Dungeon Ni Deai Wo Motomeru No Wa Machigatteiru Darou Ka Gaiden: Sword Oratoria

After 2 years a certain coming of age adventurer and his busty goddess ventured into the dungeons and walk their destiny, now we go back and do that all over again. That’s right. Dungeon Ni Deai Wo Motomeru No Wa Machigatteiru Darou Ka Gaiden: Sword Oratoria not only made the ridiculously long title to even ridiculously longer, it tells the story and events then from a perspective of another character, namely the beautiful Aiz. I guess that is why she didn’t make so much of an appearance in the original since she was away doing something else. Hence this spin-off isn’t technically a sequel and not quite a total retelling or remake. Oh well, if we’re tired of Bell and Hestia, I supposed we have Aiz and her Loki Familia to focus on.

Episode 1
At level 50 where leader Finne Deimne and his party are resting, we are introduced to some of the members like the Lefiya Viridis, the Amazon twins Tione and Tiona Hiryute, beardy guy Gareth Landrock, Riveria Ljos Alf and of course Aiz. Riveria talks to Lefiya who is particularly down because she froze during the battle. Bete Loga is much harsher, condemning the mage for being a chicken and all. At the same time, Finne talks to Aiz for charging into battle alone. He acknowledges her strength but she could end up putting others in danger. The place is suddenly attacked by acid spewing caterpillars. Be careful coming into contact. It really burns your skin. With a few taking damage, Riveria seeks Finne’s permission to let Lefiya take care of the enemies as she needs the experience. She begins her incantation but once more fear overcomes her. She can’t do it. Oh well. Time for Aiz to kick ass again. Riveria takes over Lefiya’s place to finish her incantation and burn all the caterpillars crawling all over the place. It is decided that they retreat despite coming down this far since the caterpillars have caused rockslides and that makes their passageways more dangerous. Lefiya is left to reflect on her own actions but she is also troubled that Aiz too has her own trouble but doesn’t show it. On the way up, a group of Minotaurs surround them. They try to get rid of them but a bunch just fled. This part coincides with the first episode of the original series where a Minotaur cornered Bell and Aiz immediately cut it down, leaving him all bloodied like a tomato. She tried to help him up but he ran away screaming. Bete teases he ran away because he got scared of Aiz’s monstrous strength. Aiz isn’t impressed and pouts…

Episode 2
On the way home, Lefiya feels depressed she had to let Aiz save her again. She has got more to worry when she got the short end of the stick as she became victim to Loki’s boob fondling. It’s like déjà vu again because Lefiya once more depressed in the shower before falling victim to Loki once more. Noting Aiz too is down, she vows to cheer her up. So is fantasizing about it half the battle won? Maybe it’s just self-satisfaction? Finne, Riveria and Gareth talk about the benefit of having Lefiya around Aiz because it could make her think about others. Lefiya manages to give some crystal drops to Aiz. As she is pleased, cue for more happy delusions? Let’s hope it doesn’t get to her head. The ladies head out to get new weapons or do some maintenance over the dulled ones. Lefiya buys a potion for Aiz as a good luck charm. Everyone converges at the pub. The familiar scene of Bete getting drunk and starting to mock loudly about that tomato guy causing that poor kid to run away. Aiz felt bad for him and seems to be even more down ever since. Riveria talks to her and finds out about it. Aiz wonders if she should apologize to that boy but Riveria doesn’t want her to be hasty. If she finds him, she’ll have the right words to say to him. Lefiya thought a change of pace would be good. So they take her shopping for clothes. Lefiya and the Amazons argue what clothes will look cute on Aiz. I guess the one that make her look like Hestia is no go. A lovely dress takes the cake. Aiz apologize to Lefiya since she tried her best to cheer her up but she’s still like putting up that frown face. Tiona hints she should use a better word so Aiz thanks her. Now everyone is all smiles. Until Lefiya again becomes Loki’s victim, not even Aiz can help her out of this one. Sorry.

Episode 3
At the banquet of the gods, Loki meets Demeter and Dionysus. They talk about the Monsterphilia that Ganesha is going to hold during the festival. Demeter notes Dionysus has come up with a wicked scheme. Aiz and Lefiya go night hunting in the dungeons. When they get back, Riveria scolds them for going out this late. Loki butts in and as punishment, Aiz will accompany her to the festival. This puts a damper on Lefiya since she already made plans to go with Aiz on that day. Well, that’s her punishment. Can you stop crying and go to sleep already? During the festival, Loki is called to meet Freya. She is not pleased she has to play along with her scheme because of a certain kid who caught her eye. During the Monsterphilia event, Lefiya and the Amazons notice something amiss. So when they head outside to check with Loki, it seems there are monsters unleashed all over the city. Don’t worry. She sent Aiz to do the job. Before them pops out some snake-flower monster. The Amazons fight it but its skin is so damn hard. Lefiya begins her incantation but takes serious damage when whipped away. Lefiya reverts to her cowardly side. She prays for Aiz to come rescue her like always. Speaking of which, here she is. Even after destroying it, 3 more pop up. Seeing Aiz in trouble, Lefiya decides to stop being a loser. If she wants to support her, she has got to do better. So Lefiya starts chanting a rare spell that only she can do. It allows her to duplicate an infinite number of other spells and hence her nickname, Thousand Elf. She freezes the entire place and crushes the monsters. It’s not over yet as Loki wants them to take care of the remaining monsters at various place. Aiz drinks the potion and lets Lefiya drinks the rest. Indirect kiss? Later Loki confronts Freya for going overboard. Especially the snake-flower monster. However Freya says she did not see or release such monster. Could it be Dionysus?

Episode 4
Aiz gets back her sword but because she broke the one on loan, it’s going to be costly. Hence she thinks of doing more dungeon raiding. The rest agree to go with her. When they decide to take a rest at level 30, they feel something strange. The town is less crowded. Finn’s friend, Bors mentions there has been a murder at Willy’s inn. Of course they’re going to check it out too. A horrible murder site as the victim’s head is smashed beyond recognition. Bors went to buy a potion to force reveal his identity. He is Hashana Dorlia from Ganesha Familia and ranked level 4. Bors gets scared when a high level guy could be done in like that. So he suspects Finn’s ladies. But basing them based on boob size? No wonder the Amazons are mad. Looking around, it looks more than just a simple robbery. His items are ransacked and assuming the culprit didn’t get what she wanted, she could still be in this town. So Bors announces he is going to body check everyone. Get ready to be frisked, ladies! Don’t be silly. The girls will do the checking. However they all want Finn to do it and this earns Tione’s wrath since she considers Finn all for herself. Aiz and Lefiya spot a panicked girl who ran away and chase after her. Meanwhile Loki takes Bete to investigate the sewers. At the reservoir, they stumble into those snake-flower monsters. Bete going all out should have destroyed the entire place but the monsters are the only casualties. When they resurface, Loki bumps into Dionysus. Bete smells the same scent underground. As they talk, Dionysus admits he was in the sewers but to investigate. Previously 3 of his Familia members were killed and he believed these monsters are related to their deaths. Loki thought Ganesha is involved since Dionysus notes Monsterphilia is the perfect cover for the murderer. However he reminds her the origins of Monsterphilia. Uranus was the one who started this festivity. Aiz and Lefiya talk to Lulune Louie from Hermes Familia. She fears for her life thinking somebody is out to kill her. She confirms the item in her hand belonged to Hashana as she got a quest from a mysterious employer to exchange it. Aiz takes this item into her care. It is an orb with some monster foetus? It’s alive! Aiz is immediately overcome with fear. Lefiya holds on to it since nothing happened to her. At this time, some hooded guy blows his whistle and snake-flower monsters start popping all over the place.

Episode 5
Loki goes to see Uranus. She tells him what happened during Monsterphilia. She is trying to blame the Guild at fault but he denies. I guess that’s that. The hooded guy tries to strangle Lefiya. Guess who comes to her rescue. Aiz knows this person is Hashana’s killer. Wasn’t it a woman? Indeed. Revis rips off her fake skin. No wonder Hashana was faceless. She used his skin to masquerade as a man to move around easier. She wants the orb that contains the seed. However it breaks and the seed latches onto a monster to become a, uhm, monstrous monster. Everyone else fights and defeats it while Aiz dukes it out with Revis. When Revis recognizes her wind power and calls her Aria, this leaves Aiz shocked. She takes a massive blow and is about to be killed. Guess who came to save her? No, it’s not Lefiya. The rest heal her as Finn battles Revis. Although she injures him a little, she realizes the odds are not in her favour and runs away. They continue searching for clues but nothing. They believe Revis will lie low for a while now and take some time to train new monsters. They notice Aiz has been more aggressive ever since but she’s not saying anything. She requests to stay back alone. And without food? Riveria also supports this. So now everyone wants to follow? Too bad not enough food. Finn allows Riveria to stay with Aiz. He hears her reason. Riveria knows the inevitable will happen to Aiz and will explode sooner or later. When that happens, she wants to be where she can see her. Okay, first up is the floor boss, Monster Rex Udaeus.

Episode 6
So Udaeus wields a sword because it has never done so. Cue for Aiz to be caught off guard and get slightly injured? Udaeus chipping bits of her armour off for fanservice? Of course Aiz refuses to stay weak and fights back till she defeats it. Riveria then asks about her problem in which she finally reveals that Aria thingy. She tells her that everyone in the Familia treats her as part of their family. When they return, they see Bell unconscious after using magic. Aiz wants to know a way to apologize to him. Lap pillow? When he wakes up, he rolls away! Ran away again. When Aiz tells this to Riveria, she can’t stop laughing. Later Aiz has her stats updated. It seems she has reached Level 6. But she doesn’t seem happy. Loki and the rest discuss about the Guild pulling strings behind the shadow. Riveria brings up about Aiz’s Aria so they think it is time they talk to her. Aiz goes to see Eina after she learns Bell is under her and is glad that he isn’t afraid of her but very grateful. They overheard a few guys talking about Bell going to be scammed. Eina knows Bell will be in trouble again so she requests Aiz to go help him. So she makes hastes down the dungeon, asking adventurers if they have seen Bell. She manages to cut down the remaining monsters before Bell gets done in. He runs away again but not before thanking her. Too bad she didn’t have the chance to apologize. Aiz senses somebody nearby as a dark mage then pops up before her. She is the one who contacted Lulune and has a request for Aiz.

Episode 7
The dark mage has a request for Aiz. Head to level 24 to investigate a monster outbreak. It might have something to do with Revis and the orb. Dionysus talks to Loki about the strange swarm in level 24. This outbreak is affecting the adventurers and the Guild has done nothing. Loki receives message that Aiz has gone to level 24. She needs to bring the troublesome girl back and sends Lefiya and Bete to retrieve her. To earn Loki’s trust, Dionysus sends Filvis Challia with them. However elf girl and wolf boy don’t get along. They hate each other from the start. Can’t blame her as she is some lone survivor of some nightmare level 6 years ago. Aiz meets up with the party for the mission. It is Lulune? Also, the other Hermes Familia members led by Asfi are also joining in. Uranus is not pleased Fels sent Aiz on that quest. Her reason is that they don’t want to make enemies out of the Loki Familia and Aiz is the best person to handle this situation. At level 24’s Pantry, they see the swarm marching. Aiz takes them all out with no sweat. Just practice, huh? Lefiya worries about Filvis being cold to them. When Bete almost touches her, she almost becomes a deranged killer. Investigation shows some strange blob blocking the path is preventing the swarm for getting to their food source. As they head inside to investigate, the passage seals itself off. Snake-flower monsters attack and they realize they’re trying to separate them. When Aiz is separated from the rest, she is confronted with Revis. Bete and Lefiya ask Bors about Aiz’s whereabouts. When Bors sees Filvis, he identifies her as a banshee. He warns Lefiya to stay away from her as she is cursed. No one who teamed up with her has ever returned alive.

Episode 8
Aiz corrects Revis that she isn’t Aria. That is her mother. Bors continues explaining about that nightmare level. A dark faction named Evilus led by Vendetta, misled adventurers to level 27 where they were forced to fight a battle royale with floor bosses. Evilus was eventually eliminated but the scene on that floor was like hell. Filvis as the only survivor looked almost dead herself. She tried to reorganize her party but each time her members die and she is the only survivor. That’s how she earned that nickname. Lefiya being the stubborn one continues to talk to Filvis and will not stay away as suggested. She still consider them a team. When you’re so persistent, there is nothing more but to laugh and accept. Asfi’s team stumbles upon a pillar and an orb is embedded in it. As they try to investigate, a Tamer lets loose his Violas (snake-flower monster) to attack them. Asfi fights him but gets stabbed. Before he could kill her, here comes Lefiya’s side to the rescue. He reveals the Pantry is for Viscum (a bigger plant monster) to feed off and produce Violas. Monster producing monsters? This is so he could destroy the city as wished by his goddess. He unmasks himself to be Olivas Act of Vendetta. He is supposed to be dead. He was. Till his goddess revived in. A magic stone is embedded in his chest. He starts praising his saviour like a lunatic and how she is the one who should rule the land. As everyone continues to battle, Aiz and Revis’ battle got too epic that it had to spill over. Aiz shows why she is awesome but Lefiya-Bete combo also prove they are no lesser. They manage to destroy Viscum. Bete beats the crap out of Olivas and in his pathetic state, Revis kills him by stealing his magic stone before devouring it. It should make her stronger but she knows it isn’t enough to beat Aiz. She will lie low and get stronger for now before their next face off. In the meantime, she tells Aiz to head to level 59 where the answers she is seeking for lurk. Everyone flees as the pillar collapses. Finn and Loki receive this report. Knowing that Aiz wants to head to level 59, it’s a good excuse for them to start another expedition. Lefiya tries to research on Aria. From the book Dungeon Oratoria, A spirit, a race most beloved by the gods.

Episode 9
Aiz sees Eina in hopes of apologizing to Bell personally. Coincidentally he is here. Oddly, to stop him from leaving prematurely, she jumps in front of him and his face ended up in her butt! When she apologizes, Bell then corrects her that he is the one who should be apologizing for running away. Leaning he has no one to teach him but yet has improved vastly, she offers to train him although she feels bad it is her plan to see the secret of his progress that she might use to improve herself. Lefiya is practising to ask Aiz one of those things. Failed. Next early morning she thought of waiting for her this early but she was already up earlier. She tries to follow but bumps into Bell. He runs away learning she is part of Loki Familia. Finding him fishy, she tails him and is disheartened to Aiz carrying him away (their training ended). Because of that, she is in a bad mood. She confronts Aiz about it and learns the truth. But she still feels jealous and wants one on one training as well. Okay. Even so, she isn’t happy because she keeps comparing herself to the treatment Bell gets. Better shape up or you’ll lose to that kid. Too bad she wallows herself in jealousy thinking Bell is monopolizing Aiz for himself when she is the one who kept fainting during training. It’s no surprise Aiz wonders if her training is helping her at all and wants to take the next day off. Lefiya bumps into Dionysus who is thankful for helping Filvis recover. Since Filvis is fond of her now, she helps her train. At least it takes her mind off Aiz. Aiz continues training Bell but this time with Hestia watching over as agreed. No funny stuffs… On the way back, they are ambushed and surrounded.

Episode 10
After a short bout, the assassins leave and warn Aiz not to get involved further or die. Aiz recognizes them from Freya Familia. She reports this to Riveria and they wonder if Freya Familia has anything to do with the recent incidents. Loki also mentions they know somebody has been communicating with the enemy but they don’t know who. Aiz continues training Lefiya and she has gotten better. Still trying to compare herself with that kid? Aiz also trains Bell for one last time before her expedition. Loki Familia will be separated into groups for the expedition and Aiz is in the first group. Before she departs, Lulune is here to give portable rations. She also gives a pendant from Fels. She is supposed to wear it when she goes to level 59. After a while trekking into the dungeon, they spot a few group of injured adventurers running out. They claim some Minotaur attack and Bell is handling it on his own. Instantly Aiz rushes to his aid. However she cannot tell where the Minotaur’s roar originates from this maze. She then spots very injured Lily. Unfortunately her path is further blocked by Ottarl the King. He is the only adventurer who is at level 7 and hence the strongest. He wants a death match with her. Aiz believes this is what the warning was. No choice she has to fight him but the longer she drags this out, the more danger Bell will be in. Luckily her comrades come to distract him and she uses this chance to run past him. Finn then confronts Ottarl if this is the will of his Familia and that Freya wants to provoke them. He claims he is acting on his own accord and leaves. Aiz arrives in time to defend Bell. But this time he won’t let her fight. He doesn’t want her to always protect him. He picks up his dagger and continues fighting the Minotaur as the rest watch in awe how much Bell has improved. And as we know, Bell defeats it. Lefiya is in the second group and starting her descent. She sees Aiz and Riveria running out carrying unconscious Bell and Lily respectively. Her heart just broke. The duo bring Bell back to Hestia who can’t thank them enough.

Episode 11
Resting at level 50, Lefiya asks Aiz what is the deal with Bell. She says he is on an adventure. Because of that, she starts spacing out. More so when she hears others who saw awesome Bell in action praising him. I guess after too much sulking, she realizes she can’t compare herself to others now. She has a goal to catch up with the rest. How could she have forgotten it. Uhm, jealousy? Everyone is excited for tomorrow’s raid and can’t sleep so Lefiya gets more motivation about the team’s vow to protect each other from danger. The descent to the lower levels begin. On level 52, dragons on level 58 start shooting fireballs through the ground at them! Well, it’s a shortcut for many of them but Finn doesn’t want Aiz to follow since they have a couple of supports and they’ll take the normal route. Also, those who took the shortcut are here to clear the enemies for them. Yeah, who needs magic when you can cut their fire breath into half or deflect it! Oh right. If you need to destroy multiple targets at one go, here’s Lefiya’s magic. Meanwhile Fels tells Revis that Aiz is closing in on level 59 and yet she is still here eating magic stones. Revis knows she is still not strong to take on them. She doesn’t care if Fels uses her but in exchange she’ll do whatever she wants. In worse case, she’ll just retrieve Aiz’s corpse. Once the monsters are cleared and the rest of the party reunite, they take a short breather as Finn feels odd about the next level. From Zeus Familia’s records, it is supposed to be a very cold place but they’re not feeling the slightest of it from where they are. Well, only one way to fight out. It is a place where no humans have set before. To their surprise, level 59 is a humid jungle. They see caterpillars being devoured by a monster that has been evolved by those orbs. It then flowers open its humanoid version and lets out a creepy shriek. Aiz is shocked to recognize it as a spirit.

Episode 12
The spirit is calling for Aria to be devoured. The rest realizes these new monsters were created to be its food source. Finn has everyone ready to attack but the spirit is able to chant magic! Although they counter it, it has no effect. It pulls off another surprising by chanting another consecutive spell and even faster! The flames are so great that it blows everyone away. Riveria and Gareth take the biggest damage while trying to protect the rest. Finn rallies the rest to continue fighting. Need more motivation? He quotes Bell’s name. That should do it. As they race to take it down, the spirit starts up another chant. Luckily Riveria manages to chant and take down its personal defence and Gareth using his elephant strength to tear through its thick vine defences. With everyone clearing the path for Aiz, it is up to her to deal the finishing blow. The spirit still has some tricks up her sleeve, though. It still has some short range magic ready to fire at her. Luckily Lefiya was fast enough to pull off a magic to protect her. Aiz uses all her strength to finally defeat it. And the greatest reward for Lefiya is when Aiz pulls her in to hug her. Not a dream. The party returns to the surface and of course a big party to celebrate their victory. We see Fels learning from Uranus that spirit is actually a fallen shadow of a fallen spirit. Its true form lies in the deeper levels and the one on level 59 was just to guard a more powerful entity. Spirits were once blessed by the gods to help humans but this one was turned inside out, became a monster while maintaining its identity, consumed by its primal impulse to survive. So those new monsters were created by it too. The irony is how a spirit was once sent to save mankind now threatens the city. Its leader is Enyo who will destroy the city. Loki discusses with the rest about the fallen spirit and why it targeted Aiz because she had blood descended from the spirits. They fear that those orbs will be used to create more of those spirits and then summon those spirits to the surface. Since we didn’t have Aiz-Lefiya personal time today, we have one now with Aiz thanking Lefiya for her magic or else everyone would have died. Lefiya refutes that as pure luck. Still not confident? Lefiya gets permission to always follow her. Time for a hug. Not dreaming. The Amazon twins join in. The more the merrier, right? Well, Loki wants to join in. However everyone avoids. This time Lefiya instinctively does a judo throw on her. At least she improved in this aspect.

DunGirls: Sword Art Oratoria
Sighs… If only the rest of this series was as exciting as the final episode. Otherwise this entire spin-off feels boring and the way it ended only serves to bring up more questions than answers. So I am not sure if that fallen spirit is the answer Aiz is looking for because I thought it was her mother but a quick checking on the internet said it wasn’t so even though her mother is a spirit and hence she is a descendent. I know the adventure is going to be a long road but with this kind of ‘ending’, it is just like completing a mini side quest. Okay, maybe just the first level cleared and there are 99 more levels before you reach the true boss for the true final ending.

I am not sure if we have been trolled because it could have been our fault for expecting that this spin-off was going to be focused a lot on Aiz. It could have been the expectation from the hype. I don’t know. However after watching this season, we only got half of that and the other half was what no one asked for because we got Lefiya instead. It’s like Bell never left us because as I somehow feel she is the female version of him. Sure, there are a few other characters that this spin-off tells but not as much screen time and focus they give to Lefiya. They should have named this spin-off Gay-den or Lesbian-den or something instead.

While it is good to see the events that has happened on the Loki Familia’s side, sad to say that the plot and pacing doesn’t fare well. We are introduced to subplots that make the series feel like as though it is a standalone rather than something that can be added to the original DanMachi series. Because with the introduction of Revis the direct antagonist, Freya plotting some shady scheme and Uranus similarly moving his plans along, it feels like this spin-off is heading towards a different direction instead of merging with the adventure from Bell’s side. Wow. That’s a lot of antagonist for one small series. And I didn’t even mention Ottarl yet (although he is under Freya Familia). Oh, there was Olivas too but he got killed off. And who is this Enyo dude they throw in?! Man, the problems are just getting bigger. I know I’ve said it is a different Familia and hence a different adventure but one would have expected to see how Aiz’s side ties up with Bell’s side. There are some moments that do coincide with the original but other than that, the story diverges differently. It’s like resurfacing from the water to take a short breath before diving back for a long one.

So to start off with the characters, if you’ve watched the original series, you’ll know a bit about Aiz and this spin-off expands a little bit more about her past. Just a little bit. Very little bits. She is always having this poker face so I’m not sure I can tell how deep her problems are because like Riveria once pointed out, everyone has their own problems. We don’t know how deep it is for Aiz except we know it should be the deepest. Because main heroine. We just know that she is the daughter of some spirit and hence her ability to use wind powers and the reason she is interested in Bell is not because of anything romantic or the natural matters of the heart but rather she wants to get stronger and she believes this kid was the right person to that goal. Well, she did level up to level 6, didn’t she?

If the lack of Aiz is already worrying and annoying, imagine putting in a lesbian fan admirer her would do. Yup, it made it even more annoying. That is what Lefiya is. Basically like I said, she is like Bell because she starts off weak and despite improving as the series progresses, she is still weak. I mean, if you want to compare her to the rest of the main characters in her party, she is still by far the weakest. Yeah, her special duplicate multiple spells whatchamalit thingy is something that is one off like how Bell has his own set of unique abilities. Impressive but they can’t spam it always. Lefiya is already annoying as she fantasizes about her one-sided love and dream dating with Aiz (supposedly the running joke of the series for her), it gets even more annoying when she starts to consider herself as Bell’s rival. Oh Aiz, you are sure one popular girl. It should have served as a motivation for her to do better but instead she got blinded by more jealousy instead.

I mean, the mere seeing of Bell with Aiz without fully understanding why they’re together already makes her blood boil. You so scared Aiz will be taken away by another man not part of the same Familia? When is she going to learn that Bell is Bell and you are you. Stop thinking about others and start improving yourself. To show that Lefiya is not all that bad, she conveniently becomes friends with Filvis. A character that has been so traumatized that nothing else would have brought her back and Lefiya is the first one to do so? Well, maybe nobody dared took the chance. After all, Lefiya doesn’t know her background well. She just heard about it from Bors but that wasn’t enough to scare her despite the risky rumours and coincidences surrounding Filvis. So what has she got to lose? In order to not make Lefiya look like a total amateur loser, hence I figure her pure luck in her magic chanting gone right that saved the day and ultimately her beloved. Beginner’s luck. Okay, okay. I also hope Lefiya would grow into a stronger character too and stand by Aiz’s side.

The other main characters of the Loki Familia are also okay but nothing too deep on them. Finn, Riveria and Gareth as the ‘old veterans’ of the Familia make them good leaders and mentors with their vast experience. Then you have the Amazon twins who are partly for comic relief, partly for fanservice and partly for some action variety. Because isn’t it like a joke when you have one sister with a well-endowed body but the other sister is as flat as a washboard? When it comes down to it, they’ll use their boob size as weapons and counter arguments. That is the only way how I could distinguish the twins effectively. Really. Oh, it must be a running joke for Tione too since she has this shameless crush for Finn, would do anything for him at his beck and call and you would be dead meat if you try to even make a move on him. He’s all hers! Nobody touches him! Finally Bete. This dude might need some anger management class but I am sure he’ll rip it apart before the session could start. I suppose being uncouth is his way of interaction because tough guys don’t show their caring via the conventional lovey-dovey way. That’s so gay for him.

Loki is supposedly taken from the Norse God and is very well known for the mischief caused. That is why she is seen here like a joker character and hence my theory why she is turned into a woman is so that she could do some cheesy boob squeezing fanservice. Imagine if Loki was a naughty guy, we would definitely see him as some perverted bastard. The effects seem less and we don’t think too much of it if the gender is switched. But too bad the only girl who ever falls into Loki’s prank is Lefiya. It’s like the running joke of the series as all other girls are smart enough to avoid Loki time and somehow Lefiya gets drawn the short end of the stick. It’s like a punishment for being an annoying character. Not even this fanservice could save you, Lefiya. That last bit there avoiding Loki was just pure luck and coincidence. I’m sure she’ll be back to the usual victim soon. Is this the fanservice we get in place of Hestia? I could hear somebody screaming they want their loli boobs back…

I don’t know. I don’t really feel I missed the other characters from the original series. Not even Bell or Hestia. Welf or Lily. Syr or Ryuu. Ouka or Chigusa. Maybe I’m not a big fan so I didn’t miss them at all. Many pop up and make cameos as part of the overlapping storyline but they hardly do anything that is unexpected because you know, we have an idea what they were already doing in the original series.

One of the strong points of this spin-off is the action parts. I mean, if you compare it to the original, this one fares better (as I have already mentioned the final episode ‘boss fight’ was quite thrilling since it took the might and cooperation of the strongest Loki Familia to finally bring it down). This is because Bell was such a beginner and he is still learning. Here, the Loki Familia are all experienced dungeon crawlers with a vast amount of fighting experience. So fighting vicious monsters whether in town or the dungeons, they make it look like a piece of cake. Except maybe Lefiya. We also get to see more of Aiz in action especially using her wind powers that we did not get to see in the original series.

Yuka Iguchi who sang the opening theme for the original series reprises her role here for the opener too, Re-Illusion. Nothing special about this anime pop in my opinion, though. The ending theme is Day By Day by Kano. It feels like such a happy and calming song like as though this is the song that Lefiya uses when she fantasizes about Aiz. Heck, the ending credits animation is about the Loki Familia having a nice picnic on a nice day. With many of the casts retained, new ones include Sayaka Ohara as Revis and once again she is casted as a villainess. Even though it feels like stereotyping, I find nothing wrong with that. The rest are Hisako Kanemoto as Filvia (Ika in Shinryaku! Ika Musume), Mikako Komatsu as Fels (Neko in K), Toru Ohkawa as Uranus (Roy in Fullmetal Alchemist) and Hikaru Akao as Lulune.

Overall, while this spin-off might have been decent on its own right, it didn’t live up to expectations and falls short of what we wanted. I mean, instead of getting more of Aiz, we got half of that and the other half went to an annoying elf. Therefore it is a double edged sword as it somewhat makes this spin-off feels unnecessary considering how it all ‘ended’ but at the same time its consolation is that we get to know what happen on Aiz’s side during the same timeline and events. That’s about it. Therefore I think there will be a dilemma if another season is announced, would it be a continuation of Bell’s side or Aiz’s side? If they’re going to blend in both somehow I think it will be quite confusing seeing that both Bell and Aiz totally have different agenda lest it all overlaps and coincides soon enough. Worse, I don’t want another season telling the perspective of another character during the same timeline! Who you may ask? Freya… Curious what she has been planning during all that time? I’m certainly not curious enough to stay and find out.