Konosuba Season 1- The First Mainstream Isekai To Break Expectations

'Konosuba' just finished airing the last episode of its third season. It's considered to be one of the most popular isekai anime series of recent times. With that in mind, this article will take a look at Season 1 of 'Konosuba' and what made it so special for its time.

A Cliche Plot, Made Fresh With Unique Twists

Most isekai anime follow this exact formula:

The downtrodden protagonist who doesn't fit in well with the rest of society dies in a tragic accident. They are then brought back to life in a fantasy world with tremendous strength and abilities. They go on to acquire a band of trustworthy friends, defeat evil, and become a hero.

Most other isekai anime that you'll see follow this formula in one way or another, like 'Sword Art Online', 'Log Horizon', 'That Time I Reincarnated As A Slime', and more.

Konosuba also used this formula to establish its story. The protagonist, Kazuma Satou, met a Goddess named Aqua after his death. The Goddess informed him of his circumstances and offered to transport him to a fantasy setting with an overpowered ability, all so that he could defeat the Devil King.

Only, in this case, the Goddess makes fun of the protagonist after his death. Kazuma lived as a shut-in for most of his life, and also died in an unfortunately hilarious way. A tractor, which he perceived as a truck that was going to hit him and a girl, gave him such a great shock that he died of a heart attack. Kazuma, being teased about his death and wanting revenge, decided to pick the Goddess herself to accompany him through his journey in the fantasy world.

While in most other shows, having a Goddess on their side would make the protagonist insanely strong, in Kazuma's case Aqua is usually a liability thanks to her personality and outlook on life.

Terrible People Make Better And More Relatable Characters

While in most Isekai anime, the protagonist displays either a prodigiously intelligent, dauntlessly brave, or a generously kind personality, Kazuma Satou displays no such virtues in his character. His companions show no such character traits either, as everyone in the show is flawed in some major way.

Kazuma Satou, while clever and shrewd in his own way, is shown as weak, conniving, and very frustrated with his circumstances. The rare acts of kindness that he shows are often mixed in with sarcastic comments or expectations of a reward. All this, coupled with his perverse behaviour and cynical nature, makes him an isekai protagonist with a terrible personality.

The Goddess of Water and Kazuma's adventuring companion, Aqua, is similarly very flawed. Despite being a Goddess, when she is transported to the fantasy world, she immediately freaks out and shows that she is powerless when it comes to many situations despite having above average strength and abilities. She also has a great sense of entitlement due to her Godhood, which leads to her getting into a lot of trouble with money, debt, and destruction through her clumsiness. She rarely takes responsibility for her own actions unless they lead to rewards, and often tries to use her charm in order to gain small favours from others.

Even the friends they make later on are just as flawed. Kazuma and Aqua eventually form an adventuring party and recruit two people, a crimson demon archmage named Megumin, and a crusader named Darkness. While the two appear to be skilled initially, Kazuma later finds out that they are just as equally as problematic as the Goddess he brought with him to this world.

It turns out that Megumin only knows one spell, Explosion, which she can only use once a day before passing out from exhaustion. Darkness, while having great strength and stamina, cannot land her attacks even if her life depended on it, and also appears to have masochistic tendencies.

All this combined creates a cast of extremely flawed, terrible people who you would never expect to be the protagonists of an isekai anime. But it works.

Not everything goes well for these characters, sometimes due to unfortunate circumstances but mostly due to their own incompetence. That gives the show a very down-to-earth and relatable feel that most other shows of its genres don't have. Isekai animes tend to focus on a power-fantasy story where the audience can imagine themselves as being a similar overpowered character as the protagonist of these shows. 'Konosuba', on the other hand, portrays what an average person would likely experience and behave like if they were transported to a fantasy world with the task of defeating evil. It's a refreshing twist to say the least.

Parody Of The Tropes, Yet Faithful To The Genre

Writing more relatable and down-to-earth characters isn't the only thing 'Konosuba' excels at. While the anime has the 'adventure' and 'fantasy' tags, it is first and foremost a comedy, and will often parody other common tropes of isekai. Even the protagonist who lived most of his life as a shut-in, understands how isekai shows work and often expresses his frustration with how his life in the fantasy world doesn't seem to reflect that.

One of the best instances of this is when Kazuma and his party meet a swordmaster named Mitsurugi Kyouya, who also happened to be another human from Japan who was reincarnated into the fantasy world by the Goddess Aqua in order to defeat the Devil King. Unlike Kazuma, Mitsurugi showed great respect for the Goddess and was blessed with an overpowered weapon that allowed him to breeze through the adventuring life. He also showed the personality traits of classic isekai protagonists like being righteous and confident.

These personality traits, however, were perceived as entitled and borderline narcissistic by Kazuma and the rest of his crew. Despite having a severe disadvantage in strength, Kazuma managed to overpower Mitsurugi, and later on even defeated one of the servants of the Devil King, showing that even without overpowered abilities and a hero complex, a person transported to a fantasy world can overcome adversity through wit and perseverance.

Final Thoughts

Nowadays, isekai anime are becoming more and more self-aware of the common tropes, and many are also trying to break them. But none have been as successful and as clever with it as 'Konosuba', even eight years after its first season's release. The show may still have flaws like it's over-the-top fanservice, gimmicky nature and constant cynicism, but it's still a gem of a show that is a must watch for any and all enjoyers of the isekai genre who are looking for something with a more comedic spin.

All three seasons of 'Konosuba' are available on Crunchyroll.