Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Bakuen wo! – 10

「駆け出しの街のアウトロー」 (Kakedashi no Machi no Autorou)
“Outlaws of the Town for Beginners”

Ahh the sounds of summer. The working. The partying. The suffering under the glaring summer sun. Never say Konosuba’s Megumin edition doesn’t appreciate the finer things in life, because we got all of that and then some this week. And the best part? It’s only the start of thing to come.

With the adventures of Megumin and Yunyun now properly in Axel it was only a matter of time until the cameos and foreshadowing started flying in abundance. To get a whole episode effectively devoted to it though? Now that’s what I call perfection. Just having Kazuma and Aqua repeatedly (and loudly) berate each other in the background was fun enough, but to also top it off if with quick appearances of Darkness and some town favourites easily made this one of my top episodes this season. In a way, for all that getting Megumin’s (and Yunyun’s) backstory is a fantastic ride in of itself, it shows how the real strength of Konosuba is in its character interactions. Take away the panty thief, court jester, and eternal masochist and you lose a part of what makes this series so damn fun.

Of course with that said it doesn’t mean the Crimson Demon duo still isn’t glorious – because it most certainly is. Between the gradually building hilarity of watching Megumin literally burn all her bridges to Yunyun not knowing how to stand her ground, you start getting a much better appreciation of where both girls started in the original Konosuba. The one thing I liked especially however was just how prescient and open Megumin was here. For all her problems and bluster hard calling the girl a liar when she ensures her party isn’t kept in the dark about her abilities, or even ignorant when acknowledging the naivety and limitations of Yunyun’s marketing skills. As oft mentioned before these moments really shine a light on just how personable and aware Megumin is as a character and how her larping is more a quirk than a dedicated way of life. Never think for a second this girl is stupid – underneath the chuuni there’s a pretty smart mind.

Well, a smart mind most of the time. With one fated encounter still awaiting its time, there’s still plenty of opportunities remaining for Ms. Explosion a Day to once again run right off the rails.

Preview