Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka II

I’ll be honest here; I sort of enjoyed the first season of DanMachi. It wasn’t great in terms of storytelling or characters, yet it managed to keep me entertained for the length of its run. And I was genuinely expecting season 2 to deliver a similar sort of experience; not overly original but fun to watch. However, what we got with Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka II (Is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a Dungeon? II) is just tons of the former and not a hint of the latter. This season is an assortment of overused anime tropes with dreadfully poor execution. And seriously Japanese LN authors, learn to be a bit better at naming your shit. Please. So, in which aspects does DanMachi season 2 fail? Honestly, it sensationally fails in pretty much every aspect that made season 1 a fairly enjoyable watch. The story arcs are all repeated from other anime which has the concepts of adventurers and whatnot and the conflicts feel extremely lackluster. It’s easy to predict how these arcs would conclude. There’s no sense of danger in them and the comedy is totally out of place. The characters’ decisions and actions are mindless and unrelatable. So much so that even a 10-year old’s judgement would be more sensible. The culmination of all of this simply leads to a dull and unenjoyable experience. The story continues where it left off in season 1 with Bell Cranel and his goddess Hestia wanting to make the Hestia Familia the best in Orario. In this quest, they recruit adventurers for their Familia, saving some of their old and new friends along the way. There’s not much else to the plot of this season. When the entire story can be summed up in two sentences, it’s not difficult to imagine that it’s lacking. This season tried to be entertaining by the use of excessive fanservice but falls flat on its face in the execution. They’re so cringy and out of place that even most people who enjoy fanservice would be annoyed by them. Oh, and there’s tons of scenes in this season in which Bell is pseudo-raped. Some people might even count these scenes as part of the fanservice, but it’s pretty repulsive to watch someone being licked off by a hideous monster of a rapist (yes, that fat girl is a rapist in my eyes) which contributes absolutely nothing to the story at all. Conflicts start for the most stupid of reasons like one of the underlings of some other Familia taking a dislike to Bell because of his attitude or another Familia leader wanting Bell as her own. These lead to War games, episodes of hide and seek and monotonous battles which themselves are predictable and dull. There were opportunities to develop these arcs into something that had real meaning and impact on the story at large, but instead, barely anything drastic changes after these battles. The first 3 or so episodes were kinda okay even though they were packed with the issues I’ve already mentioned. I’d hoped that the development we’d had in these opening episodes would add up to something meaningful in the following episodes, but not only did DanMachi S2 fail to do that, it just kept falling in terms of quality each episode. I barely managed to keep up until episode 8 but I’d had enough by that point and finished this simply for the sake of completion. The characters that were entertaining in the first season are intolerable in the second. Every episode made me cringe. Bell, who was kinda fun to watch, is reduced to a generic MC; kind, soft-spoken and one who’ll go to any lengths to protect his friends. He stumbles upon characters with a dark past and resolves himself to save them at any cost. Not that he was much different in season 1, but I’d hoped that the things he’d gone through would culminate to some sort of character development for him. Unfortunately, though, I soon realized that I’d hiked my expectations too much and all I’d get from Bell in the entire season was just constant “Fire Bolt!”. Hestia, who was just about bearable last season, is a bundle of exasperation in this one. I’ve come to hate almost everything about her character; from her goofiness to her fixation on Bell. I’m sorry but waggling your boobs around and then pushing them in the face of the protagonist doesn’t make a character funny. The story delves a little in Liliruca’s past, however, all of it is rushed and it seems that the only reason her past was even brought up was just for the sake of it. There’s no real revelation, just bits of it which are vaguely explained. I wonder if there is actually more to her past or if this was all. As for Welf, the reason for his existence in this entire series is because the author doesn’t want to make it seem like Bell is gathering a harem. He’ll say the odd motivating thing and assist the others in battle, but his presence doesn’t have any significance. The other characters are also meh, and I’ve got nothing much to say about them at all. Because there isn’t much to them in the first place. I’ve really gotten tired of criticizing JC staff recently, but they keep producing crap these days. I don’t even know if it’s their fault or the fault of the source they’re adapting. Most of the anime they’ve brought out in the past 2-3 years have been failures, and on the surface, it certainly seems that they’re the ones at fault. I don’t know how the monetary side of things have been for these series, but certainly quality wise, they’ve produced some absolute shitshows in this time. Whether it be because of abysmal art and animation, substandard management, lack of resources, bite off more than they can chew, or a consequence of all of these combined, it has been a staggering fall for JC staff as a whole. DanMachi Season 2 falls into the same trap. Choppy animation especially in the battles, and repeated panels are aplenty. The overall animation quality is okay at best. I found myself enjoying the opening though, which was probably the only good thing to come out of this series. The soundtrack in general was unoriginal but partly decent. A shit ton of bouncing boobs, unwanted intimate situations to fill the episodes with fanservice as well as to show us how Bell is embarrassed every time he ends up in them and boring ass characters lead DanMachi into a shit hole which is, frankly, unrecoverable from. At least, for me. I’d honestly looked forward to watching this season but I doubt I’d get myself into the next season of DanMachi. If you liked the first season, I guess you could try to continue and watch this season as well. It might be watchable for the fans, but barely.

I’m disappointed with Danmachi season 2. I was looking forward to this anime for so long, but when it came it was such a let down. [Spoilers] The War Games was bad: • Apollo was like a generic rapist straight out of SAO • Apollo family chasing Hestia’s family throughout the city in broad daylight. The problem with this is it shows is there’s no government officials to prevent something like this happening between other families. It makes Orario being a peaceful city and not a warzone make no sense. • The War Games was too short. We had 3 episodes of build up only for the event to end in one episode. • Hestia’s family beating Apollo’s was too easy. It was unbelievable that 5 people would be able to breeze through 200 without any serious injuries. Bell’s power boost was so poorly written that I questioned if this was fanfic. He went from getting his ass kicked by a lvl 3, going off to train for a few days and winning the rematch. Why? Because Ainz showed him how to dodge 1 or 2 hits. The problem i have with this is they don’t SHOW us Bell’s training, we’re only given a few lazy panels and are meant to be okay with this. I liked the darker tone in the Prostitute arc, too bad it was mainly prostitutes chasing Bell to take his virginity and adding 1 girl more to the harem. We got some backstory on Samurai girl which made me care a bit about her. Fox girl was pretty much a damsel in distress. I hated the reveal in the end that she didn’t actually sleep with anyone considering what made her interesting was that she did ‘taint her body’ and didn’t feel she deserved being saved by a hero. She may not know, but it completely undermines her development for the viewer. I don’t know what to call the next arc because it was pretty much a mess. Pacing was eradic e.g. ep. 11 we left of with Bell and Hestia falling from a cliff, the next we’re at a village and everyone’s fine. The only good thing about it was the focus on Bell’s love for his kami sama. However, I wish Bell addressed Hestia’s feelings like he was told so she could move on but instead he does the opposite and said he loved her... That’s going completely against what the story has been built around which is Bell’s love for Ains. Speaking of Ains, I don’t know what role she played this arc besides being a third wheel robot in a love triangle. The glimpse of her showing some emotions over the Black Dragon scales was the first time i think I’ve been interested to seeing where her character goes. I don’t see the point of Ares considering he just disappeared from the story. Bell’s development was awful this season. It’s like the same ‘pushover coward to confident hero’ character arc he went through last season, which is why he hasn’t really changed. I don’t like his ridiculous power boosts e.g. other characters take years to level up once, Bell went up from lvl 2 to lvl 4 in like 1 month... There was a few decent-good fights/animation e.g. Bell Vs Prostitute onee-san, but the fights and pacing wasn’t consistent enough. Overall, Danmachi S2 wasn’t good as the first season.

There’s plenty to say about DanMachi Season 2 but first, I’d like to welcome back this series. While the franchise hasn’t been a stellar masterpiece, it certainly has caught enough attention to secure a sequel. Even if it took nearly 5 years, this show obviously has a fan base, one that made this franchise popular for what it is today. That being said, I can’t declare this season as any better than the first season and as a matter of fact, it took several steps backwards. It doesn’t mean this season is unwatchable but certainly not enough to be considered great. For starters, you should do yourself a favor and watch the recap episode 0 unless you’ve recently finished the first season. Season 2 isn’t here to spoonfeed you and assumes the viewer is familiar with this franchise. Watching the first few episodes made me realize that the anime itself retains the familiar setting, charisma, and personalities of the previous season. Hanging on to the premise, DanMachi hasn’t been really about picking up girls from dungeons. Rather, it’s more of an anime to explore character relationships in this fantasy world of uncertainty. As some ideas may seem absurd, I do have to applaud the creator in making DanMachi into more than mindless popcorn entertainment. There’s plenty of characters to fill the story and while the previous season had already established its principal cast, we are also introduced to new ones this season. With the way this sequel started, it elicit some levels of entertainment from its first episode. We are reintroduced to Bell who continues to improve himself as an adventurer. Now being part of a guild and having a formidable party, Bell also catches the eyes of adversaries. This begins from a party that he and Hestia attends where he gets challenged to a war game. It doesn’t take long for Bell to accept because it’s a chance to prove himself. In that one moment, Bell shows his change from the previous season. If you remember from season 1’s first episode, he was weak and couldn’t defend himself. If it wasn’t for Ais Wallenstein, he’d be a dead man. Now, we have a young man wanting to prove to the whole world that he is capable adventurer. If he and his party wins this war game, it would definitely earn himself the respect he’s been fighting hard for. That being said, the war game arc itself is relatively short and unfortunately, both the buildup and execution is rushed. There’s a lack of emotional impact felt by both the fighting itself and endgame. Plus, I do believe the plot execution lacked excitement and in general, very predictable. On the other hand, I am somewhat glad the anime was generous enough to feature characters besides just Bell. These include characters from the first season such as Liliruca, Ryuu, and Yamato Mikoto. While the sequel doesn’t commit time to develop them, I’m certainly glad they weren’t left in the dust. Of course, Bell earns his spot for being able to keep his promise. While I’ve never been a big fan of his character, it’s certainly a better outcome than seeing an obnoxious individual such as Apollo taking the glory. It’s easy to understand why DanMachi Season 2 decided to dedicate its time to focus on volume 6 for the first half. It wanted to establish Bell’s guild as a respectful organization and that its adventurers are no pushovers. By doing so, we can trust the characters this season won’t be weak. Even Bell, who was initially portrayed as an underdog, is now a capable adventurer who others have taken notice. From here, we get the second half of the anime that dedicates its time on exploring new elements of its fictional world. While the Danmachi universe has its world fiction contents, it never seemed to step outside of the box to be something unique. It continuously borrows fantasy elements and even isekai ideas with the RPG-like world. The dungeons, town, and landscapes is what you would expect out of any fantasy adventure. From the second half, we are introduced to a distinctive district that takes the show to a more mature side. This would be known as the “City of Night”, a place of adult entertainment. The plot also builds tension to its overall suspense and even elicits a feeling of conspiracy. While this anime is usually filled with lighthearted jokes, the second half of the show adapts more of an emotional angle. While this seems like an exciting tone at first, it quickly wears out as the main girl involved is a timid prostitute. You heard that right. It seems the anime also applies its usually quirky humor by inserting virgin jokes. On the plus side, it did give a chance for Mikoto to shine. She stands out as the breakout character this season from Hestia Familia. Although she isn't able to carry the season, I do find Mikoto’s character to be much more appealing than Hestia herself. I mean, how many times are we going to have that Loli Big-Boobs shoved down our throat? I won’t spoil the plot so you’ll have to see how they planned out volume 7’s adaptation. From an anime perspective, let’s just say it contains more emotional impact than the first half. Yet, it isn’t going to be a tearjerker. That’s probably an unfair statement to say. DanMachi has never been really much of a series about emotional drama. It unites a variety of gimmick together with its character relationships that tries to each be unique on its own. From the previous season, we had Bell develop bonds with Hestia, Ais, and Liliuca. From this season, he builds a bond with Haruhime and members of the Hestia Familia. The latter is a step backwards as I didn’t feel compelled enough to get attached to these relationships. This isn’t really Bell’s fault as a character but overall with the plot direction. Haruhime and Bell’s character bond is nonetheless important for this arc but doesn’t capitalize on showing emotional effect. And in a world of creative writing, that’s not a great sign. J.C. Staff returns with its talent and I have to wonder how far they planned ahead. Likewise, I don’t think there’s any problem with the overall animation quality. Character designs returns in their original forms with a familiar style of combat cinematography similar to previous season. The extended world setting of City of Night adds more adult fan service. Trust me, you’ll understand what I mean once you reach the second half of the show. On most parts, this anime didn’t suffer from production issues. There were no episodes that had drops in quality. In terms of technical merits, you do have to give some credit where it’s due. This wasn’t really a season about picking up girls from dungeons. Instead, it’s an extended story on what the previous season had established with its character and ideas. Unfortunately, watching DanMachi Season 2 was a mediocre experience that truly didn’t make a big impact on my enjoyment. It’s feels like playing a video game with a long expansion DLC pack added to the main questline. With the franchise confirmed getting another season in 2020, this is going to be a big season pass.

Less Dungeoneering, more Familia Wars... Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka II was pretty much what LA expected of a sequel from Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka. World building and character development be it new or old and even if the plot structure of this season are essentially 2 and a half arcs mainly focused on selfish gods and goddesses with similar plot beats with them but the best strengths between both of these arcs are the solid character developments from new and old characters and growing the world building more because of it. Well to start off with the Apollo Familia and Apollo himself, sure the entire war between Hestia and Apollo started off what is quite literally a waifu war only intensified into all out war, dragging Liliruca with her current familia Soma (which was slightly delved at in the first season) and Apollo wanting Bell as he's already become a name in Orario. Apollo's arc dragged in Liliruca in which she got ALOT of screentime in this arc and we more or less get character development and resolution from Soma, this being said as the Soma familia technically kicked her out but due to a Soma advisor having more control over the familia itself and the god Soma caring more about making more alcohol, the Soma advisor goes crazy with power and siding with Apollo to gain that power from him and get their way as a result. Liliruca either way from this Familia War gains ALOT of character development and ties loose plotlines from the first season. From this however, Yamato Mikoto viced by Chinatsu Akasaki that had a bit of screentime in the first season got a bit more focus as she wanted her debt repaid thus helps Hestia familia from this and at the end of the Apollo and Hestia Familia War, makes a great decision that only makes her better in te next arc... The Ishtar arc, which focuses on Sanjuno Haruhime voiced by Haruka Chigusa and Bell stumbling upon her, the thing is Haruhieme is a prostutite in the Red Light District helmed by the Ishtar Familia, striving off black market and the more sleazy end of businesses, Haruhime either way helps Bell getting out of the Red Light Distrct but Ishtar has other plans for Bell and latter on once the Hestia Familia and Bell finds out...they need to save her. Haruhime as a character is interesting as she like Bell loves hero stories but since she was tricked into becoming a prostitute she just let it happen, BUT she doesn't want any help from heroes as since she's a prostitute, she's the symbol of destruction for a hero thus doesn't want the help, so Bell being the "always wanting t protect everyone" not only wants to save Haruhime from Ishtar's plans but to shatter Haruhime's beliefs of a prostitute and hero dynamic. So how does Mikoto come into all this, well her familia the Takemakeuchi Familia were childhood friends with Haruhime when she was a princess so Mikoto wanting to find her as well as like Bell get her out of there, she in turn gains ALOT of screentime even in this arc and heck Mikoto came a LONG way from the nuisance minor character with little to no screentime to the point she became LA's favourite character in this second season (Ryu Lion is still LA's favorite character of the series overall). With all this being said, why does Ishtar want Haruhime let alone her plan?, well one that's spoilers so LA won't talk much about that, but Ishtar's plan, well has to do with Bell AND Freya, YEAH she's invovled and much like Apollo is vain and selfish using her familia as tools than...you know adventurers and human and Apollo may have been just plain crazy narcissistic, but Ishtar was a plain awfully detestable goddesses, even to the point of her reasoning of her plans and her fate was more than enough (let alone Bell wasn't really involved in that...*cough* Freya *cough*). But do you see something with Apollo and Ishtar compared to Hestia's familia?. Well for one thing Apollo and Ishtar's familia are powerful and rich as hell, compared to Hestia onnly hvaing Bell at the start and poor, but going further, Apollo and Ishtar doesn't really care about their members and again using them as tools more than anything else, hell because both Apollo and Ishatr one way or another eyes Bell, makes their members jealous of Bell instead. Wherein Hestia LOVES Bell and deeply cares for him in the worst cases and when Hestia's familia grows even though Hestia is a bit iffy with any advances with other girls with Bell, but aside from that, Hestia cares for her members of the familia, Apollo and Ishtar drunk on power and vain...do not care about their members and like the new best face or even more power than anything else....Ares ehhhh he's a comedic footnote if anything... The animation done once again by JC Staff are on form again with slicker, more polished and great battle scenes in the anime and with how intense it gets with Familia Wars and the such the strategy and choregraphy used in the anime was out in out fluid and great for the most part. The aesthetic of this season was the same as the first season but with a crisper tone to it as well. Not much to really say besides that JC Staff updated the animation to be more polished and consistent animation all round this season. The voice cast was great and thanks to the expanded cast added in some great voice actors from Haruka Chigusa as Haruhime, Akeno Watanabe as Aisha, Takako Honda who voiced Ishtar and Ryouta Osaka as Apollo. from the main cast, Yoshitsugu Matsukoa did great as Bell, Maaya Uchida as Liliruca and the big underdog Mikoto Yamato voiced by Chinatsu Akasaki did great as well. due to the majority of the anime focused on the other more poweful gods, Hestia's screentime was lessen dramatically this season thus Inori Minase but nonetheless she did her usual comedic scthick this season for the most part. ALl in all the voice cast was great all round. The only flaws LA saw was that once Haruhime's and Ishtar's arc finished, Haruhime became like the rest of the harem vying for Bell's attention and her backstory though full developed..had nowhere else to go which was a shame as she was a great and fully developed and realized character and she became wasted potential (but that's not to knock the events of Ishtar's arc it's just something LA noticed), the other would be that yes because Bell is the expected hero of this story, he essentially wins the entire time but not without hard work and training but he wins all the time, yes there is that but at least this season, he wasn't the only one set on stage as other characters had their time to shine, from Liliruca from Apollo's arc to Mikoto from both Apollo and Ishtar's arc and let's not forget Haruhime. Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka II was a HUGE step up from the first season and the bland-retelling side story of Sword Oratoria, sure the dungeoneering was slimmed down in favour of world building of Orario and character development from the old and new characters of the cast BUT...yeah isn't that actually a good thing due to this second season focusing on Orario and it's familia's and thus giving us much more in-depth world building with the various familia's and them having their eye on Bell and in turn drags major and minor characters into all this and drastically changes ALOT be it plot-wise or character-wise. LA VERY much enjoyed this second season for this, let alone giving LA some great characters like Mikoto Yamato, Haruhime and heck even Liliruca gets heavily redeemed in this second season. With the Apollo and Ishtar familia's craziness dust settling...what DOES Freya want with Bell, either way this second season was great and is an absolute must for those fans who liked the first season, was a palette cleanser from the disappointment of Sword Oratoria and then some for the Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka world..and since it was announced there will be a third season, LA wouldn'…

A somewhat promising show that took its potential and threw it into the fire like SAO did. A disappointment, to say the least. When I first watched Danmachi's first season, despite its clichés and overly used character archetypes and plot, I enjoyed every bit of it, watching every episode with joy and excitement. Watching a young boy grow stronger and chase after the woman he loved sparked lots of nostalgia in me. When second season was announced, I was excited beyond belief, even watching the premiere at AX. So where in this second season did things go wrong? If we look at a show like One Punch Man and it's second season, we can get a good grasp at just what happened that caused the second season to be unable to live up to the expectations of the first. One trait that OPM had in its first season was this feeling of exhilaration in every action scene. This feeling would excite the viewers, bringing watchers closer into the action and movements of the characters and just how epic the show was. Danmachi 1 was similar in many ways as there were many scenes in which I and many others watched in awe as Bell Cranel fought with great passion to overcome many obstacles. But sadly, second season didn't have that. One of the main issues why I couldn't properly watch this show and savor feelings of exhilaration was due to the quick pacing. Often times scenes could have been lengthened out, giving them more meaning and purpose. Like the tortoise and the hare, it is often much better to take your time than to speed through, and that's exactly what Danmachi 2 failed at. Everything felt rushed and unnatural, nothing like an adventure. One moment Bell got caught in a fight against the Apollo familia, and the next moment, victory against the Apollo familia in the war game. A fight scene that could have been lengthened out and given great detail such as the Minotaur fight in season 1 ended before you could even think about it. There was just no feelings put into the show. Season 2 was also supposed to be a break from the dungeoning aspect of season 1 and focus more on the relationships between the gods and familias of Orario, but instead we got nothing but 2 gods who were nuts over Bell. Little to no details about the gods were given, and in an attempt to create a show that squeezed in two highly anticipated arcs we ended up with a confusing plot with nothing but creepy Apollo faces and a sprinkle of fan service because why not, it'll get you some views. For a show that stresses the importance of relationships between gods and the mortals of the world, it felt like nothing but a tournament to see who could take Bell's virginity first. Once the 2 major arcs were completed, the whole story took a downfall, and decided to end the series with 2 filler episodes that failed to do anything but worsen the reputation of the show, as I couldn't help but watch them feeling as if the studio had just completely given up on the project after they noticed it was paced way too fast and failed to achieve it's expectations of a epic and exhilarating show. The overall sound stayed consistent throughout the show, which was one of season 1's strong points. However, the art took a serious hit towards the end of the second arc, with many scenes feeling very rushed and, not surprisingly, bad CGI. This only worsened the feeling that the studio had given up on the second season due to how poorly it was paced. Of course, the show had some of it's strong points that kept the whole show from being a complete disaster. As aforementioned, it was nice to take a break from the dungeoning aspect of Bell's life and more towards the relationships and rivalries between the gods of Tenkai. Danmachi was introduced as a show of dungeons and gods, not just of the dungeons, so changing the subject of the show was definitely a positive towards the overall plot. Despite the possible positives to this show, it comes to no surprise that Danmachi 2 was unable to outdo or even match the prowess of the first season. Its unnatural pace and skipping of details that could have added more depth into the show caused the entire story and characters to fall apart. The overall show felt very flat and boring, as I could no longer feel this sense of motivation and energy that the first season initially had. To top it all off, the failure of the art to match the quality of its first couple episodes and the first season made it worse, as it became painful to watch a show that no longer seemed to have any effort put into it. With how poorly the show ended I was surprised to see that a 3rd season was announced, and despite having had great expectations to the 2nd season that was to cover 2 very exciting arc from the light novel series, I no longer feel a sense of excitement for the 3rd season, despite knowing just how amazing the following story arc are in the actual light novel series. Danmahi 1 set up a high level of potential which the second season managed to throw away by pacing the show too quickly and therefore making a very bland show. I am hoping that the 3rd season that will air in the future will fix the mistakes created in the 2nd season and bring back the sense of exhilaration and excitement that the first season gave in order to capture its audience. Story:5 Art:6 Sound:7 Character:5 Enjoyment:4 Overall:5.6

Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka II (2019) Story Continued adventures of the cast involving a War Game, Rescue of a beautiful Renard (Fox Girl) and finishing off with a god from outside of the city attacking. The story itself in this season covers quite a lot of content with the initial episode having a wonderful scene between Bell and Ais. The scene very apparent is a lovely introduction. The War Game occurs fairly quickly but the episodes are well done and well thought out. The Renard section is also very good and you get a great new character that ticks many of my boxes. The final segment again is really well done and you get to know people on a bit of a deep level going forwards for a new season. Art This is done to the same standard as before and is really good to watch. The use of CGI for the enemies does work really well when needed. Sound We have a great OP and ED. The general sounds are perfectly fitting. The best of the sounds in the series are of the conflicts because they have the level of quality that Megumin has in Konosuba with her explosions or the quality of Millim when she punches that lizard in Slime Datta Ken. The sound effects are just spot on in this season. Characters All characters receive great progression even down to the minor details of Welf having a relationship with his original goddess Hephaistos. In terms of Hestia we learn about the debt she holds all for that dagger and the jealousy of other gods against her. They seem to have dated her and it shows bitterness about. Trouble follows her. Bell gains more development than ever right down to heartfelt moments towards the end. We get his beliefs that can be overpowering, his desires and worries. He is expanded so much more. It does leave conflict to his love interest as it isn't clear if it is Haruhime, Hestia or Ais. Haruhime gets a really nice backstory and revelations she doesn't know about herself come to light. Mikoto gets a nice story background and she is developed into the cast as a main stay. Ais we do not get to see as much as I would have hoped. Her absence does make sense during the show completely. She when around however is developed greatly. The first episode shows how little she has done towards normal life. Towards the end we see genuine rage on her face indicating a troubled past and her emotions show a bit more towards Bell. Ais is still best girl but Haruhime comes close. Other characters are their normal selves with some development around. New characters are well introduced. Enjoyment The show is enjoyable all the way through. It gives a range of emotions and excitement. This season is definitely a great addition to the series. Overall this is an excellent season and is very much worth a watch. Look forward to the OVA coming and Season 3 that was announced immediately following episode 12. *Megumin referenced from Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! *Millim referenced from Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken.

(Updated review after completing the anime) ~Spoiler Free Review~ DanMachi, the anime that took the world by storm in 2015, is back again to pick up where we last left off in season 1. There has been a lot of hype for season 2, and everyone has been excited to join Bell and his adventures again... or so we thought. This anime so far has been very lackluster in living up to its name that was presented back in 2015. It's disappointing how far this anime has fallen from its position, but by no means is this anime bad. There are quite big problems with this season, and when it messes up, it messes up big time. Thankfully, there aren't that many problems. Story: 3/10 Rushed. That is all I can say, it ruins the story arcs. The first arc started good, and when we got to the meat of the story, the anime took off in a full olympic sprint. Literally no time was spend to develop the characters or the story, its a shame because this arc was a good starting point for S2. Even without reading the source material I know that content is being skipped and cut out by large amounts, and that's a bad sign. The second arc is dark, and I mean really dark. It deals with topics like prostitution, kidnapping, rape, drugging, and torture (specifically episode 8). I don't understand why the writers chose to put these topics into a PG-13 anime, because these are the kinds of stuff you find in those really messed up doujins that people warn you about. To be fair, it is watered down and we don't actually see anything or go into specifics, but its still really bad to put these kinds of things into a story like DanMachi. Prostitution alone was already pushing it. It really makes me question what the writers were doing after they finished writing the events of S1, because the story there was pretty good and very enjoyable. Oh and one plot hole that drives me crazy is how the second story arc takes place in a huge district in Orario that literally came out of thin air. Quite a few times we have seen overhead, semi-panoramic shots of the city of Orario, NO WHERE IN THESE SHOTS CAN I FIND THE PLEASURE QUARTER. They even provide us with an overhead shot of what the Pleasure Quarter looks like, and nothing matches. They literally did not think the city through when they created the overhead scenes of Orario back in S1. The damn district appears to be half the size of Orario for god's sake. Where did this place come from?!?! Art: 6/10 Its good, but nothing amazing. Mainly because we have almost no action scenes compared to S1. It's a nice anime to look at, but its mostly still shots with animated characters. 70% of the time we are looking at buildings, which isn't exactly hard to animate. Sound: 7/10 Its nice, there's lots of ambiance in this season and I like it. Nothing short of S1 honestly, in the small amount of action scenes we get, the music is fitting. In each different atmosphere as we progress through the story, the music is very fitting and helps you jump into the scene. Character: 3/10 Character development is a tad bit better than the story, but also suffers from the same problem. We are running through the arcs so fast we don't get to watch the characters grow. Things are just happening and we have to move on because the next sequence started. Compared to S1, there's almost no character development, though there is a fair amount of character interaction which I like. Enjoyment: 4/10 I was so hyped for this anime, and I was so disappointed after episode 2. It started off great, and is progressing pretty badly. I lost almost all my excitement for this anime as of episode 8, the dark undertones finished it for me. I'm still going to keep watching, after all I like DanMachi for what it is, even if S2 has been beaten to a pulp. I still want to see Bell grow and the main storyline progress, even if i'm getting my hopes up since there is only 4/5 more episodes left. (Updated section after completing all episodes) Final thoughts: Season 2 was surely a disappointment compared to season 1. Did I like DanMachi in the end? Yes. Am I conflicted on this season? Yeah. DanMachi took a full 180 turn with this season, it became very mellow and almost trying to be a drama yet failing at being so. There's a lot of parts lacking in this season that we saw and loved in S1, it's a shame that this adaptation came out as poorly as it did. This season is very inconsistent, almost not even feeling like a sequel to S1 at all. Character dynamics are off, the story telling is strange, and most importantly the characters feel empty. As many people are also saying, the two major story arcs were apparently very very badly adapted from their source material. The first arc was supposed to be a huge turning point in the DanMachi story and was also much longer than they put screen time to, its a shame to hear that honestly. A lot of people praise the first arc of S2 in the LN and I heard many good things about it, and yet it came out so poorly in the anime, its a shame really. I will be going off to read the LN to not only relive the story but to also prepare myself for S3. I liked the anime regardless, its not terrible, but this season definitely did not live up to its reputation. I have high hopes for S3, as we are going to see what everyone is saying is the best story arc of DanMachi. Off to the LN~

I can't say I'm disappointed, because I really enjoyed this 2nd season, however, the story took a turn I wasn't really expecting. Instead of focusing on the (supposedly) main theme of the series, which is Bell and his adventures in the dungeon, while he levels up and becomes stronger, they chose to put everything along those lines in 3rd plan and focus on the story. It's not bad in my opinion, however, I was expecting more badass dungeon fighting scenes. Just to clarify, among all the 12 episodes, if I'm not mistaken, there were only 3 or 4 dungeon fight scenes, and none was even close to specially enjoyable or emotional in any way. Still a good anime though.

It is fair to say that I am one of those critics that had no big problem with DanMachi when it first aired in 2015. It was flawed, no doubt, but it was a harmless, fun adventure show that brought about one of the greatest waifu-bait cuties ever to grace the medium; and I will hear no denying that sentiment from here on out! After nearly five years, we finally get more of DanMachi to continue the story of our two favorite lovable companions going on more adventures and meeting new characters on the way. If you remember my review of the previous season, you'd see that I gave it a solid score considering the type of anime: Harem anime with a dim-witted protagonist. However, Bell is a dim-witted protagonist that at least has some heart to him and especially with his interactions with the boob goddess herself, Hestia. That made DanMachi a lot better than most of its similar contemporaries. My one big wish for the sequel was to expand their relationship more and have it be a more significant focus on the narrative. What I did get was more of that, but not enough. I wanted more of it because everyone outside of Hestia and Bell's relationship is merely decent to just downright dull. None of the other female characters have anything to them that makes them stand out or memorable. Lili is the only one other than Hestia with any semblance of charisma only because she does become more integral to Bell's story. She does have her fair share of funny moments sprinkled throughout the show. For every other character, I could not put my finger on what I was supposed to latch to. Their personal story arcs aren't exactly anything special or become downright dramatic to the point where it gets nauseating the more I try to think about it. From a moral or writing standpoint, I would not classify them as terrible characters. It's just that the sequel did not do much to carry me through whatever struggle or situation they happened to be in. I have noticed that Hestia does draw some ire among the anime community. A lot will point out how annoying she can be whenever she tries her best to cling to Bell whenever she has the opportunity to do so. Other characters like Hestia did strike me as annoying to the point where I didn't want to sit through whatever tedious antics they conjured up. With Hestia, I find that her special was her eye-catching design and her bright personality that shines through Minase Inori's fantastic performance. Would I say that Inori could only play Hestia? Probably not. But, I think she sells this character with her much-needed charisma that makes Hestia's advances more charming than anything else. I've said before that DanMachi's plot is nothing special. I would say it's not very good in many aspects. I often forget what the main overarching story is supposed to be other than, "Main character and companion go on RPG adventures A, B, and C." There isn't much to it other than that. The sequel tries its best to give us plot arcs that jump up the melodrama to tug at your heartstrings a little. I don't think it was very successful as it felt a bit contrived once I thought about it. I will give credit for the 2nd half of the season because it gave us a familia that bikini-clothed girls mainly populate. So if you weren't already turned off by the boob goddess sulking up the screen by her gelatinous milk jugs, you would not be swayed by this season by a long shot. I appreciated the gesture, even if the plot itself wasn't very memorable. The animation quality is about the same as season one. Thankfully. We have been getting a lot of lousy studio changes in other anime that switch up the animation or character designs that make it jarring to go back and forth. The J.C. Staff usually never disappoints by consistently giving quality art and animation direction, even if it isn't spellbinding like most other big-budget anime studios. DanMachi is one anime that I always stick up for regardless of its many detractors. However, it is one of those situations where I can not argue why those people have their issues. It is dumb in its execution to be a standout RPG/Fantasy anime in a time when there are already enough of those to the point of suffocation. Honestly, without the relationship between Bell and Hestia, I do think I would be on that side of the camp. Regardless, anyone who says anything about Hestia is just wrong in every word. Just stop. Please? Thank you. Grade: B+

Naive neurodivergent feminine white-haired midget runs around with two butter knives while being self-righteous and obnoxious. This is pretty much the entire plot. This series does well when it focuses on what it's good at, fights, combat, and the tower in general. However, this season is primarily composed of our favorite Naive-neurodivergent-feminine-white-haired midget running around being obnoxious and naive outside the tower. basically almost nothing very important to the plot happened, not much advanced forward. i could've skipped this entire season and been fine watching the next. the animation is good. that's the only good thing I have to say.

Danmachi season 2 is not the best out there but it is sure to give entertainment and positive vibes on you especially when you appreciate it in comparison to the first season. I gave it a decent score because the story has developed much. First, having reasonable conflicts with the other gods, which introduced many more characters within the realm or danmachiverse. It's also great to see that the main familia of our story had expanded even a little. Second, is the physical and mental development of the protagonists. Some leveled up, and most of them became more courageous in fighting with those who do evil things and in standing up for their comrades. Third, there was a big chance that the main villain was revealed and there is now something to look forward to in the next seasons, unlike in the first season, it's just like adventures and nothing to look forward to. Lastly, we know that we all want ships and the ships are sailing little by little. Surprisingly, the ships are multiplying! The downside, however, is that every arc is seemed to be a bit rushed. That is understandable because there are only 12 episodes given to us for this season. Even though it turned out like that, the story was understandable with a good animation to portray every scene wonderfully - that's what's important. All in all, it was very good! A simple anime, that is not that hyped and not that displeasing, gave a splendid continuation to the adventures of Bell Cranel and Hestia together with the whole familia. More meaningful events had occurred that conveyed good life lessons and love for friends.

DanMachi season 2 feels like it's already been experienced. The story starts some time after where season 1 ended and characters have since gained some strength for the upcoming challenges to come and with that giving less screen time for the actual dungeoncrawling, which is good since this seasons point isn't to become strong, it's being able to stand up to the challenges that have fallen on Bell due to his fast growth. We see a lot of conflict between familias compared to what we saw in season 1. This gives highlight to other "rival" characters to come and expand our known power policies in the world of Orario itself. The Gods itself have more role in this season than the last where they were just kinda sitting back and just cheering their familias on, but now there is competition and strategy to try to win more area and money to expand the familia and rise in power. As in terms of individuals Hermes is the most interesting one to step up in this season and not just as a quirky player, but as a calm and sharp minded person, plotting behind the scenes. Still it seems like the points have already been seen, and struggles to find the fresh and adventurous feel like the first season did. Yea Hestia is still in love with Bell and keeps forgetting some obvious things and get in trouble for it, yeah Bell is still a virgin that is throughoutly helpless to talk to girls and shit, but yet it still doesn't have the same energy nor the ring to it that made the first season enjoyable. Overall this season didn't quite reach the levels to be a fun and enjoyable watch and dropped to leave a mediocre impression that left me a bit dissappointed.

How long ago was Season 1, four years?  Something about that time gap feels wrong.  Well anyway, what do have this time?  Rescue plot, rescue plot...and rescue plot.  Alright who came up with this plot structure? Story: Continuing the story of the adventurer Bell Cranel, Danmachi II gives the mental equivalent of what our main character was given during Season 1 to push Bell towards becoming the hero that Orario needs.  But instead of making him fight a bigger and badder creature each week/few weeks, Bell is now given the arduous task of saving various girls, both new and old from different gods that want/need them for various reasons.  Because if there's anything that heroes are known for, it's saving damsels in distress. And that's...pretty much all the story for Danmachi this time really is.  Focusing primarily on two arcs, those being the War Game and Haruhime arc, a lot of what we see for the show has Bell acting as the knight in shining armor in order to challenge what the gods in those respective arcs aim to do.  The upside to this change of pace comes in the form of Orario itself, as less of the series is focused on the dungeon and the going ons inside the hostile work environment of the adventurers, and more on the structure and design of the overworld that until this point (including Sword Oratoria) was only the series's backdrop for where the characters lived.  Worldbuilding exponentially grows because of the constant change in location for the story beats, and things such as relationships between gods and adventurers, the politics of the Guild, entire areas of Orario, and even places outside of the city start feeding in and painting a larger picture. The downside to this however is that these expository parts of the show are really only there to give intrigue to the otherwise repetitive story.  Compared to Season 1, Bell doesn't have any sort of concrete motivation that carries him throughout the season to be fighting against the adversity he faces.  The War Game forces him into fighting so his autonomy as a character is basically non-existent because he has no choice, and the Haruhime arc has him fight to save her because...she looked sad and needed saving?  There's not really a clear motivation beyond the terrible things that were eventually going to be done to the current damsel, so I struggle to find much reason beyond that there.  The last few episodes are the most egregious of the lot in terms of storytelling because it feels half-assed and they honestly should've just ended it at the Haruhime arc where it at least feels like there's a satisfying end. Really Danmachi II feels more like a spectacle to watch rather than any kind of interesting story worth investing into.  The story of Bell is quite flashy and sometimes genuinely terrifying thanks to the show's improved atmosphere, expanded overworld, and varied action scenes involving either tactics or straight hand to hand combat.  However its lacking areas stick out more a sore thumb, having almost no variety in the story of this adventurer becoming hero, substituting its previous plot of 'saving the girl' with a climactic fight with a different flavor of 'saving the girl' with a climactic fight in the very next arc. Characters: I don't hate Bell...I just hate what the series DOES with Bell.  Because Bell is seen to be this optimistic guy who does all of the typical shonen things of saving his friends and getting flustered any time one of the seven some-odd girls (including several immortal goddesses) in the series hit on him, a lot of what ends up happening in the show is watching him find new ways to run away or a new person to run away from because he's flustered.  Hell it's even written in the series that he's immune to being charmed, so any fucking attempt to seduce him becomes a pointless waste of screentime on the same charade we've seen so many times elsewhere.  And it's a shame because I feel like Bell could actually be a good protagonist.  His climactic moments feel warranted and feel like he's pushing through his adversity up to the point he lands the finishing blow.  It's just that prior to that, not enough I feel is done to make the climax of each arc worth being wholly invested into. With the exception of Lili and I guess Hestia, a majority of Bell's affiliates become lesser footnotes on the series as characters that push Bell towards the climax, basically acting as characters that give Bell a clear path to fight the final boss.  Lili and Hestia are only different since both of them show up with either their own mini arcs that coincide with the main plot of the series, or just overall have more screentime than most other characters.  It's kind of a shame since both Bell's relationship with Ais and the various lesser gods featured more prominently in the show are a breath of fresh air when we're not watching the scared bunny rabbit run away from all of the female attention he gets. New characters (of note) this time feature members of both the Apollo and Ishtar familia with the Ishtar familia being the far more interesting one due to their contribution to the series's worldbuilding as one of the strongest familias in Orario.  They mostly serve as the antagonists for Danmachi II, so what we see is pretty much all we ever get of them. Among them is Haruhime Sanjouno, a character who I've been anticipating for a while since I learned of her existence in the series.  Now I really like Haruhime.  Personally I find her to be very cute and a pleasant contrast to the otherwise loud and rambunctious atmosphere that surrounds her in this series.  That being said, Haruhime isn't really a great character.  She fits the damsel in distress who's hoping for a hero mold so perfectly that honestly if she didn't, she wouldn't have much of a presence in the series.  And that's self evident with how little she contributes to the story in the two episodes after her time in the spotlight is over.  She just feels like wasted potential and hardly any effort is made to grow her character any more than what's established. Aesthetics: J.C. Staff's art this time isn't really all that stellar.  Not a lot has changed in the overall quality between Season 1 and 2, and that to me is kind of a weird considering I'd expect maybe something to be better considering Danmachi was and still is quite a profitable series. But there are things that do improve.  Because the atmosphere for the series is surprisingly darker with themes of sexual abuse and some EXTREMELY unsettling characters that uncomfortably lust after Bell (seriously what is up with everyone and this one fourteen year old kid?), a number of shots in the series paint horrifying and more grotesque images than I thought was really possible in this series.  I wouldn't necessarily call it an upgrade from what was pre-established before with what we've seen before in the show, but it's definitely a surprising change of pace nonetheless.  Just please never bring those characters back because Bell's chastity would be the least of this series's problems if that happened. Yuka Iguchi's "HELLO to DREAM" is a song that I find to be on par if not slightly better than its Season 1 predecessor.  Admittedly neither songs are really all that memorable or noteworthy to begin with, but I prefer the tones of "HELLO to DREAM" better, especially with the OP's picturesque shots of the Orario Spire in the middle of town in the sunset at the beginning. In contrast, sora tob sakana's "Sasayakana Shukusai" is a weird, ill-fitting jazzy song that does not fit with Danmachi at all.  I blame this more on the fact that a lot of episodes end on a cliffhanger, so immediately cutting to a shot of Hestia staring off into the window while loud band jazz starts playing is a jarring tone shift if I've ever seen one.  It's not bad, but I really think they should've gone with something else instead of...this. Personal Enjoyment: I think I'm just kind of disappointe…

Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? II I liked the first season of "Danmachi", not because of its quality, but because of its friendly charisma. The anime is simple but has charm. What awaited me in the second season was something different. The season starts normally, you face a family fight and that's about it. Although the structure was subtle, the whole competition turned out to be rather disappointing. And if that wasn't enough, the remaining 70% of the season is focused on the conflict with a second family. And these practically only try to achieve irrelevant goals and at the same time, they are trying to rape the protagonists and turn them into their sex slaves. And this is even predominantly the focus and takes up an enormous amount of time. The whole construction of this arc ends with an enormously bad, monotonous, and completely boring final fight. Almost everything this season felt enormously forced and there was hardly any atmosphere. There are also hardly any really positive properties worth mentioning. Yes, the characters stayed mostly themselves. But most of them hardly got any screen time and if they did, they had to deal with third-rate villains who were just plain horny. Personally, I would have cared the same if there had only been something to compensate for. But no, no tension, no humor, no plot, and no climax. Musically it was average and there is nothing to add in terms of animation. They've been duller than the first season, but only minimally. The biggest main events were at least better animated. Can clearly understand the negative view of this season, but I have to admit that the third season lifts the series back up. Season two has been a near-fatal crash. If someone feels terribly deterred here and wants to end this season, he can do so. It hardly contains anything relevant for the third season. At the very bottom, I put the significant context, and then you can go straight to season 3. ↓ spoilers below! ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ - The blonde protagonist is saved and ends up as one of the main characters. Incidentally, she is still a virgin, which will come out later. - The secondary antagonist is a neutral person at the end and changes sides "somewhat". - The primary antagonist of this Season is killed by the "Freya" faction and this never matters again.

I really liked the first season and were hyped for another swing into this series, especially after the first season ended so strongly. The second season could be called more of the same, but the truth is that it is definitely less of the same, and most of what exists is a mistake that should not be watched by anyone. The first casualty of this season is the pacing. The amount of story in this season could have been packed into half the length without a problem. It's not that there aren't thing happening on the screen - it's just that most of it is irrelevant or backtracking. Honestly the first arc is pretty enjoyable even though it is still relatively weak, but the second half just drags on forever. Awkward pacing might have been ok, I mean the characters are still the same one we like from the first series right? Sadly in this season many characters have been reduced into pastisches of themselves, but even worse are the new characters. The worst offender is the "ugly woman". I don't know what to say, it's a most blatantly sexist depiction of an ugly woman that thinks herself sexier than anyone else, that rapes people to death and is meant to disgust us. It takes a truly stupid man to write a woman as badly as this. "Why, this woman is ugly, but of course she thinks herself prettier than everyone else despite everyone around her being disgusted by her looks. Since she is so ugly that nobody likes her she has to rape people instead. I guess she also murders her hehe lovers hehe, because ugly women are evil." I guess the one who should be shamed is the author of the Light Novel, but whoever adapted this could have changed this up with little effort - making a bolder and more interesting adaptation, but they didn't. So the producers and scriptwriters bear blame as well for creating this disgusting excuse of an anime. Let's talk about the framing of prostitution as well, while we're at it. The MC meets a girl that he wants to help out of prostitution, but the way they talk about her being in prostitution is that it has somehow ruined her and that MC, since he wants to be a hero, can't hang out with prostitutes cause they will be his ruination or something like that, like a prostitute being the antithesis of a hero. But hey! The MC wants to save prostitute anyway which shows that this is a misconception in her mind, right? SPOILER WARNING It turns out that she actually never had sex because she fainted every time before she could initiate intercourse with a customer, soo she's not a "real prostitute". It undermines the entire point and makes it seem that, yes, actually it IS immoral to be a prostitute. (On a side note, this character isn't very interesting in herself, but that seems minor compared to the rest). So yeah, this anime has some pretty shit values. What's good? Well, the art is pretty good and voice acting isn't bad. Probably not worth the aneurysm.

TL;DR Review When I watched Danmachi season 1, I really enjoyed it. I loved the plot and the dungeon exploring and how little of a harem it was. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for Danmachi season 2; in fact, it was the exact opposite. There was no dungeon exploring (you know, the purpose of season 1) and this season slowly but surely (unfortunately) became an unwatchable harem. You are introduced into characters that you don't care about, characters that don't matter, and to be honest, characters where the anime would actually be better without. Don't even get me started with Hestia and how unlikable she gets in this season. Season 1 left us with high hopes, unfortunately, it all went downhill. -Spacecraft555 UwU

Please be advised that this review is only intended to be read by those that have finished watching the series and while care has been taken to minimise story related spoilers there may still be spoilers within character analysis. You have been warned. Based off a popular light novel of the same name Is it wrong to pick up girls in a Dungeon which is better known as Danmachi for convenience sake is an action, adventure, romance and adventure genre anime that gives us the opportunity to see what will happen if a rookie adventurer that has both a good heart and a desire to explore mysterious and dangerous labyrinths were to arrive one day in a land that featured not just challenging dungeons that featured not just challenging monsters but also many adventurers and civilians that needed his aid. Aid that few adventurers would have neither the time nor inclination to provide without sufficient reward being offered such is the nature of adventuring within the land of Orario where fame and prestige take priority over kindness and a desire to support others. In this beautiful but harsh city where an adventurers skills, intelligence and street smarts are what determines how far they get within both the city and their careers and whether or not they can gain the notice of the many gods that live among the adventurers just how far can Bell an adventurer that despite having the skills that allow him to keep himself and his familia above debt go in a land where not all threats are as obvious as a Minotaur trying to smash your face in with a massive club. Adventure themed animes within the anime industry as a whole can be said to be one of the most popular genres’ due largely to the sheer number of world’s and stories that can be visualised into an anime with many notable greats in the past being from this genre. Notable examples include Sword Art Online, Naruto, Fairy Tail, Overlord, Log Horizon and Gate. While each of these series were all excellent ones that created many compelling worlds and scenarios that took great advantage of the settings to create many well designed and developed characters all of these series had one thing that ultimately drove them forward to success which is that of a hero that could lead the casts advance against the stiff odds that the story presents them. The hero can be said to be ultimate driving force behind adventure genre anime as it is by their might and their development as individuals that allow them to succeed in their struggles and allow us as the viewers to see the fruits of their labor's. Within this series our hero is Bell Cranel an adventurer that despite only starting his career months ago has as a result of both his determination, skills and personality have managed to not only increase his prowess as an adventurer but also in the process forming many lasting friendships and bonds with his fellow adventurers that allowed him to not only gain them as fellow familia members but also many allies that he can call upon when he needs it. While the concept of having an adventurer who starts at zero and gradually claws his way to the top through hard work is a common theme among animes what served to draw me to this series was the fact that this journey of Bells was not one that he was embarking on alone for unlike most adventure themed animes that feature strong solo interaction within this series Bell is doing so with the aid of his allies within his familia organisations that mimic what will be called guilds in other series but feature stronger bonds within its confines that are as strong as those of actual families. This sense of seeing Bell not only embarking on a adventure to not only find and conquer challenges within the dungeon and form bonds with like-minded adventurers in the midst of fierce battles while doing so supported by his familia members that he can count on as both backup and emotional support can be said to be the one thing that drew me to this series. The series’ first episode I felt was an excellent one that served to not only reintroduce Bell and his familia allies to the audience after so long but also expand upon the world by showing the kind of powers that gods and their familia’s have on the adventurers that have caught their eye through their actions on the field. The overall story of Is it Wrong to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon follows the life of Bell Cranell a young upcoming adventurer and a member of a small but growing familia called the Hestia Familia that was formed around his goddess and saviour Hestia a god that had come down from the heavens to live within the confines of Orario. Orario a mysterious walled city that is located within the world while a thriving city is one that is rather unremarkable when compared to the many countries that lie outside of it apart from two notable things with the first being that alone among the vast world Orario is the sole location that houses the Dungeon a mysterious labyrinth that is located at the very heart of the city that is occupied by not just powerful monsters but also countless treasures that can change the fortunes of any adventurers that find them should they survive the dungeon first. While the dungeon and its riches can be said to be the first of Orario’s notable traits it is the second trait that can be said to be the clincher that enabled the city to be recognised internationally with this being the sole fact that apart from the dungeon the city also was home to countless goddesses and gods that have descended the heavens in order to collect and raise adventurers to fame and in the process enabling them to have some semblance of fun within the city. This combination of having many brave and enthusiastic adventurers who flock to the city to explore the dungeon hoping to find both treasure and fame and in the process being forced to dance to the whim of the gods that inhabit the city I felt served well to create an excellent maelstrom for Bell and his friends as they sought to carve out an existence within the city of the Dungeon. But one things for certain their journey will be anything but boring. Bell Bell Cranel portrayed by veteran voice actor Yoshitsugu Matsuoka of The Quintessential Quintuplets and Campione fame is one of the main characters of the series and is the main protagonist of the series. A young adventurer that had come to the city of Orario to set about fulfilling his dream of becoming an adventurer that would allow him to fight challenging monsters while meeting and befriending many beautiful woman Bell on initial impressions was shown to be a positive, cheerful and friendly person by nature that unlike the rank of the file of the adventurers that plied the city never hesitated in helping others. While a quiet person that preferred to avoid trouble which within Orario tended to escalate rather quickly Bell was someone that can be said to follow his heart and as a result he is someone that can never turn down the plight of others and indeed will try his utmost to help them even if said quest requires him to go up against steep odds. While this itself can be said to be a flaw that can prove fatal within the life of an adventurer to both his friends and allies and to myself it is the opposite that is rather true for this does well in upholding Bell’s core personality traits of being a kind, understanding and polite person that would approach his assigned quests with both tenacity and a steely determination to succeed at the task which within the series is shown well in his attempt to protect his friends and goddess from the attentions of Apollo familia and his attempt to rescue Haruhime a person that had due to a cruel twist of fate had been prepared to depart this world at an age far too young. While the life of an adventurer can indeed be a hard one depending on the skill set that one chooses it can be said that for Bell his transition from a civilian into a hardworking but nonetheless naive adventurer was any…

Season 2 should have been better. I watched it when it came out, I enjoyed season 1, I went and read the books, and I've since watched all the way up to season 5 at time of writing. So coming back and watching Danmachi again from the start has been a painful experience because the first two seasons just aren't that good, especially in comparison to the seasons that follow. But that also means I can't excuse any of it and it also shows that they could have done better if they had tried. Season 2 quite simply is a mess, it has some really good moments, but it is let down by terrible pacing and everything that was wrong with Season 1 comes back again with a vengeance Season 2 has two main story arcs, so it should have been tighter, more focused, but no, somehow once again it focuses on all the wrong things. This is exemplified with the Apollo War Game arc we have all the build up to it, and by the time we get to the main event, the War Game is done within an episode, I've read the books, I know it's a quick thing, but it's not that quick, and when this is the main event that everything has been building to, you can at least put time and effort into showing it properly. It's the same with the end of the Haruhime arc, it just rushes through things, you have a massive build up to the pay-off and it just can't be bothered to do it justice, it instead wants to get it over and done with and it leaves you feeling unsatisfied. Thing is, Season 2 has less of an excuse than Season 1 because while Season 1 felt like it needed more episodes Season 2 has those episodes to spare right at the end, we have two filler episodes just thrown on for no reason right at the end which makes the whole thing end in an unsatisfying way as the obvious end point was the Haruhime arc. So they could have closed the season at the obvious conclusion point and the time spent wasted on those filler episodes could have been better spent on the main two arcs, then just put those two filler episodes out as OVAs where they belong. It's not all bad, because it has all the good stuff you come to expect from Danmachi, everything that was good about Season 1 is here in Season 2, except the setting has changed, Season 1 has more of a dungeon focus, Season 2 has more of a city focus. But when you compare the earlier seasons to the later seasons, the difference is night and day.

This season focuses more on the gods and Orario as a city instead of the dungeon. I actually think it's better than season 1. There's 2 main storylines, which I won't ruin for you guys. The first one is okayish. The second one if really freaking good. It really forces Bell to grow as a character and hero. I'm glad it takes the majority of S2's episodes. It challenges the idea of what a hero does and should save. It also introduces new and interesting characters. Speaking character, Bell as an MC got better I think. I thought he was just good in season 1, but now he's approaching great. The reason is because we get to see him make some really tough choices. I also like that over all, he isn't this OP MC. Bell still gets his butt kicked on the regular. And he does grow from it. Hestia is Hestia- cute and annoying. But like I said- I like her. We also get to learn more about Mikoto, who is highly underrated and I also ended up liking her more. The new characters (won't spoil) are even better. There is one with a very tragic story that ties in with Bell's growth, and IMO it was nearly a *chefs kiss* storyline. We also get to see more of Lili's back story. It's good too and at one point I was hollaring for her when she had her badass moment. The rest of the case ain't bad. Shout out to Hermes, my boy. But yeah, this season focuses more on how the world works, which I absolutely love. Ngl, I find the dungeon kinda of boring because well- it's just level, then next leve, etc. So I'm glad they explored the city more. Negatives would be that powers/abilities are still not explained. Also, some god/goddesses have power while some don't- some may perish while some don't. Not really explained, so I hope they let us know in the future. Over all, I absolutely love S2 and can't wait to start season 3.

Danmachi season 1 was a cute little adventure show. The trouble with Season 2, I think, is that it ratchets up the tension and stakes without retaining any of the parts of the show that made it novel or fun. There's no progression, all of the status updates have been cut out of this retelling and Bell does all of his training off screen. There are three slice of life episodes which aren't integrated into the rest of the season very well. The role of the dungeon in this conflict is utterly superfluous. You get the feeling that any moments that could have possibly endeared you to the new characters in the cast have been meticulously, surgically removed. Danmachi Season 2 is also constitutionally incapable of treating its own subject matter with the kind of tact that it deserves. It tries to explore darker themes regarding the violent underbelly of the Dungeon City of Orario, however, Danmachi doesn't know how to depict injury, death, dismemberment, violence, or sex. What's left is a confusing shell of a story too scared to actually interact with the themes and conflicts it brings up. The entire conflict is robbed of nuance. Bell runs from location to location having half-hearted conversations and badly choreographed fights until the arc stumbles to the finish line. I sincerely hope the next season is better.