Note: I watched this anime as a Contract Aid for Anicord Contracts Summer 2023.
Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon?, commonly known as DanMachi, is a fantasy anime about Bell Cranel, an aspiring adventurer and sole member of the Hestia Familia, run by the goddess Hestia. Though their resources are few, Bell hopes to one day become a great adventurer and regularly explores his city’s dungeon to hone his skills. The show follows Bell as he works towards this goal, meeting other gods and adventurers and overcoming all the obstacles in his path.
As you might have guessed from the premise, DanMachi follows a simple story structure. Bell wants to become a super strong adventurer, but in classic hero’s journey fashion, he runs into different problems that he has to resolve to continue moving forward. Some obstacles were more interesting than others, but this wasn’t an issue since I was invested in Bell's journey and the world in which he lives (the latter more than the former). It was easy to root for Bell whenever he ran into trouble because he's unrelentingly optimistic and kind, while all his antagonists are comically evil. There's nothing wrong with these characterizations, but it always felt like the show was trying extra hard to paint Bell as the quintessential "nice guy", which got tiring after a while.
I did appreciate the show’s restraint in making Bell overpowered. At the beginning, his stats are extremely low and he lacks experience, so it's reasonable for him to freak out when he's unexpectedly attacked by a minotaur and to get beat up by higher level adventurers. He actively trains with Ais (a surprising amount of runtime is dedicated to this) and he continually visits the dungeon to gain experience, so his growth is believable.
I didn't like that during the season,
The final arc of the season was my favorite.
A monster-free floor deep in the dungeon with a “sun” consisting of a huge array of crystals and its own mini economy is also a really interesting idea.
Overall, the story is nothing groundbreaking, but I still enjoyed the fights, worldbuilding, and Bell’s character growth.
Bell is your typical shonen protagonist. He’s optimistic and unconditionally kind, and he appears weak but has a secret unique ability that makes him overpowered
The main issue I have with Bell is that he’s incredibly bland. He wants to get stronger so he can stand by Ais’s side, which is a decently compelling goal, but other than his white hair, nothing about him really stands out. So many girls are attracted to him, but there is nothing to be attracted to. His equipment and skills are interesting, but Bell is ultimately a boring protagonist.
Hestia is a character that exists in DanMachi. Her character design and unrelenting expression of affection towards Bell makes it clear she’s meant to be fanservice. I wouldn’t have a problem with this though if she wasn’t so annoying. Between constantly whining, butting heads with Lili over Bell, and deliberately hiding Bell’s broken experience-gain skill, Hestia is not a fun character to watch. Unfortunately, since she is the goddess in charge of Bell’s familia, she is the female character with the most screen time.
There are some positives to her character, though. It was genuinely touching when Hestia begged Hephaestus to forge a special weapon for Bell, agreeing to pay any price for it. We even see her throughout the season working to pay off her debt. Additionally, when
Of course, as a Symphogear fan, I have to give a special shoutout to Hestia’s voice actor, Inori Minase. She did her best to make Hestia bearable, which is much appreciated. It was entertaining hearing Carol’s voice whenever Hestia opened her mouth.
Lili is a better character than Hestia. She’s less annoying, and her tragic backstory made it hard not to sympathize with her. I liked that the show was willing to show the “dark side” of the familia system through the Soma Familia. Her jaded view of the world contrasted excellently with Bell’s more optimistic perception, and it was great watching her attempt to reconcile her confused emotions when she finally met someone who was unconditionally kind to her for the first time.
However, I didn’t like that after her introductory arc, she turned into another generic love interest for Bell. It feels like a wasted opportunity for character growth, especially after the show spent 3-4 episodes developing her story. The addition of animal ears also felt more like fanservice and was barely justified by the show as well.
I was looking forward to meeting Welf after seeing him repeatedly in the ending sequence, and it was definitely worth the wait. I definitely didn’t expect that
I initially thought Ryuu was meant to be the “cool, reserved” love interest, but
Apparently, Ryuu x Bell is a popular ship, and I can see why many people find it appealing. However, I haven’t seen much proof of this in Season 1. I’m hoping their dynamic is further explored in subsequent seasons so I can judge for myself.
But yea, Ryuu is cool. I would like to see more of her in later seasons.
Despite the issues I have with the characters, the show itself is animated quite well. The fight scenes are tense and dynamic, and the environments look nice. Additionally, I’m amazed how consistently the show animated the fanservice aspect of Hestia’s character. Clearly the anime had its priorities straight.
The art style used for the ending credits bothered me the first few times I watched it. It’s crude and doesn’t look all that great to look at. I’m guessing the show was aiming for a picture book vibe, but it doesn’t really work here. I guess it’s still memorable for that reason, though.
DanMachi’s opening ranks among my favorite anime openings. Not only is it sung by Yuka Iguchi, one of my favorite voice actors, but the song itself is soothing and quite catchy. The lyrics also match Bell’s character and perspective perfectly. The ending song took some getting used to, but it grew on me.
I have mixed feelings about DanMachi. As I mentioned previously, I don’t like most of the main cast. Bell is a bland protagonist, Hestia and Lili are annoying, and Welf and Lili’s stories don’t reach their full potential. I especially dislike how Bell has so many love interests not because I dislike harems but because there’s not much to which they can be attracted. As a result, his interactions with his various love interests are superficial and boring (with the notable exception of Ais, and even then, the show relies on Bell falling victim to his anxiety and embarrassing himself in her presence way too much).
It’s a shame that the character writing in this show is so weak, since its world is fascinating. DanMachi cleverly combines classic RPG elements (i.e. leveling up while fighting monsters in a dungeon) with mythological elements (namely, featuring deities from various civilizations). The concept that each god is essentially the head of their own RPG guild is really cool. I wanted to learn more about the rules of this world and meet more familias.
The story is nothing groundbreaking, but it works. Each member of the Hestia Familia gets some time to shine before their strength is put to the ultimate test in the season’s final arc.
Overall, a decently entertaining show with some promising elements. Just turn your brain off, ignore the bad character writing, and enjoy the ride.
Final Score: 7.5/10
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