Rating: B+
The field trip announced at the end of the episode turns out to be a skiing/snowboarding excursion. This is actually a much less random turn of events than it might appear to be, since three of the core component series have significant events which take place in the snow. All of them are, to some degree, referenced here, and all may require at least some explanation/refresher even for those who have seen all three series involved.
The most prominent effect comes from KONOSUBA, specifically episode 7 of its first season. The setting here looks a lot like the setting from that episode, but more importantly, Kazuma’s team’s encounter with the snow sprites was a key element of that episode. In the original, the efforts of Kazuma’s team to capture/kill the sprites (Aqua did capture a few with the intent of using them to chill drinks, hence her comment to that effect here) invoked the wrath of a spirit called the Winter Shogun, who did, indeed, behead Kazuma. (He got better, of course.) Even Darkness couldn’t stand against him, and Aqua immediately resorted to dogeza to appease him, hence their behavior here. (This is actually a more complicated joke, too, since Winter Shogun is a term used in Japan to refer to a personification of winter, in particular cold air masses moving in from Siberia, hence the reason things clouded up when he appeared.) That the Winter Shogun recognized Cocytus (who has a similar physical stature and coloring) as a replacement Winter Shogun is rather amusing but also fitting. Megumin and Kazuma’s caps here are also similar in design to what they wore in that episode.
The Saga of Tanya the Evil connection comes from Tanya’s hellish training for the 302nd Aerial Battalion during episode 5 of that series, which took place in a snowy mountain setting. Tanya had intended that training to weed out and drive off the troops, but it ironically proved to unite them into a tight-knit group, hence the reason why they react the way they do when it’s first announced here. Digging foxholes was part of that training, hence the emphasis on shovels here.
The Re:Zero reference, meanwhile, is both the most obscure and the easiest to miss, since it’s reflected mainly by a passing comment Subaru makes to Beatrice about “the last snow festival.” This is a clear reference to the impromptu snow festival organized by Subaru in the OVA special Memory Snow, where Subaru enticed the reluctant Beatrice to come out and participate in a snow sculpture contest. (The creation primarily by Aura and Mare here could be seen as an oblique reference to that, too, since Subaru was the subject of a couple of such sculptures.) Ram’s reaction to the cold is also a reference to how poorly she initially handled the cold snap in Memory Snow.
Among other random references, Aqua’s skill with the snowboard could be tangentially attributable to her being a water goddess, and Darkness enjoying being rolled around in the giant snowball should go without saying at this point. The way 302nd member Grantz is treated could be a reference to how put-upon he is in that series, too. (Although that tends to come up more in the novels than in the anime.) Most of the snowsuits worn by various characters also at least generally align with the character’s normal color schemes, too. And Otto’s ability to communicate with almost anything allowing him to converse with the Winter Shogun was a neat touch, too.
In general, this is a fun and well-designed episode, with the only minor negative being that none of class 1 is included, nor is there any reference to what was going on in last episode’s epilogue. This franchise typically doesn’t drag things out, so we should at least partly be back to that next episode.
USA Anime 