Konosuba: An Explosion On This Wonderful World – Episode 1 Recap & Review

The Crimson-Eyed Wizard

Episode 1 of Konosuba: An Explosion On This Wonderful World begins with a mysterious woman saving Megumin from an evil dragon. The narrator explains this is Megumin’s story before she met Kazuma, Aqua, and Darkness. Megumin asks the woman if they travel together since her magic caused her puzzle to disappear.

The woman asks Megumin why she’s wandering the area alone, and Megumin responds that her mother told her she’ll find treasure. The woman tells Megumin she’s a powerful wizard who can grant her wishes. Megumin shares her ridiculous requests with the woman.

The woman retracts her comments and says she can only grant small wishes. Megumin asks her if she can teach her the spell she used earlier, but it turns out she can’t recommend Megumin that spell since it has many terrible effects. It’s called an explosion and is said to be the strongest spell.

Megumin catches crayfish in a lake with her little sister (Kome) in a time-skip. She stumbles upon a girl and hands her some crayfish. Megumin and Kome return home and eat sukiyaki with their parents. Megumin’s mother and father are at their shop in a flashback, where a gold item catches a wandering customer’s attention.

Although Megumin’s father doesn’t want to sell the item to a commoner, the woman compliments its craftsmanship, changing Megumin’s father’s mind. Megumin’s mother explains that the item can summon people you want to see, enticing the traveler to buy it for 100,000 eris.

Megumin’s mother and father are proud of their sale, as we cut back to the present. They tell Megumin they have enough money to purchase her new clothes, so she struts some poses in her new school uniform. Megumin promises to study hard to become a great explosion Magic Wizard.

The principal of the Crimson Demon magic school “Crimson Prison” welcomes Megumin and the other students to his establishment. One of the men pulls him aside since he doesn’t want him to prattle for hours on his speech. Afterward, some girls invite Megumin to an enrollment party, but she refuses.

Yunyun, the girl Megumin gave the crayfish to when they were younger, approaches her, but Megumin doesn’t remember her. Yunyun confirms she enrolled in Crimson Prison to defeat Megumin, puzzling Megumin. We receive a montage of Megumin and her classmates’ lives in Crimson Prison.

At the same time, Megumin narrates that Crimson Demon Clan members can only be recognized as wizards after mastering advanced magic. However, Megumin wants to learn explosive magic, which may not be a part of Crimson Prison’s curriculum.

A month passes and Megumin’s teacher lectures about special spells. This includes explosive magic, scattering magic, and striking magic. Megumin tells her teacher that the book doesn’t explain how to use explosion magic, and her teacher advises her not to learn it. He explains there’s no point since it’s magic used for fun and jokes and isn’t necessary.

Their teacher (Pucchin) asks them battle-related questions and demonstrates his cursed lightning magic in PE class. Pucchin tells his students to pair up with each other and to think of cool pose ideas. Megumin pairs up with her classmate Arue while Yunyun’s stuck with Pucchin.

Each girl introduces themselves while striking a pose. Yunyun has trouble introducing herself due to her shy persona. Megumin notices Yunyun struggling and fakes being ill so Yunyun can team up with Arue. Suddenly it starts raining, and the tulips in the garden awaken and wreak havoc. Fortunately, Arue captures them all as the rain concludes. Megumin and Yunyun wish they could learn magic sooner.

Later, Megumin sits on the school’s roof and ponders Pucchin’s words about explosion magic being joke magic. However. Megumin disagrees because she remembers seeing how powerful it looked when the woman used it on the dragon when she was a child. The episode concludes with Megumin vowing to learn explosion magic and become a formidable wizard.

The Episode Review

Konosuba is finally back! Although it doesn’t contain everyone from the main cast, it at least follows one of the most beloved characters from the group, Megumin. On the other hand, viewers may feel empty going into this first episode without Kazuma, Aqua, and Darkness. However, the characters we’re introduced to have the potential to be as funny and charming as the originals.

For instance, Arue comes off as a strong rival for Megumin. Despite following the trope of the perfect student, it will be intriguing to see how Megumin plans to upstage Arue down the line. On that note, many may wonder how Megumin plans to learn the explosion magic if the school and its staff refuse to teach her how to wield it.

It was interesting to see Megumin have a wholesome edge over her character at the beginning of her early days. While she does come across as rude to people and overly confident, it was nice seeing her lend Yunyun a hand during PE class. Although they’re rivals, I can see Yunyun being relegated to a supporting role than a rival one since Arue feels like a better adversary in comparison.

Konosuba: An Explosion On This Wonderful World’s humor retains the sensual jokes and gags from the main series. This may not be most fans’ cup of tea, but those who enjoy jokes of that caliber will enjoy the ones found in this episode. Overall, this was a compelling first chapter of this anime.

Although we won’t be following the whole squad from the series, it’s great to see Riei Takahashi’s Megumin again. I’m sure she’ll knock it out of the park!