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

When I initially started watching this, I was expecting just a dumb fun ecchi harem series, and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was actually good. After episode one, the fan service almost vanishes and the writing vastly improves (though there are a few minor plot contrivances). The characters are all interesting with their own motivations, and the main character isn't ridiculously overpowered (I mean he is powerful in the end, but it makes sense, it isn't just because he is the protagonist, and he actually does go through an arc).

I'm not saying that this show is amazing, but it is pretty well-written with fun characters and a fun story. The animation/sound design/voice acting is way better than I was expecting to a point where it is actually pretty good. For the most part the fight choreography is well done.

There are so many points where I thought this show was going to fall into annoying and predictable cliches, and for the most part this show avoids them all.

I would definitely recommend this show, but be warned, episode one has a lot of annoying fan service and clunky exposition.

I should have known by the title that something was going to be off on this anime. I was looking for a Rise of the Shield Hero type of anime and this one came up as recommended on IMDB. It has all of the usual traits I like: Dungeons, monsters, levelling style characters, action, adventure check, check, check across the board. The title tells me it's going to be a bit of a comedy, but I can live with that.

So what is it about this anime that has me giving it a 7/10 instead of the 8/10 that I wish I could be giving it? The plot is decent enough, storytelling is ok, animation is great. It's the main characters stupidity combined with the 'moral of this story' type of episodes that the creator has decided to make this show. For example, the main character a new dungeon adventurer teams up with a shady fox girl that is supposed to support him as he runs dungeons for loot and fame. From the very start she comes across shady with secret sneers and shady smiles telling us that she is out to steal and rip off the main character.

Unbeknownst to our protagonist his "supporter" is lifting money from him every run because he is to dumb to understand a 50/50 split on loot OR because he just implicitly trusts her when she says she split the loot 50/50. In reality she is getting 70 and he 30. Their relationship culminâtes when she pushes him into running a much harder dungeon than normal where she drops monster lures all around him then steals his magic weapon and money straight to his face before leaving him TO DIE surrounded in high level monsters. If this happened to anyone they would be pissed! Well he manages to escape the monsters thanks to another adventurer. The thief manages to get surrounded by monsters herself and is about to die when our protagonist shows up, kills the monsters and saves her life. This is the part that got me upset: he treated her "why did you run away?". He didn't even understand what or why she did what she did to him. She starts crying and tells him how she has been stealing from him before trying to have him killed. He just shrugs it off like it was nothing of note and still wants to be her partner even after learning what she did to him! This kind of moral high road story is ridiculous. Anyone wronged in such a way would want Justice, their money and goods back and certainly wouldn't want to work with or be friends with them again. Our hero doesn't want any of that and it bothered me a lot!

That's why this could have been a better show if they "got real" with reality and didn't take the high morals to such a ridiculous place. If this show was a little more serious and a bit darker it could have been a hit like Shield Hero.

I absolutely loved this show, I can not tell you how bummed I am that I have to wait patiently for another season, I am definitely chomping at the bit! I will mention I did get annoyed by Hestia quite often though. Other than that it is a fun adventure!

Going by the name and a lot of the early interactions within this series you would think this was just a dungeon exploration anime with plenty of over the top breasts and a whole host of girls in love with an adorably clueless and well meaning adventurer.

But the latter does subside and the side characters are actually interesting rather than just pointless harem bimbos.

The plot becomes way more complex and interesting and the world building is actually quite expansive.

My biggest issue really (having watched seasons 1 - 4 and the film) is the level of plot armour that is going on. Is completely removes any sense of threat because you pretty much know who is going to survive all the time.

Given how people are ripped to shredds, limbs and body parts can go flying, etc, I would have expected this anime to be more willing to remove the plot armour on occasion and if it did then I would certainly give it a higher rating.

The story starts a bit slow during the first two seasons. The main character has weak emotional strength and socializing issues, he doesn't know how to manage mature situations, some people may find this annoying, but we can't blame him, he's 14. The story is decent but not very exciting, though, there are some pretty exciting moments in the first season. I still found the show pretty entertaining with these "issues". However, since season 3, this show has kept me continuosly hyped and tense during a lot of scenes. The story arc is much stronger (for now) and it just keeps getting more and more exciting. The animation is also top notch, the fights are a pleasure to watch (especially season 4, for now), looks like the animation just gets better and better. Also, Bell's character growth is much more present since the third season, Bell risks his reputation for doing the correct choices and starts learning from his mistakes. Right now i'm really hyped for the next season 4 episodes. The show's current state while writing this review is just after the fifth episode of season 4 got aired. Give this anime a chance, wait until season 3 :)