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

Episodes 1 & 2

Bell Cranel is a fourteen-year-old would-be adventurer with more ambition than skill. After leaving the family farm and coming to a city in order to explore the local dungeon (in the RPG sense), Bell agrees to join the goddess Hestia's familia. Yes, that's Hestia as in the Greek goddess of the hearth (some of you may know her by her Roman name of Vesta) – a long time ago, the gods of multiple pantheons descended to Earth after growing bored in their heavenly realms, and those who live in this particular city have all taken mortals under their proverbial wings in Is It Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?'s version of guilds. Hestia, however, is a little behind the eight ball, and Bell is her only familia member. Despite the fact that they live in a ruined church and have little-to-no money, this seems to suit both of them just fine...until one day Bell starts showing amazing progress in his skills. The issue isn't that he is progressing, but rather why: one day in the dungeon he encounters a beautiful swordswoman named Aiz from the Loki Familia and falls hard for her. This triggers a latent ability known as “realis phrase,” which, simply put, allows his skills to increase when his emotions are engaged by someone. And since Hestia has a crush on Bell, the fact that Aiz is the trigger for this skill is problematic.

Despite what appears to be a fairly basic Dungeons and Dragons-style setup for the story, these first two episodes of Dungeon show some innovations and dedicated world building that make it not only fun to watch but also allow it to stand out from other shows with game-based worlds. The mix of pantheons in this case works quite well, allowing for dynamics that we might not have seen had it stuck to only Greek, Norse, Shinto, or Hindu (the four we've thus far seen), and the rivalry being set up between Freya and Hestia carries an edge that one between Aphrodite and Hestia might not have been able to pull off – not only is Norse mythology a little more graphic in its violence, but there's a warring pantheon dynamic added to the mix; from the small interactions between gods that we've thus far seen, it's clear that Loki and Freya have a different relationship with each other than with the other pantheons, while Hephaestus and Hestia are more closely bonded. This latter also shows some attention to mythological detail, since Hestia is the goddess of the hearth(fire) and Hephaestus of the forge. Another good bit of world building is the way that adventurers' power is tracked: Bell has a tattoo on his back that Hestia updates every night when he comes home, factoring in his day's experiences to give him new stats. This not only gives a little opportunity for fanservice, since Hestia has to straddle Bell's back to work on the tattoo, but it also creates a little confusion about the world that works in generating some mystery – is this, in fact, a game, or is it simply a fantasy world with some game-like features? Or could there be a metaphor for human life being just a game to the gods? (That may be too deep for this show, but still.) Add to that the detailed backgrounds of twisting streets lined with leaning buildings like something out of an 18th century description of London and you have a world that is both visually and creatively interesting.

The chief attraction of the show's first two episodes is, for me at least, the relationship between Bell and Hestia. While other women are certainly introduced, giving the story harem potential, Bell only has eyes for Aiz while Hestia is currently the only woman with an emotional investment in Bell. More than that, the two are so clearly comfortable with each other, living together like a couple or a family who already know each others' quirks and accept each other for who they are. Yes, Bell gets uncomfortable when Hestia makes small romantic overtures to him, and that could prove a fly in the ointment as the story gets going, but his love for her, platonic though he may think it is, is abundantly obvious, something we clearly see in episode two when Freya's actions cause a dangerous situation.

The character designs are pleasant to look at, and Bell's albino coloring makes him stand out without looking freakish. Hestia is frankly adorable, although the rectangular things attached to her hair ties annoy me unduly. While a couple of gods have had gender reassignments (Loki and Hephaestus are both women), that at this point simply seems to give the animators an excuse to draw a variety of different figures; one detail I especially like is that fuller-figured women like Hestia and Freya have discernible stomachs in their form-fitting dresses. There does appear to be a wide variety of races and colorings, which helps to add visual interest to these episodes.

Is It Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?'s first two episodes offer us good world-building and an introduction to a story that could be an interesting entry into the swords and sorcery genre. Aiz is thus far more seen than known, which feels like it could be a problem, and Bell hasn't gotten as much development as the world has, but if you like fantasy, this looks like it's going to shape up to be an interesting show to follow.

Rating: B

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Rebecca Silverman is ANN's senior manga critic.