KonoSuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World! Review

Unsealing the Dark God

KonoSuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World! (Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Bakuen wo! / この素晴らしい世界に爆焔を！) is both a spin-off of and a prequel for the main KonoSuba series. It follows Megumin before she joins Kazuma and Aqua’s party. And, yes, it’s just as funny as the main series.

An Explosion on This Wonderful World! starts off with a young Megumin accidentally unsealing the Dark God Wolbach. Wolbach then uses explosion magic to defeat (and seal) her other half. And, this is Megumin’s introduction to the wonderful world of explosion magic.

As payment for unsealing her, Wolbach offers to grant one of Megumin’s wishes. And, after shooting down a few wishes, she ends up teaching Megumin the Explosion spell. However, Megumin doesn’t yet have the skill points to unlock advanced magic. So, she decides to dedicate her life to saving up her skill points to achieve her goal.

Now, later on in the series, Komekko (Megumin’s sister) ends up unsealing the other half of Wolbach. This other half is someone you’re already familiar with if you’ve seen the main series. That’s right, it’s Megumin — I mean Chomosuke. Chomosuke actually used to go by Megumin before she was renamed.

With Wolbach and Chomosuke unsealed, things start to go wrong for the Crimson Demons. Or, at least, for Megumin. Wolbach’s followers, like Arnes, begin to show up searching for their master. But, Megumin doesn’t want to part ways with Chomosuke (in most cases). And so, Megumin’s battle against the Demon Lord’s forces begins.

Also, while Megumin is dealing with Arnes, Komekko has her own Wolbach follower to deal with. Host is a large, grey demon. But, while Arnes and Megumin are enemies, Host becomes Komekko’s follower. Though, none of the other Crimson Demons know this — they view him as an enemy.

Megumin’s Classmates

Have you seen the Legend of Crimson movie? If so, you’ll be very aware that almost all Crimson Demons suffer from chuunibyou (中二病 / ちゅうにびょう). That means they behave like teenagers during puberty. They think things are cool that are most certainly cringe.

The one exception to this is Yunyun. She’s a normal girl who’s embarrassed by the behavior of the other Crimson Demons. And, we see this embarrassment in full force at the Crimson Demon school. Megumin fits right in with her classmates. But, despite being the daughter of the village chief, Yunyun does not.

So, who are their other classmates? There’s Arue, Dodonko, Funifura, Kaikai, Makaromi, Nerimaki, Poritan, Sakiberry, and Sansara. Of these, the most important three are Arue, Dodonko, and Funifura. Nerimaki is a distant fourth, and the other five don’t really matter at all. They’re also all girls.

So, why do we care about Arue? Arue is arguably the most important of Megumin’s childhood friends other than Yunyun. This is because she’s the one who gave Megumin her “cursed” eyepatch. Though, when giving it to Megumin, she admits there’s nothing special about it.

Dodonko and Funifura are less important than Arue. But, they still play a pretty major role in the series. These two are almost always seen together, and they tend to guilt Yunyun into helping them. For example, when Funifura’s brother gets sick, they convince Yunyun to give them money. Dodonko has a ponytail and Funifura has twin tails.

Nerimaki might be my favorite of the Crimson Demon students because she has a cute design. But, I don’t remember much about her. I know her family runs the pub in the village. However, I’m pretty sure we learned that from the movie, not from this series.

From Axis Cultist to Arch Wizard

While Kazuma and Aqua do appear in this series, they’re always shown in the background. Instead, Yunyun and Cecily take their roles. Normally, Kazuma is the voice of reason in his party. But now, that role goes to Yunyun. Cecily, on the other hand, is basically the same as Aqua.

While not a goddess, Cecily is a priestess of the Axis Order. That’s the religious order that worships Aqua. So, it should be pretty clear how she and Aqua are similar. Everyone in the Axis Order is a psycho. Though, Cecily is a bit more tame than most.

After leaving the Crimson Demon village, Megumin plans to make her way to Axel. That’s the beginner adventurer town where she eventually meets Kazuma and Aqua. But, on her way there, she stops in Arcanletia for a while. This is the hot spring town home to the Axis Order.

It’s during this part of the series that we learn an important fact about the Axis Order. The one who taught them their underhanded recruitment methods is Megumin. Yes, the Axis cultists were always annoying and persistent. We see that with Cecily.

But, it’s not until Megumin teaches them how that they start using more manipulative methods. For example, Megumin is the one who taught them how to pretend they were injured and needed help. Then, when a passerby tries to help, the cultist hits them with a recruitment paper.

Also, I don’t remember this being in the main series when the gang is in Arcanletia. But, the Axis cultists are all lolicons — Cecily included. The biggest lolicon is Zesta, the order’s leader. He wants Megumin to do things like step on him. But, Cecily also frequently asks Megumin to bathe with her.

Conclusion

Overall, I gave KonoSuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World! an 8/10. This is a very good series. But, it’s missing the group dynamic that made the main series what it is. The dynamic between Megumin and Yunyun is great. However, it’s no replacement for Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness.

Oh, but An Explosion on This Wonderful World! has an amazing ED. So, it gets another half a point for that.

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