Konosuba: An Explosion On This Wonderful World – Season 1 Episode 4 Recap & Review

The Crimson-Eyed Lonely Master

Episode 4 of Konosuba: An Explosion On This Wonderful World begins with Yunyun handing Megumin a lunch, promising she won’t challenge her to a duel. Megumin feels there’s something off about Yunyun’s behavior lately. Their teacher informs them that minions of the Dark God have been wandering the village. He says the staff plans to gather villagers to redo the seal to keep them away.

He discusses the students’ test results and hands the top 3 students some skill-up potions. Megumin beats Arue and claims first place. Megumin flaunts her victory at Yunyun, but she doesn’t respond the way Megumin believes she would. Afterward, some girls discuss a hero candidate who was spotted in the village. They claim this hero is looking for a skilled mage to help him defeat the Demon King. Megumin fantasizes about being a part of a heroic party and vows to defeat the Demon King to become the new Demon King.

Yunyun pulls Megumin aside and asks her what it means to be friends with people. She brings up Funifura’s sick brother, and Funifura asks Yunyun for money. Although Yunyun knows it’d be a kind gesture, she feels handing money to Funifura comes off as rude. She asks Megumin for advice on the subject, and Megumin says she’d raid an apothecary.

Yunyun finds that too much of a hassle, so Megumin says it wouldn’t be a bad idea to loan someone money if the situation is bleak. Bukkorori arrives. Bukkokori reveals this village swiped a Dark God from another location and harbors ancient weapons that can destroy the world.

After stopping by her home, Megumin trails Yunyun from a distance as she hands money to Funifura. Megumin stops Funifura and her friend. Funifura promises Megumin that they’re using the money to fund her brother’s aid. Megumin asks Funifura why she didn’t ask her for cash, and Funifura tells Megumin that she knows she’s poor. Megumin tells Funifura that she’ll secure medication for her.

Megumin and her classmates receive a potion-making task from their teacher in class. Arue offers to help Megumin with her project since she finished her concoction. Megumin is about to grab a live duck for her potion, but Yunyun stops her.

Arue tells Yunyun they only need the onion on its back to calm her down. Megumin harms the duck after Arue mentions how people like to make gourmet meals from it, upsetting Yunyun. Megumin meets up with Funifura and her buddy after class. She hands them a canister of health potion for her brother and tells Funifura she doesn’t need Yunyun’s money.

Funifura tells Megumin there’s a chance this may not work, and Megumin reveals she could care less if her brother’s healthy or not. Megumin’s furious that Funifura exploited Yunyun because she’s desperate for friends.

Funifura hands Megumin Yunyun’s cash, and Megumin tells Funifura to not take advantage of Yunyun’s good nature and naivete. Funifura and her friend argue that Megumin might be into Yunyun since she cares about her this much.

Megumin finds Yunyun playing with Inky alone in class. Megumin hands Yunyun her money, and Yunyun realizes Megumin gave Funifura some potion in exchange. Yunyun takes Megumin to a pancake eatery to reward her for her help. Megumin and Yunyun visit a park, and Megumin says she needs one more skill-up potion to graduate.

Although Megumin told Yunyun she needed three skill-up potions earlier in the episode, Megumin says she used the duck to earn herself a level and two skill points. Yunyun’s upset because she wanted to graduate together with Megumin. Megumin realizes Yunyun failed the test so she can be at equal odds with Megumin so they argue over advanced and explosion magic.

Although people deem it as “joke magic,” Megumin’s determined to learn it, so they get into a fight and Yunyun wins.

Megumin explains why she loves explosion magic to Yunyun. Megumin’s determined to learn this magic and seek out the mage who helped her when she was a toddler. Megumin tells Yunyun that she plans to embark on a journey after graduation. She’ll work some odd jobs beforehand to make sure Komekko’s okay. Yunyun reveals she wants to become a chief and help people.

Suddenly, bells start ringing prompting Megumin and Yunyun to notice the Dark God’s minions swarming over them. Megumin heads home with Yunyun, and the episode closes with our characters realizing Komekko’s missing.

The Episode Review

Konosuba: An Explosion On This Wonderful World ended with a spooky cliffhanger. It appears the villagers failed to redo the seal and Komekko is nowhere to be found. It’ll be intriguing to see how Yunyun and Megunin plan to save Komekko and deal with these devilish monsters. Nevertheless, it feels like we’re speeding through Megumin’s school days based on the intel we receive in this episode.

It’s underwhelming that the series is blazing through these bits. At the same time, it’s odd that Arue and Megumin don’t have that much bad blood toward each other considering the tension between them in the first episode. It feels like the anime has set Arue aside to focus more on Megumin and Yunyun’s relationship growth.

While this isn’t a terrible move, it’s unfortunate Arue’s been relegated to a lesser role in this tale so far given what we know of her intellect and potential. On the other hand, it was nice seeing Megumin stand up for Yunyun. No one deserves to be used for their kindness and Megumin makes that clear with her statements toward Funifura and her companion.

Overall, this was an okay episode. It had some funny facial humor and jokes, while showcasing more of Megumin’s likable qualities. The next episode alludes to Megumin and Yunyun utilizing some magic and this will surely appeal to many people who’ve been craving well-animated action sequences. Hopefully, the next chapter delivers on that front.