Right at the start, there is a narration, that quickly shows you a bit of how the world works. Later on, in the first episode you will of course find out more. What you will be finding out is, that that world is basically an RPG. It doesn't say anything about this being a game, but it simply works like that. People that aren't gamers probably won't understand most of the stats, leveling and item thingies. There are adventurers, that follow certain goddesess, which lost their divine power, just to have fun with mortals. The purpose is to conquer the Dungeon that is in the center of the world, and beat all the bosses. Doesn't sound like anything special, does it? Feels like you're watching someone else play an MMORPG, since everything is very easy-going.
*Minor spoilers in this paragraph
The adventurer that we are following is Bell Cranel. He is a guy that is naive, wants to be a hero, good mannered. But he's STUPID. The first scene we meet him, is when he was being chased down, just to see him soon saved from the strongest adventurer there is, that is supposedly a female. After being saved, he falls in love with her, and his motive is, I MUST GET STRONGER JUST TO REACH HER. Later on I will talk more about her. Soon after we meet his goddess, that is Hestia. I can describe her very quickly. Loli, with boobs, and throughout the entire series, you will only see her going after Bell. This serves to stop Bell from ending up with anyone. Hilarity ensues, except i didn't find it that funny, because it's the most stupid love triangle. Instead of bell going for the one that is extremely caring for him, he chases the strongest female, that turns out to be an airhead which we will see later on. And because it is all like that, the dialog is extremely stupid, leading to nothing. If they're not talking about adventure, they're talking about how the sky is beautiful or something like that. Another stupid character he meets, his supporter, living in the guild with the most ridiculous motive (more wine!). She has a very inconsistent personality. At first she wants to scam Bell, for his items. She accidentally falls down, the weapon gets out, and miraculously, that happens in front of a good character related to Bell. Cheap trick just to get the supporter some forced character development. Bell soon gets it back, without him noticing anything, 'cause it's Bell! Soon after witnessing her betray him again before his very own eyes, and she tells him that she already betrayed him once before, Bell forgives her, risks his live to save her, and the harem increases. On the question why? He answers that he didn't know (but he does! The writer told him, that he will gain a new motive; protect thine friends!) Most of the characters are plot devices that lead to a boring story.
Bell cranel has a Premium account, and he's the only one. He's the chosen one, and while the world seems very balanced, Bell with his unstable personality, manages to do great things, and beat monsters, that realistically speaking, if the world is based on stats, his weapons should just break. What's the point in stats and leveling, if it doesn't even show how powerful someone is. But he gets an ability, that makes it impossible to lose. Literally impossible, even though it is not instant. He's just beating everything through out his screams, that sound really good. He isn't a chicken Gary Stu like i describe him, he first falls, and than comes back, it isn't like he's god mode walking through everything. He also sees invisible people because he feels their eyes on him, perfect logic. Premium account, or hacker? You decide!
The fights are very good, not anti-climatic, they also have very nice music, and sounds, and are also animated extremely well. There's even a lot of blood going, and you can feel really well how the monsters get sliced up. The music is really epic, but the opening is just, no. It feels like it is for some slice of life show. It should sound more adrenaline pumping and exciting not like this. The music is at it's peak in the fights as i mentioned. And this is one of the few anime where i really enjoy the fights. Even though they're just shit Bell has to go through. However, the art and character designs are not well done for 2015, but they aren't terrible.
I didn't talk about all the characters, since most of them exist just to be there. Nothing to talk about them, since they don't do much for the plot. Even though it is all cliched, by my point of view, i usually don't like this stuff, and would rate this even lower. The only special thing about Danmachi is that it is not boring to watch; it's so easy-going with many flaws. It's like so simple, that it is fun in the same time, it gives off some kind of a nice feeling. If it is nice why is it only 4? Because the characters, are mostly annoying, and the story is just shit Bell goes through, without him receiving any character development.
I've just stated in this Review mostly how I feel about it. It is of course possible for people to enjoy this. Since it is, like I mentioned, very simple. If it isn't objectively good, it doesn't mean it won't be fun. With being simple, and the way the pacing is easy-going, together with intense battles, there is no sin if you enjoy it. It doesn't try much to be what it isn't, and I didn't give 4 since it failed, rather because i didn't like it. Since i usually burn this kind of anime down and I didn't really hate it as much as I could, most people would still find much more enjoyment in Danmachi than me.
