KonoSuba, or with its Japanese name “Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!”, is an isekai anime first released in 2016. Actually, it would not be right to call it a complete isekai; it is a comedy that references isekai. Based on a light novel series written by Natsume Akatsuki, the anime takes place in the posthumous alternative world where our weird team contains Kazuma and his friends, goddess, magician, and challenger. Originally launched on January 14, 2016, on Tokyo MX, TV Saitama, CTC, tvk, Sun TV, GBS, MTV, TVQ, and BS11 local channels, the series was licensed by Crunchyroll and soon became famous all over the world and it is also aired on HBO Max. This popularity was rewarded with the second season’s approval, and it appeared before the audience with a second season just one year later. The third season of the series is now eagerly awaited. So, will KonoSuba have a third season? Let’s investigate.
What is the plotline of KonoSuba?
The young man named Kazuma Satou is introverted, a game addict, and addicted to anime and light novels. Unfortunately, he dies because of a traffic accident one day. However, this is not the end for him, but the beginning. When he wakes up and opens his eyes, he finds a beautiful but strange girl in front of him. The girl says her name is Aqua and claims to be a goddess. Aqua to Kazuma: “Hey, I have good news for you. Do you want to go to an alternative world? But you can only take one thing with you.” he says. Shocked Kazuma: “Then I’d like to take you.” The duo finds themselves in an alternative world such as MMORPG games.
The duo’s aim, when come to the town of Axel, is to destroy the Demon King and his monsters. Soon, two more join them in their struggle: the enraged Mage Megumin and the masochistic crusader named Darkness. Seeing that each member of his team is different and weird, Kazuma gives up defeating the Demon King before his adventure begins and decides to enjoy himself. However, although Kazuma does not want to go on an adventure, adventure finds him, and the Demon King’s generals constantly attack him. Unfortunately, Kazuma does not have the luxury of enjoying himself, as Aqua constantly causes trouble for Kazuma.
Will there be a third season of KonoSuba?
July 18, 2021, about a year ago, it was announced that a new anime project was being worked on. Everyone thought the project could be a new anime season, but the team later announced they were working on more. Kadokawa last announced on May 28, 2022, that the anime project is the KonoSuba franchise’s third season, and the announcement also included that the spin-off light novel, “Konosuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World!“, is having an anime. The anime team shared a key visual for the announcement on Twitter.
The anime had worked with Studio Deen for the first two seasons. There is a studio change for the third season. Studio Drive will be animating the series for the third season and the spin-off. We haven’t seen the studio in a popular production, and so far, KonoSuba seems to be their most valuable work. Takaomi Kanasaki returns for the third season as chief director and Koichi Kikuta as character designer. In addition, the main cast of the anime will also appear in the third season. A promotional video for the new anime season and the new spin-off has not been released yet.
Light Novel Status (Main Source Material)
As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, KonoSuba has been adapted from a light novel to TV. The series, which started to be published on the internet, is first published as short novels, then adapted to manga, and eventually becomes an anime series. With this side, we can call KonoSuba, a sibling to One Punch Man. One-Punch Man was also an amateur illustrated manga series that was first published on the internet.
The main source material for the series is the light novel written by Natsume Akatsuki and illustrated by Kurone Mishima. The series was published by Kadokawa, and Yen Press published it in English. The series, consisting of 17 volumes in total, started to be broadcast in 2013 and made a final on May 1, 2020.
Light novel no longer continues. This may upset readers, but not the same feelings for anime viewers. The first season of the anime covered volumes only 1-2, and the second season volumes 3-4. Enough source material is available currently for an anime that has at least five seasons in simple proportion. There is no problem in terms of stock material to see more new seasons after the third season.
Disc (BluRay and DVD) Sales and Popularity
In general, if an anime’s disc has sold over 4,000, it is promising for a new season. The committee stays financially above the targets with disc sales over these items. The disc sales of KonoSuba are as follows:
| Season 1 Sales | Season 2 Sales | |
| Volume 01 | 12,329 | 12,946 |
| Volume 02 | 9,793 | 8,277 |
| Volume 03 | 9,389 | 7,980 |
| Volume 04 | 9,330 | 7,561 |
| Volume 05 | 9,140 | 7,662 |
| Average Sales | 9,996 | 8,885 |
When we consider the initial volumes, disc sales exceeded 10,000. And the average values seem to be that KonoSuba disc sales comfortably exceeded the 4,000 thresholds.
Apart from disc sales, the series is very popular on online platforms. The anime, which was in the top 50 according to the popularity ranking of Myanimelist, was rated 6000 times in IMDB. This popularity is rare for an anime. And also, with more than 354k Twitter followers, we can see that there is no problem in terms of popularity. On the other hand, people’s search data on Google about anime shows that anime is more popular than many animes around the world. For example, KonoSuba is more searched than anime that have no trouble getting new season approvals like Fruits Basket and Goblin Slayer.
When is the third season of KonoSuba?
However, a release date has not yet been shared for both KonoSuba anime. We are not sure if the anime will be started to air in 2022 because Drive, a relatively small studio, is currently working on both anime. Since a date or period has not been shared yet, and there is no trailer yet, the estimates show that the new season of the anime will come to the screens in early 2023. We will update our article as official news arrives. Stay tuned.
| Konosuba Seasons | Release Dates |
| Season 1 | January 13, 2016 |
| Season 2 | January 12, 2017 |
| Season 3 | Early-2023 (Estimation) |
| Spin-off | 2023 (Estimation) |
What can be the plotline of the third season?
Then, when the third season of the anime is broadcast, we will talk about the characters expected to appear newly! First of all, the new character will be Sylvia, an executive of the Demon King Army. Sylvia is an influential person who serves as the director of the Enhanced Monster Development Bureau of the Demon King Army. As you can see in the image above, it looks like a dark-skinned beauty, but in fact, Sylvia has a surprising secret. Sylvia is a synthetic chimera that strengthens itself through synthesis and strengthening.
We are expecting to see new characters in the new season! First of all, a new character will be Sylvia, an executive of the Demon King Army. Sylvia is an influential person who serves as the director of the Enhanced Monster Development Bureau of the Demon King Army. She looks like a dark-skinned beauty, but in fact, Sylvia has a surprising secret. Sylvia is a synthetic chimera that strengthens herself. Sylvia’s upper body is a woman, but her lower body is a giant snake with a male part. Silvia is a unique character.
The other new character was Princess Iris of the Kingdom of Berzerk. Iris is so popular that it ranks 3rd in the popularity poll despite being a character that hasn’t appeared in the anime yet. It is thought that the secret of her popularity is not only its cute appearance but also the title of the royal family and the cuteness of admiring Kazuma, the main character, like his brother. Since she is a very popular character, it is expected that a popular voice actor will probably be in charge of the voice when it appears in the animation.
It is expected that the 5th volume of the original will be adapted for the anime’s third season. If the third season of anime is to be broadcast in this way, it is thought that the anime will start from the Megumin’s homecoming. We heard about Yun Yun, who suddenly came to the mansion that the Demon King’s army attacked the village of the Red Demon Tribe. There will be an unexpected season with surprises. If you are curious about the anime’s continuation, please read starting Volume 5 of the light novel!
What makes KonoSuba different?
KonoSuba, which looks quite innocent from the outside, is actually not as innocent as you think. Each of the characters is crazier than the other. But that’s what makes them beautiful. The best example of this situation would be Kazuma’s encounter with the goddess Aqua after he died, and this so-called “goddess” Aqua was making fun of the way Kazuma died. The deluge of laughter begins when Kazuma, angry at this situation, choose Aqua to take revenge on a gift bestowed by the goddesses in his reincarnation.
While watching the anime, it is impossible not to admire the way the characters are rendered. Each of the characters is so memorable with their own attitude and behavior that you may think that there are four main characters after a while. Putting aside how absurd the events are, our characters’ reactions in the face of events and the solutions they find for the problems can really put one into a laughter crisis.
KonoSuba is an anime series where the dose of comedy is on the top. Despite containing cliché scenes, Konosuba, who uses such scenes for his own benefit and makes fun of them until the end, is one of the rare anime of his kind. Even in the most serious action scenes, you always have the opportunity to see some antics.