The Winter 2023 Anime Preview Guide

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? IV Part 2

It's been a long road for Hestia Familia, but after their help with the Xenos incident, they finally got their first official Guild mission to the dungeon. Since the group is small and low on fighters, they requested assistance from several other familias and were joined by Cassandra, Daphne, Chigusa, Ouka, and Aisha on the middle levels. Things turned out to be not as straightforward as they appeared when what seemed to be a murder was committed in the town of Riviera; this led to the revelation that the group responsible for the death of nearly every member of Astrea Familia, the Evils, weren't as gone as people had hoped. A run-in with a surviving Evils member, a tamer, leads to large-scale destruction of the dungeon floor, plunging Bell and Ryu down into the deepest levels. Separated from everyone else without the lifesaving aid previously given to Bell by Marie the mermaid at their disposal, the two wounded and traumatized adventurers are about to face their greatest challenge.

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? IV is based on Fujino Ōmori's original novel series and streams on HIDIVE on Thursdays.

Richard Eisenbeis
Rating:

Part 1 of DanMachi IV ended on a cliffhanger. Beaten, bloodied, and barely able to walk, Bell finds himself deeper in the dungeon than ever before. Worse still, he has an unconscious Ryuu to care for and a seemingly unstoppable monster on his tail hunting them both. Meanwhile, the rest of Bell's party face off against a two-headed dragon floor-boss—a battle that they are in no way prepared for.

Yet not much actually happens to progress the plot in this episode. While I wouldn't exactly call it “padding,” the 22-minute runtime is basically spent reinforcing through “show, don't tell” just how hopeless the situation is for all parties. Bell has to choose between fighting the monster hunting him or going deeper into the dungeon to avoid it—neither of which is anything short of suicide. Meanwhile, the rest of the party are trapped in the boss room and have to not only gather their will to fight but attempt to bring the fight to a dragon that seems designed to counter their every ability.

So while nothing substantial happens in this episode, it does at least do a great job of building tension. It feels at this point that our heroes have no way to win (outside of a lucky miracle) but the fact that they still refuse to give up trying is ample reason to root for them. It also helps that the fight scenes are dynamic, exciting, and well-choreographed. So while it's not the best episode of DanMachi nor a very good “season premiere,” it is still a decent episode on the whole.

Judging by the prevalence of Astrea Familia in the opening and ending themes, this season is going to hurt. Or at least the first half of it; given the pacing of the first part of season four, we may not get through this set of episodes on the same storyline. But Astrea Familia's presence suggests that it may get more than one episode devoted to its fall and Ryu's past, and as heart-rending as that storyline is going to be, I think that would work pretty well. This episode focuses primarily on those left behind in the water city. We get a couple of distressing and flat-out alarming images of Bell and Ryu in the deep levels, where they have been unceremoniously dropped and are waiting for the season to start again. Still, the action really is focused on those left behind.

This feels like a good call; we know that Bell will pull through no matter what; that's what he does. But it is less certain how the members of his Familia will cope with his apparent loss, and even the presence of Aisha may not be enough to combat their fears amplified by Cassandra's dire predictions. And in fact, Aisha isn't enough all on her own to convince everyone to stand up and fight. That's where Welf comes in. He hasn't had a chance to shine much on the front lines, so having him be the one to come forward and back Aisha up, to come up with a solution to the problem of how to fight a monster on water, it's a significant move in terms of solidifying his place within the Familia and the mixed Familia group as a whole. Once he gets the ball rolling, Daphne and Lily can step up as well, and we can see how Lily is continually growing as a commander. Finn is not the only Prum with a good head on their shoulders, and the moment she rises to the occasion makes it very clear why he has more than a passing interest in her in the novels.

Cassandra is the other important piece here. She is caught up in her visions of despair and the fact that no one ever believes her that she forgets that a prophecy is not set in stone. When she wonders how the others can avoid falling prey to the despair she sees, she doesn't realize that she's the one who had given up before the fight even started. And if the healer gives up the ghost, the rest of the party may as well be fighting with lead weights on - she is the carrier of despair, and if she doesn't give in to it, her prophecy loses its power.

Yes, nobody is in a good place at the end of this episode, but we're beginning to get a little hope. Lily's letter has reached Hestia on the surface, and she has gone to those who are most likely to come to use aid. The group on the water levels is fighting back once again, and if a broken arm with three pins in it hasn't stopped me from writing reviews, you know it will not slow Bell down. We're in for a rough ride, but it will also be a good one.