Sword Oratoria: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side

Episode 7

Whoever's behind the mysterious monsters with the perfect dentition, it isn't Hermes, Dionysus, or Uranus. I'd say that narrows things down, except that it really doesn't – first of all, Dionysus could very easily have planted his familia member Filvis with Loki's team in order to sabotage them; we learn at the end of this week's episode that Filvis, the sole survivor of a tragedy that befell Dionysus Familia on floor 27, has a reputation as the “Banshee,” an Irish spirit whose wail heralds the death of someone. To team up with her, a shopkeeper in Rivira says, is to sign your own death sentence. While that may thrill Lefiya's detractors (she's accompanying Filvis along with Bete), it also could indicate some deviousness on Dionysus' part, especially since Loki and Bete have reason to suspect that they know more about these toothy flowers than they're letting on.

Hermes seems to think that Dionysus may be worth prodding for information as well – Hermes' own familia sets off on a quest to figure out what's causing a major monster outbreak on floor 24 (along with Aiz), while Hermes solicits his fellow Greek pantheon member, hinting that with some alcohol in his system, he might just be willing to spill some secrets of his own. Given Hermes' status as a trickster god, it doesn't seem likely that he's telling Dionysus the unvarnished truth; bribing the god of wine with a night of drinking is definitely a red flag. Meanwhile, Uranus is the man behind the Hermes Familia's quest with Aiz to check out floor 24, which would seem to indicate that he's not entirely sure who's behind it himself.

All of this is definitely setting up for a major showdown near the end of the season. If this week is any indication, it does seem possible that the focus of the story will shift toward the coming battle and surrounding mysteries and away from the kooky adventures of Lefiya and her insecurities. Unfortunately, she's still a big part of the story – she, Bete, and Filvis are pursuing Aiz to figure out what's going on – but apart from her attempt to make nice with Filvis, she's largely toned down. (I also don't see Bete putting up with much from her.) Sadly, Aiz is still just blandly wandering through the narrative, having her emotions and motivations explained by other characters as she takes on enormous amounts of monsters by herself. (Apparently she's solidifying her skills after Rank Up – at least, that's what Asfi says.) For a story that's nominally about her, Aiz is one of the least interesting things in it, even during this week's fight scene; we barely see any of it, just flashes of sword and chunks of monster flying in Aiz's wake.

The people behind the monsters are certainly starting to get more aggressive, which may ultimately save the second half of the series. The redhead that Aiz fought in Rivira clearly knows a lot more about Aiz's past (and heritage) than anyone else, and she's not going to hold back in using it against the Sword Princess, which may get us more answers in general. The person in white she's working with is also an unknown entity – is it a human or a god? Sure, gods aren't supposed to be in the dungeon, but we know from the main DanMachi series that it does happen. If so, is that a mask they're wearing, or is this really someone with horns? That could bring a game-changing new pantheon into play, given how humanoid all of the gods have appeared thus far.

Whatever the answers turn out to be, the shift in focus to the actual plot instead of “cute” antics is a major improvement. Now if we could just get some character development for Aiz, we'd really be headed in the right direction.

Rating: B

Sword Oratoria: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side is currently streaming on Amazon's Anime Strike.