Train with Aiz the Senki … nothing could go wrong, right?
Creative Staff:
Art: Kunieda
Original Story: Fujino Omori
Character Design: Suzuhito Yasuda
Translation/Adaptation: Andrew Gaippe
What They Say:
Pursuing his desire to become stronger, adventurer Bell Cranel has become the pupil to the brilliant swordswoman Aiz Wallenstein. Though he initially despairs about the vast gulf between their abilities, her gradually begins to improve. And as he does, a certain goddess’s devious plan advances, and with it, a dark shadow approaches. The familia myth – walked by the boy and written by the goddess – continues!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
When Aiz found a vambrace in the dungeon the previous day, she knew who it belonged to and tried to return it, with Eina’s help. But of course, once the white rabbit saw his idol standing in the guild hall, his instincts took over and made a dash for the door; however, his reflexes were not enough to dodge the skills of the Sword Princess’ and they collided, much to his embarrassment. Once his counselor finished scolding him, the Senki returned his armor and apologized for their meeting, the first time they met. But much to her surprise, Bell returned the atonement with an even deeper bow, stating that he should be the one to be chastised, since he never thanked her for all the times she rescued him. Once the exchanges were finished, the Genki looked the young adventurer over and knew immediately that even with his advanced abilities, he never had any formal training in weapons. Therefore, to make up for her guilt and in seeing that Bell wished to get stronger, Aiz offers to discipline the rookie explorer.
Even as the two begin their practice, there are more ominous plans lurking deeper in the dungeon. Someone wants to test the novice adventurer and they do not care how far the danger must go before they are satisfied with the results. However as each day passes, Aiz noticed that her student’s skills are steadily improving, his speed and reflexes growing with each pass of their weapons. He may not recognize his progress, but the Senki knows that Bell is becoming what he wants most of all – stronger. As time goes by, he and Lily do notice that the monsters of the Dungeon are getting easier to defeat, each group fall to his Hestia Knife faster than any time before; while he may not want to acknowledge it, Aiz’s methods are working and he is drawing closer to his goal, though he still knows that she is steadily growing at her own progress. How can he ever hope to reach the Sword Princess if she keeps getting farther and farther away?
In Summary:
The comedy of Dungeon continues as Bell decides to train under Aiz, but this volume reveals a few things that the anime regretfully decided to skip for whatever intention. This is why I love reading the source material before or after seeing the animation – we as readers gain insight to information that the normal viewer would not have access. While the material shown is not essential to the plot, it does help to fill in a few nuances that move the story along, whether it be for motivation or in physical changes to the characters. And it is this knowledge which helps us to understand why Omori-sensei did what she did in such an event or why it was excluded from the show. Whatever the rationale, it expands this world for all the right or wrong reasons.
The manga version of Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? brings to light the true natures of the gods and goddesses’, in all of their absurd or maniacal reasons, which only such divine beings can understand. While some may have intentions which are transparent, there are still others who will not reveal their real objectives, even to their own familia. So while this volume is another great read just for Hestia’s reactions to Bell’s training instructor, the underlying darker theme makes this issue one of the better of this series.
Content Grade: A+
Art Grade: A+
Packaging Grade: A+
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: Teen
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: May 24th, 2016
MSRP: $13.00
