The thing that really sells Konosuba's cast is how fleshed out they are. Aqua's not just an idiot goddess, she's an expert at all sorts of crafts like sand art, performing, and construction, but she's so vain that she only uses them when she's in the mood, for example
In addition, the Cult of Aqua is also the only church in the world that heals people for free. Their only competitor, the Eris Cult, being worshipers of the goddess of money, make people pay out the nose for any and all healing.
@@yutai2576 The cult of aqua also has an extremely laissez faire view on sexuality, gender and relationships, being open to basically everything except adults with kids
3:04 This. Right here. The blink and you miss it visual gags. A goblin trying too hard to be cool and menacing just... quietly cuts his own tongue off. This is quite possibly my fave part of Konosuba.
Speaking of budget saving anime tricks... ...The original Matrix trilogy was praised to the skies for its anime influence, but a lot of people crapped on the architect scene without recognizing that it was the MOST anime thing about the trilogy because it was emulating the "Here's how we pay for the Sakuga" storyboarding that almost every anime does.
I also love how the series has one of hte most realistic sibling relationships I've seen on TV. Kazuma and Aqua. When their not antagonizing each other, they're goofing around together and acting like idiots.
As much as Kazuma harps on Aqua she has, on more than one occasion, quietly assisted him when he was caught with his pants down. By pulling his pants back up while he’s too distracted to do that himself. I feel like there should be further elaboration but the words elude me.
I think one of the best things about Konosuba is how much fun it seams the voice acting cast has with their roles. Original or dubbed. They absolutely kill it and I’m glad you took the time to talk about that. Kudos sir!
There is no world where Konosuba is as popular as it is in the west without that *fantastic* dub. From the script, to the directing to the mix to the cast, there's no aspect of the English dub that isn't top notch.
You’re wrong about kazuma’s steal. He doesn’t steal what he values the most. He steals what the opponent values the most or doesn’t want you to take the most.
That actually makes sense for why he gets panties so much. He has a reputation for it now so people specifically worry that he's going to steal them thereby guaranteeing thats what he gets 🤣
@Jarakin Yes, but that means that it is subjective. And, thus, Kazuma can manipulate his targets into revealing their deepest fears (usually, by using a creepily over-animated hand gesture).
I love the fact that everything in the show works exactly how it should, but never the way the characters expect. Like how Kazuma's god tier luck stat makes skills that use it as a modifier completely broken like his archery or steal. Or my favorite is Aqua is the god of resurrection, but her using the skill in the world is treated like a request that needs approval. But since she is there it is auto delegated to Eris who has to approve it, because Kazuma was given dirt on her measurements and Aqua is still technically her boss. So Kazuma gets to be immortal through bureaucracy and office gossip.
The thing I like about Konosuba is that after like several episodes wacky stupid shit going on with Kazuma and gang, it just suddenly hits you with a sudden wholesome moment that shows the character having more depth than just their perceived personalities
One minor correction. Aqua spends points on party tricks but that isn't a actual problem as she already has all the good arch-priest skills. The problem is her inability to apply them with any competence not missing them. Most good adventurers in konosuba actually run out of things worth spending skill points on fairly early on. Kazuma and Megumin are exceptions due to being an adventurer who can learn anything and Megumin having such a ridiculous build that she needs all the points she can get to buff it well past the point of diminishing return.
Exactly; if memory serves, Aqua basically hides the fact she's actually got pretty much every Arch-Priest skill maxed out at level 1 because she doesn't want Kazuma to use his Adventurer class ability to learn them himself, as she's afraid that if Kazuma can cast curative magic himself, he'll boot her useless ass out of the party. And since she's canonically a dunce, with a literal single-digit Intelligence stat, she often forgets to bring up that she might have a skill that is useful until the last possible moment, if that.
Having played the RPG Maker game, which is basically a baka-wrangling sim, I feel like Aqua's biggest problem is just that she makes bad decisions a lot. Some of those bad decisions include learning Nature's Blessing, casting Nature's Blessing, and teaching Wiz to cast Nature's Blessing so she can use Silent Still Nature's Blessing to make it look like Aqua did a sleight-of-hand trick.
Speaking of diminishing returns, I also think it's funny how megumin's explosions increase over the course of the series. She initally makes craters a bit bigger than giant frogs, and later makes them as large as the capital. She's definitely still getting benefits from upping her explosion magic, just not ones that let her be useful after using it.
@@MrNetWraith They actually have a short convo over it. Kazuma calls her out for not letting him learn her skills and she replies that she knows he will kick her out if he did
Konosuba has taken its place as my favorite anime of all time for all of the aforementioned reasons. I just love the cast and how well they mesh together in their misadventures
Eh, it's a funny less in depth and less emotional version of Mushoku Tensei and Re-Zero. But I guess I can respect your opinion. Even for seasoned anime watchers like me it's up there.
The Dulahan is the one of the few villains that you can sympathize with. He was minding his own business, and leaving the starting town alone... and then Megumin happened to discover his castle. 😂
Kazuma's lechery is also much better than most anime uses thereof simply because there ARE consistent consequences. and I don't mean like... episode long narratives that eventually connect. I mean when he gets smacked in the face by someone he's offended, or he's rekd on the battlefield because he's too busy watching a wardrobe malfunction to guard himself. His perverse nature is a flaw, and not in a "you're the Kiryu so you get a pass" kind of way.
@@theflamingeagle572 It's kinda like in other anime, pervs are kinda ignored with a "don't mind him" attitude. While in Konosuba everyone rightfully reacts with "wtf Kazuma" and his shitty actions actually influences the story.
Konosuba is my favorite anime; Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness are the best dysfunctional guild ever. They may not always get the job done, but no one does a better job at messing up. Great video from mothers basement. 💯💖🎉
They are not really bad people, more like realistic, no over the top, smarter than anyone, calling it a trashy anime is not surprising, given the video maker likes Re:zero, giving it 1. place lmao
Mg gf and i just caught up to s3 and its her fave anime ever. Shes gonna be so excited when i tell her you made a new konosuba video, ill definitely have the turn for content while we smoke, Thanks Geoff!
@Mother'sBasement MY GOD! That is my campaign I have been running for over 2 years! I had to make an NPC quest giver a ghost just to move the plot line along because they fought some cultists and then the next NPC they saw with a room full of candles got an arrow to the forehead before saying a single word. Yes, everyone in a room full of candles MUST be part of the cult!
As far as redeeming qualities for Aqua... I'm not sure it's wholly POSITIVE, but for better or worse, she IS a goddess through and through. It's why she hates the devils, why the undead constantly hound her to give her rest, which she does, and why she's so good at sniffing out and sniffing out curses. Even if her timing is usually comedically bad, and she never tells anyone she can easily break the curse. It's mainly adventuring duties that she's never bothered to voluntarily help with: any goddess duties she never shies away from. Besides the keeping track of her reincarnateds' cheat items.
That’s not totally true. As he mentioned, she was too lazy to exorcise the souls in the graveyard so she just made a runic circle to do it all at once but that just made them haunt the manison instead. Granted, she didn’t know for sure that would happen, but she was still actively avoiding the duty she promised Wiz she would take over for.
@@sirnetflix7162 yeah but exorcism isn't actually a goddess duty it's a priestess duty. She's only a priestess by technicality because that's how the class category system categorises a goddess into an adventurer class. Now that I think about it she definitely does shy away from the goddess duties too
@@zyaicob It’s both. Gods are natural exorcists. In Christianity, priests can do exorcisms, but so did Jesus and he himself is considered God. Likewise, in Konosuba, the undead chase Aqua around and Kazuma theorizes internally that they likely chase her because the undead know she’s a holy figure due to her aura and want to be exorcised to they can pass on properly. Therefore, it IS her job to do so when it’s asked of her. Side note, she didn’t have to be an arch priest. She chose to be one because her powers are naturally biased to healing, but with her maxed out stats, she could have been other classes that don’t require high intelligence (so she couldn’t be a wizard like Megumin but could have been a crusader if she wanted to).
Surprised that there was no mention of how GOAT the English voice cast is for this series as well when talking about the Japanese cast. I can't even count how many times I put the series on in the background when doing other things because of how great the dub is.
Was honestly really surprised I got a response from a 7 year old video about the opening analysis BUT HELL YEH HERE WE ARE NOW I can already imagine video analysis coming out once they adapted all of the LN
I've never heard Konosuba called "Always Sunny in such and such". But I HAVE heard it compared to Seinfeld, as both are effectively sitcoms or stories about four friends who are just... REALLY terrible people.
What I love about Konosuba is how wholesome it is. Everyone in the party gets what they want. Megumin gets a friend who will carry her from explosion practice. Darkness gets to duel Kazuma and get possessed by Vanir. Aqua gets to drink some bubbly. A Kazuma himself gets various things, like the bath scene.
Funny how they are 2 very different forms of satire. What if the main characters were extremely flawed Vs What is this normal job (ex: post office, guard or musician) doing in this fantasy world. Also, discworld being more focused on satirizing the modern world while konosuba the genre itself.
@@Creepsandwicheater That’s how Discworld ended up, but it started as a parody of the fantasy genre. A lot of the early Rincewind novels have parody specific fantasy novels and the tropes in them, like having dragon riders with exclamation points in their names instead of apostrophes, or Shakespeare references in the witches series. It wasn’t until later in the series that they shifted more to satire of the real world.
@imrastar7055 dude the third book was equal rites all about how dumb the concept of certain jobs only being for men or women was. Fourth was an internship with death. It became about what I mentioned basically immediately lol.
As a proud member of the people who've read the entirety of the Konosuba Light Novel series, I thank you so much for this video. This video does such an amazing job at summarizing, just, EVERYTHING about Konosuba despite the hundreds of layers that it has! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do you remember in which book the girls threw Kazuma out the house for the most of the book? I don't remember at which part I ended reading. Was it 11...?
@pomaranczowaszarlotka Spoilers They didn't throw him out, Aqua prevented him from coming back into the mansion because he overstayed his welcome in the capital to the point that Claire and Rain had to use an amnesia potion on him and teleport him back to Axel. Kazuma had to use the power of the legal system to get back into his own mansion, lmao
As someone that also finished the light novel. Then ending is probably the most appropriate ending they could have given the series. Top 5 anime/ln of all time just from how the crew and author just expertly knows who the audience is.
We love them because no matter how bad they are, in the end, they're still good people. Not like bad people sometimes doing good things to redeem themselves, no, genuine good people doing their best even tho they can also be horrible. They care for each other *for real* and for the safety of the town *for real*
I think we need a video about 'Fighting Anime'. I don't see many people talking about this category of anime, even though it is an important part of the anime and art world.
This anime is one of my favorites of all time I don't care about any other anime in the genre, the fact that the third season came and went like no time really passing and still made me laugh is a testament to the people behind it. I love it!!
I really liked the megumin spin-off, it had a different flavour certainly but I found it to be a lot of fun in it's own right. Its also how I convinced my wife to give watching the rest of the show a shot lol
This was one of my highlight anime back when I was in university, and I'm so glad that even after all this time, I can come back to it and it feels just like how I remember it. It's tough sometimes to have a show grow up with you and have it feel too easily like it's showing its wear with time. But in Konosuba's case? It's held on in a way I was honestly not expecting. I'm used to comedy anime kinda losing the luster of their gimmicks and comedic structure after a season or so. But the comedy has stayed consistently funny for Konosuba in a way that I am pleasantly surprised by every time I pick it back up. Kudos to the entire team for keeping up a stellar production with this show! Also, as an aging weeb myself, that last bit about you and your friends getting busier as you get older is a MOOD. Dx
I really think after the movie it is strongly implied that megumin and kazuma enter some sort of relationship, judging how they act around each other in season three and I’m pretty sure they confess to one another in the LN in the movie arc I don’t know the way they act during the season implies that they’re in some sort of less than lovers more than friends type of relationship I think that’s the main reason he turns darkness down because he’s already in a sort of relationship with Megumin
If I remember the novel correctly they did not confess until later but they both were feeling a budding love at this point so you are right about Kazuma not wanting to cheat on Megumin
spoiler alert: Megumin is gonna confess by the end of season 4, Kazuma also relises that he has feelings for her in the LN therefore he confesses and they enter a realtionship. He also turned Darkness down bcz the masochism is just too much for him but also bcz he din't want to cheat on Megumin.
What keeps me coming back to Konosuba? Darkness. Darkness... Also the English dub for Konosuba is fantastic. I wish you'd use clips from the dub as well as the Japanese
Thank you! Darkness is uncomplicated and wonderful. She's a perv but she doesn't inflict it on people who don't want anything to do with it (or people who are actively kidnapping and trying to kill her)
I thank you as one Dub Schlub to another. The Konosuba dub is very slept on, Erica Mendez, Christina Vee, and Faye Mata absolutely kill it as the best worst girls.
they are not really horrible people, idiotic possibly, but usually not bad people, like there are scummy people who are "normal" and there are these guys being flawed in the most astonishing ways yet having loyalty most of the time
And the dub voice actors are honestly spectacular too, especially the main 4 but even random side characters sound great, are hilarious, and bounce off every other va great
9:43 GEESE GIRL!!!! There she is! Will she ever catch those geese? She is one of my favorite Konosuba's running (after geese) gag! :D But seriously, there are a ton of these recurring background characters in the "daily life" shots of Axel that REALLY add to the whole "lived in" aspect of the show.
The thing is in Konosuba you can mostly only get and use skills related to your specified class. The Adventurer class is the only exception. Aqua got all her priest skills and used her remaning points in Party tricks (since they don't seem to be tied to a class). Darkness on the other hand refuses to get class appropriate skills related to attacking, she puts everything into defense skills. She doesn't even have sword mastery, which is why she can't hit anything with her sword... In that way she is exactly like Megumin, I don't know why they skipped explaning that in the anime.
Probably because Darkness having no offense, while a negative, does not stop her from performing her role as a tank effectively. She can be their meat shield whenever and however long they need her to be. There isn’t a situation where she is actually totally useless short of it being an enemy so weak that her protection would be unneeded. Megumin is more pronounced because her role is the powerhouse of the team, the main DPS. Yet, she’s worthless anywhere indoors, she can only attack once per day short of being charged up through other means, and she’s complete dead weight after attacking. Darkness doesn’t HAVE to be powerful offensively to do her job, Megumin does, but she can hardly do the job properly.
23:09 "Well. Well. Well. If it isn't the consequences of my own actions." I don't know why but my brain substituted Zapp Brannigan's voice for that line and it fit so well I actually had to stop the video and go look to see if it was a quote from Futurama.
I still can't believe that Konosuba's anime came out when I was finishing highschool, and while I never learned what this weird frog anime was back then, season 2 happened years later
It, and Mushoku Tensei are tied for the best isekai, one for the world building, and Konosuba for the characters, although s3 basically replaced the character completely, main reason for it being so weak.
Ditto. I love all the VAs of the main quartet and the Demon King Generals so far! The dub squad was obviously having too much fun with this show and I love it! Rest in Peace, Billy Kametz, our Kyoya Mitsurgi
Konosuba was one of the first anime I watched and I liked it because it reminded me of one of my other favorites that I had discovered previously Fairy Tail.
IMO they are not more flawed than any other character/person, only their flaws are not "socially acceptable" or easily hidden, like most people are worse than them, people just accept someone for being spineless(kazuma's friend) or arogant(the real hero), immoral(the girl messing with Kazuma), and of course nobody accepts a crazy chunin mage with only one spell
This episode was made for me. I've been putting off watching this show. Wasn't immediately taken by the premise. But after the Top 10 list all but convinced me to finally watch it, this will probably take me over the edge and beyond. I tend to vibe with Geoff's takes
YAY, another Konosuba video! I was deeply disappointed with how little I heard anyone talking about season 3, even though I thought it was nearly perfect.
Best outtro of all time, bar none. I applaud Geoff's strategic allocation of his IRL animation budget. He must have been saving up keyframes since 2022 to pull that off. It was this or Jojo's.
@@thesuperMasterSword I misread your comment as "I was just waiting for him to pop his back," and thought, yeah, it does kinda almost look like he did that. 😂
Just briefly thinking about megumin exploding the bad guys castle on top of the hill for a month straight so she could practice, then eventually meeting the very distraught and confused bad guy convinced he had angered the gods still makes me audibly laugh.
This video made me get off my ass and watch season 3. I love Konosuba but for some reason I felt I'd watched enough comedy isekai/fantasy across the last couple of seasons and I wanted something a bit more serious for a while first. This reminded me that Konosuba is more than just comedy... I just got done with Episode 11 and I have goosebumps. There are quote-unquote 'serious' anime that don't do drama (and even a little horror) as well as Episode 11 of Konosuba. It's such a good show.
i love this show so much. thank you for always putting what's great about it so concisely so i have somewhere to point people for why they should watch it. edit: also for turning me onto it to begin with after that first 'whats in an op'
i really dont know what to think of this anime anymore. i really enjoyed the first 2 seasons when they aired. decided id rewatch the series before s3 came out and i couldnt stand watching it . waited for s3 instead and then didnt enjoy that at all either. kinda saddens me because i remember loving it
just started listening to the audiobooks of the series. I highly recommend them to anyone who really enjoys konosuba. Having the voice actors read it like a radio drama really sells the comedy just as well as watching the show does!
This is one of the few anime that make me laugh hard! It is so good and season 3 was fun, wish it was longer. I love that their a team of losers in their own way, but lean on each other and suffer together. They feel like a team of friends. Also I loved the megumin spin-off and getting to know The people of her town, and her journey and friendship with yun yun
5:25 The classic Gintama, Let's voice over a previous complete christmas episode tier or a picture of the house. In fact the whole video made me realize how much Konosuba and Gintama shares at a fundamental level.
Konosuba is my comfort series, the anime I'll rewatch switching between the sub and the english dub, and the audiobooks voiced by Kazuma and Megumin are fantastic
Paraphrasing my own comment in the top 10 Isekai video: Konosuba is not only my favourite isekai, but one of my favourite light novel/manga/animes of all time. Adding to everything else you talk about in the video (although another comment has already pointed it out) there is its MASTERFUL use of the Chekhov's Gun (things like Aqua working construction at the very beginning of the series or Iris getting used to call Kazuma "oniisama" can become surprisingly plot-relevant many arcs later), and, although you have finally mentioned how good the not-so-comedic parts can be with the Darkness wedding arc being such a great rollercoaster of awesome/heartwarming, there is also the amazingly creepy Alderp-Maxwell scene (which is done so dirty by the anime, pleeease read the manga version) which shows that Konosuba knows how to be great even in the Nightmare Fuel department, despite using it so sparingly. I could gush all day long.
I just like Darkness, she's one of my top tier waifus. Megumin is just a dear, plus I do believe that she has more of a chance with Kazuma of all people than anyone else (so long as he focuses on the bigger picture), and that's saying something, and Aqua... she's just the preferable bestie.
The thing that really sells Konosuba's cast is how fleshed out they are. Aqua's not just an idiot goddess, she's an expert at all sorts of crafts like sand art, performing, and construction, but she's so vain that she only uses them when she's in the mood, for example
She's also an alcoholic, a hard worker when she needs to be, and one of the most petty and arrogant beings in history. What a great character!
In addition, the Cult of Aqua is also the only church in the world that heals people for free. Their only competitor, the Eris Cult, being worshipers of the goddess of money, make people pay out the nose for any and all healing.
@@yutai2576 The cult of aqua also has an extremely laissez faire view on sexuality, gender and relationships, being open to basically everything except adults with kids
@@EnanoPancracio and demons as well, iirc
@@EnanoPancracio no it's only demons and undead they don't allow and everything else is fair game
3:04 This. Right here. The blink and you miss it visual gags. A goblin trying too hard to be cool and menacing just... quietly cuts his own tongue off. This is quite possibly my fave part of Konosuba.
Accidentally cuts it
Speaking of budget saving anime tricks...
...The original Matrix trilogy was praised to the skies for its anime influence, but a lot of people crapped on the architect scene without recognizing that it was the MOST anime thing about the trilogy because it was emulating the "Here's how we pay for the Sakuga" storyboarding that almost every anime does.
That comment you highlighted is really into something.
Good friends might raise each other up, but GREAT friends actively make each other worse.
Konosuba is the Chekhov's minigun of isekai. Everything pays off.
The term you're looking for is Chekhov's Armory. Potentially Chekhov's Military-industrial Complex.
@@arutka2000 Chekhov's Militarized Terrestrial Colony frfr
@@TheIrrelevantYT Chekhovs nuclear armaments
Kazuma fighting without his party reminded me of that scene when Rock Lee dropped his training weights. 💀💀💀💀
Lmaoooo
@@Kingamer521 Yeah, but Kazuma having Aqua as an opponent is like Rock Lee fighting Kimimaro, so on both sides Aqua is a detriment for Kazuma.
yeah, that episode showed us he is formidable in his own right as long as he's motivated. Maybe even future demon king material.
Now I can't wait for Drunk Kazuma in Volume 14 to get animated
It's funny that the Ln version performed even better.
I also love how the series has one of hte most realistic sibling relationships I've seen on TV. Kazuma and Aqua. When their not antagonizing each other, they're goofing around together and acting like idiots.
i thought they were an old married couple.
@@mithos789 Except there never was nor is any sexual chemistry whatsoever between them. So I'd definitely categorize them as adopted siblings
@@lawrencemeadonia7500 in japan married couples see each other as siblings. or family.
As much as Kazuma harps on Aqua she has, on more than one occasion, quietly assisted him when he was caught with his pants down. By pulling his pants back up while he’s too distracted to do that himself.
I feel like there should be further elaboration but the words elude me.
@@mithos789 You definetly not from japan to say that.
I think one of the best things about Konosuba is how much fun it seams the voice acting cast has with their roles. Original or dubbed. They absolutely kill it and I’m glad you took the time to talk about that. Kudos sir!
There is no world where Konosuba is as popular as it is in the west without that *fantastic* dub. From the script, to the directing to the mix to the cast, there's no aspect of the English dub that isn't top notch.
You’re wrong about kazuma’s steal. He doesn’t steal what he values the most. He steals what the opponent values the most or doesn’t want you to take the most.
What the opponent doesn't want stolen the most is, by definition, what they value most at that moment.
That actually makes sense for why he gets panties so much. He has a reputation for it now so people specifically worry that he's going to steal them thereby guaranteeing thats what he gets 🤣
@Jarakin Yes, but that means that it is subjective. And, thus, Kazuma can manipulate his targets into revealing their deepest fears (usually, by using a creepily over-animated hand gesture).
So just play psychology game and get 100% thing that he want
No one values panties but no one wants their panties stolen
I love the fact that everything in the show works exactly how it should, but never the way the characters expect. Like how Kazuma's god tier luck stat makes skills that use it as a modifier completely broken like his archery or steal. Or my favorite is Aqua is the god of resurrection, but her using the skill in the world is treated like a request that needs approval. But since she is there it is auto delegated to Eris who has to approve it, because Kazuma was given dirt on her measurements and Aqua is still technically her boss. So Kazuma gets to be immortal through bureaucracy and office gossip.
The thing I like about Konosuba is that after like several episodes wacky stupid shit going on with Kazuma and gang, it just suddenly hits you with a sudden wholesome moment that shows the character having more depth than just their perceived personalities
That's the perfect sentiment! Well said!
One minor correction. Aqua spends points on party tricks but that isn't a actual problem as she already has all the good arch-priest skills. The problem is her inability to apply them with any competence not missing them. Most good adventurers in konosuba actually run out of things worth spending skill points on fairly early on. Kazuma and Megumin are exceptions due to being an adventurer who can learn anything and Megumin having such a ridiculous build that she needs all the points she can get to buff it well past the point of diminishing return.
Exactly; if memory serves, Aqua basically hides the fact she's actually got pretty much every Arch-Priest skill maxed out at level 1 because she doesn't want Kazuma to use his Adventurer class ability to learn them himself, as she's afraid that if Kazuma can cast curative magic himself, he'll boot her useless ass out of the party. And since she's canonically a dunce, with a literal single-digit Intelligence stat, she often forgets to bring up that she might have a skill that is useful until the last possible moment, if that.
Having played the RPG Maker game, which is basically a baka-wrangling sim, I feel like Aqua's biggest problem is just that she makes bad decisions a lot. Some of those bad decisions include learning Nature's Blessing, casting Nature's Blessing, and teaching Wiz to cast Nature's Blessing so she can use Silent Still Nature's Blessing to make it look like Aqua did a sleight-of-hand trick.
Speaking of diminishing returns, I also think it's funny how megumin's explosions increase over the course of the series. She initally makes craters a bit bigger than giant frogs, and later makes them as large as the capital. She's definitely still getting benefits from upping her explosion magic, just not ones that let her be useful after using it.
@@RolandOnnaRiver Aqua is so high ranking amongst the gods that she has no concept of consequences, meaning she doesn't think things through.
@@MrNetWraith They actually have a short convo over it. Kazuma calls her out for not letting him learn her skills and she replies that she knows he will kick her out if he did
Konosuba has taken its place as my favorite anime of all time for all of the aforementioned reasons. I just love the cast and how well they mesh together in their misadventures
Eh, it's a funny less in depth and less emotional version of Mushoku Tensei and Re-Zero. But I guess I can respect your opinion. Even for seasoned anime watchers like me it's up there.
The Dulahan is the one of the few villains that you can sympathize with. He was minding his own business, and leaving the starting town alone... and then Megumin happened to discover his castle. 😂
Kazuma's lechery is also much better than most anime uses thereof simply because there ARE consistent consequences. and I don't mean like... episode long narratives that eventually connect. I mean when he gets smacked in the face by someone he's offended, or he's rekd on the battlefield because he's too busy watching a wardrobe malfunction to guard himself. His perverse nature is a flaw, and not in a "you're the Kiryu so you get a pass" kind of way.
@@theflamingeagle572 It's kinda like in other anime, pervs are kinda ignored with a "don't mind him" attitude. While in Konosuba everyone rightfully reacts with "wtf Kazuma" and his shitty actions actually influences the story.
@@elliscampbell3682 Its funny that everyone likes it better when the pervert are punished when caught in the act, lmao
@@elliscampbell3682the entire guild calls him kazutrash and scumzuma, he is 100% getting the consequences of his actions 😭😭
Konosuba is my favorite anime; Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness are the best dysfunctional guild ever. They may not always get the job done, but no one does a better job at messing up. Great video from mothers basement. 💯💖🎉
The show is basically Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia in anime form. You love the worst people when they aren’t bothering you.
I definitely hang with this guild no matter what, cause I'll sit back and watch them screw up and laugh off while I'm in the background
They are not really bad people, more like realistic, no over the top, smarter than anyone, calling it a trashy anime is not surprising, given the video maker likes Re:zero, giving it 1. place lmao
Mg gf and i just caught up to s3 and its her fave anime ever. Shes gonna be so excited when i tell her you made a new konosuba video, ill definitely have the turn for content while we smoke, Thanks Geoff!
Smoke content is the highest honor, above even meal content
@Mother'sBasement
MY GOD! That is my campaign I have been running for over 2 years! I had to make an NPC quest giver a ghost just to move the plot line along because they fought some cultists and then the next NPC they saw with a room full of candles got an arrow to the forehead before saying a single word. Yes, everyone in a room full of candles MUST be part of the cult!
I mean, candles are pretty spooky. Maybe if the room was well lit and the guy was tied up, he might only have been beaten unconscious!
As far as redeeming qualities for Aqua... I'm not sure it's wholly POSITIVE, but for better or worse, she IS a goddess through and through. It's why she hates the devils, why the undead constantly hound her to give her rest, which she does, and why she's so good at sniffing out and sniffing out curses. Even if her timing is usually comedically bad, and she never tells anyone she can easily break the curse. It's mainly adventuring duties that she's never bothered to voluntarily help with: any goddess duties she never shies away from. Besides the keeping track of her reincarnateds' cheat items.
Thank you. Of the things Geoff totally missed the point of in this analysis, Aqua is definitely the biggest one
That’s not totally true. As he mentioned, she was too lazy to exorcise the souls in the graveyard so she just made a runic circle to do it all at once but that just made them haunt the manison instead. Granted, she didn’t know for sure that would happen, but she was still actively avoiding the duty she promised Wiz she would take over for.
@@sirnetflix7162 yeah but exorcism isn't actually a goddess duty it's a priestess duty. She's only a priestess by technicality because that's how the class category system categorises a goddess into an adventurer class. Now that I think about it she definitely does shy away from the goddess duties too
@@zyaicob It’s both. Gods are natural exorcists. In Christianity, priests can do exorcisms, but so did Jesus and he himself is considered God.
Likewise, in Konosuba, the undead chase Aqua around and Kazuma theorizes internally that they likely chase her because the undead know she’s a holy figure due to her aura and want to be exorcised to they can pass on properly. Therefore, it IS her job to do so when it’s asked of her.
Side note, she didn’t have to be an arch priest. She chose to be one because her powers are naturally biased to healing, but with her maxed out stats, she could have been other classes that don’t require high intelligence (so she couldn’t be a wizard like Megumin but could have been a crusader if she wanted to).
@@sirnetflix7162 as an extremely devout Christian I feel like there are some nuances being missed there but overall i do take your point
Last time I came this early I was asked to leave the Pizza Hut salad bar
Aqua WOULD be banned from a Pizza Hut salad bar
@@dvillines26 this is why she is best (worst) girl and I love her
Konosuba is a masterclass in comedic juxtaposition and timing.
And the cast is S Tier.
Surprised that there was no mention of how GOAT the English voice cast is for this series as well when talking about the Japanese cast. I can't even count how many times I put the series on in the background when doing other things because of how great the dub is.
Real, I was looking for this comment bro, I think the dub is just as good if not better honestly
3:03 lmao the goblin licking his sword and cutting off his own tongue, I never noticed that before
Was honestly really surprised I got a response from a 7 year old video about the opening analysis BUT HELL YEH HERE WE ARE NOW
I can already imagine video analysis coming out once they adapted all of the LN
I've never heard Konosuba called "Always Sunny in such and such". But I HAVE heard it compared to Seinfeld, as both are effectively sitcoms or stories about four friends who are just... REALLY terrible people.
What I love about Konosuba is how wholesome it is. Everyone in the party gets what they want. Megumin gets a friend who will carry her from explosion practice. Darkness gets to duel Kazuma and get possessed by Vanir. Aqua gets to drink some bubbly. A Kazuma himself gets various things, like the bath scene.
That Discworld comparison really hits.
Funny how they are 2 very different forms of satire.
What if the main characters were extremely flawed
Vs
What is this normal job (ex: post office, guard or musician) doing in this fantasy world.
Also, discworld being more focused on satirizing the modern world while konosuba the genre itself.
@@Creepsandwicheater That’s how Discworld ended up, but it started as a parody of the fantasy genre. A lot of the early Rincewind novels have parody specific fantasy novels and the tropes in them, like having dragon riders with exclamation points in their names instead of apostrophes, or Shakespeare references in the witches series. It wasn’t until later in the series that they shifted more to satire of the real world.
@imrastar7055 dude the third book was equal rites all about how dumb the concept of certain jobs only being for men or women was. Fourth was an internship with death. It became about what I mentioned basically immediately lol.
As a proud member of the people who've read the entirety of the Konosuba Light Novel series, I thank you so much for this video. This video does such an amazing job at summarizing, just, EVERYTHING about Konosuba despite the hundreds of layers that it has! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do you remember in which book the girls threw Kazuma out the house for the most of the book? I don't remember at which part I ended reading. Was it 11...?
@pomaranczowaszarlotka Spoilers
They didn't throw him out, Aqua prevented him from coming back into the mansion because he overstayed his welcome in the capital to the point that Claire and Rain had to use an amnesia potion on him and teleport him back to Axel. Kazuma had to use the power of the legal system to get back into his own mansion, lmao
As someone that also finished the light novel. Then ending is probably the most appropriate ending they could have given the series. Top 5 anime/ln of all time just from how the crew and author just expertly knows who the audience is.
We love them because no matter how bad they are, in the end, they're still good people. Not like bad people sometimes doing good things to redeem themselves, no, genuine good people doing their best even tho they can also be horrible. They care for each other *for real* and for the safety of the town *for real*
I think we need a video about 'Fighting Anime'.
I don't see many people talking about this category of anime, even though it is an important part of the anime and art world.
I think it is a Great Idea.
If you can't wait, watch SuperEyepatchWolf's video about that one manga where the girls do bjj
YOU'RE THE BEST JEFF! THANKS FOR THIS!
Impressive Crimson demon impression there Geoff. Two thumbs up!
Thanks for getting me into Konosuba, Geoff. I trust your opinions on anime the most
I'm usually not one who enjoys isekais but i get a chuckle here and there when seeing clips of this anime
I just re-watched Konosuba recently and I'm ready to watch through it again
This anime is one of my favorites of all time I don't care about any other anime in the genre, the fact that the third season came and went like no time really passing and still made me laugh is a testament to the people behind it. I love it!!
Nah, trash taste... You're just too innocent aren't you
It’s simply cinema. For real though it’s the funniest isekai and tied for the funniest anime/manga I’ve watched or read. Just a fun watch.
Man, I have watched nearly all of your videos when they come out. Kinda wild lol
I appreciate you showing up for all of em! Means a lot
I really liked the megumin spin-off, it had a different flavour certainly but I found it to be a lot of fun in it's own right. Its also how I convinced my wife to give watching the rest of the show a shot lol
cecily is the best.
This was one of my highlight anime back when I was in university, and I'm so glad that even after all this time, I can come back to it and it feels just like how I remember it. It's tough sometimes to have a show grow up with you and have it feel too easily like it's showing its wear with time. But in Konosuba's case? It's held on in a way I was honestly not expecting. I'm used to comedy anime kinda losing the luster of their gimmicks and comedic structure after a season or so. But the comedy has stayed consistently funny for Konosuba in a way that I am pleasantly surprised by every time I pick it back up. Kudos to the entire team for keeping up a stellar production with this show!
Also, as an aging weeb myself, that last bit about you and your friends getting busier as you get older is a MOOD. Dx
I really think after the movie it is strongly implied that megumin and kazuma enter some sort of relationship, judging how they act around each other in season three and I’m pretty sure they confess to one another in the LN in the movie arc I don’t know the way they act during the season implies that they’re in some sort of less than lovers more than friends type of relationship I think that’s the main reason he turns darkness down because he’s already in a sort of relationship with Megumin
If I remember the novel correctly they did not confess until later but they both were feeling a budding love at this point so you are right about Kazuma not wanting to cheat on Megumin
spoiler alert:
Megumin is gonna confess by the end of season 4, Kazuma also relises that he has feelings for her in the LN therefore he confesses and they enter a realtionship. He also turned Darkness down bcz the masochism is just too much for him but also bcz he din't want to cheat on Megumin.
What keeps me coming back to Konosuba? Darkness. Darkness...
Also the English dub for Konosuba is fantastic. I wish you'd use clips from the dub as well as the Japanese
Thank you! Darkness is uncomplicated and wonderful. She's a perv but she doesn't inflict it on people who don't want anything to do with it (or people who are actively kidnapping and trying to kill her)
I thank you as one Dub Schlub to another. The Konosuba dub is very slept on, Erica Mendez, Christina Vee, and Faye Mata absolutely kill it as the best worst girls.
15:50 hahahahaah, "too skittish to finger that trigger". Geoff, your writing is so fucking funny
2:29 Ya forgetting Tex Avery and Golden Age Tom & Jerry over there
Great video, but I can't believe you omitted Megumin's iconic "EXPLOSION!!!!" from the series of clips of great voice acting bits towards the start :O
"the other horrible, crazy, ladies that won't stop following him." that is the most accurate description of them I've ever heard.
they are not really horrible people, idiotic possibly, but usually not bad people, like there are scummy people who are "normal" and there are these guys being flawed in the most astonishing ways yet having loyalty most of the time
And the dub voice actors are honestly spectacular too, especially the main 4 but even random side characters sound great, are hilarious, and bounce off every other va great
9:43 GEESE GIRL!!!!
There she is! Will she ever catch those geese?
She is one of my favorite Konosuba's running (after geese) gag! :D
But seriously, there are a ton of these recurring background characters in the "daily life" shots of Axel that REALLY add to the whole "lived in" aspect of the show.
I actually just started watching Konosuba, so this video couldn't have came at a better time. I'm really enjoying it so far!
We love it because it's just so hilarious! Plus loved your Best worst girls video, was watching it just as this got up! 👏👏👏👏
The thing is in Konosuba you can mostly only get and use skills related to your specified class. The Adventurer class is the only exception. Aqua got all her priest skills and used her remaning points in Party tricks (since they don't seem to be tied to a class). Darkness on the other hand refuses to get class appropriate skills related to attacking, she puts everything into defense skills. She doesn't even have sword mastery, which is why she can't hit anything with her sword... In that way she is exactly like Megumin, I don't know why they skipped explaning that in the anime.
Probably because Darkness having no offense, while a negative, does not stop her from performing her role as a tank effectively. She can be their meat shield whenever and however long they need her to be. There isn’t a situation where she is actually totally useless short of it being an enemy so weak that her protection would be unneeded.
Megumin is more pronounced because her role is the powerhouse of the team, the main DPS. Yet, she’s worthless anywhere indoors, she can only attack once per day short of being charged up through other means, and she’s complete dead weight after attacking. Darkness doesn’t HAVE to be powerful offensively to do her job, Megumin does, but she can hardly do the job properly.
23:09 "Well. Well. Well. If it isn't the consequences of my own actions." I don't know why but my brain substituted Zapp Brannigan's voice for that line and it fit so well I actually had to stop the video and go look to see if it was a quote from Futurama.
yo I cackled so much fammo. you cooked with one !
been hearing about Konosuba in your videos for a wile and finally got around to watching it...and youre spot on, its like NADDPOD but in anime.
You have a above average broadcasting voice its pleasant to listen to
I love this show. Thank you for capturing so much of what makes it great in this video.
mothers basement + konosuba = gold
God damn your videos are always so good
Commenting so the algorithm boosts your vid! Love your work and writing!!
He mentioned The Slayers! (Internal Squealing Ensues.) I grew up with that Anime. It's the OG best D&D Anime besides Record of Lodoss War.
I still can't believe that Konosuba's anime came out when I was finishing highschool, and while I never learned what this weird frog anime was back then, season 2 happened years later
Started watching Konosuba because of your constant praise of it. One of the funniest shows I've ever watched.
It, and Mushoku Tensei are tied for the best isekai, one for the world building, and Konosuba for the characters, although s3 basically replaced the character completely, main reason for it being so weak.
I recently finished the LN
All I have to say is:Konosuba is only gonna get better from this point on,So stay tuned for (hopefully) the next seasons
I finished watching this recently. I really enjoyed Faye Mata performance as Lady Aqua. Love your content Mother's Basement.
Ditto. I love all the VAs of the main quartet and the Demon King Generals so far! The dub squad was obviously having too much fun with this show and I love it!
Rest in Peace, Billy Kametz, our Kyoya Mitsurgi
Great breakdown of the characters, and arguably your best outro ever!
Konosuba was one of the first anime I watched and I liked it because it reminded me of one of my other favorites that I had discovered previously Fairy Tail.
Their flaws are numerous, but they all share one virtue that makes the whole thing work. They are unfailingly loyal to each other.
IMO they are not more flawed than any other character/person, only their flaws are not "socially acceptable" or easily hidden, like most people are worse than them, people just accept someone for being spineless(kazuma's friend) or arogant(the real hero), immoral(the girl messing with Kazuma), and of course nobody accepts a crazy chunin mage with only one spell
This is the only anime I've actually rewatched several times and it always feels like watching it the first time. I love it.
My biggest red flag is thinking aqua is best girl.
This episode was made for me. I've been putting off watching this show. Wasn't immediately taken by the premise. But after the Top 10 list all but convinced me to finally watch it, this will probably take me over the edge and beyond. I tend to vibe with Geoff's takes
The latest season was so unbelievably good. I absolutely did NOT expect the heist scene to turn out that easy
That ending was GOLD
I FORGOT ALL ABOUT AQUA'S 'DRAGON' EGG! ahahhaa
My wife who does not like anime..loves this anime. The comedy and characters are amazing.
YAY, another Konosuba video! I was deeply disappointed with how little I heard anyone talking about season 3, even though I thought it was nearly perfect.
Best outtro of all time, bar none. I applaud Geoff's strategic allocation of his IRL animation budget. He must have been saving up keyframes since 2022 to pull that off. It was this or Jojo's.
It was great. I was just waiting for him to pop BACK IN to continue and maybe even get cut off. That would've been *amazing!*
@@thesuperMasterSword I misread your comment as "I was just waiting for him to pop his back," and thought, yeah, it does kinda almost look like he did that. 😂
Just briefly thinking about megumin exploding the bad guys castle on top of the hill for a month straight so she could practice, then eventually meeting the very distraught and confused bad guy convinced he had angered the gods still makes me audibly laugh.
This video made me get off my ass and watch season 3.
I love Konosuba but for some reason I felt I'd watched enough comedy isekai/fantasy across the last couple of seasons and I wanted something a bit more serious for a while first. This reminded me that Konosuba is more than just comedy...
I just got done with Episode 11 and I have goosebumps.
There are quote-unquote 'serious' anime that don't do drama (and even a little horror) as well as Episode 11 of Konosuba. It's such a good show.
Konosuba is just a really fun anime to watch! Very meme-able and doesn't take itself seriously.
Also Megumin best girl!
i love this show so much. thank you for always putting what's great about it so concisely so i have somewhere to point people for why they should watch it.
edit: also for turning me onto it to begin with after that first 'whats in an op'
i really dont know what to think of this anime anymore. i really enjoyed the first 2 seasons when they aired. decided id rewatch the series before s3 came out and i couldnt stand watching it . waited for s3 instead and then didnt enjoy that at all either. kinda saddens me because i remember loving it
just started listening to the audiobooks of the series. I highly recommend them to anyone who really enjoys konosuba. Having the voice actors read it like a radio drama really sells the comedy just as well as watching the show does!
That wine thing is clearly a nod to the scene in the Baratie with Lt. Fullbody and Sanji....
Konosuba is my all time favorite anime
You get a like just for the Crimson Demon outro bro 😎
This is one of the few anime that make me laugh hard! It is so good and season 3 was fun, wish it was longer. I love that their a team of losers in their own way, but lean on each other and suffer together. They feel like a team of friends. Also I loved the megumin spin-off and getting to know The people of her town, and her journey and friendship with yun yun
5:25 The classic Gintama, Let's voice over a previous complete christmas episode tier or a picture of the house. In fact the whole video made me realize how much Konosuba and Gintama shares at a fundamental level.
You should analyze Slayers it is like 90s parody fantasy anime.
i know season 3 just finished but i started reading the light novel translations. And OMG I can't wait for volume 8 & 9 to get animated.
15:19 that shot of darkness tho…
genuinely the best comedy anime for me, ive rewatched serveral times and each time its funnier
Konosuba is my comfort series, the anime I'll rewatch switching between the sub and the english dub, and the audiobooks voiced by Kazuma and Megumin are fantastic
Slayers!! What a classic! I have so much nostalgia for each season 🤩
Wonderful video, Geoff.
Gotta give a shoutout to the eng dub cast as well, they killed it.
Paraphrasing my own comment in the top 10 Isekai video:
Konosuba is not only my favourite isekai, but one of my favourite light novel/manga/animes of all time. Adding to everything else you talk about in the video (although another comment has already pointed it out) there is its MASTERFUL use of the Chekhov's Gun (things like Aqua working construction at the very beginning of the series or Iris getting used to call Kazuma "oniisama" can become surprisingly plot-relevant many arcs later), and, although you have finally mentioned how good the not-so-comedic parts can be with the Darkness wedding arc being such a great rollercoaster of awesome/heartwarming, there is also the amazingly creepy Alderp-Maxwell scene (which is done so dirty by the anime, pleeease read the manga version) which shows that Konosuba knows how to be great even in the Nightmare Fuel department, despite using it so sparingly. I could gush all day long.
26:16 "The Crimson demon signing out from my mother's basement!"
Season 4 cannot possibly come fast enough. I love this show! ^_^
I had to stop watching the video 19 minutes in. You've sold me, I gotta watch this ASAP
I just like Darkness, she's one of my top tier waifus. Megumin is just a dear, plus I do believe that she has more of a chance with Kazuma of all people than anyone else (so long as he focuses on the bigger picture), and that's saying something, and Aqua... she's just the preferable bestie.
Aqua is Kazuma as a girl, not horny but an alcoholic