KonoSuba: God's Blessing on this Wonderful World!

 
People often say things like lol, lmao or even rofl (if you're a boomer). But when was the last time you actually did any of these? KonoSuba once got me so bad, I actually snorted my drink and continued to laugh breathlessly for a couple of minutes after. I can say, without a doubt, that KonoSuba is the funniest anime that I've seen ( and there is weight behind these words). Also called 'Kono Subarashi Sekai ni Shukufuku o!', this show wrote the book on Isekai spoofs and still has other anime trying to rip off its RPG game styled humor and setup. If you're looking for a light, interesting and quirky comedy with outstanding visuals, this one is absolutely perfect. 

The story follows a boy named Kazuma, who's basically a shut-in. One day Kazuma dies in a nonsensical accident and is made fun of by Aqua, a goddess who's supposed to guide his spirit to reincarnation (you with me so far?). Aqua decides to send Kazuma to a world that's fallen into trouble because of a powerful demon king and offers him one super power in order to become a great hero. Kazuma, who is annoyed by Aqua's glib attitude, asks the heavens to send Aqua down with him as a companion instead of giving him powers. Before she can object, both of them are cast into the new MMORPG styled world together, only to leave if they defeat the powerful demon king. Kazuma soon realizes that he made a mistake because Aqua is hilariously incompetent and also a lecherous drunk. Over time he tries to band together a powerful party, but ends up with an egoistical goddess, a sexually masochistic knight and a mage who is overconfident despite knowing just one attack. This party actually gives up on accomplishing anything, but inadvertently ends up solving great mysteries and unlocking difficult quests based on sheer dumb luck. Honestly the combination of these characters is pure genius and their adventures are hilarious enough to knock you off your seat. KonoSuba makes use of circumstantial humor and crafty dialogues to achieve this level of comedy and is unparalleled in executing slapstick perverted jokes. 

While I hold KonoSuba in high regard has a stress-busting and chill anime, I think it has a little more fan service than it needs, and that throws me off sometimes. The show has clever comedy, masked by ridiculous content but is cheapened by un-necessary raunchiness. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate raunchiness, I just think there could be better use here. 

         

My personal ratings are:

Story: 3/5
Character Development: 5/5
Dialogue: 5/5
Music: 3/5 
Entertainment: 5/5

Overall Recommendation: Two of Kazuma's Lives 

KonoSuba is available to stream on Netflix!

BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt so I'll Max Out My Defence

"Ew, not another cliche virtual reality video game based isekai anime, I'm done with this boring and repetitive concept". WRONG, there is no isekai out there like this one. Bofuri is a refreshing video game isekai featuring a female protagonist, and just seeing a shojo isekai that won't objectify women is reason enough to watch this. Even that aside, this is a very calming anime, full of positive vibes and amazing imagery. The focus of Bofuri is to display the perfect virtual reality gaming environment and community, a story about friendship, inspiration and hardcore RPG style fun!

The story of Bofuri is like one of those amazing dreams you get once in a while: it's a great experience, and you wish it was real when it ends. We follow a young girl called Kaede who plays a new online virtual reality video game for the first time, on her friend's recommendation. She names herself Maple in the game and is in it just to have fun. Not being a veteran gamer, she does a lot of unusual things like allocating all her skill points just to defense. Eventually through many events, unexpectedly becomes a strong player that even game developers start to keep an eye on. She goes through a journey of balancing her online life with her school work, learning how to make comrades in-game and exploring the unique game world. What I love about all this is that nothing ever goes wrong! The anime is all about positivity and showing viewers what the perfect online gaming experience would look like. And honestly, it worked, I want to be able to play this game. They absolutely nailed the battles, the power ups, the scenery and even the costume design (amazingly with zero lewd fan service). Watch the anime to see what unexpected things Maple will do next! 

Bofuri has just one short and sweet season with 12 episodes and a season two in development, while I like the anime's pacing, it falls flat in many episodes because of its general lack of direction. There are moments when you feel like the entire anime is a giant form of product placement but the game they are promoting is fake. I don't like that it's teasing an experience that does not exists.



My personal ratings are:

Story: 2/5
Character Development: 3/5
Dialogue: 3/5
Music: 3/5
Enjoyment: 4/5 

Overall Recommendation: Well if its fine with Maple then I'll do anything 

Watch BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt so I'll Max Out My Defence on Netflix and use a VPN if it's not in your region.            

How Not To Summon A Demon Lord

              

Imagine you were taking a walk in the park and came across a pile of shit that's on fire. It's an odd thing, but you find that you can't stop staring at it. Why? maybe you just want to see what happens to it or maybe it amuses you. We humans have been attracted to fire since ancient times after all. But that's 'How Not To Summon A Demon Lord' in a nutshell, it's a flaming turd that you probably want to stop looking at, but end up mysteriously looking at for longer that you expected. The show is unapologetically pervy, and is the epitome of Harem. If you like a simple plot with an OP main protagonist who goes about simply eradicating every enemy in sight, you might enjoy this show. You'll come for the action sequences, but stay for the unlimited fan service, if you like that stuff that is. I'm just a neutral blogger whose girlfriend reads this page and will comment no further on the quality of the fan service. 

How Not To Summon A Demon Lord has the story line of a basic Isekai anime (transported to a fantasy world genre). A boy named Takuma who spends most of his life mastering an online RPG under the username Diablo suddenly gets sucked into the game world. He finds out that he has been summoned by two girls called Shera and Rem who bungled a summoning spell and ended up enslaving themselves to Diablo who is now stuck in his OP video game persona. Rem has a demon sealed in her body who is the final boss of the game, and Diablo pledges to destroy it without harming her so he can return home. As expected the anime is rife with ridiculous perverted comedy around the dynamics of these three. Apart from that, it is interesting to watch Diablo's power unfold in this world as he goes from being a weakling in his world to now becoming a buff and attractive demon lord. There are many satisfying scenes where annoying and overconfident villains are pretty much obliterated by Diablo. There's just something wholesome about watching an underestimated hero destroying these type of villains. 

Oh boy where do I begin with the problems in this anime. It is blatantly sexist with extremely problematic scenes even by Harem standards. It tries to go for raunchy content but tries too hard and ends up with a mix of uncomfortable and strained parts far too many times. In all honesty, while I do enjoy fan service in certain anime, this one crosses too many lines. I've seen tasteful fan service in many an Isekai, this one just wasn't for me. That being said, no judgement if you, like I'm sure many (after all it has been renewed for season two) happen to enjoy it. 

             

My personal ratings are:

Story: 2/5
Character Development: 2/5
Dialogue: 3/5
Music: 2/5 
Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall Recommendation: Two anime wifus! 

 How Not To Summon A Demon Lord is available on Netflix.