how this anime chooses to kill off the main character so he can be isekai’d into another world shows massive potential for the entirety of the series.

Kazama obviously picks the Goddess to go with him against her will, another goddess immediately shows up to replace her and off they go to a parallel world, Aqua only being allowed to return if she successful aids Kazma in slaying the Devil King.  This put them both into a situation where they are depending on each other, but more specifically that Aqua has no choice but to aid the newly reincarnated NEET if she is ever to have any hope of becoming what she once was.

The anime is very straight forward within the first episode, giving you feelings of Japanese Role-Playing Games (JRPGs) and makes several references to well-known systems within them by the main character; Adventurer’s Guild, starting equipment, leveling up, class changes, etc.  Things go well miraculously after they acquire money and successfully join a guild, leaning into their everyday life and it becoming the norm.  However, they quickly realize they have settled too much on being laborers and have to go out and actually taste adventure in order to have any hope of leveling up enough to thwart the Devil King.

This anime has much promise, I already had to message my friend Dael 8 minutes and 34 seconds into the first episode because I was dying laughing from the expressions.  Aqua comes off as a pompous know-it-all and very brash because of her position, but you get to see a softer side when she goes into a world she knows nothing about.  Also, you get to see how Kazama does things, but right now he seems like a run-of-the-mill main character; will need to see more of him to decide whether-or-not he turns into a memorable protagonist.

Something else I also noticed is that this anime has a fair amount of fan service; mainly due to buttshorts of Aqua.  However, I am not complaining at all because it is very subtle and not too severe, and that make sit even grander since it teases as opposed to overstaturates.  Looking very forward to see what the rest of KONOSUBA holds!