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't mind them trying to blend both the dungeoneering aspect of the firsts season and the Familia Wars of this season together making this world building fleshed out even more and let's not forget the major plot twist with Bell and what this has to do with Freya.

Hestia may be Bestia but she's getting competition...from Haruhime and Freya...

It’s been a while since Danmachi has enjoyed the volatile attention of the anime community, so much so that I wouldn’t recommend jumping into Season 2 with only a passive recollection of the events or world set up by the previous season...frankly, to passive viewers of this show, I wouldn’t recommend jumping into Season 2 at all at its current stage. Danmachi sits at an interesting crossroads for a lot of people, it seems. On the one hand, it’s mired in so many narrative inconsistencies that the veritable onslaught of criticisms lobbed its way effectively chip at its armor. But on the other, it is ... often lauded as a treasure trove for guilty pleasure enthusiasts. However, I can’t say my loyalties exactly align with either camp to a T. It’s difficult to frame a review around this series in particular, because it’s the source of an ongoing headache of conflicting feelings for me.

My biggest problem with Danmachi is the identity crisis presented by its content. Is this a stupid show that’s well aware of its faults yet wants to be taken seriously? Or is this a flawed show that wants to be viewed as dumb fun? I can’t parse with that level of minutiae. It’s infuriating. And if these first 4 episodes are any indication of what’s to come, Danmachi has mostly stayed consistent in its ability to somehow comfortably inhabit this middle ground. This is the same old Danmachi, and if that’s exactly what you want, more power to you.

This season is not looking to impress an audience that wasn’t there to begin with, this is quite literally the same old Danmachi. However, in its insistence to give the audience what they want (which is more of the same), the conflict feels safe at best and the pacing of its plot progression has screeched to an ironic halt. The pacing of these first 4 episodes is break-neck, however, because the overarching plot is so stagnated, it feels like watching an elongated B-story in place of receiving any form of significant plot or character progression. The set-up for the conflict between Hestia and Apollo’s factions could have made for an intriguing story arc, but that potential is disappointingly squandered by the second episode.

The first red flag came in the form of a D-tier clairvoyant character essentially spelling out how this arc is going to end with about as much subtlety as a hammer to the face. Even if I tempered my expectations of the heroes proudly bearing their victory scars, it doesn’t exactly mitigate the fact that even the bystander characters have become self-aware to the predictability of the conflict unfolding before them. I can budge on the predictability of Danmachi being a non-criticism, with these kinds of shows, you get what you pay for. Therein lies the issue, despite it almost being self-aware in its predictability, heavy use of tropes, and unnecessary fan-service, Danmachi tries way too hard to play it with a straight face.

I’d like to coin this phenomenon “Fairy Tail syndrome”, wherein which a show with needlessly campy assets attempts to inject seriousness into its narrative, making for a final product that feels tonally dissonant. There’s a particularly egregious moment in the second episode between Bell and Hestia in a sewer. I’ll keep it vague for the sake of people interested in this second season, to provide some context, before this scene occurs, there is a relatively “tense” action sequence, but to cut at the tension, there is an amorous comedic bit between Bell and Hestia that thoroughly undercuts the tension. Not only that, but there is a serious lack of needed tension in the forced romantic relationship between the two that any interaction between them feels like an utter waste of screentime. Any time this show tries to get serious about the romantic interaction between any of the love interests and Bell, it comes off as tasteless harem antics with indulgent and predictable fan-service situations. And it’s never funny.

I enjoy this series to an extent, and I can come to terms with its mass appeal. I have a soft spot for shows about underdog dorks slowly inching their way to momentary success, even if it requires some suspension of disbelief when those small victories feel heavily contrived. Even if it is a predictable formula to pace into, it’s hard to not raise an eyebrow when characters manage to best annoyingly pompous antagonists. Hestia is indeed “Bestia”, or at least her extremely iconic design and charming personality facilitates enough anime-tiddy Twitter-feed fodder to convince me otherwise. Her rapport with Bell almost occasionally convinces me that I’m not watching a show about a woman who’s fallen madly in love with a dungeon diving slice of Wonder Bread slathered in Miracle Whip.

Speaking of characters, Danmachi has a pretty colorful cast of them. I can’t speak much for Bell Cranel, as protagonists go he’s pushed so far into the corner of typical harem anime protagonists that he just sort of bleeds into the mix with the rest of them. There’s nothing engaging about his backstory to latch onto and his disingenuous underdog act produces many an eye-roll worthy moment when he “miraculously” comes out on top. Hestia is the mascot, rightfully so because she’s just that charming of a character. Inori Minase is THE cute anime girl voice and provides a needed dose of energy in the sluggish pace of this show’s story. Some people find her annoying but her character reminds me that this show’s concept could’ve worked had they played to the comedic aspect a little more. Think Urusei Yatsura except with a Dungeons and Dragons type setting. Her design also bothers some people for the excessive sexualizing of her character but fan-service has never bothered me TOO much especially if it’s in a show that’s fully committed to exploiting it to a satirical degree. However, Danmachi doesn’t seem fully committed to that tone so whenever there are egregious body/POV shots of her character model, it can take away from the seriousness of the tone of a scene or distract from the dialogue.

Besides the main protagonists, the secondary and tertiary characters have distinct enough personalities and designs to at least stick with you on a shallow level, so it doesn’t just feel like they’re there to populate the world. However, the story never lingers on any one character long enough for them to feel fully realized. Lily’s backstory is further explored in this season and it should be noted that she’s probably the only character in the previous season (besides Bell) that got significant attention. However, after her storyline felt mostly tied up in the previous season, it didn’t seem to me like there was much else to do with her character, so when the story eventually did shift its attention to her it just felt like extraneous BS.

With tonal dissonance, shallow characters, forced comedy, predictability, and a stagnated plot taking the forefront can Danmachi Season 2 at least bring up the rear on a technical level in its first 4 episodes? Despite pretty standard direction, Danmachi is at least consistent in its animation. There are no set-pieces that stand out to me as far as key animation, and even the change in director didn’t exactly do so much as to change the shot composition slightly, but on average the show is passable enough to distract from its pretty inert direction. I also think Danmachi sports some pretty good character designs despite the overall look of the characters being relatively simple.

Danmachi can’t seem to compromise with its tone. It’s still not quite at the point of no return however as it continues to march to the beat of its own drum, it seems perfectly content in staying in its lane. There are aspects of this show that I like and at some point, I’m sure it will be able to actually rise to the challenge of weaving together a subversive or effectual story arc, but as of this first handful of episodes, that still might be far off on the horizon. There’s a part of my subconscious that just wants to press its finger against my lips and silently whisper, “shut up, don’t think about it too much”, but that’s asking too much.

So far, I feel like this season is being rushed. And when I say that, I mean REALLY rushed. Take the first arc of the series for example: The Apollo/War-Game Arc. The starting episodes were fine and all but it eventually delved down into lazy writing, awkward plotting and everything just being rushed to the point that the whole of the War-Game only took up one episode.

Not to mention, the B.S power boost Bell received within that short amount of time, it's not even funny anymore. You expect us to believe that just within a couple of days. He was already curb-stomping over the ... same guy who beat the ever living shit out of him the days prior? This is what I like to call: "A Toriyama Hand-Job". It's where just because the plot oh-so demands it. The protagonist gets so strong to the point where the word bullshit is literally written into the script itself.

If i were to compare Bell's increase in power level, it's like how Goku during the Namek Saga went from a power level of: 90,000 to fucking 3,000,000 just because he got a "Zenkai Boost". But hey, at least there's an explanation to how Goku got this strong, even though it's extremely vague.

For Bell in season 2, they don't fucking explain anything at all! They just expect us to accept the amount of shit they pull out of their ass and consider it as "Simply a power boost" or "The character worked hard for it." It would have been much more believable if they showed us an actual TRAINING segment instead of a few frames of maybe him dodging one or two hits from Wallenstein. The whole thing is fucking wonky.

This series was one of my favorites when it first came out with it's first season. It was a great newbie turning pro story and I was always excited for what to come next but now it's like the producers are taking the piss.

This show is average and such a parody of the first season and the genre that I do not recommend watching this show.

Even though it has been a few years I before watching this second season I remembered all of the good that the first season did. It was nothing entirely original and the familia premise was nice but what made the first season so enjoyable because it was a well executed underdog story of Bell Cranel getting stronger with a few passable ecchi scenes.

However, season two does not capture that same enjoyment simply because it's execution and direction was not on par ... with the first season.

Story: 5/10
The story continues on from the first season about Bell trying to get stronger and find more girls in dungeons and without spoiling, he does get into trouble. However, it is not the sort of trouble that gets the watchers tense or explores a theme of the show it is simply a poorly executed conflict that had barely any interesting qualities. From the minotaur scene and early dungeon scenes from the first season, this season does not capture the same heart. It feels like a slice of life fantasy like Konnosuba rather than an action adventure series.

Art: 7/10
One of the best qualities of DanMachi was that it always had nice art and animation. While it isn't anything top tier, it is still enjoyable to look at.

Sound: 7/10
The opening and endings are good again nothing special but they do their jobs the same as the OSTs.

Characters: 5/10
The characters in this anime are so average. One of the bigger themes of this anime is Bell gaining more experience and strength. He moves from his humble beginnings as the Little Rookie into a more accomplished adventurer however there is literally nothing interesting about him. He is plain and average and he along with the rest of the anime are completely filled with tropes. No other character in this anime feels even remotely interesting. Lili-kun is probably the only one with the interesting story but they executed in such a boring manner that all of her intrigue quickly dissipated.

Enjoyment: 5/10
This season is completely average and missable It does not capture the same charm as the first season did and feels more like a parody of itself and the genre similarly to Konosuba except DanMachi attempts to take itself seriously.

Overall: 5/10
Again, I do not recommend watching this show. It is average with very little redeeming qualities. If you want to watch something in a similar type of world then I suggest watching Konosuba. It's a comedy that knows it's a comedy and it executes it impeccably.

do you like fantasy? fighting monsters? mythology? a little gaming mechanism (actually there are none)? Then this one is my recommendation.
The only thing people think that this anime has game mechanism is about the level concept, while in my opinion level concept is exist in real world such as having work skills license. So it's not really a game mechanism.

Story: 9/10
I always love this anime. A heroic tale with many conflict, building up power to be stronger, a naive mindset of the MC. If you love the first season, then you'll love this too.
This anime also has a really good battle scene, unlike some "isekai" ... genere anime, the battle scene was executed so good that moves me. I still remember the minotaur fight scene in the season 1, God that was really a heroic fight.
Also, if you like Greek mythology or Nordic mythology, this anime has BOTH! God, i really love this show.

Art: 9/10
This is purely based on my opinion, everyone has different taste. But, i think this anime has really good art compared to another anime. The art is consistent, i just find it really beautiful, especially about Haruhime.

Sound: 8/10
Good enough, no stupid bgm. The BGM fits with the scene.

Character: 9/10
I really like Belt character. He is a naive person but not dumb. In this arc, he is confronted with a contradicting problem. Should he saves a "slut" which is a symbol of destruction of a hero, or should he leave her alone so that his familia won't get any trouble because his childish mindset.
He is my favorite character after Emiya Shiro (Heaven's Feel route). They both SIMILAR!

Enjoyment: 10/10
Honestly i can't enjoy anime as much as it was. Mostly i only watch 2 animes each season and drop the others. But i really enjoy this one, seriously.

Overall: 9/10
if you like fantasy story, heroic story, good battle scene, just watch this.

WARNING: CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS

After the disaster that was One Punch Man season 2, J.C. Staff has proven itself to not learn from their mistakes and destroy yet another great show.

Story - 2

Danmacci season 2 has 2 story arcs so far. One involves the war game with the Apollo family and the other is about saving Haruhime (and i guess all of Orario) from the Ishtar family. Now personally, I don't mind the fact that there are 2 separate arcs in a 12 episode season, however I do mind the fact that they are both executed extremely poorly. The story is that the Apollo family wants ... to take Bell away from Hestia and declare a war game to do so (after creating havoc in the city). From what the setting tells us about the characters is that they are all fairly intelligent under a capitalistic economic structure and governed by appropriate laws. So when the Apollo family decides to attack the Hestia family and disrupt the peace of the city, how are they not convicted of any crimes? This is a major plot hole that completely disregards any meaning to the setting and its characters. On top of that, Apollo's reason for wanting Bell in the first place was by no means worth sacrificing all his property and money. This is the prime example of plot convenience.

As of episode 8 in the Ishtar arc, the story is just downright an eyesore. Haruhime is a princess from the far east that got taken into custody by the Ishtar family and forced to work as a prostitute, however, she holds a secret ability that makes her extremely useful in aiding in battle. Bell and the familia want to save Haruhime from being abused constantly by the Ishtars so they decide to buy her when they have enough money. Now you'd think the story is just a rescue mission, when reality it's just a horrorful reverse rape fetish. In one scene, Bell gets his genitals grabbed by an ugly woman which shows how a decent show went from being a fantasy genre anime into a tragic hentai. I will go into more detailed criticism about the Istar familia in the characters portion.

Sound and Art - 6

Nothing much to tell here. The animations and aesthetics are fairly decent.

Characters - 1

One of the reasons I liked Danmacci season 1 was because of how the characters develop throughout the show. For example, Lilith overcame her fear of her previous family after sucking up to them for most her life. In Danmacci season 2, there has been absolutely no character development whatsover so far in the show and every single character is unengaging.

One of the reasons season 1 is good is because of Hestia's child-like personality. In season 2 however, there is a complete lack of Hestia and it's almost as if she's a side character especially in the Ishtar arc.

For the members of the Apollo family, each and every one of them only say lines like "come with me Bell, or suffer." It is honestly just painful to hear every time and they have no development at all for the main antagonists of the arc.

As for each and every member of the Ishtar clan, they are all a complete eyesore to look at as Iv'e mentioned before. One of the main problems i noticed early on with these characters is that they're all prostitutes yet they want the lay with Bell for free. This is a complete contradiction to what these characters should really be. As for the fat and ugly Ishtar specifically, she went from being a funny character that jokes about how she "gets all the guys" to being a psychotic rape dungeon torture maniac in the blink of an eye.

Now Bell in this season is a pea brain who doesn't understand half of what is happening around him which completely contradicts his character from the first season.

Enjoyment - 3

There is no denying that the aesthetics and battle in the war game were good to look at so i'll give it a 3 for that one episode.

Overall- 2

Now it may seem like I just sound butt-hurt and immature about all the Ishtar family scenes, however, that is not so as this is supposed to be a fantasy genre anime about a group of people who explore a dungeon and kill monsters. The turn of events make absolutely no sense towards the setting.

Now that that's out of the way, Danmacci doesn't succeed because they fail to make the characters engaging by provide 0 character development and dreadful story arcs.

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.

After watching the first season, I thought that the name of this anime doesn't mean anything. This is a story of a boy who becomes a hero from zero. The first season was amazing. The plot told us that there was a goddess who targeted the protagonist and was helping him grow strong. We didn't know what was the real target of that goddess. The plot of Gods and Goddess coming to earth to live with humans by abandoning all their powers was also not that good but I accepted it somehow. The fighting with plot was the thing that everyone loved and so was ... me. So after all that, it made me want to wait and watch the second season.

The second season made gods and goddess seem like nothing more than humans. Yes, HUMANS! "Why would Gods fight among themselves?", I wondered. It seems Gods in this anime is nothing more than trash humans. Then the skills are also trash now. Our protagonist has emotion freezing ability but what about it? His emotion still exist like others and "Fire Bolt" seems more like a low-level attack unlike the first season. All the adventurer seems like otakus with no power but high-level attitude. Then there's the main antagonist of this season and her "Familia". The main antagonist is a "SLUT GOD". Funny, right? Well, it is. The strongest warrior in her Familia is a fat old lady. The whole familia owns a "Slut Town" and for some unknown reason, they are the second strongest familia. That's what our author decided. There are no ACTUAL FIGHTS here. I believe writer was trying to come up with a hentai plot like Rance 01 but with no actual hentai scenes.

The sound is kind of annoying. Specially when a explosion or "Fire Bolt" releases. The Sound is like a "EAR-RAPE" Version of grenade explosion. There is no side character stories. Even if there is, it's all meaningless ones. The art is all that's good in this anime.

I suggest that you do not watch this anime AT ALL. You can watch the first season but not this one. Don't make yourself waste time on this anime. Watch something better. Watch even Fairy Tail, but not this one. That's how I feel after watching this anime.

I don't know about the others but since I've read the light novel of it, I think they did decent in DanMachi season 2. Been waiting for Haruhime for a long time and now that it's here, I am looking forward to this Ishtar Familia incident. The execution left out some details from the light novel which probably the reason why Bell became too strong for Apollo Familia. After he underwent training with Ais and Tione, Bell's status became all SS aside from his agility. When Hestia was asked by Hermes why and what is the status of Bell's agility, she just replied with a ... smirk on her face telling him that it is beyond SS and that is thanks to his skill. And now as we are on the way to the end of the arc, we are introduced to many new good characters like Aisha and Haruhime. To avoid further spoiling the fun, these two characters did have a lot of impact on Bell Cranel's character development. Does a prostitute deserves the help of a hero in the making as it is known that in heroic tales, prostitutes are some of the reasons for the hero's downfall. Is Bell Cranel willing to do and break through his walls just to save Haruhime in the hands of the Ishtar Familia?
Best Characters still in the series is Hermes and Aisha, that's for sure.

Please, don't waste your time
Danmachi sure did entertained me with the first season, I wasn't expecting much from the second season... But I was expecting something that is possible to my eyes and brain to watch, at least. What the actual f**k is this anime?
I simply cannot stand watching this anymore
It's unbeliavable how people spent money to animate and direct this.
The story built is actually nice and fun if you think about it, the little rookie has something unique in him, that can make him stronger and level up easily, specially in hard times that he is forced to push himself to his limits ... in order to protect the ones he loves, quite the cliché, but these kinds of plot usually don't fail to draw attention from any public. The animation is quite smooth, but it's hardly shown on this sequel, they really show how their budget was low, it comes to the point where action scenes are presented with just a slide of still images, there's also scenes which some of the side-characters stay still while there is movement going on. The thing is, there are animes with lower budgets that are better animated than this.
The characters ? Easily replaceable
The protagonist is just a common "nut size brain" that can't think by himself and it's a completely moron around womens. (This last part is very common, and it's what piss me the most) Like, why does this characters have to be so empty ? I'm tired of this protagonist format, weak on the beggining, gets stronger, but is still idiot like he doesn't have a brain, and even dumber around women.
This echi anime type it's just a cancer, I really think you get dumber as you watch
The sound effects of this is just appaling, there are lots of time where they didn't even bother to add the characters steps sounds
Sorry if you were looking for something more technical, but this anime is not worthy of such thing
Aaand, the story is soooooooooooooo fking rushed

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+

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.

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

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.

It had been a while since the first season of Danmachi grabbed the hearth of many people, being one of that season's best anime. It featured a good story in a good world and it was about a protagonist that we eventually knew that was the special kid with special powers, but damn right he had to start with the beginning, while the supporting cast wasn't something listed in the negatives either.
Some time after that we got an other season, which told the events of the first season. While this wasn't what many of us wanted, it developed ... something the first season established already, but couldn't develop on, due to the lack of episodes. Season one gave us this underlined feeling of something happening in the world, something irregular that we must find out. The parallel season was pretty much entirely focused on developing this, albeit not with out favorite characters we got to know in season one. Still, since the parallel season developed this element, I wouldn't call it a failure, and it's essential to the world building of the Danmachi universe.
While the movie was just a side gig, I genuinely enjoyed most of it. Other than that there isn't any relevance to this review, so let's just carry on
And then, we got this... I'm struggling to find a word that would fit this season and not breaching the guidelines...
Season two has many, many problems. Where to begin?
I would like to start with the character design. I would be the first to admit that many anime fall in this trap, but I really hate the way how Danmachi portrays some of their villains, mainly because they look horrendous in any way. It's like the animators thought that their audience isn't capable to differentiate between good and evil. I'm talking about two particular characters here, and anyone who watched the anime know exactly who am I talking about. One is making faces that would land him in a psychiatric ward, the other one is a 7 foot tall toad who's only missing a bandanna which reads: "I am evil! Hate me!"
Speaking of villains. I also have a problems with their motivations. Nope, scratch that, I have problems with everyone's motivations.
Villain number one has literally no motivations, except pissing off Hestia, and of course he wants Bell, because everyone want's Bell, am I right? I guess the only reason he had his arch (which I will touch later on) is because the animators told the story writer: "Hey, we got bored of drawing this ruined castle, can't they live in a mansion or something?" and the writer was like: "Sure, let me come up with something, I'll be back in 5 mins".
Villain number two (and I'm talking about the goddess, not the toad) had a slightly better motivation. I mean... Okay, I admit it I was exaggerating when I said nobody had a good motivation in this season. Villain number two had an actually good one. The only thing about it that how she acted out was awful.
But let's stop talking about the villains, shall we? Bell, is a freaking, mother loving,knife juggling Gary Sue. The first season had this problem to a degree, but season two arch two was plagued by the good deeds and ever victorious power of love and sunshine of the hero who's smearing about unjust. This almost made me drop S2 a couple of times.
Gary sues can't be without their damsels in distress, can't they? The whole trope is a lazy way to give something for the protagonist to act upon as quickly as possible and be heroic and all that good stuff... Damsels are bad as they are, but this one is adding a good layer of being flat out stupid. She would rather die, so that her existence doesn't taint the picture of oh holy thou than ever Protagonist and lady killer Bell sama, being an, uhm, night-time social worker, knowing full well the loss of her own life would empower the party which sought and still is actively chasing down said protag. That's really nice of her, isn't it?
Enough of the characters though, lets move on to the other parts of the anime... The animation is worse than anything yet. Do you remember that fight with the Minotaur in season one? How it ended, where Bell stabbed it, how it exploded. Yeah, I bet you do. Because it was awesome and got your blood boiling and shouting "FIRRBOLTO" along with the struggling albino boy who was pushed into a situation he never should had been in. The animation was a key why did that fight got 422k (19/09/2019) views on YT. Will there be a scene so memorable in season two? Absolutely not.
However, one thing that I liked about season two is how it kept their cool sounding explosions, to which I tip my hat to and give maximum score in the sound category. Yeah, some good sounding orgasmic explosions is all that makes me biased. No, I don't have a Megumin body pillow hidden in my wardrobe.
I also mentioned that I would touch on the two arcs of the anime.
Arc one is like OPM S2 but thankfully in 4 episodes: we build a problem for 3 episodes and end it in a half. The end fight literally took 10 minutes. Even worse there were some cool characters the story could had used after this arc but nope, 10 or so new characters were washed down the drain without every seeing them again.
Arc two be like: I save you! No Don't save me! But I want to save you! But I wanna die because I'm impure! But look how much I fought for you already! Nooo you hurting yourself for me! Ah shii I'm almost dead. OK you can save me... GARY SUE POWA ACTIVATE! The only saving grace about this arc is Freya and her badassness in the last 4 minutes of the arc.
Is It Wrong That I Want to Meet You in a Dungeon was one of the first anime's that my sister recommended me after I told her that I got the weeb. There may be a factor of nostalgia that makes me biased about S1 since that was one of the first anime I watched right after Elfen Lied and Log Horizon. To this day I'm an avid fan of fantasy an Danmachi is a good anime. I had waited 3 years of this season and many of you had been waiting for the continuation of this masterpiece of four years. But lets be honest here. Danmachi season 2 is garbage (oh look I found a good word for this season) If you don't feel the same nostalgia about season one, I wouldn't recommend wasting your time on this season. With that I would thank you for reading my review and see ya next time.

(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~

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 anything but a smooth ride thanks to his needs to keep both himself and his own familia afloat while also trying to make a name for himself within the crowded confines of Orario. This itself while certainly a tough issue was also made more daunting by Bell’s tendency to place his trust in others too easily which is a result of Bell’s desire to believe in the goodness of others. While this served to cause Bell to experience many unnecessary trials within Orario it also allowed Bell to learn many valuable life lessons while at the same time allow him to discover and befriend many powerful allies within the city that would prove most useful as Bell’s career took off.

As the series progresses and Bell and his allies improve not only their skills as adventurers but also their bonds with each other as well Bell’s personality gradually changes as he gets to both appreciate both the level of fighting prowess that he and his friends have attained after much hard work but also how much their teamwork has allowed them to improve not only the familia itself but also their knowledge of the world around them. While largely retaining his hardworking, friendly and positive nature Bell as a result of both hard-earned knowledge and desperate fights within both the city and the dungeon had learned to be more wary of things that are too good to be true and indeed is more willing to put the needs of the familia in front of his own desires a development that I felt was most appropriate. While still using his cherished grandfathers stories as his main source of motivation to a degree it can be seen that within Bell this has been boasted by the introduction of two more sources of motivation which is to improve his skills so as to allow him to meet and match his idol Aiz Wallenstein Loki Familia’s top tier adventurer that has the nickname of Kenki which translates into Sword Princess a title that is a testament to both her beauty and her skill with her sword in terms of combat ability and being strong enough to protect each of his friends from harm. While these ideas of his may seem to be ones that are far too difficult to achieve considering the difference in strength this difficulty can be said to be the perfect fuel for Bell’s ambition as to Bell only by learning to surpass his existing skills and learning to improve them will he be able to both achieve his goal and protect his friends from harm a motivation that is shown in full grander within the fierce battles that Bell takes part in within this series. Due largely to both his childhood and his first days within the city Bell was someone that can be said to have an intimate knowledge of how hard life can be when you’re alone and have no friends that can be relied upon to assist you. As a result of this its perhaps unsurprising that Bell is someone that cares greatly about his friends and indeed is shown to be immensely loyal to them and willing to fight hard to protect them on the field. While loyal to his friends Bell was also shown to be somewhat surprisingly perceptive to the mental problems that plague them and is quite capable of narrowing down the issues that are bothering them as shown in his attempts to save Lily from his former guild and Haruhime from her fate.

Hestia

Hestia portrayed by veteran seiyuu singer Inori Minase of Re Zero and Re Creators fame is one of the main characters of the series and is one of Bell’s allies within the series. A goddess from the heavens that serves as the head of Hestia familia to which Bell belongs to Hestia on initial impressions is shown to be a positive, cheerful and understanding person by nature that while having the terrifying mood swings that characterised the major goddesses was also shown to be a kind, caring and friendly person that cared deeply about her charges. Due largely to both her stature and of the fact that among her fellows her familia was by far the smallest within Orario Hestia was someone that was shown to be easily triggered at times especially with regards to her fellow goddess Loki the head of the famed Loki familia Orario’s most combat-oriented famila. While often used as comic relief within the series it can be seen that this aspect of hers can be seen as a protective measure of sorts as beneath this Hestia is shown to be fiercely protective of her charges and is ever conscious of them being snatched away by others as shown in the previous season and in Apollo’s arc. While a goddess Hestia as both the patron and the overall leader of the familia is expected to guide it in a desired direction while ensuring that her charges are doing their best for both themselves and for the familia it can be seen that unlike familia’s like Apollo’s Hestia is someone that takes the safety of her charges seriously and while nominally a goddess would be proud of seeing her charges defend her honor it can be seen here that rather the opposite is true for Hestia while grateful to them dislikes seeing them get hurt and indeed is more than willing to simply let the insults fly despite her right to retaliate. While showing how determined she is to keep her charges safe this also shows Hestia’s desire to maintain peace between familia’s and her own desire for peaceful cooperation with others within Orario and thus ensuring that her charges faith and trust in her remain strong.

While for the most part, Hestia’s personality traits remain constant throughout the series as the series progresses Hestia’s personality gradually begins to change as she is confronted with new situations that threaten the safety of both her familia and her charges. While normally shown as a relaxed person that avoids interfering with the life of her charges Hestia is shown to be quite capable of being both serious and perceptive to the needs of her charges and is shown to be able to give both wise advice to them while at the same time being able to come up with some surprisingly bold strategies that can serve to both turn the tables on the odds arrayed against her while also lessening the burdens that are affecting her charges. A notable example of this within the series is within the first arc in which Hestia in an effort to aid Bell and Lily took center stage and actively participated in the familia’s efforts to assist Bell during the arc and in the process demonstrating both leadership qualities as well the ability to stay calm and come up with the appropriate strategy to deal with a complex situation without escalating it by making effective use of existing assets.

Lily

Liliruca Lilusuke Arde portrayed by veteran seiyuu singer Maaya Uchida of Goblin Slayer and Charlotte fame is one of the main supporting characters of the series and is one of Bell’s main allies within the series being a member of his familia. A member of the prum race a near human-like race that have the ability to make use of unique abilities in lieu of their short stature Liliruca who prefers to be simply called Lily from initial appearances is shown to be a quiet, calm and cautious person by nature that prefers to show patience and cunning in situations rather than hot-headed bravado as others would have. Unlike the rank of file of Orario’s inhabitants who are either adventurers that can actively fight on the frontlines or civilians who are able to provide support through the use of shops that sell items that are needed within the dungeon Lily is unique in that she’s somewhere in between for Lily is a supporter. While certainly capable of operating on the field within a party supporters like Lily are seen to lack the high-level combat ability of average adventurers and as a result within the world while they are still treated as members of the party, they are rarely deployed into areas that feature extreme danger. However while Lily may not have the high combat abilities of the likes of Bell or Mikoto Lily makes up for it by being able to not just identify subtle changes in the environment but also be able to determine the best course of action at a given time showing not just excellent perception but also leadership quality that takes great advantage of her calm nature. While a quiet person by nature and even more so in the past when Lily was first introduced to the familia Lily was someone that was kind, caring and loyal and while not one to openly show her feelings to those that she does not trust she is positive and friendly towards those that have genuinely earned her trust through their actions.

While shown to be someone that was both mentally strong and able to bond well with others easily via skilful use of friendly banter as well as her own sense of confidence as the series goes on it can be seen that this aspect of Lily’s is something that’s akin to a mask that she uses to protect her heart that’s more fragile than she lets on. Due largely to the painful past that she had with adventurers in the past as well as the time that she had spent as part of other familia’s Lily contrary to her positivity and confidence was someone that can be said to have a complex of sorts as she saw herself as being worthless to others despite the many skills that she can bring to the table. As a result while outwardly trying hard to bond with her friends and to support them the best she can Lily, in the beginning, tried to maintain a set distance between her and her comrades in an effort to stop her misfortune from affecting them despite the fact that it can be seen that she genuinely enjoyed interacting with and fighting alongside them. While this can be seen as an attempt by her to merely protect herself from further pain it can also be interpreted as the opposite as Lily due to the despair and pain that she had experienced in the past with the likes of Soma familia does not wish to see this same aspect being visited upon her comrades in which she places her trust in. However as the series goes on and Lily was forced to not only reveal but also confront this hidden complex that had laid inside her Lily’s personality gradually began to change for the better. Despite the pain that she felt at being forced to go back to her former familia and later seeing the very friends that she had fought so hard to protect from her pain come and attempt to rescue her it can be said that the witnessing of this act can be said to be a strong revelation for her as this showed that despite her attempts to shield herself from them and despite her attempts to deceive them Bell and his friends not only trusted her as a dear comrade but also viewed her as both a valuable friend and ally that was an integral part of their familia.

As a result of such a revelation Lily was forced to realise that despite all of her attempts to deceive them that in actuality Bell and his comrades had only known of her pain and just as she had sought to protect them they in turn had also sought to do the same by giving her the time that she needed in order to find the right moment to tell them the truth a revelation that while strong also turned out to be the perfect key that would unlock the locks that Lily had installed around her heart and allow her to not only realise her own foolishness but also open her eyes to the fact that genuine friendship that is formed around strong bonds of trust, care and consideration of others do exist in this world and that rather than try to avoid it like she had in the past she should instead learn to embrace it. An attitude that not only allowed Lily to make peace with her own pain but also allow her to open up the next chapter in her life and allow her to embrace her new role as a member of Hestia Familia and her role as the familia’s strategist where her now trademarked calmness and her desire to protect her friends and familia will be of best use.

Haruhime

Haruhime Sanjouno portrayed by veteran seiyuu singer Haruka Chisuga of Asterisk War and Alderamin of the sky fame is one of the main support characters of the series and is one of Bell’s allies within the series. A member of the renard race a race that resembles human-like foxes that are native to the eastern lands Haruhime on initial appearances is seen to be a quiet, kind and curious person by nature that despite her role as a prostitute is shown to be an attentive, polite and pleasant person that works hard at her given role despite the stigma that such a role applies within society. However while a prostitute Haruhime was shown to be someone that was also perceptive both on a personal level and a city level an aspect that I felt matched well with the image that woman of her role would know of what the true realities of their operating area are like. However despite being a member of that trade Haruhime unlike her sisters was shown to be someone that did not quite embrace her role and indeed can be said to maintain an aura of innocence in that she still clung to a fondness for children’s fairy tales that she had possessed as children. This love of and indeed fascination of such tales while serving well as the spiritual foundation that enables her to live her life freely without feeling pressured into changing it can also be seen as a double-edged sword of sorts however as within the same tales that she adores the role of prostitutes can also be seen as a harbinger of disaster to the hero’s of such tales. As a result this within her created a sense of complex in which while she desires freedom from her role she is also hesitant in calling upon others to help her achieve this as to her she is a tainted individual that will only serve to bring ruin to the hero’s that will try to save her which is shown in her extreme reluctance to have Bell help her.

However, as the series goes on and Haruhime gets to see both the effects that her fate has on both Bell and her long-lost friend Mikoto Haruhime’s personality gradually begins to change. In the beginning of the series as a result of her status within her familiar and the shame that she felt that came from it Haruhime while certainly attentive and accommodating to all she encountered was someone that was noted to have very low self esteem and as a result was shown to be someone that had few friends within the familiar with the notable exceptions being Aisha and her closest advisers. She was also noted to not have a very clear idea on the path that she should take in life. Indeed at this point of her life Haruhime can be said to wish for nothing more than a clear purpose be given for her fate one that she hopes will somehow release her from it. However even when set on such a path it can be seen that Haruhime actually sees this decision of hers to be her’s alone and that no one but her should suffer the fate that she had chosen as evidenced by her desperate attempts to stop Bell and Mikoto from trying to save her by fighting her familia comrades. This attitude of wanting to find a purpose in life that will allow her to both serve her familia in a large capacity while also granting her the release from her fate that she had desired for so long while serving as her main source of motivation with her arc begins to gradually unravel as a result of her encounter with a lone adventurer that she had met by chance that of Bell Cranel. Unlike most adventurers who only ever visited her for pleasure Bell Cranel was different in that he was only here to seek sanctuary and not pleasure. At first though only seeing Bell as just another customer as Haruhime got to interact with him she saw to her surprise that unlike other adventurers who were boastful and did not take the time to understand the plight of others Bell was different in that he was not only attentive and willing to listen to her thoughts but also have an interest that he shared with her which is the love of fairy tales. For Haruhime the meeting of Bell can be said to be of something akin to a miracle for her as for the first time she was able to find someone from the outside that was not only sympathetic to her plight but also willing to help her break out of fate by for the first time in her life introduce the shining rays of hope that she had until now thought was impossible for her to see. As a result Haruhime while still retaining her quiet nature and a determination to protect the lives of others also starts to change becoming visibly braver and determined both to let go of her fixation on her role as a prostitute and also for the first time in her life try and select the path that she wants to take in her life.

The character of Haruhime I thought was a well designed and developed character with her evolution from a quiet young woman who had resigned herself to her fate to someone that not only realised just how much having friends that she can count on for advice was but also on the kind of warmth, direction and purpose that they can introduce into one’s life and her resulting change in attitude as she sought to change her fate being especially well done.

AMV

In terms of animation, I felt that the character designs for the series while remaining faithful to source material also did well in showing the development that each member of the familia has been through as a result of their success back in the first season. Environment wise while it was nice to see the streets of Orario again after so long I felt that the series also did well in creating unique environments for the series two story arcs that were both impressive in conception as well as giving the impression that in each case the stakes for Bell and his friends are higher than before with the castle that served as the opposing stronghold for Apollo’s war game arc and the pleasure district that served as the main operating area for Ishtar Familia being notable examples. In terms of combat animations I felt that while each of the battles in which Bell takes part in were well designed and animated and featured excellent blends of action, tension and determination that the series also took great care to show that while Bell’s ability has rapidly improved as a result of the hard work that he had put in this was something that he didn’t do alone and indeed no matter how strong he is Bell is unable to take on upper-level adventurers easily a fact that is painfully reminded upon Bell by the countless adversaries that he faces in this season. However this in turn is offset by the fact that Bell is not fighting alone anymore and indeed Bell is now fighting alongside allies and friends that decided to join his family because they like countless other inhabitants of Orario was impressed and inspired by actions of an adventurer who despite having no need to have over the cause of his early days fought hard to protect countless innocents from harm and show to the world that no matter your origins and motivations as long as one fights hard they will be able to help protect others. While doing well in showing the strong unique skills and abilities that each member of the familia possessed this act of fighting alongside Bell to help him achieve his quest I felt also served to underpin one of the series main themes of each familia being more of a close-knit family that was connected by genuine bonds of friendship, trust, and mutual respect rather than the more conventional bonds that are found in standard guilds.

In terms of music, the series made use of one opening and ending theme respectively which was Hello to Dream that was performed by veteran seiyuu singer Yuka Iguchi and Sasayakana Shukusai that was performed by Sora Tob Sakana a newly formed idol group. These two songs I felt while both impressive in their own right conveyed within me different types of feelings that I felt matched the series tone with the former being a positive and upbeat song that gave the impression that while being an adventurer within Orario was hard and that each new foray into the dungeon will be a hard one each new day while bringing the potential for doom also brings with it an opportunity to not only improve your skills but also improve the bonds that you share with your familia members as well as the inhabitants of Orario that you interact within your daily lives for no matter your standing in Orario the connections that you forge also affects the lives of countless others that have met you. The ending theme in contrast, however, was different in that to me it conveyed a more relaxing feel due to its tone that gave the impression that after a day of adventuring within the dungeon that it’s time to unwind and enjoy your time with your friends in the nearest café. While the two songs were markedly different in the emotions that they conveyed I felt that the two songs contrasting effects worked well in this case as they showed that while an adventurers life within the walled city of Orario will be a tough one’s life will be easier if you were to seek and form bonds with like-minded allies and learn to fight together within the dungeons effectively while endeavouring to learn more about them in the safe confines of your home base after you return from a hard days foray into the dungeon. In terms of voice acting I felt that the series main voice cast all did an excellent job at portraying their assigned characters whether they were main ones or support ones. In particular I feel that Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Inori Minase, Maaya Uchida and Haruka Chisuga all did an excellent job at portraying the characters of Bell Cranel, Hestia, Lily, and Haruhime respectively with Haruka Chisuga’s portrayal of Haruhime deserving of special praise as I felt that her performance was spectacular. While the characters of Freya, Eina and Mikoto weren’t given as much expansion in the series as the main cast was I also felt that their assigned seiyuu’s of Yoko Hikasa, Haruka Tomatsu, and Chinatsu Akasaki all did an excellent job at portraying their assigned characters who within the series provided Bell and his allies with some excellent if sometimes uncalled for support.

Overall conclusion

Overall I felt that Is It wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon’s second season was an excellent series that had among its strong points in my opinion being its unique premise, excellent story, well designed and developed characters, excellent voice acting and its unique take on the kinds of actions and environments that can exist in within seemingly stable locations like Orario. As with most animes that have additional seasons the second season of Damachi owes a portion of its success in my eyes to the foundations that were established by the first season of the series that aired back in Spring 2015 and while the first season itself was one that I really enjoyed it was not one that was not completely flawless in its execution. However it can be said that without these flaws the second season cannot be as much of a success as it is now had it not taken the opportunity to build upon these flaws and transform them into effective foundations that were both logical and adhered to the story and setting via the use of gradual expansion that emphasised on well-rounded explanation rather than on speed. The overall story for Danmachi can be said to be one of the series main strong points due to both the expansion that it provided to the main cast both physically and mentally and the expansion that it provided to the city of Orario via its use of its two core story arcs. While the first season of the series served well to introduce the series main setting, role and the members of the main cast it for the most part focused on showing how tough the role of being an adventurer within the city of Orario was and how hard it was to make yourself known in a profession that was filled to the brim with talent. However while it succeeded in both showing the challenges that Bell was to face in his quest to get stronger as well as in giving him the opportunity to make his name by taking on and vanquishing an abnormal hostile via his determination and hard-earned abilities this, for the most part, was focused only on the singular journey that Bell went through to get there. As a result of this while we got to see how much Bell had grown both as an adventurer and person we still knew very little of how the rest of the world worked such as how did Familia’s work in practice , how did familia’s interact with each other, what did non-combat staff of such familia’s do and more importantly what effects can they have on the city of Orario.

In this I felt that the second season of the series did an excellent job of not just showing the kind of relationships that can exist between familia’s in the form of the extreme levels of arrogance that the likes of Apollo familia show to others under the direction of the infamous god but also of the levels of friendships that can also exist between familia’s due to the shared bonds that can exist between both its members and its gods as shown in the intervention by Micah and Takemikazuuchi’s familia’s as they leaped to the defence of their friend Hestia. While showing the strong bonds that can exist between gods the first arc also did well in showing the level of trust and bonds of friendship and respect that can form between adventurers ones that can serve to persuade them to take the fearful and unusual step of leaving one’s own familia in order to assist a friend that in their eyes have proven themselves as someone that they can depend on and someone that they should do all they can to assist when the time comes as shown in Welf and Mikoto’s actions within the series. With regards to the second question, I felt that while the series did well in showing the kind of roles that noncombatants have within familia’s it also did well in showing the darker side of society that existed within the city of Orario in the form of the pleasure district and the sex industry. This particular arc was one that I really enjoyed as it not only served to introduce this side of society to the viewers but also serve to use this as a foundation from which to introduce the character of Haruhime whose life and struggle to escape her tragic fate and live a life of happiness with friends that she can count on which when combined with Bell and his allies attempts to save her made her arc that much more compelling. Overall in terms of final score I believe that it easily deserves a final score of 8/10 on account of its unique premise, story, character development and its much-needed expansion of its main setting of Orario via its skilful expansion of both the familia system and the kind of things that can lurk beneath the shadows of the city.