KonoSuba: God’s blessing on this wonderful world! (Episode 5) – A Price for This Cursed Sword!
Aqua is low on money thanks to the Dullahan’s appearance leaving only hard quests. She finds one that would suit her and begs Kazuma to help her. Surprisingly, he has a plan, although I don’t think she’s going to like it!
What happened?
As the goddess of water, Aqua believes that she’s found the perfect quest and it pays out three-hundred thousand Eris. However, she needs Kazuma and the others to protect her while she purifies a lake. It should take about half a day. Kazuma is initially reluctant but then comes up with a plan. Before long, Aqua finds herself sitting inside a cage that has been anchored to the lakeshore. All she has to do now is wait. The cage will keep the monster gators away…
After several hours of steeping in the water, and a constant stream of purification magic once the gators showed up and tried to get into the cage, the lake was clean and the mission was accomplished. Kazuma, Darkness, and Megumin all agreed to forfeit their share of the reward as they didn’t really do anything. However, Aqua still refused to come out of the cage.
They returned how, with Aqua still in the cage, singing about how she was going to be sold… It wasn’t the look Kazuma was going for. Aqua’s voice reached the ears of another adventurer, one that she had sent to this world previously. He rushed to her aid, breaking the bars on the cage to free her. He then challenged Kazuma to a duel in hopes of freeing Aqua and the others from his evil clutches.
Kazuma agreed and attacked suddenly. While Kyouya retreated, Kazuma used Steal and took Kyouya’s cursed sword and hit him over the head with it. When they returned to the guild, Aqua’s reward was reduced by two-hundred thousand Eris to fix the cage. She was furious and promised that if she ever saw Kyouya again, she would hit him with God Punch. Luckily, Kyouya walked in and started lecturing Kazuma. Aqua knocked him down suddenly and demanded he pays her three-hundred thousand Eris for the cage he broke. He then asked Kazuma for his sword back, but he’d already sold it.
What did you think?
Rewatching this series is bringing me so much joy. It’s just hilarious and manages to hit all the right notes continuously. Even when we’re laughing at the idea of Aqua being a purification teabag, Kazuma is busy challenging the notion that Megumin and Darkness don’t go to the bathroom… It’s just brilliant because it’s all true, but you wouldn’t expect to see any of it in a typical fantasy story. Kazuma’s bluntness and the way he sees things as they are is the catalyst for this series’ humour.
I think the idea that more, potentially many more, heroes populate this world thanks to Aqua sending them is hilarious and really ups the stakes. Much like in Rising of the Shield Hero, we get to see how different people would react to the same situations. In KonoSuba, that’s obviously done from a funny angle and I love it.
What have you learnt?
I think the thing with comedy is that it’s always working. You may associate it most with the moments that make you laugh, but there’s much more to it than that. The setup takes time and almost everything in the series is working towards a payoff. Often not the same one too, so there can be multiple setups running at once. There’s a real skill in weaving those into a story, especially doing it in a way that the audience doesn’t see it coming until the punchline is revealed.
What is Aqua wearing?
In episode five of Konosuba: God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World!, there still isn’t conclusive proof as to whether Aqua is wearing panties or not. At long last, however, I may have a solid lead. Thanks to the scene with the monster gators that surrounded Aqua’s cage and tried to get in, I know now that one of them must have seen something. All I need to do now is track down one of them and we can finally get a definitive answer. The truth is out there in a dirty lake somewhere…
Other reviews in the series
Series Information
| English Title | KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! |
| Japanese Title | Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! |
| Genres | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Isekai, Parody |
| Demographic | Seinen |
Anime
Season One
Season One – OVA
| English Title | God’s Blessings On This Wonderful Choker! |
| Japanese Title | Kono Subarashii Choker ni Shukufuku wo! |
| Released | Winter 2016 |
| Animation Studios | Studio Deen |
Season Two
Season Two – OVA
| English Title | God’s Blessings on These Wonderful Works of Art! |
| Japanese Title | Kono Subarashii Geijutsu ni Shukufuku wo! |
| Released | Winter 2017 |
| Animation Studios | Studio Deen |
Movie
| English Title | Legend of Crimson |
| Japanese Title | Kurenai Densetsu |
| Released | Summer 2019 |
| Animation Studios | J.C.Staff |
Season Three
