Explosion! Sorry, this isn’t some animated version of one or any one of those Michael Bay’s explosive movies. But you know a character is famous enough to warrant her own prequel spinoff and that is why fans of a certain explosive chick can rejoice with Kono Subarashii Sekai Ni Bakuen Wo. Fancy on seeing the life of Megumin and how she became an infatuated explosion nerd before she joined Kazuma’s bizarre party? Well, wonder no more as we see the rise and (mis)adventures of the one and only Megumin from her sleepy remote village of Crimson Demon mages to, uhm, how we all know her as it is. Life is one heck of an explosive adventure for Megumin. Literally, so to speak. Time to have a blast. But let’s hope it all won’t blow up in her (and our) face.
Episode 1
Long ago, Megumin witnessed some busty babe, Wolbach doing some explosion magic. It gave her the motivation to pursue this field. Not sure what Megumin did to help but she is grateful and will grant her any wish. Uhm, she might want to scale that down a bit because she can’t grant Megumin’s wish of world domination, huge boobs or even becoming a Demon Lord! And so she settles for teaching her magic. But she warns of the many demerits of it. Now we see Megumin catching crayfish with her little sister, Komekko. They return home and to their delight, their parents prepared sukiyaki for dinner! Got some meat! 2 each! Yeah! Such luxury! Thanks to today’s sale of selling an adventurer some magic item. They even have enough money to buy Megumin new clothes. One that she will wear to the local magic school she enrolled: Red Prison. Yeah, not many students this year. Count ‘em. Just 11 of them including Megumin and Yunyun. Not many remember Yunyun who is the village chief’s daughter. Even more so she is quite shy but weird enough to go up to an unimpressed Megumin to proclaim as her rival. Because her reason of enrolment is to defeat her? As the teacher starts class and explains all the magic, Megumin wonders why there is no mention of explosive magic. Because it’s a joke magic! Everyone laughs. During practical, the teacher claims that it is not being calm or power that is the most important thing but to look cool! WTF?! Yeah, see how cool he summons this thunderstorm. Everyone pairs up and Yunyun is unfortunate to be paired with the teacher. Because she is so shy and lacks confidence, Megumin feigns being sick to sit out so Yunyun could partner with her partner, Arue. Then it rains and those naughty tulips start running away? Yeah, got to be barbaric and catch all them the hard way without magic. Getting down and dirty, eh? Later Megumin ponders about explosive magic and knows it’s real and not a joke. Because on that day she saw Wolbach using her explosive magic to seal a demon which is supposed to be her other half. Megumin vows to master it and become like her.
Episode 2
Komekko shows Megumin something she caught: What’s this cute little black cat? After getting permission from her to keep it for herself, Megumin brings it to school where all the girls fawn over its cuteness. Sneaky plan to have its meal covered by them… But will the teacher allow it? Nope! Whatever lies Megumin cooks up from this feline being a fragment of her soul and that being away from her will make it go berserk, the teacher doesn’t buy it and in fact wants to see all that! But today’s lesson is special. Because of some seal weakened, monsters came out. Luckily the villagers took care of it so the weakened remnants are left behind. Hence the girls are to raise their level by defeating those. Oh right, please form groups too. Yunyun too slow to ask Megumin and thus Arue beats her to it. Megumin is going to show her grace and let Yunyun join her but Dodonko and Funifura invite her and she gladly accepts. Oh Megumin, is this how it feels to be cucked?! The teacher demonstrates what the girls need to do. Megumin thinks she can kill this lizard creature mercilessly but it puts up fight until Megumin eventually wins. Tough. Yunyun can’t bring herself to kill this cute rabbit. Oh, Megumin going to help guide her! Have you no compassion?! Suddenly a huge gargoyle pops up. Everyone runs! Until a huge explosion kills it. Turns out it is from Bukkorori. In short, he is an idiot. How did he get trapped in this pit? His love for the town’s most beautiful girl, Soketto. Yeah, stalker material. His logic of digging a hole so she could fall in and then he’ll come help her out. Good thing the girls leave this wacko in the hole. The girls are shocked to see gargoyles attacking their town. But don’t worry, the teacher, the principal and a few other guys show off their light magic to destroy them. While it all looks cool, Megumin realizes this is not the kind of magic she wants. The explosive kind where heat burns your skin, the painful smoke and glaring light that pains your eyes, the shockwave that leaves you trembling. That’s the kind of explosion magic she wants! These guys went overboard and as they destroy the entire village! WTF?! Then they make some great speech that their fight continues, blah, blah, blah… Felt like an excuse to cover up their mistake. But don’t worry, the next day, the village is fixed back to normal! The power of working overtime? To Megumin’s dismay, everyone decides to call her familiar as Megumin. It’s part of her soul, right? Well, Megumin will not take any of this sh*t!
Episode 3
Yes, everyone still calling the cat Megumin so the girl herself wants them (especially Yunyun) to name it. Kuro because it’s black? Yeah, Megumin finding it lame! The teacher then tells everyone to self-study because with monsters getting active, all the adults need to go stop them. Usually rivalry between Megumin and Yunyun at the library. So when Dodonko and Funifura invite Yunyun to be their friend, oh yeah, that’s the buzzword for Yunyun. They happily make her hair until Megumin ruins it all by stealing her hair bands just to shoot some pesky little spider! Obviously Yunyun chews her out for her immaturity. It’s the first time her friends did her hair and she was not going to change it for the rest of her life! But look who’s back? Yeah. Bukkorori managed to get out of the hole with his teleport as he proclaims his love with Soketto. Everyone not impressed with this stalker and buries him with books?! But soon Bukkorori ropes in Megumin and Yunyun for his devious scheme. As they stalk Soketto training alone in the forest, he wants them to ask her what kind of guy she likes. Wouldn’t it easier to ask her directly since she is a fortune teller? Oh well, if Bukkorori is going to treat them lunch, Megumin is on the plan. That includes making Yunyun the baddie and threatening Soketto with her ornamental dagger before Bukkorori swoops in to save the day. Yes, this method is way cooler than Bukkorori killing monsters to earn a living. Must be done flashily! He turns himself invisible and gets too close so Soketto beats him up. That is when she reveals she thinks he hates her so please stop stalking her! Suddenly macho bears attack! Bukkorori mans up and uses his flames to get them. Too bad Soketto gets dragged into the flaming mess. Oh dear. Beat down time. But after she learns his intentions, she’ll give him a free fortune reading. So who is his future lover? That person will pop up in her crystal ball. Any time now… None! Oh dear. Doomed to be alone? Poor Bukkorori thinks this is worse than being rejected. Poor guy runs away crying. Yeah, even the girls feel bad for him. They ask Soketto if she ever takes her own reading. Apparently fortune tellers can’t read their own fortunes. With some low level monsters wandering into the vicinity, the teacher wants the students to walk home in pairs. So, Yunyun hinting Megumin? She is about to agree but Dodonko and Funifura usurp her. Surprisingly, Yunyun decides to go with Megumin. So are they rivals or friends? Okay, friends for today and they can resume rivalry tomorrow. Frenemies maybe…
Episode 4
Megumin is top of the class and gets a potion to level up as reward. But to her surprise, Yunyun is not even in the top 3 and there is definitely something wrong with her as she doesn’t feel like challenging her today. Later Yunyun privately talks to Megumin about the meaning of friends. And money. Basically Funifura’s brother got sick and since the family has no money, the friends thought of raising some money to buy medicine. Personally, Yunyun thought doing so would be rude. Of course Megumin has a quirky ideas so Yunyun believes she’s trying to subtly help her. Then there’s the case of the seal of some Dark God weakening. Megumin thought instead of having everyone reseal it, why not just break it and defeat it? The idea did come up but I guess the village wanted to sound cool for having sealed the Dark God right underneath their village. After Megumin sees Yunyun gives the money to her friends, she confronts them and mocks them for using her. Is this what friends are for? Heck, why didn’t they ask Megumin for money? Because she’s poor! They go ahead and ask out of courtesy and of course, she can’t lend because she has no money! This girl… But she can help out in other ways. Hence she brutally kills some innocent looking onion duck before Yunyun’s eyes just to create some potion and then give it to her friends. Now give back the money. She warns them she doesn’t care about Funifura’s brother but don’t they dare exploit a lonely girl who is desperate to have friends. This is when they tease Megumin for wanting to be friends so badly with Yunyun. Though, Megumin denies and claims some rivalry thingy. She’s not going to let that slide and ‘attacks’ them.
Megumin returns the money to Yunyun who is grateful and will treat her. Uhm, she might regret that because Megumin eats her heart out with all those tasty treats! This girl has no shame! Then as they talk, Megumin gets mad upon learning Yunyun purposely didn’t do well in her test so as to give her the top spot. After all, she’s always being smug being better than her so she thought of just giving her the points she wanted so much. Megumin makes it clear that she will always be better than her and will achieve her dream of learning explosion magic. Yunyun still thinks it is a joke magic like many. They start fighting and although we don’t get to see how physical they got, Yunyun wins for the first time. Megumin then explains why she is so bent in learning that magic as she tells of her origins of meeting that wandering mage. After she has learnt explosion magic, she’ll find and ask her opinion of that magic she taught her. This means after graduating, she’ll be leaving the village. But for now, she’ll be staying on and working around. She can’t leave her sister alone. When everything seems to be going fine, Megumin kills a passing onion duck for her dinner. You bet Yunyun is once again traumatized! But soon they see demons approaching from the horizon. Looks like the resealing failed. They rush back to Megumin’s house. Partly destroyed and Komekko is missing.
Episode 5
Previously, Komekko saw a high level demon, Host dabbling something at a seal. Komekko is impressed and with a few praises, uhm, they’re like friends? Komekko then easily fixes this miniature Death Star puzzle. To complete whatever unsealing, Host then goes in search for some sacrifice. It is then Kuro popped up before Komekko and she brought it home. Now Megumin is panicking because her sister is smarter and stronger, she can’t be dead yet, right? Then they see monsters trying to kidnap Kuro. Megumin places priority in finding her sister but Yunyun is begging her to save kitty. Yeah, she missed throwing the dagger and the monsters take off with Kuro. That sucks. Save Kuro for later, they have to go find Komekko. It won’t take long as she is seen trying to confront those monsters to release Kuro. Uhm, the monsters are scared of Komekko? Yunyun for once becomes cool as she uses her lightning to blast the monsters so the sister can escape. But this doesn’t sit well with Megumin. In short, she is jealous her rival has learnt intermediary magic and she’ll need to fight monsters to further level up her advanced magic. The sisters can’t let her be so they return. Komekko announcing herself to ruin Megumin’s cool appearance. Well, Yunyun manages to take care of the monsters herself and save Kuro. But with more monsters popping up, this is when Megumin realizes it may be all related to Kuro. She noticed monsters only attacked while Kuro was with her and their appearance came about after Kuro came about. At this rate, they are doomed. Megumin is going to have to do what it takes since Yunyun is all out of magic. Then as she looks at what magic she has, she sees a new skill and laughs like a maniac. Utilizing all skill points for it, Megumin unleashes the greatest explosion to wipe out the horde. She is so satisfied this is the explosion she always yearned for. In the aftermath, Yunyun is panicking to Megumin as she notes the seal of whatever Dark God has been destroyed in Megumin’s explosion. But Megumin is unfazed seeing no adults believed it was Komekko who completed that seal and that they do not believe Megumin has mastered the explosion magic. Then they go see Soketto about their future. She predicts she will meet some capable adventurers in Axel. Oops, she takes back the part on being capable. Megumin and Yunyun then graduate in a low key ceremony (damn Yunyun getting emotional). Yunyun suggests Megumin form a pact with Kuro to make it her official familiar. Megumin then believes it needs a name. So Kuro wasn’t the official one? And that is how Chomusuke came to be!
Episode 6
Too bad nobody wants Megumin’s explosion. This means no job, no money. And she doesn’t like it as Bukkorori views her the same as him. A NEET! Job hunter, she thinks is more accurate! Every night, Megumin releases her explosion in the forest. People thinks it’s some Mad Exploder trying to attack. Of course Yunyun confronts Megumin about this but she gives her excuses. Yunyun advises her to work and save instead of trying to get rich quick. And so Yunyun has Megumin help her in various jobs. That does not use explosion! Obviously Megumin can’t take this anymore as she is supposed to go on a worldly adventure. So she as Yunyun accompany her as she witnesses first-hand how she blows up the forest just to let out some steam! Megumin now wants her to carry her back since she used up all her power. Bukkorori is here thinking Mad Exploder is at it again so Megumin lies through her teeth about that. Back home, a girl named Arnes finds Megumin and claims has been searching for her since the sealed has been broken. She will serve her from now on. Turns out she is referring to Chomusuke whom she addresses as Wolbach. The cat doesn’t want to leave and Megumin can’t be bothered. Until Arnes offers her a large sum of money! She’ll give back Chomusuke right now! But the kitty still won’t leave so Arnes will come back tomorrow.
Next day, Yunyun is appalled to learn what Megumin tried to do. Arnes is here to collect the cat but Chomusuke still won’t go. During the struggle, Arnes’ horns are revealed. She is a high level demon. They don’t believe she is here only to get her master. When she claims demons keep their promises, suddenly she goes into seizure? After regaining composure, turns out she got some trauma from sleazy and trashy men who failed to keep their promises. Bukkorori is here since he senses something powerful. Megumin lies again to point out Arnes as the Mad Exploder. Bukkorori then summons all the village adults to get her. A traumatized Arnes can’t help run away because an aura of trashy men!!! Well, at least she didn’t take Chomusuke along and with the money reward, Megumin is now ready to go on a journey. She wants Yunyun to take care of Chomusuke while she’s gone. Of course Yunyun is feeling sad about it since this is all too sudden. Even more so when Megumin claims she won’t be coming back and she’ll be aiming to ascend the throne of the Demon Lord? So she wants to conquer the world, huh? We see a few scenes of Megumin spending time with Komekko. Telling her who to see in case of emergencies. Yeah, probably Yunyun will be feeling lonely so do go check on her once in a while. Next day, Megumin is at the teleport station as some of her academy friends are here to see her off. Funifura gives her a staff that her dad made while Arue gives her eye-patch since her goal is to be a writer and write happy stories. She would love to write about Megumin’s adventures one day. And off Megumin teleports on her big adventure.
Episode 7
Megumin arrives in the hotspring city of Arcanretia. Her new adventure begins, right? Well, only she hasn’t been able to land a decent job and gets fired. Yeah, stupid adults treating her like a child so what’s the deal if she beats them up?! She then sees a couple of girls trying to solicit new members for the Axis church. She ignores them but soon sees an Axis priestess, Cecily accusing a couple of priests from Eris faith about sexually harassing her. When Megumin goes to stop them, Cecily escapes so the priests blame her for letting the criminal who defaced their religious portrait and stole goods for the needy, away! But Cecily returns with a police officer to interrogate them. Cecily then takes Megumin and run while leaving the officer with the priests. To thank Megumin for her effort, Cecily takes her back to her church for some food whereby she meets Father Zesta. I’m starting to believe this is some deviant pedo cult since their faith doesn’t allow them near children?! Yeah, look at how they desire so much to do those sickly stuffs! Learning that the church wants to recruit members, Megumin is willing to help out. WTF this genius plan of hers to accidentally drop apples, pretend to help and pick them up and then this leads to Zesta giving them a sermon to convince them to join. Well, I didn’t think I t would work but it would have if Zesta’s horny face didn’t scare off that lady!!! Next, Megumin tries herself but this time it is an undercover police! Care to explain this at the station? Oh, Zesta abandoning her…
Later they talk and it seems Zesta may have met the person Megumin who is looking for. Megumin agrees to help him one more time to recruit. As Megumin pretends to trip over nothing and in pain, guess who this girl not impressed with her acting? YUNYUN!!! What the f*ck you doing, Megumin? AWKWARD! WTF Yunyun rolling Megumin down the street?! After Yunyun learns what happened, she is also taken back to Axis church although she warns Megumin to not trust these guys so much. Upon returning, a group of knights is here to arrest Zesta. Megumin will not stand for baseless accusations but when his followers think Zesta did some lewd deviant stuff, okay, ARREST THIS DEVIANT! Actually they are going to arrest him for treason and conspiracy. They received a letter warning about a threat descending on Arcanretia. As already predicted, something has happened to the hotsprings and they have received many complaints about its quality. Since the Axis sect is responsible in water control, it is no surprise they think they are working with the demons for this. WTF Zesta makes it worse by trying to attack and sexually harass the knight lady?! TRYING TO SMOOCH HER AS REVENGE?! TAKE HIM AWAY! With him gone, Cecily isn’t worried. Yeah, the church will still be alright without him. Megumin notices Yunyun has been uneasy ever since so the latter reveals that letter is from Soketto. This is the reason she left the village so as to deliver this letter to the city as she has foresaw something. So basically, this letter is the cause of all this mess.
Episode 8
Megumin and Cecily are pretty chill, not doing anything about Zesta’s arrest. In fact, there are a bunch of Axis priests trying to canvass for votes from the people to be the next head! As they investigate, they find that the hotspring water has been replaced with jelly slime mix, which is also the town’s delicacy. Yeah, trying to get the easy way out by blaming Zesta, eh? Even the knights gathering the evidence believes Zesta is guilty seeing there is evidence that he was holding a bag filled with such slime. When they head to the station, there is a commotion of Zesta accusing everyone of falsely accusing him of being in cohorts with the demons. Apparently some prosecutor with a magic lie detector that exonerated him. The knight lady has no choice but to reluctantly declare his innocence. This makes Zesta all so high and mighty and he is making sexual harassing comments about her boobs?! On the way back, they stumble into Arnes. They believe it is her behind this incident although she isn’t sure what they’re talking about and is here to get her master back. Zesta seems pretty interested in her boobs. Of course she doesn’t appreciate this lecher and fires her magic. Once realizing she is a demon, he easily deflects it! OMFG! This old geezer is actually powerful?! With other villagers gathering and Zesta continue to pound her with powerful magic, déjà vu for Arnes as she is forced to flee again. In tears! Later Zesta gives Megumin some funds for her trip to Axel. Yes, her recruitment methods she taught came in handy. Megumin would love to go there right now and this worries Yunyun. Can she be honest to say she wants to stick around with her? Since it is late, Zesta invites her to stay. In this small cramped hotspring with Cecily, she reveals that the jelly slime incident was indeed Zesta’s fault. He mixed up the baking soda with slime mix while cleaning up. She doesn’t want Megumin to reveal this as she wants to use this as blackmail. Megumin gets an idea to increase the size of the hotspring. That’s right. Explosion magic! Now everyone can fit in spaciously! Next day, Zesta and Cecily see off Megumin and Yunyun. Zesta blesses Megumin with Aqua’s divine protection. None for Yunyun as they all think it was her fault! He hopes Megumin will come back here. She will for vacation once she gets a bunch of friends. Cecily then hands her parting gift: A stack of recruitment forms! Megumin throws it back in her face! Then it’s off to Axel for a brand new adventure!
Episode 9
Yunyun arguing with Megumin to swap her window seat as promised and the latter gives excuses. So much so the mother and daughter pair in the coach offers theirs. Yeah. Let’s stop this embarrassment, shall we? As the pair learn they are going to be adventurers and Megumin bragging she can handle any monsters, looks like she jinxed it as monsters are now attacking! The caravan guards need their help and seeing Megumin likes to be called a sensei, let’s get to it. Well, they have to fight weak but numerous giant worms. Megumin wants to use her explosion but Yunyun forbids her as she will engulf everyone too. Are you done arguing because the worm is going to eat you! Eventually Yunyun’s fireball did the trick. One down, how many more to go? In the end, Yunyun did all the work as everyone praises her and criticizes Megumin for not doing anything. But the daughter knows Megumin is stronger and is assured they’ll be safe if stronger ones pop up. That night as Yunyun tries to recruit Megumin to join the same party, giant bats attack! Oh well, Yunyun again did everything and now she’s quite exhausted. Next day as the journey continues, goblins turn! Oh my. You know the drill. Yeah, Yunyun is all out of magic and very tired. That is when Arnes shows up. Yes, all the monsters were sent by her to exhaust their magic and see their despaired faces as part of her revenge. Arnes wants Chomusuke or her money back. I’m sure Megumin won’t want the latter. Megumin then dares Arnes, if she wants Chomusuke so badly, go and get her. Megumin throws the cat away!!! Arnes flies to grab the kitty as Megumin starts chanting her explosion magic only to be stopped by Yunyun because it’ll also hit Chomusuke. Not that Megumin cares. Their argument has bought enough time for Arnes to cast her magic spell. When Megumin notices her bracelet she bought from her father and thanks her, this only riles Arnes up because it brought her nothing but misery. Yunyun panics and prays to Aqua for help and suddenly some divine light is seen covering Axel. This distraction allows Chomusuke to escape and Megumin to chant her explosion. Both ladies fire all they’ve got but Megumin is stronger and blasts away Arnes. Hopefully that would be the last of her. In the aftermath, everyone praises Megumin while Yunyun rethinks about her question of letting Megumin join her group. It’s not that she doesn’t want to, she realizes she’ll be only in the way. Hence she wants to train and become stronger so they can settle things. Finally they reach Axel.
Episode 10
Megumin makes her grand entrance before the adventurer’s guild. Too bad, nobody is in. How embarrassing. Oh well, at least the receptionist, Luna is there to register them. After Megumin gets her licence, many adventurers want her to join their group. So I guess she goes with this pair of rookie siblings. Unfortunately in her first quest, she blows up the entire forest of chestnut trees just to fight this little critter. Yeah, the amount of compensation she has to pay… Plus, the siblings think she is too great for their party. Read: You’re fired. She goes back to see a request on the bulletin by Yunyun seeking for party members. Oh well, I guess Megumin is going to let her continue waiting. Then she sees one who needs a spell caster. She takes up this one and joins this group to take out some slime monster. While her explosion is effective, she got slimed. Her comrades praise her awesome magic but that is when Megumin comes clean with the flaws of it. It’s the only magic she could do and only once per day. She has no intention to master or level up any other magic. Well then, hope you find yourself a new party. Nearly broke Megumin returns home and talks to Yunyun. Looks like she too is having a hard time. Yeah, some old man wanted her as company. Seems nice, bought her lunch but oh yeah, you bet all the signs there are ringing like hell for Megumin. For a week, Megumin joins a party but after her explosive stint, they changed their mind and cancel her contract. Starting to feel sad nobody wants a child prodigy like her? Are we supposed to sympathize with her?! Soon, Megumin hears clues about the whereabouts of Wolbach. She now knows how to find her but will only do so when she’s ready. When she returns to the guild, everyone is seen taking down their requests. So when she manages to read one that needs spell casters but others claimed it is already filled, this makes Megumin enraged like as though there is some sort of prejudice against explosion mages! She gets lectured by Luna for such outburst. But soon, that old man begging Yunyun for company. She would’ve accepted it had not Megumin beat him up. She chides her friend for being gullible. I mean, this dude is now asking her to pretend to be his girlfriend. He offered her money but the best part, she gave him some allowance instead out of pity! WTF?! Megumin then suggests they form a temporary alliance until they find their own party members. But this makes Yunyun sad and mad. Had she forgotten about that promise? Has too much explosion ruined her brain?! But they need the money or they’ll be sleeping in the stables tonight. Please, any job will do!
Episode 11
Megumin and Yunyun are being chased by horny rabbits! Oops sorry! Phrasing! Horned rabbits! Stop blaming each other and do something! Explosion! But right after that, Host swoops down and says he is looking for a black creature. The girls won’t stay to hear him elaborate and make a run for it. Back at the guild, they report this to Luna and she believes he is looking for a monster nicknamed Rookie Slayer. After another mission, when the hero gets gravely injured, this causes the rest of the adventurers to lose morale and retreat. They think they have no chance. So as everybody is depressed at the guild, Luna tries to give some hope because there is a newly registered arch priest who can fight the powerful creatures. However she has not been showing her face around lately. From the way she describes her, it must be Aqua, right?! Yeah, all the men leave to look for this beauty. Heh. Megumin on her way back sees a shoddy worker (definitely Aqua!) trying to scam an adventurer. This can’t be that said arch priest, no? Megumin is not pleased that Cecily is in her room. It seems Zesta received an oracle from Aqua and hence she was dispatched to Axel to investigate it. As far as she interpreted the oracle, it’s like they want her to hire people to kill the demon whatever. Megumin wants to kick her out because who would want a pervert who blatantly sniffs and covers her face with Megumin related stuffs! But Cecily is willing to pay her 5 million to find the arch priest and then another 10 million if they slay the demon. Just like that, Megumin is in! Money talks!
So they walk around trying to find this elusive arch priest. To a point Megumin visits the rival Eris faith and what do you know? Cecily starts acting like a gangster and even throws rocks into their window! Then at the graveyard they thought they stumbled into a ghost and ran for their lives. Well, it could be just Wiz. Megumin and Yunyun are depressed as things aren’t going their way. Until Rex of the hero’s party invites them to join in on a mission as they require powerful spell casters. After impressively taking down this beast, suddenly Host shows up and whacks Rex and his fellow party away into the sky! Now, Host is looking for Wolbach but this beast whom they caught is only Rookie Slayer. Host then smells scent of Wolbach over Megumin and Yunyun and he believes they know about this. Megumin can tell he is after Chomusuke. She tries to tell him to get another black kitten of his own and stop harassing her Chomusuke. Host keeps his word that if Wolbach is handed over, nobody will be harmed. Not even this town. A demon always keeps his word. I wonder if Host gave them some time because the girls head back to Axel as they ponder about this deal. Megumin thinks if handing over Chomusuke resolves everything, it might be a good idea…
Episode 12
The guild is in panic after Megumin tells what happened. Yunyun will not allow her to give away Chomusuke. She’s grown too attached to the kitty for that. And then Megumin says the buzzword that should tug her hug: Aren’t we friends? Oh boy. Playing the friendship card of all times now, eh? And so this is Megumin’s plan. Using Cecily’s funds, she buys a doll that resembles Chomusuke and soaks it with that kitty scent. Is she confident she can fool Host? Got to give her points for that. That night as Megumin is about to sleep, Yunyun comes in to praise everything about her friend from their days back in the village. Obviously Megumin is pretending to be asleep as she gets embarrassed hearing Yunyun spouting all that. In short, she knows this plan won’t work so she puts Megumin to sleep and will do this herself. Megumin wakes up late the next day and makes her rush to find Yunyun. What now Cecily? No time to entertain your shenanigans. However Cecily knows all about Rex and his group because she was the one who healed them. Basically, the source of the annoying turn of events. Yeah, she felt good showing off to the Eris sect. Cecily then blesses Megumin before she heads on her way.
Meanwhile Yunyun has joined Rex’s group as they fight Host. Too bad they have thrown everything they’ve got and the demon still has the upper hand. Eventually Yunyun does a risky gamble to paralyze Host temporarily. Host suggests calling a truce. He promises not to hurt anyone for today if she lets him go. Well, she would love to consider it but the thing is, she too got paralyzed from her own magic! Damn Wiz sold her a super cheap potion whatever. Host can’t stop laughing. But here comes Megumin. A fate worse than death as Megumin reiterates all that Yunyun said last night. Yup, Yunyun so embarrassed, she wants to die! Megumin then uses her same epic explosion that killed Arnes to do the same on Host. Host knows he is done for and could’ve survived this had he had full magic. If not for certain weirdoes he bumped into yesterday that drained most of them. What a wasted life. BOOM! In the aftermath, Cecily goes on a journey to improve her skills. She hints she wants to take over this town. Sneaky. Yunyun then does some cringe proclamation to renew her rivalry and friendship with Megumin. Is this supposed to cover for that embarrassment? Yunyun hates to admit it that it was Megumin who defeated Host. If she stays the same, shell never beat her. Yeah, for the record Megumin still has 100% record in owning her. Well, almost. So the girls part ways and Megumin would’ve had a better time had she not given most of her funds to Yunyun! Now nobody wants to take her as a party member for jobs. Until this strange recruitment poster claiming this is a happy party. Suspicious… But Megumin notices it is looking for an advanced job class. Obviously the poster is written by Aqua and Kazuma is telling this depressed goddess to reduce the hurdle. But don’t fear, Megumin shows up and claims she is that arch wizard fit for that job. We all know what comes after, right? Yeah, the rest as we already know is history.
Boom Chicka Boom: You Put The Boom-Boom Into My Heart!
Boom! At this point it’s not even a secret anymore. Not even a dropping of a bombshell. Oh, Megumin is not going to get another sequel but the main KonoSuba series will be getting a third season! Oh yeah. So could this spinoff serve as some sort of an appetizer before that third season arrives? Seems like it. Hope you like your Megumin and her explosions because now we can move on to the main course. Heh.
Is it me or do I feel that the story for this spinoff series is a little bit underwhelming? Oh heck, what was I expecting? Something grand like, uhm, huge explosions or something?! Yeah. Maybe. Well, even if this spinoff didn’t turn out as super awesome as I hoped it would be, that is only because Megumin in the proper main series is just a supporting character. Imagine if she had such an awesome back story before she joined Kazuma’s group and then after joining, it’s like she would have gotten the biggest downgrade in her adventuring life ever. So I think it’s only right that well, her origins aren’t as super exciting as I thought it would be so as not to overshadow the main series itself. Yeah, I know it’s a dumb theory but whatever. Imagine if many people start preferring and wanting to see more of Megumin than the rest of the other casts in KonoSuba. That will be so weird.
Hence the story just feels quiet basic as we see Megumin scrapping by in trying to become the best explosion mage. And of course, lots of misadventures in between. Perhaps it is because I don’t remember much of the original 2 seasons of KonoSuba so I’m wondering if I am missing a heck lot of Easter eggs or other stuffs that I’m supposed to know and hence can’t see the connection. Otherwise, the series starts off with Megumin and her seemingly uneventful life in her small sleepy remote Crimson Demon village before graduating and making her way to Axel to become an adventurer. To me, it feels a bit like random stories or at least the spinoff divided into small mini arcs. So yeah, nothing really explosive to it. Furthermore, questions about the demons and that puzzle box in Komekko’s hands were never really answered. Thus some wasted potential which makes me feel all that was much ado about nothing. Like as though this spinoff is just a linear story telling the events that led up to Megumin joining Kazuma’s party.
Obviously Megumin as the main star of this spinoff and she is as quirky, snarky and eccentric as the character I remember her in KonoSuba. That’s our Megumin for you. Of course that would only be half of the fun because the other half who also made this spinoff worked is Yunyun. Yup, have got to admit that she has more screen time here than in the KonoSuba seasons combined! Obviously! We get a glimpse on how far back the duo go back to the days of their village. So certainly it is amusing to see the weird kind of banter and interaction the duo have. Are they friends? Are they rivals? Are they frenemies? Yeah, more like a bit of everything. But I would definitely say that it is because of their friendship that takes them this far even though they might not want to admit to that. When the series started off, we see them putting up haughty acts with each other but eventually they end up having the care and be concern for each other. Because they’re friends, no? Not that their pride would admit it. They become more reliant on each other ever since entering Axel most probably because of that promise they made. Inseparable as I can see it. As always, Yunyun remains the panicky one and the one with more heart compared to the reckless Megumin. This is why Megumin is always on top when it comes to teasing Yunyun, a great feature of their relationship we see in the main series.
Then there is the curious case of Chomusuke. I don’t remember much if there was any explanation about this pet mascot in the main series so I was hoping it would shed some sort of light. Well, not much either except that we have hints that it could be that Wolbach lady herself whom Megumin drew inspiration to go into explosion magic. That could be it since we have powerful demons who are trying to find her and of course, how much do we know about that Wolbach lady. Note, her name was not mentioned or referred to in the first episode and I am only assuming it because of my Google search in wanting to pin a name on that character. Yeah. So that’s how I came up with that theory that Chomusuke is that busty explosive master. After all, why is it sticking around Megumin like a leech and not wanting to go back to the demons. Could it be that Megumin’s explosion holds a key in freeing her from some trapped spell?
Unfortunately, the rest of the other characters feel very limited. I don’t know but I felt disappointed about Megumin and Yunyun’s fellow classmates because despite only a handful of them, I thought they were going to play some sort of important role whatsoever. None really. So the only prominent ones were stoic Arue as well as Dodonko and Funifura who were, well, Yunyun’s friends? But even so, they didn’t anything much. Perhaps they don’t want to usurp the Megumin-Yunyun banter. I wonder what happened to them after Megumin left. Then there is Komekko who feels like there was like some lost opportunities. This curious girl displayed herself to be smart and even getting a demon to become a familiar. But unfortunately she is just a side character and fell into more obscurity after her big sister left the village. We are sometimes shown short clips of her frolicking back in the village but it’s nothing much. Other underwhelming characters in the village include Soketto and of course the village idiot, Bukkorori. I believe his character is to be a punching bag and even his name is so freaking suspicious. Uh huh. With this idiot around, Megumin would look like a baby in terms of idiocy when standing next to him. Thank goodness he doesn’t have much screen time.
If you think Zesta is weird and a pervert, then you haven’t known Cecily. Oh yeah. Makes me wonder if the entire Axis faith are just degenerates. Maybe. Religion makes you do weird sh*t stuffs and make it look normal. Anyway, to further make Megumin look like an angel, that’s why this weird character who is obsessed with her so that Megumin can make her unimpressive smug face whenever she starts breathing hard into her perversion. Viewers would definitely haven taken notice of the presence of Kazuma and the rest of the other characters of KonoSuba once Megumin reaches Axel. Obviously those characters are confined in the background (why faces not shown clearly?) and mostly we hear are Kazuma chastising Aqua on her stupidity or inefficiency. Oh yeah. Fate is going to have Megumin join this weird group one day soon… My guess is that this teaser of such characters is also not to usurp the spinoff. Megumin is in charge and the main character here!
Art and animation are pretty standard. Despite Drive (Vlad Love, Teppen) a new studio animating this spinoff and taking over from Studio Deen, it is good to know that the art style and the character designs of the series remains largely the same. At least I can see no obvious difference. The background sceneries look good and of course some nice special effects when magic gets used. Though, I think there is very minimal CGI used and I noticed they are done for the horses and carriages. In other words, they should have done a freaking better job on this! Well, thankfully they are only confined to such minimal and seemingly unimportant scenes but yeah, I can’t believe they didn’t give us better CGI quality. I’m not saying it looks like sh*t but they should’ve made it less obvious.
For the voice acting, our lovely Rie Takahashi and Aki Toyosaki play their recurring roles to perfection as Megumin and Yunyun respectively. I only recognized Yuko Kaida as Wolbach but holy sh*t, did I just see Mamiko Noto’s name somewhere in the credits???!!! OMFG!!!! WHO???!!! WHERE???!!! Who the f*ck this Yuiyui character?! Oh, it’s Megumin’s mom! OMG. How the f*ck could I miss her?! Even if she has very limited lines, I should have been able to pick her out???!!! WHY DID I NOT???!! I AM SO ASHAMED OF MYSELF!!! I still can’t believe I missed it… Or maybe I did recognize her but forgot all about it since her character was quite insignificant and Megumin’s explosions bombed my memory. WTF… Why… Oh why?! Sob, sob…
Anyway I’m so unmotivated now so let me just get the rest of the casts out of the way… Ai Fairouz as Cecily (Power in Chainsaw Man), Maria Naganawa as Komekko (Kanna in Kobayashi-san Chi No Maid Dragon), Itaru Yamato as Host (Haran in Fire Force), Kaori Nazuka as Arue (Nunnally in Code Geass), Sayumi Suzushiro as Dodonko (Takemoto in Bokutachi Wa Benkyou Ga Dekinai), Miyu Tomita as Funifura (titular character in Gabriel Dropout), Miki Hase as Soketto (Sayo in Boku No Kanojo Ga Majime Sugiru Shobitch Na Ken), Yoshiki Nakajima as Bukkorori (Serge in Fairy Gone), Sachiko Kojima as Arnes (Monad in Ergo Proxy), Takeo Ootsuka as Rex (Leon in Otome Game Sekai Wa Mob Ni Kibishii Sekai Desu) and Yasunori Masutani as Zesta (Gazelleman in Kinnikuman Nisei).
Stay Free by Machico as the opener is your typical upbeat rock music that fits the pace of the series. The more amusing one is the ending theme, Jump in by the duet of Megumin and Yunyun. Singing in their character voice, they make this easy hip hop piece sound a lot cute. Not sure if I should consider this song as calming but in some ways it does have that sort of effect especially Yunyun singing in her dreamy voice, making the song sounding somewhat breathy too. There is an insert song (not sure its name) that is played sparingly throughout the series (it was also used in the trailer). The one with some creepy solo choir voice. It can either sound eerily unsettling or harmonically beautiful depending on the circumstances you’re listening to.
Overall, the spinoff may not be as explosive as one can come to expect but in its own right, it is still enjoyable and entertaining. The only thing ‘explosive’ is perhaps the banter between Megumin and Yunyun as personally, their interactions were the most amusing parts of the series. We’ll see how they carry over their strange friendship over to the third season of KonoSuba. Hopefully it will be something even more explosive than this. It would be an irony if that season has more explosions than this one… But still better than any Bayplosions anytime, anywhere. Ready to let the explosions flow through you? Let’s hear it one more time, EXPLOSION!
Chua Tek Ming~*Anime Power*~ !LiVe FoR AnImE, aNiMe FoR LiFe! 