Bell spends some quality time with a beautiful goddess, but unfortunately for us, it’s not Hestia.
What They Say:
Far from the dungeon beneath Oraria rises a new threat, one the beautiful goddess Artemis has sworn to destroy with the help of her chosen warrior. But this fighter isn’t the renowned Ais Wallenstein or another storied hero of Orario legend. Instead the fate of Artemis’ quest falls upon the shoulders of Bell Cranell, who must partner with the goddess and stand against the menace lurking in the remains of a distant, ancient city. Although Bell is the ordained champion of Artemis and a member of the goddess Hestia’s familia, their adventure will test every skill and take every ounce of courage that Bell has — and perhaps, along the way, turn him into the hero he has always aspired to be.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
I’m a pretty casual fan of Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in A Dungeon? I enjoyed the first season, didn’t care much for what I saw of Sword Oratoria (Bell is the main character for a reason, no offense Aiz), and I’m moderately enthusiastic for the upcoming season this summer. I have it on good authority that some good stuff happens in the later novels, but so far, the anime hasn’t done anything to really pull me in; if it weren’t for my soft spot for Hestia, I’m not sure I’d still be interested in the series. I’m basically waiting for the anime to get to a story arc that will upgrade it from “pleasant distraction” to “compelling,” and after watching the movie, Arrow of the Orion, I’m still waiting.
There’s a skeleton of a good story in Orion, but it’s just not developed enough to evoke the kind of emotions in the viewer that the film is obviously going for. The most important aspect of the film is Bell’s relationship with Artemis, a new goddess; obviously, Artemis isn’t new from a mythological perspective, but this version of her is new to the DanMachi pantheon (so let’s just call her a new goddess to keep things simple.) Unfortunately, Bell and Artemis really don’t have enough time to bond, either as friends or romantically, for the dramatic twists in the second half of the movie to feel properly earned. Part of the problem is that too little of the movie’s 1 hour, 20 minutes of time is devoted to developing this relationship, and part of it is the nature of the Goddess of Chastity herself.
Hestia helpfully lets us know that Artemis isn’t acting “like herself,” but since we’ve never met Artemis beforehand, we don’t know how she’s changed from the past. All we know is that the goddess is rather aloof, and her affection for Bell seems to be borne out of convenience; he’s the hero she needs to defeat a strong monster, so she starts to develop feelings for him. Fans of the show know that Bell’s heart already belongs to Aiz Wallenstein, who is largely kept offscreen here in order to give Bell the opportunity to get to know another girl. Bell never does anything to outright betray his feelings for Aiz, but the way the film portrays him does make him seem a little fickle; it seems like he has no memory of Aiz just because she’s not in his party at the moment.
The action scenes also leave something to be desired. The big monster fight at the end uses some rather jarring CGI, and a lot of time is spent fighting spider-type monsters that don’t seem that threatening. The best parts of the movie are the scenes of the characters just hanging out– which is fine, but a little surprising for a series that bases a lot of its appeal on cool, JRPG-inspired fights. For fans of these characters, watching them take a trip together, complete with a hot springs scene, may well be worth the price of admission. However, it’s disappointing there isn’t more to love here.
I respect the fact that they tried to go for an emotional story with Arrow of the Orion, even though it didn’t quite work. There’s even a moment between Bell and Artemis that’s quite beautiful, with a lovely score. It occurred to me during that scene that I should be having goosebumps, but I didn’t, because I just didn’t believe the relationship between Bell and Artemis had advanced enough for anything that was happening to have real significance. On the whole, I just wasn’t buying what the movie was selling in regard to Artemis, despite her beautiful character design. There are some good ideas here, but they just didn’t work within the format of a short, stand-alone film.
In Summary:
A rather average film that still qualifies as a fun romp for fans of the series, but fails to offer any kind of meaningful emotional payoff. A good way to scratch the itch to see these characters goof around in between seasons, but a missed opportunity otherwise.
Grade: C