Warning: If you have not read “Konosuba: God’s Blessing On This Wonderful World! Volume 1” by Natsume Akatsuki and illustrated by Kurone Mishima, do not read this review if you don’t want spoilers!
I’m back with another book review, and this time it’s “Konosuba: God’s Blessing On This Wonderful World! Volume 1” by Natsume Akatsuki and illustrated by Kurone Mishima! Here’s a summary so we know what it’s about:
“Game loving shut-in Kazuma Sato’s life as a young schoolboy in Japan abruptly comes to an early end…or at least it was supposed to. When he opens his eyes, though, he sees a beautiful goddess that offers him a once in an after-lifetime chance to be reborn in a parallel world. The catch is that the world is violent and threatened by a growing evil! Fortunately, he can choose any one thing to bring with him. So he chooses the goddess, Aqua! And so his adventure with his gorgeous companion begins–if he could just get enough money and food to survive, keep his goddess out of trouble, and avoid grabbing the attention of the Demon King’s army!”
The characters really drove the plot through their interactions with each other, and Kazuma, Darkness, Megumin and Aqua had some hilarious interactions! I do think, however, compared to “The Devil is a Part-Timer!” or “Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls in A Dungeon?” that this book leans a bit more on the fanservice-esque side. For example, there are instances where Kazuma tries to practice his abilities as a Thief once he’s reborn in the parallel world, he ends up grabbing someone’s panties instead.
…yes, this actually happens. I’m not joking.
Another fanservice-esque/funny anime moment is when the party keeps repeatedly failing against even the most minor enemies, only for them to win against a major one later on. It’s definitely something I can see as an anime by itself, but in terms of actual plot underneath all that, there wasn’t much of a major plot other than getting used to the world around them and picking up all the party members. I’m sure the plotline will develop in later books, but this felt a bit too introductory.
Despite the book being more fanservice-esque and a bit too introductory in nature, however, the hilarious parts were actually hilarious (other than having one too many panties being stolen), and it was especially funny to see Kazuma trying to get used to everything around him. The worldbuilding itself is actually quite good as well, and reminds me a bit of how the worldbuilding for “Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon?” and “Sword Art Online” works.
Overall, I’m rating this 3 out of 5 stars due to the plot being a bit too fanservice-esque and introductory for my tastes despite the interesting worldbuilding, but I would definitely try reading the next book to see if it gets any better!