Long before Kazuma was sent to another world; long before Aqua lost her position as guiding goddess; and long before Darkness—well, Darkness was probably pretty much always the same—there was a time when Megumin was a student at the Crimson Demon Magic School. After seeing an amazing explosion sent forth by a mysterious woman, Megumin decides to dedicate her life to the pursuit of explosion magic. However, even the teachers at the school try to dissuade her since explosion magic is pretty useless, practically-speaking. But the future arch wizard will not be deterred. She continues to pursue learning everything she can about her desired magical ability, all while trying to skip PE class and challenging her rival Arue. And of course, we can’t forget Megumin’s favorite friendless foe, Yunyun, who even as a student doesn’t seem to be very popular. Maybe someday, Yunyun. Alongside her classmates, Megumin must learn to master all of the important magical arts, including the most important, introducing herself with coolness and pizazz.

This prequel/spin-off of the main Konosuba series is filled with the same wacky humor as the original, which I personally love. It features goofy facial expressions (a staple for this franchise’s art) and hilarious one-liners, expressed to especially good effect by the crazy citizens of the Crimson Demon Village. Rie Takahashi continues to voice Megumin with great energy and fun. In addition to the titular wizard, Megumin’s classmates look like they’re going to be a joy to learn about as well, since all of them seem to have the same type of over-the-top personality as Megumin. Actually, the idea of 11 Megumins is a rather frightening thought. The opening theme, used as the closing in this first episode, is a lot of fun from both a visual and audio standpoint and is one I’ll probably be humming for a while. Like many fans, I’ve been eagerly awaiting a new installment in the Konosuba series and, if things continue the way they’re going, this is looking to be well worth the wait.

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Konosuba – An Explosion on This Wonderful World! is available to stream on Crunchyroll.