Creative Staff
Original Story: Natsume Akatsuki
Art: Kasumi Morino
Character Design: Kurone Mishima
Translation: Kevin Steinbach
What They Say:
Crimson Magic Clan members Megumin and Yunyun are at the top of their class, but they still have a lot to learn. Yunyun’s begun learning advanced magic, but Megumin has gone down a different path- the path of explosion magic! Despite being warned of its limited usefulness, Megumin believes explosion magic is the way for her to become a great, voluptuous wizard, and she won’t be convinced otherwise!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Crimson Magic Village is a place that even the demon king fears. Why? Because everyone there has immense magical power! In fact, they all become archwizards at the age of twelve. Pretty impressive, no? The kids start learning magic at an early age and attend school to gain skill points so that they can level up. Most people use their skill points to learn advanced magic. But there’s one person from the Crimson Magic clan that wants to go down a different path, an explosive path. All this person wants to learn is explosion magic. What crazy person would want to learn this useless magic? Oh, I think you know. Who else could I be talking about? Of course, it’s the one and only, Megumin!
But let’s backtrack a bit. Why did Megumin want to learn explosion magic in the first place? Is it for fame and glory? That’d be nice but no. Is it to look cool? It definitely looks cool but that isn’t it either. No, she wants to learn explosion magic because…she believes it’ll give her a huge rack. Your eyes do not deceive you. Megumin is learning explosion magic because she wants bigger breasts. Okay, that’s interesting? Hilariously absurd, but interesting. Why does she think learning explosion magic will give her a huge rack? Well, when she was younger, she witnessed an awesome wizard using explosion magic. This wizard was quite voluptuous and a young Megumin figured that if you become a great wizard that uses explosion magic, you’ll also be blessed with a bountiful bosom. I guess that checks out. I mean, it really doesn’t but we’ll let her have this one. Thus, Megumin decided to dedicate her life to explosion magic so that she may one day become a voluptuous wizard!
How’s learning explosion magic coming along for Megumin in the present day? Well, she’s at the top of the class! The better you do at school, the more skill points you get. She needs 50 skill points to learn explosion and she’s almost there! Soon, she’ll be a wielder of the most powerful magic! Although, her teacher did say it’s useless magic but what does he know, right? There are other promising students in Megumin’s class, too. The #2 ranked student is Yunyun, the daughter of the chief. She’s considered weird by the rest of the students. How so? For starters, she’s not a fan of cool poses. In fact, she finds it embarrassing. But coolness is essential to any battle! Can you really call it a battle if you’re not striking a cool pose? I think not! Yunyun is such a weirdo. But you know what? She’s a lovable weirdo. She also thinks of Megumin as her rival. Adorable. Rounding out the top three at the school is Arue at #3. She’s all about the coolness and even wears a rad eyepatch! Megumin can tell that she’ll be a great archwizard someday. Why? Because, as you may have guessed, she has a huge rack. Yup, this is going to be a long-running gag so you better get used to it.
What’s a typical day like at school for Megumin? Besides gaining knowledge as you would expect from an institute of magical learning, she often finds herself dueling with Yunyun. Is it because she likes picking on the weak? Hardly! In fact, Yunyun is always the one picking a fight with her! Out of the kindness of her heart, Megumin always agrees to her duels. It’s totally not because Yunyun is gullible and gives her lunch after she loses, not at all. Is it wrong for Megumin to give herself an advantage in every battle or use any means necessary to win? I don’t think so. Naturally, Megumin has won every battle against Yunyun. You’d think Yunyun would learn to give up but she’s a persistent one! You gotta admire that. And the funny thing? She’s not even that mad after she loses. She’s happy that Megumin likes eating her homemade food. It’s almost like they’re friends or something. Ha, yeah right! Rivals can’t be friends. At least that’s what Yunyun always says. Despite being rivals, these two do seem to care for each other. Yunyun makes sure Megumin isn’t led astray by her insatiable hunger. Likewise, Megumin makes sure Yunyun isn’t led astray by her gullibility. They even work together sometimes! For example, they teamed up to help the village NEET with his love life. It didn’t turn out quite as planned but it wasn’t their fault. They did their best! Again, it’s almost like they’re best friends. It’s a shame that rivals can’t be friends…
This volume is mainly about Megumin but there’s also a side story that focuses on her little sister, Komekko. While Megumin is away at school, it’s her job to watch over the house. And she does a great job…if she actually decides to stay at home. Being alone at home gets boring and she often leaves to go exploring in the forest. Sometimes it’s to hunt dinner, other times it’s to have fun. One time she even had a tough battle with this black magical beast! For those of you familiar with Konosuba, you know that I’m talking about Chomusuke. Komekko comes out victorious in their battle. Thus, this cat-like creature shall now become her dinner! Well, it would have been if it wasn’t for the fact it’s actually her big sister’s familiar. That doesn’t stop her from trying to eat it every now and then though, haha. Incidentally, Komekko may have accidentally undone the seal that’s been keeping a powerful demon at bay in exchange for food. Also, she’s befriended a demon named Host. Kids, am I right? Don’t get yourself into too much trouble now, Kommeko!
As far as extras go, there’s a bonus chapter at the end that shows Megumin meeting Kazuma and Aqua for the first time. Good times, good times. When are we getting that third season of the Konosuba anime!? There’s also a short story that describes the time Megumin spent learning magic with the voluptuous wizard that set her on this explosive path. My favorite extra has to be the afterword where the author reveals that he wears a robe while writing this series, haha. Odd, but hilarious.
In Summary:
A Konosuba spin-off series centered around Megumin? Sign me up! I actually wouldn’t mind if all the Konosuba main characters had their own spin-off series. Anyway, I’m a huge fan of Konosuba. I honestly think it’s one of the funniest series out there today. The comedy is top-notch. I had my doubts if this series could live up to those standards. But you know what? I was worried for nothing. While not as great as the original Konosuba series, at least not yet, An Explosion On This Wonderful World is still a solid piece of comedy. Megumin has always been a fun character and it’s great that she got her own spin-off series! I love her rivalry with Yunyun. Yunyun is great and I’m glad we get to see more of her now. That being said, my favorite part about this first volume is actually Komekko’s side story. Megumin may be the main focus but her little sister is the star! The bits with her and Host were freaking hilarious. Also, she’s adorable. This volume was a good start for the series and I look forward to reading more!
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: T+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: June 25th, 2019
MSRP: $13.00 (US), $17.00 (CAN)
