Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka IV: Shin Shou - Meikyuu-hen

If you're still here by the time you're reading this short and sweet review, there's no need to actually do a recap on the prior seasons, to which if otherwise, please go back and watch the 3 seasons, then come back to this one. The ever so popular LN that is Fujino Omori's DanMachi that's coming back for its 4th season, and potentially the largest since this was first announced to be a 2-cour series (which later became a split-cour), drives the audience back to Volumes 12 and 13 of the LN (for the 1st half) where the Hestia Familia under Bell Cranel and his gang of adventurers from all across various Familias, join forces to tackle the Dungeon's new unknown: the Lower Floors which contain this signature point called the Great Fall, that encapsulates this huge waterfall that's estimated to be 400 meters wide and twice that in length, marking its beginning which lasts from the 25th until the 27th Floor. And this is said to be the most dangerous floors that adventurers must be at least Level 4 before they can explore this side of the Dungeon, or otherwise it's one-hit KOs, and survival is only barely scraped by the least of coincidence and luck. The only things to note in Season 4 going forward, is that aside from the LN author himself helping to supervise on the pacing of this 2-cour long story, just about the only new character that's introduced so far is yet another Xenos creature: Marie the mermaid, which like Wiene in Season 3, is yet another female that follows Bell Cranel's never-ending "salute" of picking up girls in the dungeon, though her use case isn't really that much known yet aside from falling in love with Bell after saving her from a strong monster. So, take it as you will about the usual DanMachi trope that's already a mainstay from the very beginning. Regardless, everything that I've mentioned in prior seasons can be taken here with J.C.Staff's already great production, plus the OST, with sajou no hana's OP and Saori Hayami's ED for the 1st half, which all are pretty good. I mean, if you're enjoying DanMachi or vice versa, it's a no-brainer for anyone who is still keeping up with the anime to go ahead and continue the progress.

Danmachi is back! It went back to its roots this season with just a good old dungeon adventure, and I think that's what it needed. It was really nice to see Bell and the gang grow as a group together. What I didn’t expect is how gruesome this season ended up being, which really supported the anime with how the story was progressing in the latter half. It was pretty enjoyable all things considered. Art: 8 The art as expected was good this season. The animation during most moments was smooth, and the character designs are also fun to look at. The ost absolutely smacks, honestly most of the music in the anime is pretty good aside from the opening I thought it was okay. Honestly, a pretty good job because the art would match the dark tone this season was trying to set. Characters: 6 Here me out, I believe that Danmachi struggles with the too many side characters problem. The world-building of this anime is phenomenal, and some of the characters are really well written and go through some good development, but unfortunately, that also means some characters are a little flat and uninteresting, which kind of felt like half of the cast this season. By all means, they are bad, just when certain characters were on screen I felt uninterested at times. Also, the new characters that they introduced aren’t exactly that interesting. As for Bell, I mean he is still bell. He's pretty standard all things considered. Story: 9 I loved what they did this season, by going back to Bell's original goal of going through the dungeon. I also love the events that took place to lead this season to its climax, and the climax itself was really well done. If only the first couple of episodes weren’t as slow then this score would be higher, but my interest definitely took once the second half of this season started. Overall I thought this was an improvement from last season, so ill give it 8 firebolts out of 10.

*Edited for better context and clarity* Danmachi season 4 suffers from something that i will call "The main protagonist won't die" problem, that by it self isn't exactly a problem, unless you try to create situations where the MP's life is being threatened in some way, because as we the audience know, he can't die, he's the one who gives the name to the series, whom the entire world revolves around, so it's not about if he will die or not, is that he won't die, he can't die otherwise there is no more series. Season 4 is entirely built over things specifically threatening Bell's life, and sometimes threatening his friends and family's lives, but specifically because we know he wont die, we can't fear at all for his life, we can only expect for someone close to him to die, and that affecting him, but that doesn't even happen. For such kind of history, that is such a miss of opportunity, to use a situation that would threaten his friends to build and develop Bell's character growth, specially considering the previous events. In an ideal scenario, we could assume bell got careless with fame and leveling up, leading to such dark situation of danger involving a friend or family member, leading to losing someone and Bell needing to deal with the consequences. Instead we got a walking tour through deeper levels of the dungeon, with looming threats that aren't a threat, because bell can't die, and the only gripe we have is if he can keep Ryuu secure while searching for an exit. This is such a waste of the Berserker plot, the threat it would pose, and Ryuu story getting diminished due to the way the story is told. Also, that's isn't even the only problem with this season, the second one being nothing in this ties or revolves around thing feeding bell's growth and development, this feels like a side story made into a main story. It strongly reminded me of the movie plot, with some more development. Actually, it would've fitted better as a movie then a proper season 4, to how unrelated to bell everything happening here is. All the motivation of this season lays with Ryuu, her past, her vengeance saga, nothing related to Bell, until he just shows up at the wrong time, and wrong place. That's why this feels like a Ryuu side story turn into a Bell main plot line, that doesn't have any tie to Bell other than him getting accidentally involved, because of his relationship with Ryuu, something that doesn't even help the case for this being a main line story, as it only builds up on Ryuu's reasoning and responsibility for her own decisions and the consequences of her enraged acts. Other than that, it was nothing out of the ordinary for Danmachi, it just didn't felt like a mainline thing, and that it was just poorly put together to justify extra content

When this series first started airing I was intrigued. Here was a story that wasn't nothing new in the way of anime stories go, but it was seeming self aware and ready to take strides towards creating a story that had depth, development and importantly plot. It introduced a MC that was cognizant of his inadequacies and created a goal to strive towards. However now here we are in S4 and everything that S1 started, this season killed. The MC is still weak minded (But hey don't worry about power up because he's got "God Mode" to help him level up), whiny and incompetent and sorely needs saved by humongous amounts of plot armor. They have thrown out the actual plot in lieu of fan service and tom foolery which of course, keeps up with the status quo of the garbage already out there. There is no story line other than the wash, rinse, repeat story line of the weekly big bad. As far as those mysteries they put out there: Yeah forget that we've got HAREM and BOOBIES. Seriously, for a series that had such a good solid start, it sure became a dumpster fire in a quick minute. Not surprised, but highly disappointing. Bring out the rest of your dead, then drop them and this one in the funeral pyre because they are all victims of the dying anime industry.

My oh my, what the hell did I just witness. I've been watching the series season a day and no surprise- it was great. Loved the first 3 seasons and was ready to be blown away once again. It started great, first few episodes were a joy to watch. It was action filled, it felt more compact and made me thrilled for more. But then.. Boom. They start explaining the ENTIRE past, plot and everything we have already seen with our two eyes. It lasted for such a long time that for the first time, I almost fell asleep durning this shi-. The plot was idiotic and easily avoidable, which just pissed me off even more. Why? The pace, the writing, everything. I pray that they fix this at least a little in part two because otherwise be smart and finish this anime after season two.

tl;dr mediocre at best There's something in the water this summer. Both Overlord and Danmachi come out with highly anticipated fourth seasons but both of them are meh.The difference being Danmachi also had a pretty average third season as well. First half of the season is alright in my opinion. You're thrown back right in the thick of it with another dungeon expedition and with it of course another ridiculous bonkers enemy and another case of Bell getting dragged down into a deeper floor. You can already see the template that we're following here. In the interest of not spoiling too much I'll just say that since we have so many side characters now that for better of for worse you could really make a whole show off of just those episodes with his familia/party. Of course they have to make sure we know Bell is the main character of the story so what better way to do that than just making him super OP? Rhetorical question. They try to balance out those moments of Bell basically being an ex machina by having other moments where he's almost unbelievably weak. But something is missing. The magic of Bell's ambition and growth that we saw in the first two seasons is gone, replaced by a poor pastiche that shares the same traits but cannot deliver the same feeling. Then you get to the second half of the season with all its pacing and composition issues. It feels like a majority of the time in these 5 episodes is devoted to walking in tunnels or otherwise doing nothing, be it the larger party or Bell himself. The wild goose chase doesn't need to take up 2 episodes. Why am I watching people running around like headless chickens when 3 episodes could've been cut out with a simple face-to-face explanation? The whole thing is astoundingly meh. Then the conclusion just sort of... happens. It really just feels like they're stretching out the content as much as possible which makes the whole thing ring false. Will I watch the next season? Yeah, I mean I'm 4 seasons in at this point. Maybe that's why the studio is ok with releasing something this meh. They know viewers are past the point of dropping the show. Here's hoping the next release is better.

Story: 9/10 Visual: 6/10 Detailed: 8/10 Characters: 6/10 Emotions: 9/10 Smoothness: 6/10 OP/ED: 7/10 Audio: 9/10 Originals: 9/10 Intense: 9/10 Uniqueness: 8/10 The audio quality has also received a noticeable upgrade, with crisp voice acting, impactful sound design, and a captivating soundtrack that perfectly complements the atmosphere of each scene. One of the most significant aspects of this season is the character development. Bell Cranel, the protagonist, continues to evolve from a timid, inexperienced adventurer into a courageous and determined leader. He faces his fears head-on, inspiring his companions and demonstrating his unwavering loyalty. The supporting characters also receive ample time in the spotlight, allowing their unique personalities and backstories to shine through. We witness their struggles, triumphs, and the unbreakable bonds they form with each other. The camaraderie among the members of the Familia Hestia is heartwarming and adds depth to the narrative.

This changed how many dark tones can be shown in an anime. The 2nd half is also very dark toned. I never knew how much extreme thriller can exist in anime besides HxH, until saw this. I love this show way too much and the visual novel as well. This is one of the few shows that are better than HxH and the only show released after the HxH remake, that is better than HxH. Can't wait for Season 5, hope more epic magnificence occurs. Now, the dark tones of this show are so spectacular that it really works well with the story of this season. Being trapped and needing to survive with strong limitations is difficult and its so wonderful how the survival developed overtime. This could relate to real life as well. In real life, being trapped with limitations is very-super rare, but it could happen. The only show released after 2010, that I love the animation for is this show. Really fun art style because it compliments the dark tones and dark toned emotions. The weaknesses and strengths in surviving for this season were shown very well and recommend to watch, but the dark tones can be too scary for many people, not for the faint of heart.

The 4th season did a great job, of portraying the true horrors of a dungeon while sticking with the name of the series, like every other Danmachi story showed various possibilities and scenarios where a pursuing hero can end up in awkward romantic situations with heroines while trying to protect them, back when it was once a mistaken prostitute, then a mistaken monster, and now someone on the verge of true end in the deepest of dungeons; this all gives a concrete idea about how the series wanna say it out aloud, "everyone and everybody deserves and can have a hero" This season is more about not hiding the true colors of the darkest parts of a dungeon, and not holding back anything while going all out in both the story and blood and a mysterious plot, Everything goes down in this season which is an insane drive to deeper parts of a dungeon with only one thing directing upwards which is "hope", an adventure filled with blood and gore and deaths all around will raise one question for sure "Is it wrong to try to pick up girls in the dungeon?"...

You are not going to see any improvement in this season. To be fair, I think the second cour is better than this one regarding the plot. But in terms of animation, story events, and even sometimes pacing, I'd say both parts are pretty average. And just in case, both cours cover an entire arc. The antagonists of both cours are pretty mid in my opinion. I didn't enjoy most of the battles. Even worse, there was some bad-quality CGI in a particular battle. Obviously, you cannot expect anything outstanding from J.C.Staff, but for God's sake, you can tell there wasn't a big budget overall. Also, there was a "romantic" plot/event (?) (if you already watched the previous seasons, you know what I mean) that doesn't make any sense, but it's part of the nature of this series so, I'm ok with that, I'm used to it. I'm just... not a big fan of these harem situations that the series gives us all the time. Don't get me wrong, the plot is fine. At least this season it's entertaining (especially the second cour as I said). If you are here to continue the story and/or know more about some characters, go for it. If you think the plot of the entire series is bad or mid, I'd recommend you to drop this one. In my case, I'm still curious, so I'll probably watch a new season if it's announced.

As a huge fan of the series I had high expectations of the series and man... I was NOT disappointed !!! This season was high-octane. Amazing fights through out. The way Bell(the Mc) was moving in this series was similar to Jin woo from Solo Leveling, especially seeing they are both duel wielders and are quick on their feet. Another talking point is Bell's development through out the series fighting and as a leader, truly commendable. The characters were well rounded and even those characters who aren't combat specialist played a major role. Bell's party compliments each other well. Highly recommend this season!! I believe everyone will enjoy it there is something for everyone. Ranging from action to character development.

Very big fan of this show right up until this season. There are a lot of issues, so its difficult to know where to start. The main problem (and, tbh, the problem with every season) is the pacing is inconsistent at best. Its glaringly obvious here though because so much of this is needless filler and endless exposition. There is a lot "tell, don't show", which is a big issue for a visual medium. It draws out scenes, slows down the pace, and makes the show boring. With that said - DO NOT DROP THIS SHOW. I would still say this season is worthwhile, simply because it sets the stage for what happens in the second half of this season (as well as S5) and the second half really is incredible (....Ryu Best Girl!). But, I would recommend skipping every other episode or fast forwarding through exposition dumps here.

While the fourth season of Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka may not reach the same heights as the third season, it still surpasses the quality of the first two seasons. Although the animation quality suffers a bit this time, and the overall scale is not as expansive, the characters maintain their well-designed nature, with visually appealing new additions. This season prioritizes character development over extensive world-building. This slows the pacing considerably, but there are still moments of well-animated action. Unfortunately, the season ends on an irritating cliffhanger, leaving the conclusion unresolved. Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka IV: Shin Shou - Meikyuu-hen may not be as captivating as its predecessor, but if you've come this far in the series, you might as well watch it.

"Do what you know best; if you're a runner, run, if you're a bell, ring.", definitly, the start of the season of 4 of Danmachi showed us what they do the best. Going back to dungeon exploring and the fatality of an adventurer was the best for Danmachi. It is not crazy to say that this season was the best one of Danmachi and contrasted with the letdowns that were the season 2 and 3. Overall : 8 A solid 8 for this part of Danmachi, that was surprisingly good, well-paced, and entertaining. I wasn't especially waiting for this season to air but what a surprise it was. Some scenes stayed in my mind and I have chills just thinking about them. Story : 8 Here we go Danmachi, I like stories that go off-road sometimes, but for this show, the best remains on what they know to do the best. The season 2 with the Ishtar familia wasn't interesting and entertaining enough and serve as a bound to connect the seasons and introduce Aisha and Haruhime, two important characters. The season 3 was a bit of a mess and tried to introduce psychological dilemmas but for me it had no great impact. This season is a reminder of what the season 1 was and also how Danmachi Gaiden : Sword Oratoria was. Maybe they came back too late for a season like that. Also the drama was well-paced if it does mean something. Art : 7 The artstyle didn't really change from the previous seasons. Though I don't think it is a bad thing. Fighting scenes were really well-animated and well-choregraphed. Charadesigns also didn't change but it was a good point in the previous seasons and still remains one. Sound : 6 Yeah, it might seem harsh but I never was a fan of Danmachi's musics. The Opening is as the other ones, not impactful, though the one from this season is, I would say, better that all of its predecessors; the Ending was pretty great but not impactful aswell but I really liked the vibe it gave when you finished an episode (even though i skipped it many times). OSTs though were very good, fighting OSTs were very epic like the previous ones in the series and also some OSTs gave a "drama" vibe that fit the atmosphere this season shoul give and gave. Enjoyment : 8 This is the most importent criteria of all this review and on what I base my overall rating the most. I really enjoyed this season, it was likely as the enjoyment of the first season. I'm now impatient for the sequel of this season (court 2 I believe).

This is where Danmachi really gets good., we're now at the point where the light novels really stepped it up. By now you should know the characters, the premise, you should know the basics of this anime, so I won't dwell on that stuff, as if you've got this far, you know what you are in for and enjoy what this has to offer, instead you do want to know how this differs to the other seasons. In that regard, Season 4 is superb, and easily the best season yet in my opinion. In past seasons it has tended to focus on the fluff, added anime original elements, focused too much on the distractions and side elements., for this there is a tighter focus, and it is better paced. For season 4 we go back to the dungeon, back to the heart of Danmachi, back to basics, no more messing around with friendly monsters, love feuds, or the scheming of the gods. Because this is just an adventure through the dungeon, and fighting for survival in the dungeon and now the Dungeon delivers on it's promise. The threat of the dungeon in Danmachi has been fairly abstract, if anything it is quite tame, it is only really a threat and bares its teeth at those who are new or unprepared, or the threat is down to the direct actions of other adventurers, or unscrupulous guilds and not the monsters themselves. After all, how much of a threat is the dungeon, when Aiz can solo floor bosses? And how much of a threat is the dungeon when adventurers go around taming the monsters within it? Yes Danmachi had successfully defanged the dungeon in previous outings - But Season 4 fixes that. That's right, as if realising the mistake that had been made, the dungeon has been given its fangs back, and it actually bares them, it is finally the threat that it had always been claimed to be. For the most part, it is fairly non-stop with only a small breather in the middle The series has been split into two, and it does end on a cliff-hanger.

A comeback season indeed. I've been a fan of the anime since its tv debut but to be honest, most of the episodes aren't that memorable that is also I guess the reason why it was still an underrated show for me. But this season was wonderful. Bringing back the protagonist into the dungeon with a new bunch of skilled friends. I totally enjoyed the flow of the story from this season. Creative visuals of monsters/antagonists, the new addition of characters with cool designs, and interesting plots. Before the ending, I am consecutive on giving the first ten episodes a rating of 9/10 but I realized that this season deserves a perfect score since it brings back the same kind of feeling that I felt during the first season, with a much better anticipating for the second part of the season.

Danmachi kicks-off season 4 with an intelligently-written, but overall lifeless, story arc about evil moss. I still recommend fans of the show give it a try. Overview This show always knew how to avoid overusing its main character. For the important moments, or for when a heavyweight bad guy needs confronting, Bell steps-up. But the rest of the time, the attention is pretty-evenly split between the rest of the cast. In past seasons, Liliruca Arde in-particular got significant focus, for a non-combatant in an action-adventure series. That trend continues in IV. The first half establishes two things - Bell is the toughest character this season (the Loki Familia being conspicuous by their absence), and Lili is ready for some long-delayed development. Here she comes in to her own as the party's strategist, with more experienced adventures Aisha and Cassandra serving briefly as mentor figures. Her sublot culminates in what can only be called a tremendous payoff for Lili fans. Still, let's focus on the word "briefly." Unlike in past seasons, there is no downtime between adventures, and Bell's crew hops from crisis-to-crisis with minimal breaks or slice-of-life shenanigans in between. Almost every episode takes place exlusively in the deeper levels of the dungeon, where Bell has never gone before and where the monsters are constantly swarming. This has two main efects on the plot: it's very action-focused, with few big revelations about the world or any exploration of character's backstories. And, the cast is very small. Hestia barely appears. Ais doesn't, and neither do the rest of Orario's adventurers that Bell has interacted with, or the Xenos. A new character is introduced, several familiar faces return, and then they are all stuck-together in the dungeon, while fighting constantly. The result is a very fast-paced, dungeon-crawling adventure that feels more like a string of (well-done) random encounters from a video game, than traditional chapter-by-chapter storytelling. Bell used to prove his heroics by defeating lower-level monsters in a very impressive way, while vastly superior warriors watched and commented on his performance. Now he proves his heroics by beating-down kaiju singlehandedly while glowing like a saiyan. It's a very different feeling from classic Danmachi. I think this style might be less-appealing to viewers more invested in the characters and their relationships, or in the strategic aspects of battles. This season is just a series of fight scenes, last-minute saves, and "unexpected" victories. Art The character designs in Danmachi are often mocked (cough* boob ribbon *cough*), but they are also undeniably unique. Take the crowd shot in Orario in the first episode of the first season. Everyone wore something different, yet all of the varied outfits shared a similar aesthetic. Danmachi has a very specific, identifiable look. The character designs are never boring. As for the actual art direction, one can't say much other than that it's as competent as you'd expect, based on the studio making this. The animation quality might have dipped a bit, especially in fight scenes. The majority of fights are static, full of still-frames and not-so-creative choreography. The handful of "important" fight scenes are still good, though, with appropriate animation bumps. About fight scenes: one other great thing about Danmachi has always been the attention paid to different characters' fighting styles. Even when they are restricted to just punches, kicks and slashes, each character uses separate techniques, each with an individual flavor. Welf's big, heroic-looking overswinging looks entirely different from Bell's spin-heavy acrobatic taijutsu-and-knife-slash combo, from Ryu's ninja-like hops and dodges, and so on. If you were to swap all of the characters' movesets like in a video game, it would be instantly obvious who was using who's moves. That's a special degree of attention-to-detail. Sound It's the same soundtrack from previous seasons, but that soundtrack is still perfectly-epic. It's a lighthearted, cheesy, yet at the same time inspiring heroic score that a lot of fans have surely come to love. Enjoyment I feel like when people don't enjoy a show, they default to saying "it's bad writing." I can't think of any major, technical faults with Danmachi IV's dialogue, plot or character deveopment. That said, I didn't enjoy this one nearly as much as I did previous seasons. Maybe it's the lack of moral quandaries for Bell that defined seasons 2-3, maybe it's that the show lost something special once all the characters became the strongest-around instead of underdogs, without even Ais or Asterius around to remind us that more-powerful being still exist - maybe I was just in a different mood while watching. The truth is that I don't know. I just didn't have as much fun with season four. Regardless, if you're a Danmachi fan, there's no good reason to skip it.

Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka IV: Shin Shou - Meikyuu-hen (2022) Great set-up for part 2. The story continues and I am excited. With this show at this stage like many shows this many seasons in, they are not trying to bring new people in with big, loud, new and unseen things. At this moment we are the well-established viewers who enjoy the series. If you are new, go watch everything before, though season 1 is great it is very much a welcome to a show than boom boom boom. The story continues and it goes deep...we are really getting what this show can offer to us. The scene is set, and the characters are ready. 3, 2, 1... let's go. The art is good and consistent. The sound is fantastic. Characters are well established and others are just filler. Remember if a character is shown or seen as a memory or in someone's thought process and you don't know them it is because you are skipping things to get here. Overall, a great start to this section of the series. Very much enjoyed it. Look forward to the intensity ramping up. We have transitioned from adventure to horror now. 8/10.

Is It Wrong to Try to Tell You to Read the Light Novels? Look, I know I’m coming off as a super hypocrite here. I am the guy who always says *sigh* when referring to light novel anime and I am right in doing that because let's face it, 90% of light novels are the literary equivalent of a cum-stained trash bin, but I am deeply invested in Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (or Danmachi for short) and I will happily simp to defend it from arrogant blasphemers who would dare to compare this action-adventure harem rom-com with complex, fantasy world-building on the level of Lord of the Rings”(I’m not joking, I could write a dissertation on the city of Orario alone) to something as infamously awful as *swallows vomit* Sword Art Online *vomits*. To be clear I am referring to the light novels when I made that bold statement. Although I’ve sort of come around on the anime after I re-watched it in preparation for this season, I can at least accept and understand how deeply flawed it is thanks to the important content that was cut for time to fit 3-5 novels into the space of a 12-13 episode season, devaluing the world and the story in the process. Seasons 2 and 3 suffered because of this, and characters like Welf and Lili had entire, plot-relevant storylines and character arcs taken away from them, one of which is super important for the next Coeur of this season. However, season 4 has been pretty faithful to the source material and there seems to be a conscious effort to fill in the gaps that were left open in the narrative so I can therefore say this is the first good season. That’s also probably due to the light novel author working on the production side of the anime this time around. This season sees Bell and his party of friends focusing on the dungeon. This arc is considered to be the best arc of the story so far by fans and I can confirm that, and for now it hasn’t disappointed. Bell himself has grown stronger and more reliable as a protagonist, but it’s fun to know that no matter how strong he gets there's always something bigger and worse for him to overcome, waiting to beat the ever-loving shit out of him. I will admit that the never-ending heaps of praise his party members give him at the beginning of the season does get obnoxious, even if he has kinda earned it through his growth. If you’re into waifus then author Fujino has you covered with Hestia, Cassandra, Ryuu, the new Xenos mermaid Marie and Haruhime who is dangerously close to turning me into a furry. Cassandra and Ryuu are the main focus of this season and it’s always exciting to see how the story uses real religious mythology as inspiration for the events of the story. If you’ve gotten this far as an anime-only viewer then I don’t know what to tell you, it’s more Danmachi. You either like it or you don’t. I will say just read the light novels though. They’re so good and they’ll help you fill in some of the blanks that the anime leaves. However, I will admit I am pleased that this season is a lot better in its overall quality than the past couple. 7/10 Good.

Man this season is totally insane. I went in expecting more of the same fun dungeon crawling and Bell getting stronger like in the earlier seasons, but holy crap, this one slapped me across the face in the best way possible. Ive been riding with this series since Season 1 dropped, back when it was mostly lighthearted adventure with that classic boy meets girl in the dungeon vibe. S2 and S3 built things up nicely, but this? This feels like the series finally grew up and decided to get serious. From the jump, the tone shift is wild. Bells now Level 4, which should make things easier, right? Wrong. The dungeon doesnt care about your level up; it throws merciless, brutal stuff at him. There are moments where youre legit worried for the kid, and not in that fake tension way real oh no, this could go bad vibes. The animation during these deep dungeon sequences is top tier; the way they handle the darkness, the atmosphere, and those creature designs... J.C. Staff really went all out here. Its not just pretty; it feels oppressive and alive, like the labyrinth itself is a character trying to swallow everyone whole. What really got me though was how the side characters stepped up huge. Remember all those familia members and adventurers who felt like background support in S1 S3? Theyre not just there anymore. They have real arcs, motivations, and moments that actually matter. It makes the world feel so much bigger and lived in, which is what I always wanted from DanMachi. And Ryu... oh man, Ryu. Her backstory and role in this season hit different. I wont spoil it, but if youve been following her quiet, badass energy since earlier seasons, this pays it off in ways that left me staring at the screen like damn, I did NOT see all that coming. Her development feels earned, emotional, and honestly a bit heartbreaking. It adds this layer of darkness and tragedy that the series hinted at before but never fully leaned into until now. I remember finishing S3 and thinking okay, this is solid, but its still pretty standard isekai fantasy stuff. Season 4 part 1 completely proved me wrong. The writing takes risks, the stakes feel higher, and the emotional gut punches actually land because weve spent three seasons getting attached to these people. The pacing is tight too never a dull episode, even when its setting up bigger things. Some of the quieter character conversations in the middle episodes? Chefs kiss. They slowed down just enough to breathe and develop relationships without killing the momentum. If youre a longtime fan like me whos watched Bell go from nervous newbie to this determined adventurer, this season will wreck you (in a good way). Its darker, more intense, and way more ambitious than I expected. Easily the best the series has been so far. If the rest of Season 4 keeps this energy, were eating good.