The following content contains spoilers from KonoSuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World! Season 1, episode 3, now streaming onCrunchyroll.Even though many of the Crimson Demons are proficient at Advanced Magic, most are portrayed as relatively useless in the grander scheme of things, whereby some of themost celebrated clan members are a bakerand fisherman. Soketto, on the other hand, has a unique, game-changing ability, the right amount of chuunibyou charm,and enough magical prowess to keep up with the big boys.
She is the full package by anyone’s standards (no wonder Bukkororii’s obsession is so severe!) After a brief first appearance inKonoSuba: Legend of Crimson, Soketto has returned to support Megumin in herExplosion on This Wonderful Worldspin-off. And this time around, she certainly won’t go unnoticed!
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Beauty, Brains, and Brilliance
Although Megumin’s class is teaming with girls (and there has been little sign of any similarly aged males around), the older generation of Crimson Demons seems to mainly consist of men, with only a few ladies in between. As far as the Red Prison graduates are concerned, Soketto is the first girl to feature inExplosion on This Wonderful World!and has some big shoes to fill for female representation. Luckily, she is a well-rounded powerhouse with only one glaringly obvious flaw; but first, the good stuff!
Ignoring the fact that she seems to have very little age-appropriate competition, Soketto has a reputation for being the most gorgeous Crimson Demon in the village. But she is so much more than just a pretty face! By Bukkororii’s highly-detailed account,Soketto is an avid bookwormwho would spend many waking hours paging through books in the library, presumedly absorbing as much information as she could.
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After scouring the shelves and sapping up wisdom, the time came for her to put this knowledge to the test. So she subsequentlymoves her daily training sessionsout into the woods where she can practice her spellcasting without hurting any innocent bystanders. It is important to note that Soketto is often seen refining her skills alone and without assistance, suggesting that her support structure is either insufficient or non-existent. Sure, she attended Red Prison to learn Advanced Magic, but all the extra accomplishments can be attested to Soketto’s determination and natural talent. Self-made, for sure!
Soketto In Action
It is unclear whether Soketto got the memo about the recent increase in monster activity andplannedon going beast-hunting, or if she ignorantly continues with her forest training missions, unaware of the danger. Nevertheless, Soketto seems quite capable of holding her own. The only reason she gets injured in the woods in episode 3 is because Bukkororii literally blows her away with his over-zealous Inferno. If given half the chance, she probably could’vehandled the monster just fineby herself!
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In the manga (Volume1, Chapter 4), Soketto’s fast reflexes and quick thinking save her from the almighty Inferno, as she surrounds herself with an aqueous sphere in the nick of time and walks away completely unscathed from thehighest level of fire magic.There seems to be a common thread in the anime adaptation that downplays the girls' abilities, essentially turning them into manic pixie dream girls while Bukkororii and the boys claim all the glory. Yunyun receives similar treatment in episode 2 whereby her heroic deed during The Crimson Demon Augmentation Surge simply fails to make the cut. Such a shame.
Intuitions and Idiosyncrasies
Over and above all these stellar qualities, Soketto is also a renowned fortune teller who (unlikeHarry Potter’sProfessor Trelawney) has a pretty reliable track record. As far as prophecies go, Soketto’s word can be trusted, although, as everyone knows, “the future is malleable.” Likely because Dragon’s Peak has been relatively peaceful and the Crimson Demon NEETs don’t have much else to worry about, many locals use Soketto’s fortune-telling services to uncover their romantic destinies (a waste of talent and not very chuunibyou; but these things cannot be helped.) However, Soketto’s future remains rather hazy as she cannot assess her own fate. A warranted handicap, as she would likely get propelled into the way-too-overpowered category otherwise.
In terms of flaws, Soketto has only one: the complete inability to read social cues. If one doesn’t bluntly explain what their business with the Crimson goddess is, she will have no cooking clue. Body language, suggestive word choices, pretty obvious hint dropping; it’s all water off a duck’s back for Soketto. So while Bukkororii’s lurking has not gone unnoticed, for some outlandish reason, Soketto has concluded that the stalker undoubtedly hates her, and doesn’t stop to consider other potential explanations. Later on, Yunyun and Megumin try to help the fortune teller to connect the dots between Bukkororii’s blank result in his crystal ball reading and her own premonition handicap, but she remains dumbfounded regarding how these two bizarre instances are related. Sadly, Soketto’s bimbo-inspired qualities tend to overshadow her greatness and potential once again (particularly in the anime version of events.) But at leastMegumin has one less Crimson Demonto compete with, in her ascension toward world domination.
