Kazuma, the isekai’d antihero at the center of the Konosuba story, is going through a midlife crisis (as a teenager, no less). He reflects on how close he’s come to romance/getting laid in the previous two seasons, the movie, and the spin-off Megumin-focused series (providing a convenient flashback of his adventures for us, the audience) without actually crossing the finish line. Depressed, he starts behaving irrationally and hallucinating, and ultimately decides to go become a monk (for any religion except that of his party member and “useless goddess,” Aqua). As he sets out for the nearest monastery, Megumin (of memetic “EXPLOSION!” fame) and Darkness (the masochistic knight) follow him to try to dissuade him; Aqua tags along, confident that he’s going to give up in the face of monastic rigors pretty quickly. Along the way they encounter a monster that plays on people’s heartstrings to secure its victims; after dealing with it, Kazuma finds a mallet that, it turns out, drops money when shaken. The ecstatic party return to town, all thoughts of religion behind them, only to have the mallet stolen in a kind of poetic justice (the thief is someone Kazuma crossed in season one). Depressed once more, Kazuma loses his composure when a butler knocks on the door of the party’s home, until our hero(?) realizes that the butler brings an invitation visit one “Princess Iris.” Cue the shenanigans!
Konosuba‘s season one remains one of the funniest things I have ever set eyes on, and season two and the Megumin spin-off were quite good as well. The movie didn’t land quite as well for me, though I did end up enjoying it on the whole. Season three has succeeded in kicking off its first episode with several key accomplishments: a recap that is not onerous; new instances of the same old classic jokes that are a mainstay of the series (like the main character’s deadpan “Kazuma desu…” [it makes sense in context]); and most importantly, the promise that season three will be more than just a rehash of the “same old, same old.” At first I was concerned about the latter, but I think in the end the writers simply wanted to reassure us that, yes, we’re back in Konosuba-land. From the monster encounter (which was great!) onward, the episode made it clear that the series still has life and new stories to tell, new jokes to deliver. If you’ve watched (or read) any Konosuba before, you know what you’re getting into, and can reasonably expect the spirit of the show to continue marching boldly forward—or more likely, running madly away!
KONOSUBA -God’s blessing on this wonderful world! is streaming on Crunchyroll.
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