Posted by  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
「この不当な裁判に救援を！」 (Kono Futouna Saiban ni Kyuuen o!)
“Give Me Deliverance from this Judicial Injustice”
Objection! The defendant is too damn funny.
KonoSuba is back, and I couldn’t be happier. I was actually hesitant to watch this episod,e because when I finally had the time I was in a fairly foul mood (for unrelated reasons). I was afraid my bad mood would infect the episode and make it less enjoyable. Then I started watching it, and nope! A dose of KonoSuba fixed me back up. It’s back, it’s back, it’s baaaack YAY!
This episode picked up immediately where the previous season left off, with resident fish-out-of-water and incorrigible pervert Satou Kazuma
(Fukushima Jun) being arrested by prosecutor Sena (Nabatame Hitomi) for the crime of blowing up the lord’s house (refer to last season for details). Though actually, referring to last season isn’t necessary, because they did a nice job of recapping what happened (since it’s immediately relevant) without making it feel like a recap. Cloaking it in the guise of a hilarious trial with Kazuma’s life on the line will do that. Old details, but we got to relive them in a different light.
Once again, the elements that make KonoSuba work so well are clearly in evidence: character and chemistry. The jokes are great, don’t get me wrong, but they wouldn’t work so well, given that they’re frequently at Kazuma’s expense—especially when all his friends and allies, save for the eternally kind (and undead) Wiz (Horie Yui), so casually abandon him—if Kazuma weren’t a bit of an ass himself. (Also, perverted and gets full of himself way too easily.) Ditto to the misfortunes that befall useless goddess Aqua (Amamiya Sora), masochistic tank Darkness (Kayano Ai), and even the explosion master Megumin (Takahashi Rie). If they all weren’t so hilarious broken, it would feel unfair. Here, it feels earned, deserved, and hilarious.
The big surprise this time, other than the trial plot in general, is that Darkness stepped up, revealed her family name, and won a stay of trial for Kazuma. Seeing her be effective with only the minimum of perversion is . . . nice. It’s nice, right? Mostly it’s confusing. Still, it leaves my interest piqued as to what will happen and when she’ll reappear. In the meantime, it’s time to introduce someone who OVA viewers may recognize. Bring on the crimson demons, woo!
Coverage note: Due to my busy work schedule(s), expect KonoSuba posts late Thursday night or early Friday morning. I don’t like posting so long after release, and sometimes I may get to it earlier, but my jobs keep me too busy to promise it. Thank you for your understanding.
Random thoughts:
- Was the animation a little jankier than last season? Though I have a feeling I may have just forgotten. Sakuga was never the point of this series anyway, so it didn’t bother me.
- This opening crawl alone was 100x better than Rogue One. Fight me, nerds! And I shall win, because I AM YOUR NERD KING!!
My SECOND novel, Freelance Heroics, is available now! (Now in print!) (Also available: Firesign #1 Wage Slave Rebellion.) Sign up for my email list for exclusive content. At stephenwgee.com, the last four posts: Why I never give characters temporary names, Conflicted feelings on the Electoral College, Voting Reform: Single Transferable Vote, and They didn’t feel heard. I don’t feel heard. This is a problem.
OP Sequence
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
OP: 「TOMORROW」 by Machico
Preview
 |
 |
 |
Was wondering where this post was. I am so happy this is back! Such a fun show that always brings a smile to my face.
I want to say poor Darkness to what is probably on that noble’s mind, but part of me thinks she would like it so moving right along….
Megumin’s back! Though we saw explosions we haven’t heard her say it yet.
You’re not alone on the animation. The first season had that unique quality where the animation looked kind of cheap but this seems to go a bit beyond that. Given the popularity of the series I wouldn’t think they’d half ass the second season, so maybe it’s just a matter of getting re-accustomed to the style they use … or maybe they’re trying harder to make it took unique and making it look worse?
Yeah, the animation was horrible, it was so bad I was having trouble watching it. Everyone looks disfigured all the time. Even in the OP the artwork is bad, so I don’t think they intend to do better. Maybe the second season happened because the first was a lot more successful than they expected, so they decided they could spend $5 to cover the cost of this season.
@qwert @flap: Agree. Unfortunately, visual quality took a dive here. Even the characters look off at times. :< You'd think that S1 success would mean a decent budget, but you might be right in that they decided to maximize short term profits and go cheap while trading on S1 goodwill. If so, not a good decision IMO.
It’s not gonna stop me from watching it, honestly. Seems like they’re trying to go more for comedic disfiguring (or they had some production delays and had to ship episode one quicker than planned), but the jokes are still good, so it’s whatever on my end.
I sat down and watched the last season and followed it with this. The animation is similar in style but where the new season falls behind is in the shift towards hyper-exaggeration to accent moods/punch lines. Every time this happens there’s a loss in quality and consistency with the first season’s style: which was exaggerated in spots as well but not to this extent.
The result is that the work on the first episode feels uneven. It’s like someone thought Munch was the baseline for panic in expressions and began throwing fidelity out the window whenever they did this.
Honestly, I will give them some credit since I feel like the biggest factor affecting the animation is its schedule. A lot of other shows either start producing a sequel after gauging its success when broadcast ends and dvd/blu-rays get released or work on it during the 1st season’s production/broadcast because it was decided from the very beginning.
Konosuba’s 2nd season production was decided literally right after the first few weeks of broadcast due to the reception it received (as mentioned by the director/producer who said that the initial low expectations on them before broadcast meant minimal interference/conditions and gave them a lot of freedom to do what they wanted). Considering the previous season was just last winter, this sudden decision gave them less than 1 year to make the 2nd season which is absolute hell for anime production considering it’s normal to expect 2-3 years for a series production. I’m sure they likely have the same low budget as the first season (this was also mentioned before by the director/producer) but are even more rushed than before.
Also for perspective, Studio Deen has Rakugo Shinjuu, SUPER LOVERS 2, and Reizenkan 2nd season broadcasting as well this winter when they had Konosuba, Reizenkan, and Rakugo Shinjuu last winter with SUPER LOVERS in the spring. The shows besides Konosuba all had their 2nd seasons planned from the very beginning so one can imagine what Studio Deen had to go through when a sudden 4th show was decided to an already packed schedule. Sponsors normally have a lot of power to dictate what season they want a show to broadcast which I imagine is the case this time. Basically, I’ll hold onto hopes for good animation moments but in the meantime, I can’t bring myself to be too critical knowing the conditions they’re working under.
Ah, Konosuba. You make all the miriad of “trapped in a RPG fantasy world” clones be worth it because they can be parodied mercilessly for the good of the audience. The hope spots crushed one by one, the useless companions, the fellow adventurers that ditch you the moment it gets dangerous for them, the painful honesty about what you really are and a broken legal system that has the nobility win by default. This is the Quixote of Isekai.
And agreed, the interrogation and the trial were a clever way to do a recap without feeling like a recap, instead advancing the story and giving the cast a new goal.
As for the animation, I think it was always this bad. The halo effect must be playing tricks on our memories of Konosuba.
Can’t get these tags right.
Is that so?
https://sakugabooru.com/post/show/21146
https://sakugabooru.com/post/show/20528
https://sakugabooru.com/post/show/21145
Nah, in first season the art was like this only in episode 9. Now that is the official artwork for the entire series.
Praise Studio Deen I say, praise them! For delivering sequels so fast (unlike filthy Madhouse and the others), not just for the best anime of last year (Rakugo), but also for the best comedy of last year. KonoSuba is back and first episode did everything to remind, why it was so popular. Kazuma is again unlucky, Aqua utterly stupid (in a good way!), Megumin exploding stuff, Darkness… well, not so perv this time! So good to have this dysfunctional team back on the track.
And by the way, what’s up with all these references? We had classic RPG ones, Star Wars themed introduction, ‘Objection’ taken out from Attorney, Megumin going full Jojo and Sena copying SHAFT moves. Nice details!
Turns out people who work on anime are giant nerds. Who knew!
12 Oku and 40,000 Man = (12 x 100,000,000) + (40,000 x 10,000) = A HUGE HUGE NUMBER
Looks like Kazuma’s gonna pay his asshole outta the grave! It sure as hell sucks to be you and we’re laughing too! 😛
https://randomc.net/image/Kono%20Subarashii%20Sekai%20ni%20Shukufuku%20Wo/Kono%20Subarashii%20Sekai%20ni%20Shukufuku%20Wo%202%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2028.jpg
Already another favorite girl, lol.
Those rescue attempts too. XD “Guess I’ll sleep.”
And even after it looks like they get out of trouble for the time being…
https://randomc.net/image/Kono%20Subarashii%20Sekai%20ni%20Shukufuku%20Wo/Kono%20Subarashii%20Sekai%20ni%20Shukufuku%20Wo%202%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2044.jpg
…being Konosuba is suffering? lol
Yeah, no kidding, that girl is HOT; must find more images of her. I want a succubus to make me dream about her. Notably, she did a good job making Kazuma look like a pervert, which was deviating from the point of seeing if he was a terrorist or not (have no idea why), I guess this was revenge for Kazuma giving her such a hard time.
And yes being Konosuba, specifically Kazuma and Aqua, is suffering lol. When everyone was at the door, I was wondering why a group of knights were walking so nearby. Now we got the answer. I am shocked that Kazuma didn’t think about “cheating” his way out. He can just be executed, and let Aqua resurrect him. Kazuma’s punishment was “execution,” Specifically, the punishment did NOT say that “he must be permanently dead, cremated, and be buried 6 feet under.”
https://randomc.net/image/Kono%20Subarashii%20Sekai%20ni%20Shukufuku%20Wo/Kono%20Subarashii%20Sekai%20ni%20Shukufuku%20Wo%202%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2042.jpg
How many are happy to see there fav Chuuni girl I wonder. On the side note, is that kanji that is written on those stickers? If it is, I wonder what it says.
https://randomc.net/image/Kono%20Subarashii%20Sekai%20ni%20Shukufuku%20Wo/Kono%20Subarashii%20Sekai%20ni%20Shukufuku%20Wo%202%20-%20OP%20-%20Large%2008.jpg
Oh, a certain island turtle from Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari arrives. Curious who invented the idea of “island turtle.”
https://randomc.net/image/Kono%20Subarashii%20Sekai%20ni%20Shukufuku%20Wo/Kono%20Subarashii%20Sekai%20ni%20Shukufuku%20Wo%202%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2001.jpg
I just noticed, but obviously there is a large amount of sarcasm in Kazuma’s words lol; on another thing to note, that English was somewhat poorly written, they spelled chaos incorrectly along with the letter A. “Pretty goddess willingly joined” lol, Aqua is pretty if we consider that she is the only known panty-less goddess; she’s my third fav, in my book, first place is Hestia (DanMachi), the legal well endowed loli, while second is Rory Mercury (GATE).
https://randomc.net/image/Kono%20Subarashii%20Sekai%20ni%20Shukufuku%20Wo/Kono%20Subarashii%20Sekai%20ni%20Shukufuku%20Wo%202%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2027.jpg
Being Kazuma, specifically being a pervert abusing his powers, is suffering. On the side note, if one puts some thought into it, you would seriously wonder why an adventurer ever wear such revealing clothing. I don’t think anyone, at least in our world even in the “middle ages” era, wore anything like that since it doesn’t make much sense. Notably, I find it sad that mostly “female mob characters” wear that clothing, don’t know too much heroines that wear such revealing outfits.
BTW, STILTS. This is based on speculation, and sorry if this may seem rude, but I assume you don’t want to waste the screenshot “allowance” on Aqua’s rear end. (joking tone in use) Most people, who watch Konosuba, like watch it to see Aqua’s panty-less scenes.
From my reading and opinion.
If it not armor, nude even is a good combat outfit, used by the Celts and others in the ancient period before the church and armor got involved. Some women did fight in Celtic groups the Romans thought them equal to the men, that is individual Roman had no chance one on one, in formation the Celts had no chance. Medieval Europe prudish nature was religion based in Middle ages, although topless women fashions went in and out of style a few times. Now of course that was limited summer only. Groups world wide often went for exposed looks for both male and female if there was not a morality religious reason, look cool and such, normally more primitive cultures. How hot the area was influenced cultures.
In this story we have a Pantheon religious situation and it seams a more ancient world moral code. As this is magical adventures the cloth wearers who have abilities because they wear cloth are free to wear what cloth they like, and there are some male barbarian looks around in this story, not as many. Forests are probably managed like all over the world going way back and burns keep the underbrush down and most action is in fields and buildings anyway.
In one on one combat armor can be a disadvantage as the weight slows you, as long as the weapon martial art trains in dealing with armor, armor can lose because of it. And if one on one combat is expected partial armor makes sense to individual tastes. All though the boob opening is stupid.
Where armor shines is in formation where you cannot evade easy, attacks may come from a unexpected foe, mass arrow fire makes dodging unlikely. Armor also does well where there is a lack of martial arts skill to take advantage of gaps and slowness in armor wear. Armor works wonderful on poorly trained peasants. Magellan and a lot of his armored crew with muskets died from unarmed bare chested natives using arrows and spears. Often in the new world the armor was decisive but the Philippine natives knew the trick of fighting it. (women were bare chested but did not fight) The Mayan often did well also, when the Inca and Aztec failed.
On individual level armor went away as it would get you killed against modern combat fencing, in groups after a few centuries of trying guns finally started penetrating all the time eliminating the purpose of wearing it.
I do object to the partial armor females get compared to the men in many stories, at least here Darkness, the type of fighter that needs armor wears a practical set. But just like Game of Thrones among many helmets that would be worn get left out for dramatic reasons.
As this story is drawing from the Role Playing world where barbarian and other cloth types of classes make barbarian wear fine although this cross of cultures only in certain places in real history.
@L002
The ladies’ clothing is an ode to classic RPG-style fantasy, which is to say a bunch of stories written by men who like to see ladies in impractically skimpy outfits. I’m just glad the parody can partially explain it, and that the main characters don’t indulge in it (much).
And I didn’t include Aqua’s ass-pic because I like to keep a certain balance to my caps. Honestly I probably would have added it back in once I arrived on the number I did, but I forgot. I was running on little sleep, wasn’t going for perfection there.
@RedRocket
Ah, I see. Thank you sir. You are a very well informed person, a walking history book. Very well written comment. Thanks again.
@Stilts
“The ladies’ clothing is an ode to classic RPG-style fantasy, which is to say a bunch of stories written by men who like to see ladies in impractically skimpy outfits.”
well, yeah, if you look in anime, such as Witchblade, you know “skimpy outfits” is a “necessity” for female characters. Sadly, mostly “female mob” characters have such outfits. Otherwise, I am sure Kazuma would be drooling for such a female companion/heroine.
“I was running on little sleep, wasn’t going for perfection there.”
Ah, I see, thank you for telling. And it’s ok. Please get as MUCH sleep possible sir.
LOL, Hard to do the math on Rouge One crawl as there was not one as I’m sure you knew.
As no one has grabbed the erotica points I will. Aqua no panties status absolutely displayed. If she wears that skirt any shorter there will be no point of it. Reminds me of the Miami TV host who wears no underwear, shirt open enough to let them hang out a lot, and a skirt that does not cover her bum in the rear.
I see the two girls in the caption one wearing a loin cloth right, nothing underneath and other probably no panties too. Yay.
And the realistic lack of bra in middle ages continues, actually panties should not exist either some sort of loser boxer type of undergarment normal. This is in part no elastic yet.
Great to see you blogging Stilts.
I was just trying to start fights with anyone who liked Rogue One. I found it to be disappointing, since it so easily could have been much, muuuuch better.
If anything, Rogue One is still better than SW7: The Rehash Awakens.
Welcome back KonoSuba, you were missed.
I really think that DEENs style is part of what makes this show so great. Sure, a studio that could do better animation etc could have picked it up, but I don’t think it would have been the same to see a perfectly done edition of this series in anime form.
Deen and especially the voice actors did a great job.
The parts covered by this episode were one of the worst parts of the novels and Deen managed to make it funny despite cutting out some of the better jokes.
Some of the things cut out from this episode
Show Spoiler ▼
Also, it is implied that
Show Spoiler ▼
You didn’t the moment where they actually acknowledged the overly detailed hand motions in episode 5 of season 1. For some reason that had me laughing out loud.
Not only that, DEEN also made both the funniest recap and the most natural recap in both shows. Trully the savior of anime.
I loved the ending where they repossess all of Kazuma’s belongings….which for some reason includes Megumin’s Magic Staff and Kazuma’s tracksuit. ^^;;
Also Sena was hilarious during the trial, as she completely ignores the rest of the characters testimonials after only hearing part of it, if she tried that in a real courtroom she would be out of a job in less then a day…
Also, Megumin was in trouble for causing excessive noise pollution and reshaping the landscape, even though Explosion is the only spell she is capable of using. I lol’ed at that part.
At least Kazuma got to keep his tracksuit!
I wonder if we’re going to find a certain crimson demon magician hiding in the background every episode? xD
Stilts, the one thing you DID NOT put is that real nice part which forever proves dat Aqua ain’t wearin no pantsu dawg. Ya coulda put the one year mystery to rest butchu didn’t, oh well 😀
If you remove Konosuba’s humour/parody, it becomes the standard RPG isekai webnovel you find in sites like Syousetsuka ni Narou (like a Japanese Fanfiction.net, but for original stories). Isekai stories are the most popular genre there, although sometimes it feels like everything there’s a copypaste of a previous story.
The shitty animation may be intentional, to heighten the silliness – the studio’s likely banking on people laughing too much to notice.
@If you remove Konosuba’s humour/parody
Remove the comedy from KonoSuba and it wouldn’t be the same show anymore, you’d literally be taking away its soul. You just couldn’t do that anyway.
I think they’re using more of those loose faces that they did sometimes in season 1, which looks cheap but Mob Psycho showed a similar style can animate really, really well if the animators are on their game. At least the faces are memorable.
It’s been a while since I read the LNs, but I thought this was supposed to be the lead in to a Dustiness arc. Not sure what Yunyun is doing here. She’s cute though so who cares.
https://randomc.net/image/Kono%20Subarashii%20Sekai%20ni%20Shukufuku%20Wo/Kono%20Subarashii%20Sekai%20ni%20Shukufuku%20Wo%202%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2003.jpg
I want to see more sexy girls, with glasses, as heroines. At best, they are always the “Onee-san” or “sensei” type. Please tell me if anyone knows.
https://randomc.net/image/Kono%20Subarashii%20Sekai%20ni%20Shukufuku%20Wo/Kono%20Subarashii%20Sekai%20ni%20Shukufuku%20Wo%202%20-%20OP%20-%20Large%2005.jpg
Notably Darkness’s smile always seem satisfying. I wonder how many heroines, out there, are masochist. So far, I have only seeing male masochist, with MM! as my best example.
Mai Ball the Goal keeper is the same
Female lead for Kyoukai no Kanata wears glasses
@Worldwidedepp
Thanks, I will check out Mai Ball.
@Poom4
Ummmmm, well I am looking more for the “onee-san” glasses type. Similar to Alice Kiriki (Ōkami-san)
https://randomc.net/image/Kono%20Subarashii%20Sekai%20ni%20Shukufuku%20Wo/Kono%20Subarashii%20Sekai%20ni%20Shukufuku%20Wo%202%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2022.jpg
I’m also looking for “female thief” anime. So far, in Kazuma’s case, we have a perverted male thief. Looking for female thieves. My only example is Wellber no Monogatari.
There is a female thief in Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, Barbara. She is the one who teaches the MC how to be a thief as well.
I so love that so many things our group did especially Kazuma came back to bite em, no adventurers get a free pass stuff.
Man, this show. Not TEN seconds into the episode and I’m already laughing. Great intro – the Star Wars text parody was a nice touch. And the laughs keep coming. The show knows how to execute comedy even if the jokes are coming fast and/or even if the type of humor/jokes are as expected. I still get a LOL out of “natures bounty”. The execution makes it all work. It also maintained the attention to detail from thre previous season. Quick shot outside the mansion before the hearing has both masks and Aqua’s “box steps”. (LoL again)
The one minor complaint I do have is that the visual quality was mediocre. Maybe just me, but there are times the character’s look off. Faces are too angular or something. Not sure what’s up with that, but prefer S1. S1 did well from what I know so there should be a decent budget here.
The above issue aside, very happy with episode 1. KonaSuba is back and my top show for this season. 😀
The character is there but did everyone get uglier?
https://randomc.net/image/Kono%20Subarashii%20Sekai%20ni%20Shukufuku%20Wo/Kono%20Subarashii%20Sekai%20ni%20Shukufuku%20Wo%202%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2014.jpg
Welcome back to the misadventures of Kazuma and friends! I’m sure you’re going to cover this to the end, Stilts.
https://randomc.net/image/Kono%20Subarashii%20Sekai%20ni%20Shukufuku%20Wo/Kono%20Subarashii%20Sekai%20ni%20Shukufuku%20Wo%202%20-%20OP%20-%20Large%2004.jpg
The first episode is funnier than I expected but what I really like is the opening sequence. It’s a great way to reintroduce our heroes through their silly dance and failures on their way.
https://randomc.net/image/Kono%20Subarashii%20Sekai%20ni%20Shukufuku%20Wo/Kono%20Subarashii%20Sekai%20ni%20Shukufuku%20Wo%202%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2040.jpg
HelloGoodbye Darkness my old friend…. Please come back faster T__TI now wonder if the bad animation is already deliberate since it’s what the show was known for aside from the comedy. Glad to have Konosuba and my favorite girl Darkness back, but that prosecutor is fine too. Her sudden personality change from apologetic to serious was a surprise, and the trigger was just to mention she’s single. Oh and it’s definitely Kazuma’s fault.
“This opening crawl alone was 100x better than Rogue One. Fight me, nerds! And I shall win, because I AM YOUR NERD KING!!
YOU… YOU DARE INSULTING CHIRRUT-DONO’S SACRIFICE!? YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR INSOLENCE!!
Now it got me wonder how a Star Wars movie would look like with KonoSuba characters starring in it…
I had to google that name to remember which character you were referring to. They were that badly developed. Seriously underutilized in every instance, almost none of the characters had any impact. I mean, Donnie Yen did what he could, but so much wasted potential in that script.
what i like from deen adaptation(even if the animation was cr*p) was, how they make background character alive…not just some npc that have copy,paste line and face….example like the guy with brown skin that commented about kazuma hand gesture,he really was there at season 1 when i check and that awesome~
I will say on the animation, yes they do play fast and loose with the character designs, but that is so that they can do all the great expressions that they do, not because they are somehow doing a shit job. Not everyone likes it but there are definitely fans among the sakuga community. Also see the links I’ve put in a response above cause I don’t feel like copying them.
Yes, the animation quality did go down. We watched the last two episodes before starting the new season and immediately noticed the difference.
So rather than wondering if it did happen, take a look or trust me on it!
konosuba is back and as funny as ever!
sexy prosecutor aside, it was fun to see all bad karma for being pervert and asshole coming back to bite Kazuma in the rear end.
the completely failed rescue attempts brought more hilarity, and the magical lie detector forced Kazuma into some honesty about himself… I would love it turned on the rest of the gang, alas, Kazuma is the only one to get focused on…
also Wiz best girl, she was the only one who did not desert Kazuma during arrest…
I’d like to just ask, why are the females’ tits so saggy in Konosuba?
Because bras don’t exist, but gravity does.
They went really overboard with how high they showed Aqua’s skirt thing at the break-out-of-jail scene. It’s like they want us to know that Aqua is half naked below her waist.