God’s blessing on this wonderful trash
Konosuba is the pinnacle of trash anime. It is what all trash should aspire to be. It’s dumb, it’s fun, and it has actually good characters. It is an isekai, but unlike some others reviewed here the MC Kazauma starts off pretty powerless. After being killed by a truck trying to prevent an accident that ultimately would not have happened, our shut-in weeb hero gets sent to another world. This time the thing he asks to bring with him is the Goddess Aqua who sent him there. It’s your typical fantasy RPG world, Kazuma sucks at most everything but Luck, while the ditzy Aqua is actually quite powerful but wastes her skills on party tricks and the like. They ultimately form a party with a masochistic paladin, Darkness, who can’t hit anything and a very powerful explosive mage, Megumin, who can only cast her explosion once a day. The group does have your typical harem dynamic to it with both Megumin and Darkness overtime wanting to be with Kazuma, but I appreciate that early on the group is mostly just together because they’re a bunch of misfits. I like that they all have flaws and those flaws are what usually gets them into trouble. Kazuma’s penchant for being lecherous leads many to not view him all that favorably, Darkness’s masochism makes her be put in harms way, Megumin’s love of explosions eventually awakens a demon lord whose castle she blew up repeatedly, and Aqua’s well everything, are the source of many of the conflicts. Even when they do get a big win, it turned out they fucked someone more powerful over and they get sent back to square one again. While you know nothing bad will ever truly happen (Kazuma dies a couple times but gets resurrected), I appreciate none of the characters are so overpowered the obstacles prove little challenge to them. They all have pretty good arcs over the two seasons as well. They become a bit more decent and empathetic and grow more competent as they overcome challenges. The growth feels pretty natural too as it happens over a longer period of time, and they still let the characters fall back into some of their flaws (Kazuma never really stops being a lecherous jerk).
When man stares into the abyss, the abyss stares back
Megumin
That’s not to say that there’s not some things to fault the show over. If you dislike fan service you might have an issue with the show. Boobs, butts and BDSM show up from time to time. Only one episode I felt leaned into this a bit too hard (there’s another where I think it actually helps), but I could see this off-putting to some. Megumin definitely gives off loli vibes but there’s not too much sexualization happening with her. She and Kazuma do have some moments together but at least in-universe they’re only a couple years apart. It does have your typical isekai tropes, but I personally feel that it makes fun of them more than it does rely on them. Overall this is the kind of Trash we hope to find on this site. Its fun, its dumb, its light and it’ll provide a good ride.
Is is trash? YES
Rating: ★★★★★