V Reviews - My Hero Academia: One hair will change your life!

Ever since Marvel started their cinematic Universe, heroes have become more popular than ever before. It's only natural then that even the manga world starts to pick up on the trend and create heroes themselves.

And there have been several attempts at hero-related manga, both in the past and today (with various degrees of success).

There have been great series like Zetman, Ratman, Tiger & Bunny and obviously One Punch Man (just to name a few). But one hero show has conquered many hearts in both the East and West. This is My Hero Academia

Ready? Let's get this show on the road.

V Reviews - My Hero Academia (Season 1)

Let's dig into some backstory first...

Kōhei Horikoshi is a mangaka from 1986 who required some time to actually get a long running series from the ground.

He started off as an assistant to Yasuki Tanaka, creator of Kagijin. Whilst doing this, he also created a few one-shots to get his own career started.

But don't worry if you have never heard the name of Yasuki Tanaka before. Kagijin was cancelled after two volumes and none of Tanakas other series stuck as well. Kagijin is literally the last recorded manga Tanaka worked on.

So without a steady mangaka to work for, Kōhei had to start creating a series that could get himself launched in the industry. In 2010 he got his first manga running, named Oumagadoki Zoo. This series sadly enough lasted only for 5 volumes before it was canned.

Not too long after that, he tried with the series named Barrage (first as a one-shot, then as a series). But that one didn't do that well either, and after TWO volumes it got canned.

After that, two years of nothing with only 1 one-shot manga that got published. But that is only looking at recorded works. Who knows how many attempts at a new series were refused by Jump's editors?

Look, even Hattori isn't impressed.

But then in 2014, Kōhei finally got a manga series started that is still running today: Boku no Hero Academia (My hero Academia). Kōhei has truly struggled hard to obtain a long-running series. So let's celebrate that he finally has a franchise that is favored well by manga readers and anime viewers alike!

And well-liked it is. The manga has already generated two spin-off manga's, a video game and now also an anime that is going into its second season this spring!

Edit: Oh, and on a side-note: You can follow Kohei on twitter @horikoshiko.

Story

The world of My Hero Academia is one where more than 80% of all people have a superpower (called kosei, or "Quirks"). Some people use them as "tools" in their daily life, while others become either villains or actual superheroes.

Our protagonist Izuku Midoriya has been dreaming his entire life to become one of these superheroes and starts to adore them. His biggest idol is the superman-like hero "All Might". But Izukus dreams are crushed when medical tests have proven he has no quirk at all.

Could YOU tell him he can't become a hero when he makes a face like this?

But even with no powers, he continues to adore Superheroes and fills notebooks with info about them, much to the annoyance of other kids with powers. These kids end up bullying him, with rival character Katsuki Bakugou at the helm of all this.

But after All Might accidentally releases a villain he just caught, said villain catches up to these bullies and catches Bakugou. The monstrous blobby villain wants to "absorb" Bakugou and use his explosive powers for his own. But since the villain leaves parts of the absorbed Bakugou on the outside (and thus make him appear as a hostage), nobody of the existing heroes is able to do something about this (out of fear of killing the hostage).

"Wait, this kid can use explosions? Coooool..."

When Midoriya enters the scene and sees this happening, his legs start moving on their own and he wants to go help his "friend" / bully. The powerless Midorya is obviously unable to do anything, but he's able to distract the monster long enough for All Might to jump in and save the day.

One PUUUUUUUUUUUUUNCH!

Inspired by Midoriya's actions and his backstory, All Might decides to make Midoriya the inheritor of his powers.

Why is he looking for an inheritor? Because a wound he received years ago is seriously decreasing his ability to act as a hero and it's only growing worse by the time. All Might explains that his Quirk "One for All", can copy his powers onto Midoriya... as long as he absorbs All Might's DNA somehow.

As you might guess... If this was a hentai, it would be indeed be via sperm or spit or something similarly disgusting. Since this is a shonen, it's kept to the the awkward act of... eating his hair.

You won't get no dessert 'till you clean off your plate, so EAT IT!

The rest of the story focuses on Midoriya's story into becoming an actual hero in the U.A. Academy and becoming accustomed to All Might's high power with an equally destructive side-effect.

Characters

	Izuku Midoriya: Main character. He's a hero fanboy who desires to become a hero himself. After he acquires the "One for All" power, he becomes the textbook definition of a glass cannon. His story focuses on both becoming a true hero, as well as accepting this overwhelming power that disables him just as much. Fun note: Midori(ya) = green, which is present in his color scheme.
	Katsuki Bakugou: Starts out as the bully of Midoriya, but ends up becoming the rival character. He looks like Bleach's Ichigo with a superiority complex and a very short fuse. The name "Bakugou" also literally means detonation (which says enough about his character).
	All Might: This universe's incarnation of the Superman archetype. But he quickly reveals that he's just a human too, since he's carrying a "war wound" from a battle of several years ago that is limiting and decreasing his time as a hero.
	Tenya Iida: The typical super-straight guy who wants to do everything by the book and becomes the class president. He's one o the first U.A. students that befriends Midoriya. His power is becoming super-fast due to jet engines in his feet.
	Ochako Uraraka: The "love interest" character for Midoriya. Wants to become a hero for money reasons (to help her poor family) and has the ability to make things and people "float" (including herself). Though this comes at the cost of becoming nauseous if used for too long. She befriends Midoriya rather quick and is the one who gives his nickname "Deku a positive spin (form "useless" to "never giving up").
	Shouta Aizawa: Eraserhead. He's the homeroom teacher of Midoriya's class and has the ability to cancel or "erase" other hero's quircks for a short time (though it gives him dry eye if used for too long).

And since this is a "high school" manga, there are tons of supporting characters in form of Midoriya's classmates. Too much to name them all, though. In this first season, most of the classmates remain as minor supporting characters. But some more time is given to Asui Tsuyu (the frog girl) and Minoru Mineta (the sticky balls guy) than others in this first story arc.

Animation & Sound

I can be very short when it comes to the animation. My Hero Academia is animated by Studio Bones. Bones = Consistent Quality animation. End of story.

When it comes to the sound, however, I'm in awe. The score is done by Yuuki Hayashi, and he did a phenomenal job. THIS is the kind of music I want in my Superhero movies or series.

While having good movies, I think it's an understatement that the music of both Marvel and DC's Cinematic Universe (and TV series) are lackluster, with only a handful of DC character themes actually being memorable (e.g. the Wonder Woman theme). Both DC and Marvel should stop playing it safe and take a few lessons from this soundtrack!

So give this OST a listen, if you can (search it on Youtube, or buy the CD). It's one of the best OSTs I've heard from 2016!

Any negatives?

My Hero Academia a typical Shonen action anime. This means that this anime is filled with lots of anime tropes and is lacking in complex storytelling or characters. So if you're looking for the "critical darling" of 2016, you're at the wrong address here.

But on the other end... This IS a hero anime with a positive vibe. If you wanted a critical breakdown of the hero genre, go read Zetman instead (but don't bother watching that anime adaptation.)!

Personal opinion and Conclusion!

In my honest opinion, My Hero Academia is a perfect gateway anime, especially for people in the west who love their TV-series colored "hero"!

With that I mean that it's perfect to suggest to your friends if they want to experience what a typical anime is about, without going to "deep" or "weird" in storytelling. It's something that anyone of any age can enjoy.

This is also a perfect replacement for people who felt sad that Naruto and Bleach have ended and want something else that is equally digestible.

Personally, I certainly can enjoy a well-crafted Shonen action series like this. I enjoyed the first season and am definitely looking forward for the second season!

I'm giving this a solid 8.5/10.

Until next time, V out.

V Reviews - March comes in like a lion: Hello Darkness, my old friend

In anime, the Spring and Fall season are generally the best ones of each year. So when I look around for new anime to watch, I keep a closer eye to releases from these seasons, rather than summer or winter.

But while "March comes in like a Lion" wasn't directly on my radar from trailers and "top anticipated" lists, the early reviews of the season already pinned this one as a Dark Horse amongst anime. And it caught my interest since people described it as "real" and "more adult, but in a good way".

Also, the Japanese title "3-Gatsu no Lion" literally translates to "The March lion"... and let's face it. Legends (and thus also lions) are born in March #ShamelessSelfPraise.

So I started watching it. And boy, was I in for a ride on the feels.

V Reviews: March comes in like a lion

Let's start with some backstory...

March comes in like a lion is an ongoing (bi)monthly manga created by Chika Umino, who is also known for her work "Honey & Clover", as well as the characters designs for "Eden of the East".

While the mangaka tries to remain anonymous by using the pen name Chika Umino, the digital age has slipped some details on who she is.

She is born in 1980, is a fan of cats, Harry Potter & Hayao Miyazaki and she calls herself a real otaku. Her artist avatar is a female bear (with a hat!) and her pen name is a play on "Umi no Chikaku no Youenchi" (an amusement park by the sea). This is also the title of her doujin manga she created before she became a professional artist.

Her blog hasn't been updated in a while, but she is VERY active on Twitter. you can follow her @CHICAUMINO if you can read Japanese.

The manga 3-Gatsu no Lion has been serialized Young Animal since 2007 (ten years this year!), has garnered several awards (including the Osamu Tezuka award) and now finally has received both an anime adaptation AND a two Live Action films (slated for release in 2017). The first of these movies one to be seen... in March! (ba-dum-tihs).

Story

The main story follows the daily life of the young Shogi player Rei Kiriyama. He's one of the five professional shogi player who were able to start a pro career while still being a middle school student. And now Rei is starting to live by himself to become more independent. But this is not your typical story of a "prodigy gamer" archetype who goes on a one-way trip straight to the top. This is a slow-paced drama that makes you feel every moment of his life.

This is slice-of-life done right!

When the weight of the world forces you to hang your head.

You experience Rei's loss in the moment he lost his parents and sister in a car accident. you feel his pain when being adopted in a family where the foster mother and siblings don't want anything to do with him and are jealous of his talent. You feel his devolution as his yearning for independence slowly degrades into feelings of loneliness to the point where even he starts to wonder if this is the best path he could've taken. You feel his daily slumber when he drags himself to shogi matches, sometimes even not caring what is going to happen.
When the first episode starts, it focuses on an official match between him and his foster father, and Rei couldn't be further down the drain on an emotional level.

And from that all-time low, you see him slowly changing and opening up, due to the influence of the Kawamoto sisters...

Leave your sadness at the doorstep. Only smiles allowed!

How did THAT happen? Well, one night Rei is being dragged to a night club by fellow shogi players who forced him to drink all night (don't forget, he's still a minor!). After that, he's abandoned on the street, all sickly and drunk. He is eventually found by club hostess Akari Kawamoto and is brought into her household to recover. She helps him over his hangover and allows him to stay for a while.

When a girl helps you over a hangover like this, she's a keeper!

After that evening, he's regularly invited (or dragged) into their household, as if he was a stray cat they were feeding. And Rei slowly accepts this unfamiliar feeling of warmth and coziness.

What follows are his slice-of-life routine of Shogi matches and his encounters with people that he HAS to interact with, even if he doesn't want to. This varies from his self-proclaimed rival, to his foster sister, to his fellow shogi players, to Gotou: the one guy this series really treats as a "villain".

Gotou, a proper candidate for Villain of the year

But after each time Rei has an encounter he doesn't really want, he also has encounters with the Kawamoto family. And each time again you see Rei slowly become a human again. These situations vary from helping the sisters with their grandfather's candy shop, to helping Hinata confess to her crush, to just being there when the girls really need him, as if he was a big brother... or as the father figure these girls need.

Characters:

	Rei Kiriyama: Literally means "zero" and the story often points out that he feels himself as a "zero". This entire story (and I include the manga) is his journey from a teenage boy with some serious issues into real adulthood. And this all while playing Shogi games as a pro.
	Akari kawamoto: The mother figure of the Kawamoto household (though she's only 21) and the person who first took care of Rei. She took over the role of mother figure when her actual mother passed away shortly after Momo was born. She helps her grandfather by day and acts as a hostess for her aunt during the evening to make some money for her family. She loves cats and "stray" creatures (hence why she took in our "stray Rei").
	Hinata Kawamoto: The middle Kawamoto sister and a real teenage girl (in every sense). She sees Rei somewhat as her "big brother", though she never really calls him that way.
	Momo Kawamoto: The youngest Kawamoto sibling is a preschooler who doesn't understand everything yet. She's pure and innocent, which makes others want to protect her from the reality that is life.
	Nikaidou Harunobu: Self-proclaimed rival to Rei since childhood. He appears to be from a wealthy family, but also has very poor health (even though he tries to hide that from Rei). He's modeled after Shogi Player Satoshi Murayama, who was considered a young genious in Shogi, but died at the early age of 29 due to ongoing health issues.
	"grandpa" Someji Kawamoto: Grandfather of the Kawamoto sisters and only real adult in their household. He owns a candy shop and actually has no real problems with Rei being around his "girls" so much. Though that's probalby because it's really easy to see through Rei and see he wouldn't hurt a fly.
	Tatsuyuki "Smith" Misumi: One of the more interesting side-characters. If only due to that unmistakable voice of Tomokazu Sugita (voice of Gintoki in Gintama, Karasuma in Assasination Classroom, Joseph Joestar in JoJo, and many many more).

Other supporting characters include Rei's step-sister, Nikaido's (stalker) butler, the Kawamoto's aunt and Rei's teacher. Though most of them only appear in a handful of episodes.

Animation & Sound

Oh my god, this anime is wonderful to look at. It's like watching a watercolor painting come to life. Yes, it takes some time getting used to the typical mouths drawn by Chica Umino. They're... weird. And yes, that is typical of her drawing style. You can see the exact same things in her previous works.

But once you get over that, it's like an orgasm of wonderful colors that meet you. During the setting of the majority of the story (fall and winter), you see and feel the cold atmosphere of the story being comforted by the warm colors of the Kawamoto family. And... and... how can you explain something like this? It's art! It's wonderful! I could keep watching this and never get bored of it.

I have to say it didn't come as a surprise that this was animated by Studio Shaft. While the head tilts are kept to a minimum (they are present, though), other typical Shaft animation tropes can be found in the anime (e.g. super detailed rooms).

On the other end: music. The music as well is very fitting for the animation and actually helps you on that wonder-train through this animation.

Oh, and did I mention the relationship this series has with the band "Bump of Chicken"? In 2014 the band released a music video for their song "Fighter", with animation of the 3-Gatsu manga. The title of the video is aptly named: "March comes in like a lion meets BUMP OF CHICKEN" and can be viewed on the Youtube Channel of Bump of Chicken. The single was also added to the 10th manga volume as a promo piece.

In return, the band performed the first Opening and End theme for the anime. But guess what the Ending was? Yes... It's Fighter! A nice nod.

Any negatives?

If there's anything negative to say about this series, it's probably that it moves at a snail's pace. For example, the first episode takes about five minutes of Rei getting dressed and going to a Shogi match with hardly any dialogue spoken. And just before the "action" begins, we get rewarded with this gem.

Your reward for getting to 5:47 in the first episode...

But all jokes aside, Personally I don't find it a bad thing for this anime specifically. The emotional story and combination of animation and sound are great as they are. Making it shorter or faster would only be dishonest to the story that is written. But I can understand if the slow pacing is off-puting for somebody looking for something a little more "flashier".

So if "something flashier" IS what you are looking for, you are at the wrong address here. This is not an anime for you.

However, if you do want to take place on this feel-train, I will gladly let you on board. While it may not have been nominated for best anime of 2016, it sure is my personal favorite.

Final conclusion

This anime is a wonderful anime that requires your time, but rewards you with a deep story and great animation. I'm giving it a 9/10.

Yes, I'm reviewing it before it finishes airing. It's a great series that deserves your attention! Go watch it!

Also, having caught up with the manga, I can only hope that a second season gets greenlit. Because trust me, the story is only going to get better after this (so cross your fingers!).

That's it for now. Until next time, V out.

V's thoughts on the Academy Awards Nominations - Your Name got snubbed!

Yesterday, the nominations for the Oscars were published. And as usual, it quickly becomes a topic of discussion. Yes, for the first time in a few years, the oscars aren't pure white (*sigh* let's hope that's now over).

Also, fanboys aren't that happy that Deadpool didn't get a single nomination, not even for effects or costumes. And that while Suicide Squad DID get a nomination (for make-up and costumes). Err, okay?

But while I'm not a die-hard cinema-fanboy (and thus haven't seen much of the films nominated), there is the topic of animation where I come to put my two cents.

Best Animated feature nominees

The following three anime films were also submitted for the Animated Feature Film category, but they did not receive a nomination (i.o.w. the snubs):

• Takeshi Nozue's Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV
• Keiichi Hara's Miss Hokusai
• Makoto Shinkai's Your Name

A few things to note on this list

A: Being submitted doesn't mean that much if you keep in mind that animated movies like the "Angry Birds movie" were also submitted for best animated feature this year (*gee, I wonder why that wasn't selected*).

B: Miss Hokusai's submission is weird, since it's a 2015 movie. For some reason it's only now being submitted for awards (it did end the short list of the 2017 Annie awards and Satellite awards).

C: Your Name being snubbed is a real sad thing. The movie has garnered wide acclaim from everyone that has seen it, and I really (REALLY)! want it to get screenings over here in Belgium as well (silent grumble). It not getting a nomination isn't going to help, sadly enough.

D: Well, how do I put this... Why is the Red Turtle being tagged as a Ghibli film?

The Red Turtle: A Ghibli film???

The Red Turtle was a title that surprised me in more than one way. Most notably because news outlet keep attaching the name Studio Ghibli to it and when looking up some details, "Belgium" was tagged as where part of its production process was done (wait, WHAT???!!!)

But digging a little deeper quickly showed the truth. Dutch director Michaël Dudok de Wit (known for his Oscar for best short feature "Father and Daughter") went and convinced both Hayao Miyazaki and producer Toshio Suzuki (and thus by extension Studio Ghibli) to Co-Produce this film.

So while the name of Suzuki and Studio Ghibli are attached to this movie and said studio may have had some influence over the production process and visual aesthetic, they didn't actually animate this movie. In the end, all animation was done in Europe.

I might buy this movie when it appears on our shelves, just to see how much influence Suzuki/Ghibli had on the end result (if any at all).

So who is going to win best animated feature?

From this selection, I would personally love to see Kubo and the Two Strings win. Studio Laika has been making great movies time after time, but Kubo wasn't really the box office success they had hoped it would be. Rumors go that if Kubo wasn't a big success, the studio might even shut down (please don't let that happen!). So basically, winning the Oscar would be a good thing to happen for the continued existence of Studio Laika.

But that is just me hoping. Realistically, the two biggest contenders are Zootopia and My Life as a Zucchini. Zootopia has won the Golden Globe already, while Zucchini has won the Satellite Award (and has garnered other praise internationally).

But given the Oscar judges' track record on their careful analysis of animated features (or better: lack thereof), the statue is probably just going the most favored/American movie (in this case: Zootopia).

Best Animated Short

This category is always an ignored one (not that many people pay attention to short films). Also, while there was a flooding of short films submitted for this category (70!), not a single anime short made it to the short-list (for the third year in a row).

And from the shortlist, eventually these animated shorts are nominated:

• Theodore Ushev's "Blind Vaysha"
• The short made by 2 Pixar animators: "Borrowed Time"
• Robert Valley's: "Pear Cider and Cigarettes"
• The Google VR short: "Pearl". This one you can see in 360° on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqCH4DNQBUA
• The Pixar short: "Piper" (which aired before Finding Dory)

I can't give arguments for which is better, since I haven't seen most of them (same goes to you, probably). But if there's a film festival near you, you might want to check the short film section for any of these. Go watch them if you have the chance. Short films are way too underappreciated.

Well, that's all I can say on the subject.

Until next time, V out.

V Reviews Ace Attorney (TV) - I object to this anime!

I make no secret of it. I'm a big fan of the Ace Attorney (Gyakutan Saiban) games ever since its first European release on the original DS, back in 2006. The series has always been a good mix of point-and-click adventure games with visual novels, all while having a good dose of humor and suspense.

I was part of the crowd that clung onto the fan translation of AA3 due to Capcom not being straight on whether or not it was going to receive an English release; I was one of the skeptics on the portrayal of Phoenix in the Apollo Justice game (but eventually got swayed), I'm one of those who desperately wants Investigations 2 and "Dai Gyakutan Saiban" to be released in the west and so on and so on. So yeah, big fan.

And through all the years of being a fan, I have been secretly wishing for an anime adaptation of the original trilogy. So you could call me excited when Capcom and A1-pictures announced that they would have an anime adaptation of the first games back in early 2016. But sadly enough, my experience with this anime can be formulated in the five stages of grief.

Stage 1: Denial

The first few episodes aired and I kind of liked it. The animation was a bit "off" at times, but I tried to have an open mind to it. Even though I felt some things were missing, I was still excited to see this favorite game series being animated.

The music and voice acting was good enough. It's obvious enough that the music is adapted form the much beloved OSTs of the games. So for a lot of fans it's the first time hearing these themes outside of the video games. But for some reason nothing really stands out.

Also, the desperation of Capcom to make sure the subs of the anime reflect the translated game text often has hilarious results.

That moment you hear "miso ramen", but read this...

Stage 2: Anger

Because I felt things were missing in all of the episodes, I bought the Ace Attorney Trilogy remake for my 3DS and played all through it again. And I suddenly realized what was missing. Entire chunks of the game were cut.

And not just any chunks, but almost every part that included character development was gone, especially when concerned to Miles Edgeworth. In the second and third case of the first game, we were exposed to the dark side of Edgeworth. He's a prosecutor who stops at nothing to win his case, with lying and manipulating both witnesses and evidence. But in the anime he was reduced to a generic rival character with no real charisma. If you only would only watch this anime, you would never understand why Edgeworth has become one of the most iconic game characters of game history.

The fourth case adaptation was a mess. Manfred Von Karma is easily one of the most threatening villains in the entire franchise. In the game, he went as far as physically assaulting you just to steal evidence that could potentially be used against him! He's a real threat. But here he's just... an cartoonish bad guy with 0 charisma.

The threat of the game vs the "face of evil" of the anime

Stage 3: Bargaining

After the end of the first game adaptation, I was trying to bargain with myself: Maybe the second game adaptation will be better. And when they handle the third game, the experience of the animators will have improved so much, that it will get better without a doubt. I mean, Godot is the most iconic antagonist of the entire franchise. They wouldn't ruin that one, right?

Stage 4: Depression

Why did they remove the fifth case of the first game? Why remove the opening case of the second game? Why did they add in a fluffy filler episode that added NOTHING of story to this. Why?

Anybody want to tell me why we got a mushy "Edgeworth looking for his dog" story instead of "Phoenix gets his head bashed in" story?

And then the total number of episodes was finally confirmed. There's no way to add in the third game in here. This anime is a failure, man. Failure. This is horrible. Why create an anime if this is the way it's being handled. Who directed this? Come on! Couldn't they at least LOOK at the other team that animated the promo video for Spirits of Justice? THAT one is amazing compared to this! Seriously, it's available on Youtube. Just watch that.

We wanted a good anime to advice to our friends who like the character, but have no idea where to begin in the gaming franchise. This is not the anime we wanted...

Stage 5: Acceptance

Now that a few months have passed since the final episode has aired, I can only say the following: Forget this anime exists. While this is not a good adaptation of the games, it does not reduce what the original Ace Attorney games stand for.

And right now, at least there's one thing less on my mind... Now I'm no longer secretly hoping for an anime adaptation of my favorite games. If THIS is how game adaptations are being handled in the anime industry, I'd rather not see any anime of video games at all.

Final verdict

I give this anime a 5/10. It's not horrible per sé. And if you have never seen anything of the Phoenix Wright / Gyakutan Saiban franchise, this isn't THAT bad. But overall, I can't really recommend it either. There are just so many better anime to watch all together.

If you want to catch up on the best anime of 2016, this is one you can easily skip.But if you DO want to check it out, it's available on Crunchyroll for free streaming.

Next time, a more positive review.

Until then, V out.

V Reviews Konosuba - Slayers anno 2016

After receiving some recommendations, I've been watching Konosuba. And I've got to admit. It's been a while since I've been laughing my ass off with a series like this.

Comedy in anime is something that either works or doesn't. And with this anime it works wonders. It was colorful, had a few unexpected twists that were funny. And heck, even the hooks that were predictable were still funny in its execution. Yet, it all has some sort of familiar feeling I couldn't shake... until it hit me.

This anime is heavily influenced by the Slayers franchise. And I don't mind it one bit.

V reviews - KonoSuba: God's blessing on this wonderful world

Let's dig into the Backstory

Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku o! (which is usually abbreviated as KonoSuba) is a web novel written by Akatsuki Natsume in the period of 2012-2013.

In 2013 the web novel got officially released as a light novel series, with the 10th volume being released last November.

It also spawned a few spin-offs with similarly colorful titles that translate to: "Give Explosions to This Wonderful World!" and "Consulting with the Masked Devil!"

And since the novels got so popular (already selling over 1.5 million copies), it spawned a manga incarnation that has been running ever since 2014 and a radio drama that was released in 2015.

So it was bound to happen that an anime would be made as well. In early 2016 we finally got a short first series of 10 episodes, 1 OVA (to promote the 9th novel of the main series), and a second season airing at this very moment!

FYI: If you want to stay posted on the releases of her novels, Akatsuki keeps a blog (in Japanese, obviously) where she occasionally post status updates on her franchise.
Link: http://natsumeakatsuki.blog.fc2.com/

The Story:

Our protagonist Sato Kazuma is a shut-in gamer who dies on the one day he decides to pick up a new game. When this death scene at first seems like a rip-off from Yu Yu Hakusho (even to the point where the character is confronted by this universe's Botan: Aqua), the follow-up on this situation comes out of left-field and leaves you on the floor laughing. And that is just a small example on how this anime joyfully plays with expectations. If I'm being vague, that's because the humor works best if you don't know what is going to happen.

Botan, err, I mean the goddess Aqua gives our hero Kazuma a choice to either go to heaven (which is described as boring-as-f**k), to be reincarnated as a baby (and thus a full reset) or to be "spawned" into a dangerous fantasy world with the task to defeat the demon king, with all of his memories intact.

Kazuma chooses the fantasy world and (in a twist of fate) forces Aqua to come with him.

Yeah, she likes that idea. Go for it!

But bringing Aqua along with him is something he regrets nearly immediately. Why? Because Aqua is virtually useless as a companion. She ironically has little to no knowledge of the world she sends Kazuma and other adventurers into and her only real skill is that she knows healing magic (and occasionally remembers that she can use water magic too).

But as a consequence for forcing Aqua in his adventure, Kazuma has entered this world without either equipment nor money (and neither does Aqua). So our two heroes need to find a job as adventurers with basically nothing (which surprisingly is harder than they expected).

Sorry i ain't got no money, i'm not trying to be funny...

What follows is a series of comedic adventures of our heroes struggling to get money to live while doing odd-jobs and quests to obtain experience, equipment and new skills.

When this "amazing duo" realizes that certain quests are virtually impossible to complete on their own, they try to gather some allies. But to Kazuma's surprise, the people that end up joining their party (a mage called Megumin and a paladin-like warrior called Darkness) are both highly classed, but also very, very useless in their own rights.

"Yes, my eyepatch IS fake. Amazing, right?"

The rest of this story focuses on this (useless) party of four going on quests and taking on certain challenges (of which the are often the root cause of).

But even if they somehow win big quest money, they have reaked so much havok that the repair cost leaves them virtually broke or in debt. There's a reason why they spend most of their time sleeping in a horse stable.

Yes, that IS horse shit. Why do you ask?

Characters

	Sato Kazuma: The protagonist. He's a bit of a scumbag, but we easily forgive him due to the way he's being portrayed. He is the only competent character of his party and is able to guide his useless party of four to an uncertain victory. But he also has good enough leader skills to find the best use for his team mates and allies in order to survive their battles.
	Aqua: One of the most selfish and lazy goddesses out there. She's probably the strongest character on the team in terms of abilities, but when push comes to shove she's dumb as f**k and very, very dense.
	Megumin: The dark mage. The perfect incarnation for the term "glass cannon". She knows incredibly strong magic, but can only perform it once per day. And since she's a die-hard fan of explosion magic, she refuses to learn anything else.
	Darkness: The Paladin-like warrior who wants to "protect" everybody with her body. She has a few serious screws loose and an incredible accuracy of 0% on all her hits.

Animation & Sound

Okay, let's address the elephant in the room. This series is animated by Studio Deen. And yes, the animation of the first season and OVA are very good!
This may sound weird to you if you're not familiar with animation studios or if you're just getting into anime. But Studio Deen is kind of infamous when it comes to animation, especially when trying to keep up a certain level of quality animation.

There's a reason why this became a meme...

So for average Deen standards, this level of quality is surprisingly good.

The second season however somehow started on a lower note in terms of animation quality. I can only hope this first episode of S2 is an odd ball out and that the quality will increase from here on (wishful thinking?). Cross your fingers and hope for the best!

Don't make this a recurring thing... please.

In terms of sound & music... it's okay. The music isn't bad per se. The opening is good enough to not skip it and ending is chill enough to listen to. But for the rest of the anime, it often feels like I'm listening to typical generic royalty-free music from a random youtube channel. I sincerely doubt that's the case, but that is just how it feels. So that's a bit of a downer.

Inspired by Slayers?

If you are a long-time anime viewer, you may have some familiar feelings when watching this anime. No, I'm not talking about how the opening episode is a parody on the first episode of Yu Yu Hakusho. I'm talking about how the entire series feels like I'm watching Slayers all over again.

But while Akatsuki makes sure her characters and story isn't a carbon copy of Slayers, there's no helping that some of the personalities of the Slayers characters can be found back in many of the KonoSuba cast (both main and supporting cast).

• Lina Inverse can be found back in both Aqua and Megumin. Megumin is the Dark Mage with her own kind of Dragon Slave Magic who only loves explosions and massive destruction. Not to mention that a lot of Lina's looks are projected onto Megumin. Aqua on the other end has lots of Lina's personality and big mouth.
• Gourry can mostly be found back in Darkness. Darkness is the Paladin-like warrior who wants to protect her allies and is a straightforward idiot. She also generally looks like a gender-swapped Gourry (which isn't that strange since he was forced to cross-dress from time to time).
• Wis is a lot like Slayer's Sylphiel, even to the point where the person with Lina's character (Aqua) does not like Sylphiel's character (Wis).
• Yunyun (who appears in the OVA and in season 2) is a fusion of both Naga and Amelia
• Kazuma actually is the most difficult to pinpoint to one or more Slayers characters. If anything, he sounds a bit like a fusion of Zelgadis and Xelloss, but in general he feels like the most "original" character of the group.

So yes, a lot of similarities. But is it a rip-off?
No. I think it's just very difficult to write a fantasy comedy without any references to anything that happened in Slayers. Slayers just had that much of an impact on both comedies and fantasy stories.

Cut episodes?

In terms of negatives, the only thing I can think of is the feeling that some episodes have been scrapped from the original planning. This should've been an anime with 12 episodes, but we somehow only ended up with 10.

Why do I think this? Well, three reasons:

• There's the awkward introduction of Wis. She's just there and we're told very shortly how our heroes encountered her "before". But there is an immediate animosity between Aqua and Wis that required a voice-over explanation in that episode.
• Then there is the lack of Yunyun, even though she appears in the opening theme. Yunyun does appear in the OVA, but in the OVA there is a need to voice-over on how our heroes encountered her before. And since the OVA was a promo piece for the 9th novel, I don't really know where this story fits in with the story canon.
• Also, the last episode ends on a weird cliffhanger which is resolved in the first episode of S2. A comedy like this doesn't really need cliffhangers, so this was kind of a weird way to end your first season on.
• Oh yeah... and the fact that it was announced at the start that the first season would be 11 episodes + 1 OVA. So yes, at least one episode definitely got "lost" on the cutting floor.

Yes, I exist. But not in this season!

Personal opinion & conclusion

Overall, I give this anime an 8/10. It's no masterpiece, but it doesn't need to be. It's a comedy that's 10 episodes long that will leave you laughing A LOT (11 if you count the OVA), so it's easy to sit through.

Final conclusion: If you like comedies and anime in a fantasy setting, give this anime a watch. You will not regret it.

Until next time,
V out.