Konosuba Is Boring (And That's Okay)

I've been meaning to watch Konosuba for quite some time now, and man was it a letdown

Konosuba, a comedy isekai (so they say) was my introduction to the Isekai genre which is full of cliches and tropes as I've heard, however this show is not as much as Isekai based as it is a comedic one. The protagonist Sota Kazuma, a gamer boi in his previous life gets transported to a magical world after dying from the shock of thinking he was about to get hit by a truck while saving a female classmate when in reality the vehicle was a slow moving tractor. (Don't ask me man I'm just as clueless as you are right now)

While being reincarnated he's given the option to choose a weapon of his choice to battle the demon king of the fantasy world because of which the population of that world has been decreasing, he choses to take the goddess who was in charge of reincarnating him along with him (obviously)

Now to go back to her original position, the goddess has to help Kazuma beat the demon king. So here you go, that's the plot. Also the first season has absolutely nothing to do with this.

Kazuma, and the goddess Aqua makes a party to complete beginner level quests which is joined by Megumin, an archwizard who can do one and the only spell she knows once a day and Darkness, a crusader who is a masochist. Again don't ask me it is just the way it is.

I'm speculating that by giving these characters these peculiar traits, the creators wanted to take a refreshing take on isekai which has become overly saturated over the years and make a fresh comedy isekai, however these characters come across as straight weird while failing their main objective to bring about the comedic relief for the series.

Talking about comedy, I've never seen a show with such a straight face throughout it's entirety. The most it gave me was a few light chuckles, the kind you give when you see a slightly amusing meme but that's it. Considering how all the big Youtubers have made videos praising the franchise I couldn't help but have high expectations for it, only to be left heavily underwhelmed. The show's premise only come across stupid without any real threat to the characters. While I get Konosuba may be an anime that is not to be taken seriously, it didn't even manage to give anything back in return of the time I invested in it.

The show also has this weird tendency of throwing random stuff your way and that too they don't show you, it's just narrated to you by one of the four characters. Sometimes that information is helpful for the plot, most of the time it isn't. But then again the plot in itself doesn't have much to offer either.

A show that does stupid premises right according to me would be Kaguya Sama. It's silly but in a good and way more rewarding way. Konosuba does not offer any likeable characters, is devoid of any direction and misses humour entirely. While I have only seen season 1 and am critiquing it on the basis of solely the 10 episodes that the season offered, I simply am not invested in it to continue watching, even if the second season only consist of 10 other episodes. I don't know if the story ends in the next season nor do I care to know.

So after all that Konosuba bashing, I went to Gigguk's video to find out what was the fuss about it, and honestly I get some of the points that he was explaining in the video. Are those points enough to change my mind about the show? Not at all, but I would now understand why people like the show.

 

In this video, he explains how Konosuba is a parody of the generic Isekai genre and mocks it by making its MC and the rest of the party not so overpowered, and how he enjoyed the dynamic that the group together had to offer. He even admitted the show being not the funniest of them all, something I was expecting from it and hence the disappointment, he explained how the show should be seen like eating popcorn. It will not fill your appetite but it would be fun. And I somewhat get that.

So after getting more familiar with the premise and adjusting my expectations, I started the second season and how was it now? Well, the same as before.

While I did begin to see all the things Gigguk explained in his video, it doesn't take away the fact that the show is still boring. The plot exists just as an excuse for the characters to exist while no real progress is made to drive the story ahead, but that's because that is not the objective of the show. It exists to provide some light hearted content to the viewers instead of an intense boss fight after every five episodes.

So is Konosuba a bad show? No. It just isn't for me.

All those points I mentioned above why I didn't like the series and all the shortcomings of the plot is something people could very well say about Kaguya Sama, which I dearly adore. It is just that this show wasn't for me, just like how Kaguya Sama might not be for a lot of people inspite the high praise and ratings the show gets (which is true for both the shows)

There were still things I liked about Konosuba, just not a lot. The voice acting for Kazuma was absolutely phenomenal. Even Megumi's voice acting was pretty tight including all the EXPLOOSIONSS she did. Also the fact about how Aqua added san and sama in front of Kazuma's name when she was in a pinch and desperately needed his help. All of these were indeed fun! But for me that's it.

So should you watch Konosuba? Well try the first 3 episodes, and if you don't feel it then drop it without a doubt, cause that is what it has to offer. But if you like it, then I am pretty sure you would enjoy the series thoroughly!