Fantasy Farming Done Right

In an interesting coincidence, the Winter ’23 season marks the second in a row that a farming-themed fantasy series has aired. While last season’s I’ve Somehow Gotten Strong When I Improved My Farm-Related Skills (hereafter Farm-Related) and this season’s Farming Life in Another World (hereafter Farming Life) do have a few things in common, they are remarkably different in their approaches. Based on the first eight episodes, the latter is the better one.

Both Farm-Related and Farming Life feature a young man dedicated to building up and/or maintaining a farm, both are mostly light-hearted (though Farming Life sticks to that more purely than Farm-Related does), and both feature a veritable harem of young women of highly diverse natures eventually gathering around the protagonist. That’s about where the similarities end, however. Whereas Farm-Related was a pure fantasy tale set in a world using game-like mechanics, Farming Life is an isekai tale set in a world which doesn’t use game mechanics at all – and unlike certain other isekai series this season, the protagonist’s otherworldly origin has a distinct impact on his actions here.

In Farm-Related, farmer Al Wayne became uber-powerful when his farming skills maxed out, synthesizing into some ridiculously strong advanced abilities. That allows his produce to be superior-grade and leads him to work part-time as an adventurer, which gets him involved in matters including a princess, a descendant of a Hero, a long-missing sister, and a Guild Girl with a trickier-than-usual background. Later episodes reveal that his strength comes partly from a ridiculously-powerful mother (how she knows no limits in her affection and punishments is the series’ most prominent running gag) but mostly from a frightful encounter he had as a child. While the farming always remains Al’s home base and figures into the plot at times (Al would certainly say he’s a farmer first and an adventurer second), this was more an adventure series than a fantasy slice-of-life tale.

Farming Life, on the other hand, is more true fantasy slice-of-life. Protagonist Hiraku died from long-term illness in his original life, but because his death was partly the mistake of a god, said god grants him a new life with a healthy body. The body has no powers, but he does get one perk: the Almighty Farming Tool, which can become any implement Hiraku can imagine – even a weapon. Further, he doesn’t tire while using it, does not need to use seeds to sow crops with it, and all crops sown by it grow extra-fast. He’s plopped down in the middle of a forest that he later learns is called the Forest of Death and uses the AFT to gradually lay out a farm, complete with a toilet and eventually a house, too. He manages to befriend both local wolves (by sharing shelter when the female wolf’s birthing is imminent) and a giant demon spider (it likes the potatoes he grows), and gradually expands his farm. Eventually, a steady stream of newcomers arrive at his nascent village and, for various reasons, decide to settle down there.

In other words, Farming Life is practically Sim Farm, and it uses both its eye catches and other occasional features to further that impression. Each episode features new expansions, rebuilds, and/or additions to the original farm, some done by Hiraku, others done by new arrivals. Each episode also features Hiraku trying out new crops and/or recipes as he attempts to recreate familiar foods and cooking from Japan, albeit not always successfully. Unlike Farm-Related, action scenes are kept to a bare minimum; the first eight episodes have only a couple of significant ones (a giant boar encounter in episode 1 and a wyvern encounter later on), while a couple of other uses of the AFT as a weapon are resolved so quickly that they don’t really count.

Farming Life also handles its supporting cast differently. While Farm-Related focuses more on diversity of background, Farming Life focuses more on racial diversity. Hiraku starts with intelligent animals like a greater demon spider and inferno wolves and then eventually collects vampires, angels (pictured above), elves, ogre maids, lizard men, beast people, a dragon (in humanoid form), dwarves, and even the daughter of a prominent demon. Outside of the lizard men and dwarves, nearly all of them are female, though at least in the case of the elves, there’s a specific reason that’s somewhat of a plot point: they’ve been a diaspora for centuries, with all of their men killed in the battles that destroyed their original home. All of the humanoids have different reasons for being there, too, ranging from being invited to stay by Hiraku to seeking a new home establishing trade relations to keeping tabs on a village recognized as a rising power by their respective factions.

As much as this might seem like an ultimate harem set-up, sex is not overtly part of this. Hiraku and the vampire Ru are informally married, but that they engage in sex off-screen is only vaguely implied; helping to service Hiraku is also only vaguely implied to be one of the reasons Ru invites the angel Tia to stay. (By reading between the lines, a high sexual stamina could be implied to be a side effect of Hiraku having a supremely healthy body.) They are shown to have their own separate rooms after a house rebuild, too. The elves actively talk about “repopulating our race,” but Hiraku, for now, seems to be avoiding having anything to do with that. No one so far is coming on strong to Hiraku, either. Matched with that is a surprising dearth of fan service; many of the female characters show off cleavage in their regular apparel, but that’s about it. Even one group bathing scene is minimalist about what it shows. This one is on the very low side of PG-13-level content.

Despite the minimal action, limited fan service, and some wholly unimpressive technical merits (especially in its quality control), the series is consistently entertaining, and to a surprising degree. Except for the wyvern incident, it mostly keeps things light and packs a fair amount of humor, which is used to enhance the show’s slice-of-life feel. A folksy musical score keeps the mood just right as Hiraku innocently goes about expanding what comes to be known as the Great Tree Village, while other powers in the area fret over the conglomeration of power building in that village. So far, no villain has appeared and there really isn’t any hint of an ongoing plot, but at this point, that’s just fine.

While I wouldn’t go as far as calling Farming Life one of the Winter season’s hidden gems, its first eight episodes offer plenty enough entertainment value that I can easily recommend the series, especially for those who like the more growth/development-focused isekai titles.

Rating to Date: B

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? IV episode 19

Rating: A-

Episode 19 is the first one in the second half of season 4 to exclusively focus on Bell and Ryu’s plight on floor 37. That’s primarily because the other groups have now assembled and are in transit mode with a full rescue team, but this was also a necessary move in a thematic sense. Nearly everything which has transpired so far on floor 37 has led to the dramatic events at the monstrous Colosseum, and a full episode is necessary to make that experience properly pay off. And boy, does it ever!

Narratively speaking, the course of events here is easily predictable even for anime-only viewers. As cool, clear-headed, and collected as the current-day Ryu normally seems, she has shown signs in earlier content that she feels she lost her way in her devotion to vengeance, doing some terrible things towards that goal which don’t align well at all with the youthful idealism seen in this season’s flashbacks. Add in a big dose of survivor’s guilt shown earlier in season IV and the prum Lyla’s comments in this episode’s flashback and you have a crystal-clear set-up for self-sacrifice. She’s already indicated to the audience that her goal is to make sure Bell gets out alive, not herself, and what better place than here to make her final stand? It comes at the cost of her Elven pride, any hope of her remains ever being recovered, and any realistic hope that Bell will forgive her for this, but at least the shining star of the future (and the love interest of her most cherished person!) will live on, right?

Of course, Bell will never go along with that. Whether he’s consciously doing it or not, Bell is the Argonaut of the setting’s lore – the boy who would be a hero – and there’s no way he would allow such a sad scenario to play out. His purity and earnestness drive him to make things happen, and he bears a skill tailor-made for getting out of seemingly-impossible situations. Give him guidance, give him the back-up and emotional support he needs, and he will be the hero. And he proves that again here, by taking the item Ryu gave him and combining it with his own power in one spectacularly daring move.

Despite how predictable this all is, it still works beautifully because of how carefully it has been set up and how well the storytelling and especially musical score execute it. I feel like a broken record lauding the sound design and music of these episodes in every review, but the whole Colosseum sequence is further support for this series being one of the all-time anime greats on those fronts. The dread of this horrifying venue seeps into every frame, Ryu’s resignation is palpable, and the triumph of a slower take on the franchise’s signature heroic theme stirs the soul. Some outstanding vocal work by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (the voice of Bell) also deserves recognition; as an April Fool’s Day joke one year, the Memoria Freese mobile game featured Matsuoka saying “Fire Bolt!” as bell 100 different ways, but he gets two really good, non-joke uses out of it here.

The addition to the world-building here is also interesting. The exterior visual design of the Colosseum is incredible, but so is its very existence. An infinite spawning point with immediate respawn certainly does sound like some sort of testing ground, but as Bell wonders for himself, for what? This would be an enormous concentration of energy and resources for the Dungeon, so it has to be purposeful, further suggesting that the Dungeon itself is sentient. The continuous threat factor makes it easy to understand why even top-tier parties would avoid it, hence giving the Dungeon full reign to experiment. Perhaps this is meant to refine monster designs, but this is a point that the source novel also leaves as mysterious, so further clarity on that should not be expected.

The only reason I’m not giving this episode a top score is because the animation quality control is a little shaky in places and the action scenes cut corners frequently. Bell’s most dramatic actions near the end are still well-animated, but the production is being even more carefully selective than normal about where it focuses its attention. Still, this continues to be great fare with significant rewatch value.

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? IV episode 18

Rating: B+

In some respects, writing reviews when familiar with the source material is actually trickier, since you have to avoid spoilers and carefully gauge if an anime-only viewer could reasonably discern key points only from what’s been animated so far. In this case, though, I think it’s safe to say that the direction the series is going with the Bell/Ryu interactions as they try to survive the Deep Floors is obvious. Based on the regular, episode-opening flashbacks, Bell is, in a sense, the epitome of what Ryu was trying to accomplish in Astrea Familia. While he may not have been oriented towards ideals of “justice” like Ryu once was, he nonetheless is still young enough to possess naive but powerful ideals, and unlike Ryu, he may well have the ability to carry them out. In other words, Ryu is no longer looking at him just as a child to be fostered or her best friend’s love interest. Given the way this franchise operates, can this be going anywhere but one certain direction?

That aside, DanMachi has always done better than most fantasy titles at fight choreography and design, and Bell’s fights against the Werewolves and Barbarians showcases this once again. By fusing the physical training he did with Ais with the theory provided by Ryu, he is developing the slick fighting style to complement his skills and stats, and the animation this episode showcases that beautifully. Everything that Ryu taught him is on display here, especially his greater emphasis on getting monsters to do his work for him in crowded group fights, whether it’s leaping acrobatically over foes to put a body in the path of an enemy strike or twisting a foe around to use as a shield. He even finally gets a chance to put the Unicorn Horn blade that Welf made for him right before the expedition to good use, showing how effective it is at sapping out even the nastiest poison. (Eliminating diseases and poisons is one of the common powers attributed to a unicorn’s horn.)

But that’s not all that’s afoot on the 37th floor. The Juggernaut has finally shown up again, doubtless on a convergence path with the wayward adventurers. But first they have something interesting ahead: what seems to be a crude Colosseum of some sort in the depth of the Dungeon. Nothing like this has shown up or even been hinted at before in DanMachi lore, so this offers a potentially exciting new variation on this deadly dungeon crawl.

Meanwhile, the 27th floor fight comes to an end as both the Xenos and now Tsubaki and the maids converge on Hestia Familia’s expedition.* This confirms earlier suggestions that the maids are all powerful; like Ryu, they’re all level 4s. (If you want more details on who they actually are, check out the novel Familia Chronicle: Episode Lyu.) Marie also surreptitiously appears again to speak to her fellow Xenos, while Weine and Haruhime get to have a happy reunion and those who don’t know about the Xenos yet are, as expected, left scratching their heads over what’s going on. (Aisha’s grin at one point suggests that she has been filled in, also as expected.) Since Marie knows what actually happened to Bell and Ryu, their direction is set: the original expedition plus its newcomer reinforcements have to make it to the Deep Levels to rescue Bell and Ryu, and with a Level 5 and a trio of Level 4s plus the Xenos running interference ahead, that’s now a feasible task.

In adaptation terms, the Level 27 part fills in a big gap that had developed in the source novel between the floors 27 and 37. (These two parts did not alternate to this point, like they have in the anime.) Combined with the content from Floor 37 and the episode-opening flashbacks, that takes the adaptation to page 272, which is roughly the two-third mark. That puts the arc on pace to finish in probably three more episodes, perhaps four with a little stretching, so it looks like this who cour will just be adapting novel 14 after all. The one minor skip is a recognition that Cassandra has upon seeing a couple of the Xenos which would have tied in to events back in season 3, but since the anime skipped over that short scene then, it deletes the follow-up here, too.

Overall, this is another solid entry in the season. Next episode we’ll get to find out why the Colosseum would have made the dead adventurers turn back.

A Second Chance at Greatness: Reincarnation Stories in the Winter ’23 Season

One substantial recent subcategory of reincarnation series in anime (and its source materials) has been one where a man has achieved the height of power, but for one reason or another winds up dying and reincarnating either in a new world or in a later time period in the same world. The The Summer 2020 season delivered the great The Misfit of Demon King Academy, the Fall 2021 season gave us The World’s Finest Assassin, the Winter 2022 season saw the mediocre The Strongest Sage With the Weakest Crest and kinda-sorta She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man, and the Spring 2022 season saw The Greatest Demon Lord is Reborn as a Typical Nobody. The Winter ’23 season trumps all of them by offering three series in this vein: the second season of Misfit and new series The Reincarnation of the Strongest Exorcist in Another World and Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire. Taking a look at the similarities and differences of these titles showcases the variety (or lack thereof) provides a microcosm of the subgenre in general.

What’s Alike

Probably the most striking similarity between the titles is the one most indicative of the subgenre as a whole: the protagonist was always male originally. There is one prominent previous case with an originally-female co-protagonist – namely, Inuyasha – but that one is a very different animal from the current pack of reincarnation titles. This isn’t too surprising, since protagonists of reincarnation and/or isekai titles in general have been male (or originally male) the overwhelming majority of the time over the past 15 years, but enough titles in this subgenre have come up recently that you’d think at least one would be willing to break the mold.

Another common element is that, in each case, the reincarnate appears in a setting very different than what he originally knew; in two cases (Misfit and Reborn to Master), the protagonist is reborn centuries later in the same world, while the third case (Strongest Exorcist) is an isekai from a much earlier era of our world. Each of these carries some degree of mystery element, though in markedly different ways; Misfit‘s intrigue is more political in nature, while in Reborn to Master the mystery lies in how the world changed so much, especially in the magical sense, and Strongest Exorcist has at least some mystery element in how the summoning magic from the other world works normally in this new setting. All three series also involve situations where the protagonist has not only carried over much of his original power to his reincarnation but also is operating in a magic system where their carried-over power is either somewhat (Misfit) or very (Reborn to Master, Strongest Exorcist) different than the current standards and conventional wisdom, to the point of being a plot device at times. These are also common traits of the subgenre.

The other significant commonality amongst the three is that, in each case, the reincarnate has a shortage of close, personal attachments in his previous life and actively seeks to remedy that with his new one. This is not explicitly stated in Misfit but can easily be interpreted from the value Anos places on his parents and the extents he goes to in helping or protecting those close to him, while Inglis specifically states that he felt isolated as king and doesn’t want that again. Meanwhile, Haruyoshi was distanced to the point of a fatal betrayal and so, as Seika, is actively seeking to make closer bonds in his new life. (His is the most practical and mercenary of the approaches, though.)

What’s Not

The three titles do also have some significant differences. The most basic of these is how they ended up reincarnating. Anos sacrificed himself to end an epic war and ensure peace for 2,000 years, so he set his reincarnation in motion himself. Inglis, on the other hand, died of old age and reincarnated as a reward from a goddess. Haruyoshi, meanwhile, died from being betrayed, though he is also implied to have triggered his own reincarnation. The goals and approaches each take in their new lives are also very different: Anos actively seeks to be recognized as the Devil King incarnate, Inglis seeks to focus on fighting tough foes and developing martial skills to the ultimate level without being weighted down by responsibility, and Haruyoshi seeks to live incognito, or at least not with the spotlight on him. That doesn’t, of course, stop either of the latter two from freely using abilities decidedly OP by setting standards, but Haruyoshi/Seika is at least trying to be surreptitious about it. New-world heritages also vary; Anos is a commoner by birth, while Seika is a highly-ranked noble. (Inglis’s exact status is less clear, but she is the daughter of a knight captain and the niece of a duke, so she is probably a mid-ranked noble.) And of course Inglis differs from the other two by having undergone a gender switch.

How secondary characters fit into the scenarios also varies some. Anos is close with his parents throughout but has no siblings. Inglis also has no siblings, but her parents fade into the background after the first couple of episodes. Seika’s father is around on and off (especially at the beginning), but his mother never appears, and his two elder brothers are also out of the picture after the first couple of episodes. In terms of associates, Anos has both male and female friends that are fiercely loyal and a literal fan club, while Seika has a loyal servant his age who is referred to as a slave but never treated as such and a summoned spirit who’s a regular companion. He also comes to associate with two other like-aged girls, both of whom have Hero qualities. Inglis, meanwhile, is close to her like-aged female cousin (whom she is officially a squire to, though really in name only) and befriends the sister of a traitor, though she seems likely to be picking up other regulars as the series progresses into her Academy days. While there are indications of crushes afoot in the former two cases, and Seika’s closest spirit can be frisky when she takes human form, nothing explicitly romantic is going on in any of the titles at this point.

All of those differences are relatively trivial, however. The most striking distinction between the three titles is their general attitudes. Misfit is a title for those who enjoy a supremely cocky protagonist who can back it up and always seems to be on top of the situation – and even when he’s not 100% in control, he doesn’t let it show. It is also the least inclined of the three towards fan service. Reborn to Master, meanwhile, is all about a protagonist seeking to have fun, with a recurring joke being that what she imagines as “fun” would be horribly dangerous for anyone else. Seika, contrarily, is more of a measured and analytical sort, though he also seems to appreciate rising to a challenge. As a result, his series has the most serious tone.

The Evaluation

Thanks to its strong first installment, Misfit came into this season as, by far, the most-anticipated of these three titles. While its second season has by no means been a flop, it is still falling short of capturing the magic of the first season. The necessary change in the lead casting has a little to do with this, but only a little; the bigger problem is a story which is rather hard to follow and some seeming inconsistencies in how some tertiary characters behave. It still offers enough to be worth following by any fan of the first season, but it is not a priority view. It does, at least, have the best technical merits of the three, though that’s not saying much.

Grade so far: B-

Reborn to Master the Blade is easily the most purely fun series of the lot, thanks primarily to Inglis’s attitude. It is also the most sexy of the three, though fan service is not more than a minor component at this point and usually more evident in the OP and ED than episode content. I am a little disappointed that the series does not put more emphasis on how Inglis adapts to being a different gender, but it does at least acknowledge it beyond just Inglis’s initial dismay; the scene where she goes to the party and finds herself being subjected to the same kind of lewd stares she directed towards women in her former life, and realizes first-hand how uncomfortable that can be, was a nice touch. It has had some weak points on technical merits, but overall it’s a solid middle-tier title.

Grade so Far: B-

At this point, the weakest of the three entries is Strongest Exorcist. On the plus size, some of the summoning elements are neat (especially the ape-like creature which can read minds), and the scheming Seika does to avoid attracting too much attention can have some appeal. The problem is that it’s trying to use that gimmick in the same season as the vastly more twisted and entertaining take on it in The Eminence in Shadow. The story elements have also been rather bland, and some may be turned off by Seika matter-of-factly referring to Efa as a slave. While I have kept up with the series, its hooks are not strong enough to distinguish the title and its technical merits certainly won’t carry it.

Grade so far: C+

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Episode 17

Rating: A-

There’s a great line from the recent series 86 which immediately came to mind a couple of times while watching this episode: “It’s a child’s right to dream. I do respect that. And until that child wakes up from her dream, and finds herself crushed against the merciless rocks of an unyielding reality, an adult protects her.” Who is the adult and who is the child changes as this episode progresses, but the sentiment still applies.

In the opening flashback, the child is a younger Ryu (according to her novel/Memoria Freese stats, she was age 16 at the time), one still brimming with idealistic notions about justice, while Kaguya (who, according to official stats, was only a couple of years older at that time) is the jaded adult disgusted with how Ryu is missing the bigger picture. Despite that, Jura’s words in an earlier episode suggest that Kaguya was among those in Astrea Familia who sacrificed herself so that Ryu could get away from the Juggernaut, hence fulfilling her role as the adult to the very end. (No, this hasn’t been specified yet in the anime, but such a progression of events is entirely credible based on what we’ve seen of the familia, as is Ryu feeling like she abandoned them even though they pushed her to go.) She hit hard on the “unyielding reality” in that case, with her “justice” turning to unadulterated vengeance; doubtless she has plenty of regrets about that, too. Now it’s her turn to play the adult to Bell’s child – only this time the idealism is about mutual survival! – and she’s determined to follow in the footsteps of her familia big sisters. The difference is Ryu’s far more fatalistic take on the situation. Kaguya may have been a brutal realist, but she showed no sign of seeking death or absolution or having some notion about Ryu being more deserving to live. Hence the tribulations on the 37th floor are as much about saving Ryu’s soul as they are about just surviving. And that means that, once again, Bell has a chance to inspire a character to strive for more.

While that’s the crux of what is transpiring on the 37th floor, it’s also not the full story. Ryu seems well-suited to being an adventurer coach, and Bell is well-suited to being a student; he may have talent, the advantage of his unique skill, and Level 4 status, but he’s still pretty raw as experience and practical knowledge go. That part of the episode also works in some great additional world-building, including the nature of both the 37th floor’s unique construction and the Deep Levels in general. Some additional monsters types are thrown out (although Spartoi did also appear briefly in Sword Oratoria), and the idea presented in previous episodes that the Deep Levels are no place for a solo adventurer is reinforced; even when Ais came down this far to fight Udeaus in Sword Oratoria, she still had Riveria with her.

On other fronts, Bell’s main party has made it to the 27th floor, and thus to the aftermath of what happened back in episodes 9-11. But even with Welf’s potent new sword, they’re still in danger of being overwhelmed by monsters. This does, at least, give all of the melee types a chance to show off their individual styles in a pitched group battle, with Daphne skewering the eel-like denizens while Ouka and Aisha lop heads off. Who ultimately comes to their rescue should not be very surprising, though how this will be handled next episode should be interesting to see; Aisha should know about the Xenos because of being part of Hermes Familia, but the rest of the non-Hestia Familia members don’t. Based on the end of the episode, their plan seems to be to pretend to still be monsters while fighting off the Floor 27 denizens, but how is that going to work once Tsubaki and the maids (who have also made it to floor 27 and are now just a short distance behind the Hestia/Takemikazuchi/Miach party) arrive?

And speaking of that, this is the episode where we finally get to see what the maids can do. Despite her ditziness, Ahnya looks quite capable with her spear, Chloe is no slouch with her knives, and Lunor can take monsters down with just a punch. They all look about as strong as Ryu does, which would put them all at level 3 or 4. Consider that Mia is strong enough to impose her will even on them and that just furthers the notion that Hostess of Fertility is the last tavern in Orario where you want to create a ruckus.

Overall, the artistic side looked a bit more steady this time, so the episode gets a grade bump for putting all of its pieces together well. Next episode should be fun!

Sword Art Online The Movie – Progressive: Scherzo of Deep Night

The second of the Sword Art Online Progressive movies, Scherzo of Deep Night debuted in October 2022 in Japan and is now making the rounds in the States (and elsewhere) as a limited-run theatrical release. It does assume that the viewer has watch the first movie (Aria of a Starless Night), but no other familiarity with the franchise is required to appreciate it. Those familiar with the original series will appreciate certain parts of it more, however – especially the dramatically greater role of Argo, who appeared only briefly in the original Aincrad content.

Scherzo of Deep Night is the subtitle of the fourth Sword Art Online Progressive novel, which means that the animated version of the storyline is entirely skipping the parts of the first Progressive novel dealing with floor 2 and the entirety of novels 2 and 3. Despite that seemingly-big continuity gap, the movie may actually play better for viewers who have not read the novels. All that an anime-only viewer will missing is more details on a couple of points referenced here, such as Kirito having an earlier conflict with Morte, how Asuna upgraded her rapier, and how the two leading guilds – the Aincrad Liberation Squad (one of the groups that will later merge to form The Army of the original Aincrad arc in the first TV series) and the Dragon Knights Brigade (who weren’t even mentioned in the original Aincrad arc, and so likely either disbanded, were killed off, or absorbed into another guild over time) came to both spring up as competing successors to Diavel and key components of the game’s initial clearing group. However, none of this lack of background knowledge is crippling to understanding what’s going on here, as key background points are laid out sufficiently enough.

On the plus side, anime-only viewers will not be distracted by the other major element that’s missing, and so may appreciate the overall cohesiveness of the movie better. That major element is Kizmel, an autonomous AI-driven dark elf knight NPC, whom Kirito and Asuna fall in with starting on floor 3. Her absence has been very controversial with novel readers, but as much as it would have been nice to see Kizmel in animated form, this novel reader regards it as the right call. Kizmel’s presence is primarily in the context of a multi-floor quest arc Kirito and Asuna get involved with, which chews up a lot of time starting with novel 2 but is also mostly an aside to the main plot lines involving the efforts to clear the game and the rise of the PK guild Laughing Coffin as the setting’s chief player antagonists. In a TV series format, her presence may have been feasible, but major cuts had to be made to make this part of the story work in movie form, and Kizmel is the easiest big cut to make. Also, while Mito hardly fills the role of Kizmel, her continued presence essentially takes up Kizmel’s story space, and her more intimate connection to Asuna is more impactful anyway.

Aside from Kizmel’s absence, the movie hits all of the major story points of novel 4: the two guilds which have formed which compose the bulk of the clearing group aren’t getting along well despite certain members of each being romantically-connected, Morte and his associates are trying to push that into open conflict for their own twisted ends, Kirito and Asuna temporarily get separated by a trap in a dungeon, Asuna has to go to extraordinary lengths to recover something she loses, and Argo emerges to become much more directly involved in activities on the fifth floor, especially involving dealing with the tricky fifth floor boss and stopping a potentially problematic conflict over an item drop which could give a major advantage to one guild or the other. It tackles this by splitting the viewpoint more evenly between Asuna and Kirito’s points of view, though Asuna still gets decidedly more scenes exclusively featuring her than Kirito does. By contrast, Mito still has a presence, but her role is much reduced; prior to the climactic boss battle, she only appears in one scene, though this time both Asuna and Kirito independently interact with her. In the latter case, she serves as the sounding board for Kirito to voice some of his inner thoughts about Asuna and how he can see – even at this point – that she has the potential to become a leader in the game.

The most interesting addition here is the much greater role for Argo, the catty information broker who is rarely in the front of action but plays an integral behind-the-scenes role as the main person behind the production of the player guides. Though Asuna has met her previously to this, this part shows most effectively how the two become friends and how she’s hardly a push-over in a fight if she does get cornered, though her fighting style is far different from that of both Asuna and Kirito. The other highlight part for me was Asuna’s efforts to retrieve her lost item when she’s separated from Kirito. This is the first time since her semi-suicidal solo dungeon exploration midway through the first movie that she has had to act on her own, and she acquits herself well with the strategies she comes up with. Her sharp instincts and quick-thinking under pressure also come into play in the movie’s tense final scene. Hence, while Asuna shows some clear weaknesses here, and still feels at this point like she needs to be watched over, she also shows signs of the grit and capabilities which are the foundations of her eventual rise to being one of Aincrad’s most prominent players.

And of course it wouldn’t be SAO without some glamorous battle scenes. The movie opens with the boss battle on the fourth floor and feature a couple of cool, interesting duels before achieving its action climax with the battle against the Level 5 boss. I won’t spoil the specifics, but that boss offers an interestingly different kind of challenge, one which gives all the major participants – Asuna, Kirito, Argo, and Mito, among others – a chance to shine. Supporting technical merits are about the same as for the first movie, but the musical support, while still effective, did not achieve as much impact.

An English dub is supposedly circulating, too, but that was not available in my area.

Overall, the second movie does not achieve anywhere near the gravitas of the first, and largely because of that, it does not have as much impact or leave as much of an impression. It is still a solid game-oriented fantasy caper worthy of the franchise, and the direction is it taking (in terms of the skips it is making) is an acceptable one; frankly, the Progressive novels are a bit too thorough, and the movie does a respectable job of stripping the story down to its essence while still maintaining a place for new elements like Mito. Whether you’re a novel-reader or anime-only viewer, the movie is worth a look and going for the theater experience if you can.

Rating: B

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? IV episode 16

Rating: B+

The split between three fronts continues in this episode, but this time the third front isn’t the rescue party, but rather Hestia talking to Hephaestus about where Tsubaki went. That short scene mostly just exists to reinforce scenes on the two main fronts, and so really isn’t of much importance.

What is transpiring on both Floor 37 and Floor 27 is much more important, especially in the latter case. This is Welf’s time to shine, as he tries to do a feat seemingly impossible in this setting: forge a magic sword in the Dungeon outside of a safe zone. Such a feat would normally be impossible because the constant threat factor does not normally allow the time and focus for such an endeavor even if one does have a portable hearth, but Bell’s whole party (and Bors!) band together to give him the chance to make it happen. That also proves key to giving Welf the focus necessary to pull his stunt off, with this episode suggesting that intrinsic motivation and conceptualization is at least as important in the process as raw skill.

The result is more impressive than it might seem. While the production team does a fair job of making the new magic sword’s display of power flashy (despite the CG on some of the flames being a little too obvious), it cannot quite capture the essence of just how important Welf’s new magic sword is. A magic sword which channels the wielder’s magic (rather than using its own), and thus will never break, might be fairly commonplace in other fantasy settings but it is a game-changer for this one. In FRPGs like Dungeons and Dragons, it would be equivalent to using spell slots rather than charges to power magical staves. As long as anyone in the party has any magic to contribute, Welf’s juiced-up sword can keep firing. And that gives Bell’s party the ability to break their despair.

Comparatively speaking, Bell and Ryu get less attention, although what’s going on there is important, too. Most tabletop RPG gamers wouldn’t think twice about rolling fallen bodies for equipment and loot, but it’s not hard at all to understand how someone like Bell – with his strong morals and sense of propriety – would find such a task odious to the point of sacrilege. But one of the critical lessons of survival in a hostile environment is to take advantage of anything you can, and in that case that means lifting armor and weapons from the trio of fallen adventurers. Promising to take the familia banner back to the surface may be a bit of rationalizing to justify what Bell sees as an offense, but again, you do what you have to do to get by. Every storyline in the franchise has been as much a learning experience for Bell as a test of his mettle, and this situation is no different.

The title of next episode suggests that the focus will be more on Bell and Ryu’s attempts to get out of Floor 37. Will a certain nasty beastie show up again after being sidelined for the last three episodes? Even if not present, plenty of danger still awaits. . .

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? IV episode 14

Rating: B+

To a certain extent, this part of DanMachi has become a tale of two redheads. On one side is Alise, the Captain of Astrea Familia and, once, Ryu’s closest friend. Back before she discarded her pride for revenge, Ryu was a very proud and dignified elf, which made her the subject of much teasing from the (all-female) members of Astrea Familia, though clearly it was a loving teasing, and Alise was the kind of lively spirit who could inspire anyone; she certainly got Ryu to practically idolize her. That only makes the tragedy that Ryu’s dream is leading towards all the more heartbreaking. A year after the infamous Nightmare on the 27th Floor (which has barely been mentioned in the main series, but has been described much more extensively in Sword Oratoria), Evilus baited Astrea Familia into the trap Jura mentioned in a previous episode. In other words, this is the clearest picture yet of what, exactly, Ryu lost. After seeing the others and especially Alise’s winning smile, it’s not hard to understand how the noble elf turned into the vengeful vigilante who almost single-handedly ended the remnants of Evilus on the surface. Would Alise have approved? Probably not, and that Ryu knows that may well be her greatest sorrow.

At the other bookend of the episode is Welf. Ever since he was introduced, Welf has always been in the midst of any group action scene and an active participation, but outside of his release of Full Moon in the battle against the Black Goliath in episode 13 of season 1, he really hasn’t had a true feature moment. Without question, he has always contributed, and the swords he makes have been critical to mission effectiveness on many occasions, but he has always been more of a team player than a star. This is where he gets to be a star, and that’s why the scene beginning at the end of the episode was one of my most-anticipated moments of this season. And he’s doing it by playing to his greatest strength: being a smith, anywhere, anytime, under any conditions, even if that stretches the logic of what’s appropriate to do in the Dungeon. Who better than the talented descendant of a legendary family to potentially revolutionize weaponcrafting by actually making magic swords in a Dungeon? Unlike with Ryu, his idol would approve.

As a follow-up thought, Aisha is also interesting to watch here. While she allows Lily to be the brains of the operation, she is much more of the take-charge, lead-by-example type, and that aspect of her is what’s keeping this mission from collapsing maybe even more than her combat ability. The discovery of Bors and how she reacts to him, versus how she reacts to Welf, is typical of how she has been portrayed so far in the franchise. She respects a male who stands strong and has no respect for one who doesn’t.

And we cannot forget about the other strong women present in this episode: Tsubaki and her troop of Hostess of Fertility maids. Tellingly, they flinch more from having to climb down than from any threat that the 27th floor (which they must descend to after seeing the disaster that is the 24th floor) might offer them. I pity any monster that actually runs into them, even as Ahnya offers more hints about who else in the franchise she might be related to. (There’s only one truly strong male cat person who’s ever been introduced in the anime side of the franchise. . .)

On the technical side, the artistry seems more stable this episode, though that could partly be because the animation is also less ambitious. The musical score also continues to shine with its variations on core themes. Overall, it makes for another solid episode, though the best is still yet to come.

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? IV episodes 13 and 14

NOTE: Due to me somehow forgetting that I hadn’t written up episode 13 yet, these two episodes are being covered together.

Rating – Both Episodes: B+

After focusing almost exclusively on Bell’s crew in episode 12, episode 13 gives a roughly even split to Bell/Ryu vs. Bell’s crew, with just a little bit of time devoted to what’s going on with the rescue party as well. In the latter case, Tsubaki, the leader of Hephaistos Familia (who appeared in the main series a couple of times back in season III and had a more prominent role in Sword Oratoria), has gotten involved in the rescue mission effort as well and is leading the trio of Hostess of Fertility waitresses, who are all decked out in adventuring gear. She seems to have no qualms about going down to the 25th floor with them, so even anime-only viewers should be accepting at this point that they’re stronger than they may look. But that encounter with Dormul and Luvis (whom Bell and crew rescued during the matter with the Moss Huge) is the last we see of them in these two episodes – and right so, as there’s plenty of other business to attend to.

Essentially, both episodes 13 and 14 split time between the two main fronts, with Bell/Ryu getting more attention in 13. Though both are level 4, their situation is dire, as they are injured, out of supplies, and isolated in the Deep Floors, with the surprisingly effective threat factor of the Skull Sheep haunting them even after they manage to gain some separation from the Juggernaut. Here the ambiance promoted by the series has its greatest effect, as the crushing despair engendered by these dark depths is not hard to understand, nor is why a past adventuring group may have committed suicide after being trapped down there. Ryuu has dealt with this before, and her experience and maturity is more vital to keeping Bell in the game than she initially gives herself credit for, as is keeping watch while they exchange short naps. She still hasn’t overcome her sense of fatalism by the end of episode 14, as her goal is about getting Bell out alive, not both of them.

Ryu coming to a turning point on that is likely to be key to the two of them surviving their situation, and perhaps the dreams of her past – which we get the first taste of in episode 14 – is the starting point for that. This is Astrea Familia, Ryu’s former familia members who are, in current time, buried on the 18th floor. If the anime follows the novel closely, we’ll see them pop up more in flashbacks as the story progresses.

Meanwhile, the main group has its hands full as the fight against Amphisbaena stretches out across both episodes 13 and 14 before finally coming to a resolution. Granted, this fight and its immediate aftermath covered close to 90 pages in the original novel, so it should have been a long fight, but even so, spreading it over three episodes in the anime version still feels a bit stretched. At least the anime adaptation makes up for that by keeping things active throughout the fight. There’s always action going on, or always a threat, or always someone who needs to struggle to keep their wits about them, and the way the fight ends is plenty satisfying, with the cost of such a rough battle also seeming commensurate with the threat factor. The battle is also significant for finally giving Aisha a chance to shine. Those familiar with the Sword Oratoria novels past where the animation ends know that she’s not commonly on the winning side. The collapse of the floor – presumably triggered by what Jura did below to summon the Juggernaut – finally pushes their side of the story to the next stage and gives Cassandra her first real validation and, perhaps, sense that the calamity she foresaw can be avoided after all through correct interpretation.

The musical score continues to be outstanding throughout, but I am concerned that the quality control in the artistry is becoming increasing unsteady, especially in episode 18. Though action scenes look well-animated, too many other shots had a roughness to them not commonly seen in earlier seasons.

In an adaptation sense, the first three episodes of this half have been spot-on so far, though they are adjusting some timing here; in the novels, the Amphisbaena scene concluded and scenes that will probably compose much of the next two episodes transpired before getting back to the Bell/Ryu situation. Whether splitting time between the two story branches in alternating fashion is the better way to handle things in debatable; on the negative side, it is responsible for stretching the separate scenes out, but on the plus side, it does allow for the more immediate contrast of the similarities and differences in the threat of despair on both levels. If the page counts are added together, these two episodes cover roughly a third of novel 14. This is the longest novel in the series, but I still feel like eight more episodes is probably two more than will be needed to finish this adaptation, and I don’t feel like putting extra content about Astrea Familia in will be enough to pad the story out. We shall see what they come up with on that in time, I guess.

Is It Wrong to Try To Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? IV episode 12

The first half left off on one hell of a double-cliffhanger: Bell and Ryu are stranded in the Deep Levels, while the rest of Bell’s expedition must face off against the floor boss of the Great Falls, the double-headed dragon Amphisbaena, without him. There’s plenty of despair to go around!

Though both sides get addressed to some degree, the bulk of the attention is on the Amphisbaena fight. This is a classic “the troops must rally” scenario, but this time they must do it without their normal leader to inspire them. Aisha finds she’s not the one who can do it, in part, I think, because her approach is too practical. That Welf is the one who gets the ball rolling is a little bit of a surprise, but he’s right that they have to prove that they don’t need to rely on Bell as a finisher, and that fits with his character. Daphne is the other star here, as she first rallies their Commander (Liliruca) and then their resident pessimist (Cassandra). That results in one hell of a beautifully-choreographed fight, one which mostly smoothly mixes CG with 2D and 3D effects as the team dodges and strikes against the dragon while avoiding its devastating combo of napalm and anti-magic breath weapons. This is how fantasy battles should look, and I cannot say enough about the excellent variations on the franchise’s core adventure musical theme which are used to back the battle.

13 floors below, Bell’s situation is even more desperate, though he and Ryu are stuck in a bit of a holding pattern. The series nails the ambiance of the Deeper Levels and delivers a convincing sense of desperation; how will those two rally, since overcoming despair is the prevailing theme so far? But not much actually happens here until the Juggernaut arrives. Really, the series has just extended the cliffhanger on that front to the next episode. That connects to the one minor negative in the Great Falls fight: for a franchise not known for lengthy battles, it sure seems to be stretching things out. I’m giving it some leeway here because the execution is high enough and the themes in play are worked in well enough.

But those are not the only interesting things going on. Hestia is visiting the Hostess of Fertility to let Ryu’s fellow staffers in on what’s happening below – or at least as far as Ryu being accused, anyway. Curious that she approaches the maids Anya (brown-haired catgirl), Chloe (brunette catgirl), and Lunor (human) about getting reinforcements, isn’t it? All three are briefly shown in the new OP in battle pose, so it looks like we’re going to find out that Ryu is far from the only tavern waitress that can hold her own in a fight. The OP and the ED also both show a bunch of characters that will be new to anime-only viewers. The presence of those characters, and the presence of Ryu with longer hair, both strongly suggest that this season may delve more deeply into Ryu’s backstory to help fill up space. As long as that doesn’t bog down the pace, I welcome it, as understanding where Ryu’s coming from is going to be critical to understanding what goes on the rest of this season.

Overall, this is a strong return to action for the franchise, even if it is stretching things just a little.

Rating: A-