Anime of Winter 2015/2016. Yeah, I called it.

This show is freaking hilarious. Never before has Studio Deen, the studio behind the subpar adaption of Fate/Stay Night surprised me so much. This wasn't even on my radar going into this season. And for good reason. Konosuba is riding on the "ordinary guy forced to live in a fantasy world" trope and trend that anime seems intent on pumping out every single season. But I gotta say, it's riding it out of the park and straight through rainbow road.

The comedy behind the show is a parody intent on subverting everything typical of a JRPG fantasy adventure. Konosuba follows the adventures of Satou Kazuma and his merry party as they struggle to survive in a fantasy world where the demon lord is attempting to rule all mankind. His party consists of Aqua (a bonafide goddess turned Arch Priest), Megumin (an Arch Wizard capable of the strongest offensive magic there is) and Darkness (a Crusader with incredible defense and 'tolerance' for pain). This is the makings of a great generic story except there's a catch: everyone except Kazuma has a personality fault the size of San Andreas. Getting to learn about these characters and witnessing their antics is the best part about this show. Naturally, Kazuma sticks to the straight man routine for most of the show, but he does it really well. His comebacks usually serve to add more fuel to the comedic bonfire going.

And its all so, so great. I haven't seen a show this consistently funny since Gintama. It's one of the shows where once you've seen the first episode, you know exactly what you're getting into. Well, except the animations are sometimes weird. Like, really weird. That bit is faithful to the Deen fame at least, for better or worse. Seriously, the boob physics were sometimes so loose it reminded me of Yuusha ni Narenakatta Ore wa Shibushibu Shuushoku wo Ketsui Shimashita.

Still, there are 2 things that prevent this aspect of the show from turning into a fault. The show doesn't take itself very seriously so having a similar animation style that matches its overall mood suits it strangely enough. Also, there is a pretty tight restriction on female related fanservice that is methodical. What I mean is that everything that is featured in Konosuba is always part of or is setup for some gag. This includes episode 9 where they went full throttle on that service, so much so it made my boner laugh. It is brilliant in its execution.

Not an episode went by where I wasn't laughing my ass off. Regardless, I had a blast and am very much looking forward to more.