DanMachi IV – 14 – Towards the Sunrise

As she and Bell take turns keeping watch, Ryuu begins to experience flashbacks to when she met Alise and was part of Astraea Familia. It’s a reminder of all the people she’s lost, but also a rallying point for her: she’s going to make sure Bell survives this, even if it costs her her life. It very nearly does too soon when three beasts attack, but Bell wakes up in time to kill the one Ryuu isn’t able to.

Meanwhile, much further up, both Mikoto and Haruhime announce that not only are they not dead, but their spells give their comrades the opportunity and power boost they need to finish of Amphisbaena. Mikoto demonstrates what a fool I was to think being underwater and surrounded by piranhas would be enough to do her in, by casting her biggest spell yet: Futsu no Mitama, which freezes the boss in place.

While it’s not clear how Haruhime survived the brunt of the boss’ breath attack, she’s able to dig deep and cast Uchide no Kozuchi. Ouka, who had used an ice ramp created with the last Welf’s magic sword to climb up into the ceiling of the chamber, brings his axes down on one of the boss’ heads and slices it clean off with Kokuu, while Aisha leaps right up to the remaining head’s mouth and unleashes a mega-Hell Kaios.

Cue victory fanfare…or rather a few blessed moments when the party is able to catch their breath. Aisha tends to Haruhime and Chigusa and Ouka tend to Mikoto, who are unable to walk. Then tremors begin, and the entire cavern threatens to collapse on top of them: the “coffin” from Cassandra’s premonition is still in play. Aisha and Daphne urge the party to flee up to the 24th floor like Turk and his team.

Cassandra, however figures out that “towards the life-giving sun” doesn’t mean a person or a place, but a cardinal direction: East, the direction of the sunrise. That happens to be through a recently opened tunnel down to the 26th floor. Daphne doesn’t believe Cassandra’s premonitions, but after Cassandra pleads with her and sheds tears, Daphne decides to believe Cassandra, the person.

Lili and Welf were already prepared to descend in order to locate Bell, so now everyone is in agreement. And with absolutely no time to spare, either, as the party witnesses what would have happened if they had gone the way of Turk & Co. The branches they were climbing collapsed, and then they were buried in stone, crystal, and plant debris.

It’s the rare instance where the 26th floor is a lot safer than the 25th, because it’s the place where they’re all still alive. They’ll have to keep descending quite a bit to get close to where Bell and Ryuu are. Perhaps they can meet in the middle? But I don’t want to forget what an impressive boss victory the party managed to pull off without Bell.

That win should give them confidence that, even in their weakened, battered state, as long as they stick together, they have a chance to find Bell and Ryuu and make it out of there.

DanMachi IV – 13 – Hello Despair

Bell runs into two spots of good luck: he’s able to cause a cave-in with his Fire Bolt before the Juggernaut can kill them, and Ryuu wakes up. Despite him urging her to heal herself, she uses the remainder of her magic to heal him instead, deeming herself too far gone.

Naturally, Bell rejects her insistence that he leave her behind. He doesn’t think he’ll last long in this place, but he’ll last a lot longer if he’s not alone. And even if Ryuu can’t walk, she has knowledge and senses Bell doesn’t. So they trudge on through the deep dark.

Tsubaki joins a growing group of adventurers who have heard about the trouble in the Dungeon and are headed down to lend aid to Hestia Familia. Unfortunately they might already be too late, as Amphibaena gets its second wind, leaps out of the water then crashes back in, causing a tsunami that throws what had been a well-oiled machine into chaos.

Tsubaki isn’t able to shield herself from a wall of water and ice that hits her head on, sending her sinking into the water while piranhas gnaw at her shoulder and legs. With one of their most powerful members out of commission, all the confidence the party had been building up is suddenly extinguished.

When Bell and Ryuu spot a pulsing light in the distance, he identifies it as the magic light stone from an adventurer’s lantern. Alas, the adventurers they find are nothing but skeletons, and the lantern soon burns out. Having been so buoyed by the prospect of salvation only to have it snatched away, Bell loses his nerve.

Ryuu calls it “Mind Down”, no doubt an effect of the Dungeon caused by intense hopelessness and despair. She manages to drag herself, broken, bloody leg and all, close enough to slap Bell back into coherence, and tells him all hope is not lost; they’ve managed to find an isolated room where they can rest, if only for five minutes each.

Ryuu volunteers to take the first watch, but the moment Bell nods off (he’s clearly exhausted) she starts to sweat profusely; clearly she’d been trying to appear less badly injured than she really is to Bell. This is what it’s come to: with Ryuu not entirely sure she’ll be able to stay conscious for five minutes.

That said, just the fact Bell and Ryuu can rest makes them better off than the rest of the familia. Once they all surface, Amphisbaena comes roaring back, more aggressive than ever. When it blue breath targets Lili and Cassandra, Haruhime shoves them out of the way and takes the breath head on.

Now the party could be without Mikoto and Haruhime, maybe food good, and the battle is far from over with reinforcements still punishingly far away. Things are not going well!

DanMachi IV – 07 – Cassandra Tries to Explain It All

Cassandra has another horrible premonition of doom: all the members of their party dead, Bell struggling, and Ryuu Lion looming like an angel of death. She awakes (partially nude, which is neither here nor there) to Daphne announcing that an adventurer has been murdered.

A witness of uncertain trustworthiness claims the Gale Wind Ryuu Lion did the deed. That’s enough for Bors to arrange a posse to hunt her down and bring her to justice.

Before Bell can say too much about his past dealings with Ryuu, Aisha escorts him somewhere where they and the rest of his party can talk in private. They agree to join the party with the purpose of getting to Ryuu first and getting to the bottom of things before needless blood is spilled.

Cassandra, having seen what happens when the party goes back down into the lower floors, doesn’t like this course of action one bit, but her method of trying to dissuade the rest of the party—simply telling them to stay behind—doesn’t fly. Even if he believes Cassandra, Bell trusts Ryuu and wants to help her. When Cassandra collapses from frustration, Daphne offers to stay behind with her.

Cassie says she’s coming with them after all, and resolves to find a way to save everyone on the way. Lili gets a letter to Hestia explaining the situation, and we learn from Miach that Cassandra indeed has an extraordinary gift of foresight. The hunting party is large and unwieldy, but when a herd of mammoths attacks, they’re dealt with rather swiftly.

As the party heads deeper into the Dungeon, Cassandra takes Welf aside and asks him a favor. We catch a glimpse of Ryuu running at full speed in the vicinity of the Great Falls with hate in her eyes. Then everyone starts feeling tremors that seem to be coming from the 27th floor, where Cassandra’s awful premonition took place.

Clearly recalling Aisha dying in that dream, she manages to keep her from joining the other adventurers down there, though Cassandra’s manner of convincing her involves exaggerating the difficulty inherent in carrying Haruhime. Instead, Bell goes down below, which is acceptable to Cassandra as he didn’t die in her dream.

That said, he did look very much the worse for wear, and all the talk of Ryuu being a superior Level 4 means he likely won’t have an easy go of it down there. Seeing things that even the gods don’t know will happen is clearly a terrible burden for Cassandra, not least because most people don’t want to believe their fates are predetermined.

Here’s hoping whatever she saw is only one possible dream, and that the steps she’s taken will help ensure a better outcome. Of course, a lot will depend on what Ryuu’s whole deal is.

DanMachi IV – 06 – Mister Popular and Miss Opportunities

DanMachi IV’s sixth episode serves as an epilogue that bridges the Moss Huge mini-arc and the mini-arc to come. What it lacks in excitement and stakes it more than makes up for with character, comedy, and charm. It’s also a rest episode our battered party both needs and deserves.

In the rest area, Lili allows herself an indulgence as Bell’s Supporter and asks if he can speak to him later, after all of his daily business is concluded. Meanwhile, unknown to either of them, the gods are having their periodic meeting/hot god goss symposium.

One order of business is bestowing an official Second Name for Bell, and the other gods (including Freya and Loki) make a mockery of something Hestia wants done properly to honor her dear familia. Hestie eventually gets everyone to settle on Rabbit’s Foot—which is a damn fine and fitting name!

Bell meets with Luvis and Dromel in the hospital, who both bestow their thanks to him for saving them, but also praising Lili for inspiring them with her words and actions in crunch time. He also meets with Ouka and Chigusa, then is immediately snatched up by Cassandra and Daphne…so they can get a store discount!

The gag, which is an oldie but a goldie, is that due to Lili being too deferent and unselfish, all the things she wanted to talk to Bell about later are being talked about already by others, because the business of his day never ends, and then continues into the night. All while she hides around the corner and reacts.

Of my two favorite such reactions, one is when she giddily accepts the praise she hears from her party-mates mouths, and the other is when a drunk Aisha comes on to Bell and Lili reacts by throwing a smoke bomb and getting him the hell out of there, which as Supporter moves go, is pretty aces.

All the pent up frustration both Lili felt and we felt for Lili thankfully get released, when she tells Bell something no one else could: that after the Xenos incident, she was worried he was drifting off to another world (she even uses the word isekai), but recent events of assuaged those worries.

Rabbit’s Foot is better than ever, but also as kind and caring as he’s always been. Watching beside Lili as Bell interacted with his family, friends, allies, and admirers, we were reminded why Bell is so easy to root for; he’s almost too perfect at this point, right?

Lili would agree, and I like that while what she wants to say to him is built up like an imminent confession would, her bond with Bell feels that much deeper. Uchida Maaya does great voice work in a lovely Lili spotlight episode that shows how much she treasures her bond, and how she’s determined to keep growing beside Bell.

As for the cliffhanger that shows that Ryuu Lion might be a murderer? Well, let’s just say I have homework for before next week’s episode: Research what the hell led Ryuu to this place, assuming she’s not being mind-controlled in some way…

DanMachi IV – 05 – Gong of Ice and Fire

Without Bell, the party finds itself well and truly against the wall, to the point both Lili and Aisha decide it’s time to bring out their fox in the hole, Haruhime. Thanks to her study of the grimoires, she’s now able to summon five tails from a fox spirit that bestow Level Boost on Welf, Daphne, Aisha, Ouka, and Mikoto. Suddenly, fighting back the monsters is easier.

But there are so many, and even when they’ve slaughtered them all, the Moss Huge eats all the crystals they dropped and becomes even stronger. I don’t know if it knew the party had someone like Haruhime, but it was counting on using their power and effort to increase its own.

The last couple episodes have really built up the fact that this is a smug, ugly brute of a monster whom I simply could not wait to see ethered by Bell.  But before that happens his party has to endure more setbacks. It takes a huge bite out of Aisha’s shoulder with its toothed trunk.

Aisha then proceeds to demonstrate just how tough she is by continuing to try to fight off the Huge, since she’s the only one who can, even with vines growing out of her gaping wound. Meanwhile, her and everyone else’s level boost fades as the monsters continue to swarm around her.

It’s at this point the injured party they found can’t sit around and do nothing anymore. They decide as a group to make their last stand here, to give Hestia Familia a chance to escape and spread the vital news of the Moss Huge. And Lili knows that a Strategist must sometimes be coldhearted and underhanded.

But she doesn’t leave the injured allies behind. She can’t, and still live with herself or look Bell in the eye. She uses her lightning blade to push back the monsters and save those who were about to give their lives for her. And just then, Haruhime’s fox ears hear a tolling bell, signifying that they just managed to hold out long enough for the one-man cavalry.

Everyone finds cover so Bell can unleash a Firebolt that blasts the Moss Huge clean out of and about a hundred meters below the cavern they’re in. There, in a much larger space, Bell, demonstrates how being on these Lower Floors have helped his mana and physique synchronize better. In short, he’s figured shit out.

As a result, he’s able to observe his opponent rationally, and revels in the fact that it’s neither as fast as the Iguazu nor nearly as strong as Minotaur. The rest of the party is relegated to the grandstands, but that’s fine; at this point both they and we the viewers have earned the right to sit back and enjoy this decisive battle.

DanMachi brings out all its most epic and bombastic battle music for this one. When all of Bell’s melee attacks amount to nothing due to Moss’ ridiculous regenerative abilities, he takes off the kid gloves, imbues his black dagger with Firebolt and awakens its runes, naming the attack “Argo Vesta” after an alternate name of his goddess.

This finally does the trick, and if I have any complaint about the Moss Huge’s demise, it’s that it doesn’t suffer nearly as much or as long as it made so many others suffer. For a being of such obvious intelligence to use it purely to hurt and kill and make itself stronger…it was a bad dude and I won’t miss it!

With the defeat of the Moss Huge, the parasitic vines growing in Chigusa and everyone else vanish, restoring them back to normal. Marie, not interested in meeting his friends, thanks Bell, says she loves him, then waves goodbye. I was hoping for more Marie Time!

But that’s okay, there’s no shortage of allies and hugs waiting for Bell after his impressive feat. But the members of Hestia Familia and their colleagues must understand that their role wasn’t simply to await rescue. Everything they did bought them and Bell crucial minutes he needed to get to where they were.

Everyone contributed, from Cassandra’s well-timed heals to Haruhime’s clutch five-fold boost. And conducting it all was Liliruca, who like Bell learned a lot from being down here. For her, that meant learning that a Strategist doesn’t have to be coldhearted or underhanded, and sometimes luck will reward them.

DanMachi IV – 04 – The Seaweed’s Always Greener

When Bell first lays eyes on the mermaid who applauded his performance against the Iguazu, his first thought is probably that he really shouldn’t stare at her for too long considering she’s topless. His reaction spooks her, but it isn’t long before Marie (no “Miss!”) is offering the finger she bit for him to suck on (her blood has healing qualities).

It also helps that Marie is friends with Xenos like Rei and Rido. I thought she might be the classic siren keeping Bell occupied while her Moss Huge ally picks of his party one by one, but it doesn’t seem to be like that. If anything, Marie is clingy because she’s lonely: her friends have wings and feet while she’s tethered to the water.

The Moss Huge doesn’t need Marie or anyone else’s help to create a huge shitshow for Bell’s party, led in his absence by Lili’s brains and Aisha’s brawn. It’s implied the Moss Huge has not only been stockpiling monsters but also influencing their movement patterns, such that the party ends up in the middle of a “pass parade”, when hordes of monsters are coming at them from all directions.

Despite overwhelming difficulty of avoiding getting flattened by the parade while still keeping the injured safe and mobile, Lili, Aisha & Co. manage to keep it together. Welf has to go through his magic swords like potato chips, but they’ve gotta do what they’ve gotta do.

Ouka proves masterful with his axe, while Makoto also whips out one of her new special techniques which splits a rampaging giant urchin clean in two, showing Aisha that she and Bell aren’t the only ones pulling their weight.

When Bell sufficiently promises neither he nor Marie will be killed if they leave the safety of her lagoon, she uses her song to locate a friendly monster and leads Bell back to his friends. When she runs out of water to swim in, Bell finally does what the show’s title has always promised and Picks Up a Girl in a Dungeon—and if it’s Wrong, I don’t want to be Right!

Even after their small victories and getting time for Cassandra to heal them, the monsters just keep coming in waves. Lili knows they can’t keep running without reducing the number of foes, so Aisha tells Haruhime that it’s time for her to unleash her Level Boost on everyone.

Hopefully that bullet isn’t used too early, and the resulting boost will keep the party afloat long enough for Bell and his new friend to arrive. But the fact that they’ve done so well without Bell for this long speaks to what a talented, coordinated, and resilient party they’ve become in a short time. You could say greatness is being forged in the watery crucible of these lower floors.

DanMachi IV – 03 – Meeting Their Mossy Match

Whelp, the fun and swagger didn’t last long, did it? Cassandra tries in vain to heal Chigusa and Luvis, but the parasitic plant that has infected them is beyond her abilities. Simply cutting them only speeds their growth. With time against them, Bell opens the floor to ideas, as he admits he’s best suited to combat.

Cassandra says they could retreat to the surface and enlist the services of a higher-level healer, or they could confront the enhanced monster in hope the plants within their people will wither and die if it’s defeated. Ultimately, the group goes with the latter plan.

I like Bell’s dedication to deliberation and consensus…in theory. In practice, it’s a little odd that Chigusa, Luvis, and his party members are able to survive as long as they are considering their bodies are being eaten from the inside by parasitic vines. Frankly, standing around talking about it saps (no pun intended) the urgency a bit.

When they find Luvis’ party mates, they’re clearly being used as bait. As Strategist, Lili delegates duties amongst the party members, with Bell and Asha focusing on the Moss Huge. But Moss is crafty, and arranges things so the weaker members of the party are closer to it, forcing Bell to leap in at the last minute to save them.

His Fire Bolt hits, and the Huge doesn’t seem to like it one bit, so it grabs him by the leg and dives into the water. Bell is about to run out of air when he is suddenly released by the Huge, and the current shoots him straight out of a massively high waterfall. Just like that, the party has lost its leader and strongest member.

Lili momentarily loses it and tries to rush after him, but Aisha reminds her of her duty as Strategist to keep a cool head. She also ruefully admits that Bell is stronger than her now, and has surely found a way to survive whatever fate has befallen him.

So Lili crafts a new plan: the party will head back to where they started on this floor: a high enough vantage point that they’ll avoid further ambush, but also an enticing spot for the Huge to attack them. Once the Huge is where they want him, Makoto will use her gravity magic to bring down the rocks and crush him.

It might work! Certainly Bell isn’t in a position to fight the Huge as he’s now several thousand feet below everyone else, but he is alive. No sooner does he get back on his feet than something slices him in the arm: one of the laser-quick Iguazu Eina warned him about.

At first he hides behind a crystal, which gets eaten away pretty quickly by the onslaught. So he considers what Ais would do in this situation, and then does it: faces the threat head on and fighting it off with his quick swordwork. He gets nicked more than a few times, but in the end he’s still standing and the Iguazu are gone.

For his efforts, he receives a surprise round of applause…from a mermaid he didn’t even know was watching! Hopefully she won’t try to kill or eat our dinged up Little Rookie.

DanMachi IV – 02 – Not-So-Laid-Back Camp

On the verdant final floor of the middle floors, Bell’s awesome mega-party makes camp. Haruhime was initially worried about whether Bell could still fight and kill monsters after his dealings with the Xenos, but Bell tells her he’s committed to being a “hypocrite hero”.

Bell’s performance against the monsters thus far earn him high praise from his comrades, though Lili worries he’s “drifting away”. Welf says it’s then the job of a supporter to keep chasing after him. Aisha also remarks that Bell is having a positive influence and looking like a true hero, not just dragging everyone along but making everyone around him grow stronger.

After a meal ’round the campfire, everyone retires to their tents, where we get some nice combinations of characters chatting. There’s Mikoto swearing to be Haruhime’s shield (any shippers?), Daphnie praising Lili for her Strategist performance thus far (Daphnie is so cool!), to an increasingly agitated Cassandra warning a drowsy Chigusa about her premonition about a creepy Green Moss that covers everything.

We also have nice moments between Bell and Welf as well as Bell and Aisha when he relieves her for the change of watch. It’s a welcome reminder that as affable as things have gone so far, they are still in dangerous territory. And Aisha warns that it’s going to get a lot more gnarly as they descend into the lower floors. If Bell gets himself killed, he’ll likely take the whole party with him. To Aisha’s delight, Bell doesn’t flinch at these words.

The landscape turns from green to a vivid blue as the party descends to the 25th Floor and the Great Falls of Water City. DanMachi puts out some serious Abyss vibes here, as our heroes are absolutely dwarfed by the massive waterfalls and rock formations.

Their first encounter with monsters (blue crabs) is relatively uneventful, but just walking a bit too close to the water’s edge nearly costs Haruhime her life. Thankfully, Mikoto isn’t just talk, and impresses all when she dispatches the giant piranha.

When Welf spots an extremely rare and valuable material, even the level-headed Lili decides it’s worth the risk (especially considering how expensive this expedition is costing the Familia). Part of a Strategist’s job is deciding when the risk is worth the reward, and even when another monster ambushes Mikoto in mid-air, she shows how much her training paid off by delivering a dazzling somersault kick.

The haul of expensive material and Mikoto’s heroics leave the party feeling confident about descending just a bit lower before heading back to their 24th Floor camp…and then Cassandra’s premonition begins to come true. They spot a wounded Luvis emerging from the darkness, and right behing him is the most formidable monster yet.

Bell rushes ahead to take it on, but it seemingly reads all his moves, and he identifies it as an “enhanced species”. When it unleashes a hellish fusillade of woody projectiles, everyone does their best to avoid them, but Chigusa gets caught by one—only one—and her resulting shoulder wound is infected by a rapidly growing plant that no doubt threatens her life.

Proof positive that adventuring in the Dungeon is all fun and games…until one of your party gets struck down. Now comes the true test of Bell’s leadership, Lili’s guidance, and the other party members’ physical mental fortitude. Can they overcome this setback, or is it only the first of the dominoes?

DanMachi IV – 01 – The Children Are All Right

Hot on the heels of the Battle of Knossos and the dealings with the Xenos, Bell is now Level 4, and Hestia Familia is kind of a big deal. As such, they’re being given an official mission to break their own record for descending the dungeon and gather certain items. But it’s a pretty open-ended mission; they can choose to go as far and deep as they like…and they will.

That means putting together perhaps their most impressive team to date. There’s obviously the Hestia core of Bell, Lili, Welf, Mikoto, and Haruhime; plus former Apollo now Miach Children Daphne and Cassandra; Aisha, formerly of Ishtar; and Chigusa and Ouka from Takemikazuchi. Lili will be both supporter and strategist in the rearguard, while Bell hits the books at the guild and Eina realizes she kinda has a mondo crush on the guy.

With such splendid Children getting all the preparations ready, all their gods and goddesses can really do is sit in a tavern and drink, eat, and marvel at how capable and impressive said Children have come; particularly former crybaby Bell. On the early morn before they set out on their open-ended expedition, Welf presents Ouka with a masterpiece of an axe (he expects to be paid for) and gives Bell a unicorn horn dagger called Hakugen.

When the 10-person party hits the dungeon, they all show off their stuff, as well as their teamwork and coordination, but it’s Bell who impressed everyone by showing what his Fire Bolt looks like now that he’s ranked up. Risks and perils will abound the deeper they descent, but Bell couldn’t ask for a better team to delve with. The huge ensemble should prove a similarly deep font of fun character interactions.

DanMachi III – 12 (Fin) – The Hero (and the Status Quo) Returns

As Asterius walks along Daedalus Street in search of the “ultimate adversary” of his dreams, Hermes clarifies his request for the Xenos to “die”. Rather, he’ll need some of them to die by Bell’s hands, so that Bell’s honor and reputation can be restored. Whatever else Hermes is planning, Bell continuing to be the beloved Little Rookie is a big part of it.

Gros and three others decide to acquiesce to Hermes’ request, and make a big show of attacking a square full of civilians and adventurers. With this “stage production”, Hermes is conceding that Ouranos’ desire for humans and monsters to achieve piece was little more than a pipe dream. He just can’t see thousands of years of continuous enmity ever ceasing.

The moment Eina is threatened by Gros (who I believe is being berserk-ified by Asfi), Bell comes between them, and Gros’ inner voice hopes Bell will defeat him before he kills her. But Bell isn’t altogether interested in playing the exact role Hermes laid out for him.

Rather than raise his blade to Gros, he simply puts his arms up and serves as Eina’s human shield. Gros ends up shoving him back. That’s when a frustrated Hermes has Asfi berserk-ify Asterius, who flies at Bell like a bat out of hell and presses a vicious, building-smashing attack.

Bell somehow manages to hang in there, and DanMachi’s Big Battle Theme starts to play as their epic duel carries through the night and into the dawn. Unfortunately, while the battle is quick, brutal, and fun, it also can’t really hold a T to Bell’s duel with Ais. In addition to Ais being easier on the eyes, it was more satisfying on both a thematic and character level.

Asterius’ whole deal is that Bell apparently beat him once, and he wanted another shot at him, and…that’s it. Everyone else allows the battle to unfold without interruption in part due to Ottarl, operating on Freya’s wishes. Asterius ends up delivering a huge defeat to Bell, and even though the battle served a purpose—both to rehabilitate his public image and serve as cover for the Xenos’ escape—Bell is still super upset about losing.

Satisfied that their head-to-head record stands at one win and one loss apiece, Asterius withdraws. We later see his arm is restored, as Fels heals all of the Xenos injuries once they arrive in Knossos. Wiene is happy where she is and not crying over missing Bell, and the Xenos have a new haven in which to survive and maybe even thrive…just separately from humans for the foreseeable future.

I can’t help but be a little disappointed that more effort wasn’t spent trying to move the peace process forward, but at least from Bell’s perspective part of the reason that process failed was he just wasn’t strong enough. Even though he beat Bell, Asterius isn’t standing still, and continues training the moment he’s healed.

Bell too returns to the battlements of the castle where he and Ais have met and trained so many times, and is surprised when she too arrives at that spot, telling him she had a feeling he’d be there. Bell asks Ais once more to teach him how to fight. He wants to become stronger, and their friendship remains strong enough to have survived the recent adversity.

DanMachi III – 11 – Don’t Speak

Welf and Mikoto manage to successfully stall Gareth with a last-minute assist from Tsubaki, ordered by Hephaistos to assist Hestia Familia. Wiene manages to give Tiona the slip, but the chase continues. In the process, the Amazoness witnesses Wiene save a demi child from a crumbling bridge.

When she corners her again, Tiona can’t go through with killing her, and lets her go, now sensing what it is Argonaut-kun saw in her, and acknowledging she’s more than just another monster.

Wiene reunites with Bell and Haruhime, but it’s not long before they’re confronted by Bete. Again asserting her newfound confidence and strength, Haruhime stalls Bete to allow the others to flee, then uses Uchide no Kozuchi to summon a leveled-up Aisha.

Haruhime may not be that good in an offensive battle, but those who love her like Aisha consider her battles to be their battles, and gladly fight in her place. Even though Aisha loses and doesn’t feel particularly cool about it, the fact is, she is extremely cool, while Bete’s just a hotheaded dork.

That brings us to the titular Decisive Battle, in which Bell and Ais dance once more, only this time with blades instead of eveningwear. As Finn expected, Ais isn’t prepared to make any distinction between Wiene and Monsters Who Make People Cry based on what she’s seen. Wiene went berserk before, she could do so again, and she can’t allow it.

That said, she is surprised that Bell is able to hold his own in their initial scuffle, such that she dispenses with holding back for the sake of their unique bond, and takes things up a notch. Bell can’t keep up, so he spams Firebolt at the stone arch above them and uses the debris cloud as cover to escape.

Finding the barred gate to a secret passage where he once stood up for Hestia, Bell has Wiene go through to meet up with the other Xenos, promising he’ll be right behind her. Round 2 with Ais commences, and Ais is not playing around. Her only accomodation to Bell is to warn him that she is going to cut him and it will hurt, a lot.

If she were to spill Bell’s blood, I doubt things would ever be the same between them—maybe they won’t be anyway—but thankfully Wiene sensed Bell was only lying to protect her (again) and comes back to put herself between Ais and Bell. Ais is shocked to hear her speak and express emotion—specifically concern for Bell.

It’s an inconvenient truth she’d rather not deal with. Things were easier when she thought Wiene was just a monster; now it will hurt her to kill her, but she’ll still kill her, because she has “deadly claws” and a “terrifying wing”. Wiene responds to that by literally tearing off the monstrous parts of her (not her jewel, that would kill her).

Wiene tearfully assures Ais that she ever loses herself again she’ll disappear “like she’s supposed to”, but she doesn’t want to go back to being in the “pitch black”. Bell saved her, and she wants to stay with him. Having witnessed Wiene act not like a monster at all, Ais concludes she can no longer kill her. She tosses Bell a potion and lets them go.

Bell and a healed Wiene meet up with Haruhime, Lili, and some Xenos who got separated from the main group, and Bell and Wiene say goodbye one more time. This time Wiene tells him she won’t cry while they’re apart because she doesn’t want him or the Familia to worry about her. Haruhime suggests Wiene and Bell pinky swear that they’ll meet again.

Unfortunately, that might not happen, as throughout this whole operation, the trickster Hermes was playing the good guys like a fiddle. The main Xenos group encounter a dead end that wasn’t on Daedalus’ map, and Hermes arrives with Asfi to confess he faked the map to corner them. He condemns the Xenos as “heretical” and politely asks them to die. As expected, he has his own personal agenda, and he’s making his move.

DanMachi III – 10 – The Western Door

Ever since Eina slapped Bell he’s kept his distance, which has put Eina more and more on edge. Her emotions are a jumble of regret and resentment, causing her to snap at Hermes, but he’s in a forgiving mood, so he tells her if she’s looking for Bell, he’s not at his Home.

Where Bell is is Daedalus Street with the rest of his fam. Hestia and Haruhime are coordinating the operation from a rooftop, using walkie-talkie gems from Fels. At the same time, Finn leads the Loki effort to track down the Xenos. Expecting Bell to be a diversion, he has Ais—and only Ais—follow him.

What follows is some pretty funny shit if you’ve been following DanMachi for the past two-plus seasons. From her rooftop perch Ais witnesses not one or two but four different women approach Bell in the streets, Since she can’t quite hear what they’re saying from her distance, she begins to suspect Bell is some kind of womanizing delinquent!

Those women are, in order of appearance, Raza from Miach Familia, Aisha and Ryuu from Hermes, and finally Aina, whose dialogue with him is the most misleading. Hermes had actually wanted her to give him a certain bracelet, but she misses her chance when Bell runs off.

Adding to the chaos on the streets is Lili, using her transmogrifying ability to imitate an al-miraj, which Loki children chase, breaking formation. Raza uses another of Fels’ magical items to create illusions of Bell and monsters for other children.

While Ais watches all this nonsense unfold, she ever so briefly takes her eyes off Bell, allowing him to give her the slip with his invisible cloak. Even so, she can still sense his presence—this is Ais we’re talking about—so to buy Bell a little more time, Ryuu challenges Ais to a sparring session, hoping the level boost Haruhime gave her will be enough to delay Ais sufficiently.

When it’s time for the Xenos to emerge from their hiding spot and go on the move, Lili imitates Finn to order Loki children to return to the operational base, freeing the way for the Xenos to head towards the West Gate.

Finn wasn’t aware of that gate’s existence, but judging from the Xenos’ movements, now he knows that must be what it is. After Lyd calls out to the other isolated Xenos groups, Makoto and Welf use his magical swords to create ice barriers between the Xenos and their attackers.

Everything is going swimmingly until Gareth smashes his way into the middle of things, scattering the Xenos. Makoto and Welf try to keep him on ice, but he’s a tough cookie and won’t be restrained long. Worse still, in the shockwave of Gareth’s axe strike, Wiene is separated from the others, and wanders off in the completely wrong direction.

Thankfully Hestia and Haruhime can see Wiene on the map, so Haruhime decides to go after the little vouivre, but Wiene is unfortunate enough to run afoul of one Tiona Hiryute first. Haruhime is on her way, but she has scant offensive abilities. Hestia could lead Bell to Wiene, leading to a clash between Argonaut-kun and Tiona. And then there’s Ais up on the rooftops, searching for her former dance partner…it’s one fine mess!

DanMachi III – 04 – Seeking the Surface

Hestia Familia’s Xenos hosts provide food and beverage to celebrate the meeting of humans who will accept them. As Bell and the others drink, eat, and dance, they learn a lot more about these intelligent monsters. Like them, they collect loot from the enemies they defeat, be they adventurers or “dumb” monsters.

We also learn that while Lyd is presently the Xenos’ de facto leader, a stronger Xenos has awakened who could challenge his claim as the strongest of them. On top of that, there’s a faction of the Xenos who want no part of the humans, distrusting them every bit as much as the townsfolk on the surface.

Like last week once they reach the Xenos’ hideout, this episode spends most of its time explaining the bigger picture, with “former human” and sage, now skeleton Fels being a useful font of information while Ouranos tells Hestia a lot of the same stuff.

Just as Ouranos hopes Bell and Hestia’s Familia will be the bridge to make people acknowledge the existence of intelligent and peaceful monsters, Dix Perdix and the Ikelos Familia is working to maintain the status quo, killing, capturing, and smuggling the monsters without a moment’s thought to their intelligence.

But neither Fels nor Lyd brough Bell & Co. here to ask for their help, so much as to lay out their plight, as well as their most common desire: to reach the surface and see the sky (and in the Siren Ray’s case, fly in it). Ouranos even posits that it could be the Will of the Dungeon itself (which the Xenos call their “mother”) for Xenos to emerge and yearn to reach the surface.

This is because just as humans die, go to heaven, and are reborn in the lower world, monsters also have a cycle of death and rebirth that starts and ends in the Dungeon. This means someone like Wiene, who learned to speak and act like a human so fast, could have died and been reborn hundreds if not thousands of times.

It’s a lot of fascinating food for thought, but if there’s one demerit to this episode it’s that it is, a the end of the day, one in which everyone is sitting around either talking or listening to people talk about things, rather than watching much in the way of action. The information may be fascinating, but the manner in which it is relayed is somewhat rote.

That aside, the smaller but no less significant immediate ramification of Bell & Co. meeting the Xenos is that Wiene won’t—and shouldn’t—return to the surface to their home. This comes as a surprise to poor Wiene, who cries and screams for Bell not to leave her even though he must, with only a promise he and the others will return at some point.

As Bell & Co. return to the surface and meet up with Hestia to pool share what they’ve learned, the group of Xenos caring for Wiene fall into a trap set by the Dix and the Ikelos Familia, using a brutally tortured Ray as bait. What looks like the strongest of the Xenos charges Dix, and is swiftly killed.

Dix has a huge host of humans and demis under his command, and he clearly relishes the monster hunt to come. He and his ilk represent the extreme challenge any attempt at human-Xenos co-existence, as it will be everything the Xenos can do to simply continue existing period!

There’s also the matter of Hestia being reluctant to risk her children and Familia being branded enemies of their own kind and in league with monsters, thus destroying all the progress the Familia has made and resigning them to ostracization and worse. But if they don’t do anything to help Wiene and the Xenos, who will?