“Party – Banquet of the Gods”
What They Say:
Based off a light novel of the same name written by Fujino Omori and illustrated by Suzuhito Yasuda, Is It Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? is set in the world of Orario, where adventurers band together and look for treasure in the underground labyrinth known as Dungeon. However, for Bell Cranel, fame and riches are secondary to what he wants to find the most: girls. He soon finds out though, that anything can happen in Dungeon, and winds up being the damsel in distress instead!
Content (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Bell, Welf and Lili have returned from a successful adventure to the Dungeon’s middle floors and are celebrating their victory at a local bar, all happy to have survived the chaos on the eighteen floor and also congratulating Crozzo for achieving level two and being granted his coveted Forge ability, thus making him a master blacksmith. Although the joy is contagious, the supporter cannot but think this will be the end of the party since Welf’s main objective has been attained, but he reassures his friends they can still continue exploring together. However the conversation quickly turns to Bell’s fast progress and if he has reached level two, while he reassures them he has not the camaraderie is soon broken by the harsh words of an obnoxious prum who cannot but help to interrupt and begins to insult the Little Rookie; while he does his best to ignore the harsh words, Cranel’s anger soon explodes once the annoying demi-humans taunts turn to a certain failure of a little goddess who cannot find any more followers and has to depend on borrowed members of other families all to venture into the Dungeon.
Although Welf stops his friend from doing anything rash, it, unfortunately, cannot be the same for himself as he throws his mug into the prum’s smug face and begins an all-out brawl in the tavern. While Lili helpless stands by and worries for the outcome, Bell and Crozzo seem to be doing well as they easily fight off the companions of the little man until the blacksmith unwisely asks if anyone else wants to join in. It is then when a content man sitting nearby gladly accepts the challenge and viciously takes down Welf with ease, all as one of the spectators confirms he is Phoebus Apollo – Hyakinthos, a level three adventurer. However, as he attacks Bell it is only then does his sadism become apparent, maliciously beating the Little Rookie repeatedly as his face turns into a bloody mess, only ending when he begins to cruelly strangle Cranel with one hand mercilessly. The crowd looks on helplessly but no one steps forward to help until they hear a complaint of dissatisfaction from a familiar grey werewolf, Bete from Loki Familia has been watching and calls everyone who fought weaklings. Although the victors leave carrying the prum with them, Bell and friends return to Hestia and relate all that happened … she smiles and ends her lecture with her stern warning to next time ignore the insults for they cannot get into a fight with another family.
Bell goes to the Guild the next morning and tells Eina of his mishap last night, only to receive another speech from his half-elf advisor of the dangers in confrontations between familias, with a final reiteration he should avoid them as much as possible. However when the white-haired boy leaves the consultation room, he is surprised by two girls who greet him by name, introducing themselves as Daphne and Cassandra and handing over a plain white envelope but sealed via a ominous red wax closure with the stylized symbol of a sun fronted by bow and arrow – family crest for Apollo familia, the same group who they fought in the bar. The red-headed messenger plainly tells Bell they are to attend to a party tonight and it is their decision to come or not. Why would the god whose members insulted them invite their rivals to lively festivities … this cannot be a good sign for either side of this conflict.
In Summary:
After hearing there would be a sequel to one of my favorite anime properties, I re-read the light novel source materials in preparations for the premiere of the show, however after seeing the results of this adaptation within the first episode, it left me was sorely disappointed. While the viciousness of the fight in the bar was just as fantastic, the outcome within the party was disappointing since is appears J.C. Staff studio cut some of the best parts in order to save money. Although they kept the closing result showing Apollo’s viciousness and perversion, I would have liked to have seen the two parts which were the most fulfilling from this opening sequence: Hermes’ exposition of Orario’s past and the awkwardness of Bell and Ais’ dance. Within the book Omori-sensei created a whole sequence where Hermes recalls the Ancient Times of Orario when Zeus and Hera familia were the most powerful families, gaining a reputation by conquering mammoth beasts which set the tone how powerful Loki and Freya familia are since they are the ones who defeated and chased them out of the city; and though this may not be very important to the anime, it does impress upon Bell the strength of the conquerors and feeds into his hero worship of epic battles and wishing to be a hero himself. However, what I miss the most was the dance and how shy Bell and Ais are when they are left alone to figure out this complex set of maneuvers compared to fighting in the Dungeon. Omori-sensei creates a sweet display of how idol and rival stumble over each other, only to have the male gods and their female children step in and guide them via hints and displays of a simple waltz. Once again while it is not essential to the episode, within the light novel it does help to cement the relationship between these shy adventurers and is made all the more comical once Hestia and Loki spoil the mood by hauling off their followers before the results become any more cumbersome.
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? II does have a promising start and while I am disappointed in the cuts from the source materials, they did manage to keep the basis of what leads into the main premise of the first act – the War Games. However considering the first series was only thirteen episodes and they managed to fit material from six light novels creating a cohesive story, this exclusion while not necessary was disappointing since it leads to questioning what they will cut next? If the opening and closing credits are any indications as to what will appear within this sequel, it is clear this second season will encompass events from the sixth and seventh light novels and yet with the complexity of the materials especially the latter, it is questionable as to what may disappear in order provide more exciting events for the audience.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
