You bet the dungeon raiding is not over yet. And that is why we have Dungeon Ni Deai Wo Motomeru No Wa Machigatteiru Darou Ka IV. So I have to admit it whether I like it or not that this series is popular enough even in its source materials and have enough following for it to warrant a fourth season, an amazing feat seeing not many anime series could spawn such many sequels. From the way I see it, this isn’t going to be the last either. But I’ll take this series one season at a time. I wonder how many more chicks Bell will pick up in the dungeon. I mean, that’s why this series is named so, right?! Is it not?! Okay, okay…
Episode 1
From the events of last season, looks like Bell has levelled up. We’re so proud. Now that Hestia Familia is strong enough, they are now given an official mission. Hestia suggests getting extra help from other Familia. Mikoto goes to talk to Takemikazuchi and he agrees to let Ouka and Chigusa join her. Lily on the other hand sees Miach and only Daphne and Cassandra will join in. And somehow Aisha got wind of this and invites herself to join. Is there a good reason to turn her down? Takemikazuchi trains Mikoto and Chigusa to level up their techniques and tactics while Ouka goes to see Welf to have him make a weapon. And they troll us to think Aisha is going to give us some sexy screen time with Haruhime but too bad, it’s going to be a special drill and not a special thrill to make this weakest link in the group to learn a new magic. Yeah, Aisha knows a shortcut. I hope sex isn’t what she meant… Meanwhile Bell sees Eina for more info on this Great Falls that his group will have to go through. Well, looks like the fall we have now is Eina realizing she is falling head over heels for him. We know! Hestia along with Takemikazuchi, Miach and Hephaistos drink to celebrate their friendship and this ongoing expedition. Remember, they can’t follow their Familia into the dungeon. Next day as everyone prepares to head off, Cassandra and Daphne are running late because the former has change of mind. Because she has this dream of green moss swallowing people up, she doesn’t want to go anymore and hopes Bell could cancel or postpone this expedition. Sorry, no can do. And that’s that. Welf gives Bell one of his best works. This short dagger is made from a unicorn’s horn and is very light. The party heads off into the dungeon and to remind us how they all kick ass, we see them annihilating waves of killer wasps. Of course Bell bags the biggest prize as his fire bolts the main nest. Don’t mess with this level 4! Uhm, should he change his nickname from Little Rookie?
Episode 2
Well, why is Bell vandalising the dungeon? If there is damage to the terrain, the dungeon will spend time repairing it and won’t send monsters. Gee, you think that little scratch will do the job? Everyone praises Bell and this worries Lily since it feels like she is drawing further away from him. But please do your supporter job. So basically the first half sees the gang camping and talking about stuffs. Boring. Then they arrive at the Great Falls. Watch your step or you’ll be swept away and pulled down by the current. Not to mention monsters dwelling in it. Lily reviews their mission and the items they need to retrieve. Lily also has everyone reminded that despite she already has provided the necessary gear for protection, many went on to buy extra stuffs. This means this is an expensive expedition so you better work your ass off to cover the costs! Then there is some rare corals that Welf wants to make great weapons. Lily objects to it until Aisha notes they could sell it for a fortune. Get those corals! See those money eyes light up when Bell gets them. As the gang continue their journey, they see a very injured adventurer coming their way. Bell recognizes him as Luvis. He seeks for help but too late, there’s this weird green monster attacking them. Bell quickly engages it. Has Bell finally found his match? Because this monster can read moves and is equally fast and deadly. Thanks to Luvis’ warning, everyone takes cover as the monster starts shooting projectiles. Don’t get hit. Oh dear, one hit Chigusa. The monster then retreats. Nightmare is not over because green moss start to grow out of Chigusa and Luvis. This is the nightmare Cassandra saw in her dream.
Episode 3
The monster is seen killing other monsters to eat their crystals. Then it returns to where Luvis’ party is hiding and attacks them. It seems trying to heal or cut off the vines only worsens the host. Bell has everyone come up with ideas since he is no good in such situations. As they discuss about the monster, the options for them is to retreat back up to get them healed by a capable healer or they take down the monster and by doing so, the parasitic effect will be gone. The answer is obvious. Because Luvis mentions about his party members being stuck here and he needs to save them. He was acting as a decoy to escape. You see, the monster will target them as they have magic stones. It devoured them right before their eyes when they were first attacked. Then it grew stronger and faster. As they make way to where Luvis’ party is, they see a trail of blood that leads to them. Obviously it is a trap. Lily lays out the strategy to save them as well as to deal with the monster when it attacks. As they begin, the monster comes out of hiding to attack. Bell is fast enough to engage it. When Bell burns it with his fireball, the monster then drags him down into the rapids with him. However the monster soon lets him go and lets him fall off the waterfall! Lily becomes distraught to go save Bell but Aisha stomps her authority to tell no one will go save him. The fact is that Bell is much stronger than all of them so he will be able to fend for himself. They should be worrying about themselves. Believe in him. Once Lily regains her composure, her plan is to retreat to the entrance of this level. They will make their temporary base there as Aisha alone proceeds back to the surface to request for help. She is also anticipating the monster will attack them and that is why she will have Mikoto use her gravity spell to destroy the only path and send it plunging below. As they make their way back, they stumble into another group of adventurers. Looks like Dormal and his pals too have gotten hit by the vines. With all those believing, that’s right, Bell is still alive. He needs to get back to his friends but is attacked by fast attacking birds. He fights his way through and once all the threats are cleared, a mermaid claps at this spectacle.
Episode 4
Marie the mermaid can talk. He asks if she is a Xenos and perhaps so because it seems she knows about Rei and Lyd. Noticing his injuries, Marie forces Bell to suck on her blood of her finger. Yeah, it heals. Looks so pervy if this was without context. Bell then asks about the other Xenos but apparently Marie cannot move as fast as them so she is stuck on this floor while the rest have gone elsewhere. Bell needs to get back to his friends but Marie wants him to stay. This floor is safe and she has seen the green monster fight his friends. She is scared. He will die. Of course Bell assures her he won’t and that is enough for Marie to become his guide. She guides him through the caves and waterways. If there is no water? Bell just carries her! Yeah, Marie having so much fun. Meanwhile at our other party, they realize sh*t just hit the fan as they are cornered by monsters from all sides. No prize to guess it’s that green moss controlling them to attack. With not enough attacking power, they make a run for it. Of course they kill those who get too close but at this rate they may just run out of steam and weapons. Aisha knows Haruhime’s secret power can save them all but it is too early to use their trump card against these small fries. Do you believe it now that this group can still survive without depending on Bell? So as they run and fight their way through, eventually the monster horde becomes too much overwhelming. The party is definitely not prepared for this. Cue for Aisha to use their secret weapon so she forces the outsiders to swear to never speak of what they’ll witness. After everyone gathers defensively around Haruhime, it’s show time.
Episode 5
Flashback shows Haruhime forcing Aisha to read up on this book to learn whatever spell there is. Because it will be the thing that will save her comrades’ life. And now we see the fruits of her labour as she conjures up… Uhm… 5 fox tails? Apparently this is supposed to boost up 5 people similarly. Yes. This is their trump card. So after a flashy light show, she boosts Welf, Aisha, Ouka, Mikoto and Daphne. Now they’re fighting machines! Though, Haruhime is now unconscious. Once the monsters are destroyed, Aisha then realizes they have fallen for that green moss’ trap. Yes, it is eating up all the crystals from the monsters they killed. Yeah, even giving them that smirk! It’s evolution time as it transforms into a more hideous mother. An even deadlier. Aisha fights it but she too gets vined. With the boosting effect running out, our heroes once again find themselves in a pinch as more monsters show up. Time for Luvis and Dormal to get into the action. Their plan is to be the decoy and let as many Hestia Familia members escape. Lily is distraught with this but soon makes her decision. She will not let anybody die and will stay and fight. Heads up from Haruhime because their perseverance has been rewarded. She hears Bell coming. It’s about time! The right time for everybody to leave the stage and for our main hero to make his entrance. Bell fights on par with the big bad mother. No, actually his skills are way better than it. So much so Bell can tell this monster is way weaker. At least nowhere close to that minotaur he fought. He wants to fight that beast again so he can’t lose here. Bell needs to kill it with a single strike since the monster can regenerate fast. Hence he concentrates fire on his dagger. Monster gets scared and tries to run away but Welf ices up the place. No chickening out now. Borrowing Hestia’s other name, Bell calls it Argo Vesta and burns up the monster, leaving no ashes behind. Awesome! Monster dead. Parasite vines gone. Everybody alive and is happy to reunite with the one and only dependable guy. Yeah, still can’t afford not to not have him.
Episode 6
Everyone is now resting at the safe zone. Meanwhile the gods have gathered for an event. Hestia wouldn’t have attended if it’s not because of something of importance. You see, this is where the gods give a new nickname to adventurers and hell, Hestia is here to make sure Bell won’t get a bad or funny one. So when it is Bell’s turn to get his new nickname, Freya has a suggestion: Vanadis Odr which means Freya’s husband! No way in hell Hestia gonna accept that! Soon, other gods start giving their own funny names. A tiring day but nevertheless Bell’s new nickname is pretty decent: Rabbit’s Foot. Bell visits Luvis and Dormal. Both thank him and will forever be in his debt. Lily hopes to spend some time with Bell but looks like fate won’t let that be. So as Lily tails Bell, first she sees him talk to Ouka and Chigusa about working as a party because that’s the only way to cover their weaknesses. Suddenly Daphne and Cassandra whisk him away. It’s just to use Bell as a coupon to get some huge discount from a trader that they are buying stuffs from. Then Mikoto and Haruhime invite him for tea as they ask him what happened after he fell into the Great Falls. A devastating moment for Lily as she wanted to ask him that. Right after that, drunk Welf and Aisha whisk him away to a bar to party. Lily then hears the news of the gods bestowing Bell a new nickname. At the bar, she is waiting for a chance to tell Bell this but too bad those drunk guys already know and let it slip. Yeah, Lily paid good money for nothing! I guess Lily has had it so she throws a smokescreen and takes Bell to run. Good move. He could’ve lost his virginity to Aisha! Finally Lily has her moment with Bell. But she’s hardly excited since everybody beat her to what she wanted to do. However she is also glad that this way, it proves Bell is still the same. Only maybe now he might be a womanizer. Bell tries to find out that inspirational speech she said to motivate the rest to fight then. Not telling. A secret. Next day, the town is in commotion. A trader named Jean has been murdered in the outskirts. Can’t be a monster because a witness, Turk clearly saw Ryuu killed him! So this explains why she has been missing from her pub work for several days?
Episode 7
Everyone is examining the body and Turk suggests a witch hunt. Initially Bors disagrees since he doesn’t want to lose his life fighting a skilled warrior. But after hearing the hefty bounty on Ryuu’s head, let’s form a hunting party! Bell tries to vouch that this may not be Ryuu but with Turk being stubborn, Aisha takes Bell away before he makes it sounds like he is Ryuu’s accomplice. So Bell and co discuss on what to do. Daphne has examined the cuts on the body and believes only Ryuu is capable of such precise fatal wounds. Or at least somebody as good as her but trying to pin the blame on her. But they all feel fishy about Turk because it is like as though he is trying to whip a frenzy to convince everyone Ryuu is the killer. Lily suggests joining the hunt. Of course this makes it easier for them to move and get info. All they need to do is get Ryuu before the rest. With everyone agreeing on this, Cassandra doesn’t have a good feeling about it. Could it be her horrifying visions she dreamt last night? Well, let’s say she saw everyone except Bell got killed. She tries to stop them without telling about the dream. Daphne thinks she should stay back but Cassandra changes her mind seeing doing so would leave everyone to their fates. Hestia soon receives a letter from Lily about this murder case and needs her help. Cassandra continues to decipher the cryptic words of her dream. After a fight with some mammoth horde, a great tremor is felt. It is traced to the bottom of Great Falls and many believe this could be Ryuu. Well, this is where the tragedy starts so Cassandra tries to convince her teammates not to go. Good thing they agree since they don’t have experience at the lower flowers and will be a hindrance to the rest who could move faster. When Bell and Aisha are suggested to be the only ones to go, Cassandra cooks up a lie for Aisha to stay so as to look after Haruhime. Well, last time Cassandra carried her, she was heavy! Oh my! And so Bell goes alone, holding his high faith in Ryuu.
Episode 8
Bell blazes through the monster and traps like a pro despite his first time down these levels. Yeah, Bors thinking of pushing some responsibilities to him but still share the same amount of loot. As the party continues, Bell hears Marie’s singing and goes off on his own to follow that voice. Meanwhile Bell’s comrades aren’t just sitting and waiting for nothing. Bell gave them a job to stay put is so that they could watch Turk and see if he makes any suspicious moves. Soon, Turk argues with some adventurers because he wants to head down and hunt Ryuu. Some disagree and stay behind while those who believe in Turk, follow him. Of course this means Lily and co will also follow Turk. Hey, the more the merrier to take down Ryuu, right? As Bell meets Marie, she seems scared. Something scary down here that doesn’t belong here. He wonders if she is referring to Ryuu as he describes her. Marie lets him follow until Bell sees for himself this shocking truth. Oh dear, Ryuu killing off a guy and taking his loot! She is not impressed with him here and tells him to stay out. He is also better off not knowing. Oh Bell, you mean to stand there in shock and let her get away? Is your faith in Ryuu wavering? Bell prefers to take this corpse back and abandon Marie. Baka Bell… He reunites with Bors’ party and is shocked to see many other dead bodies too. Even the terrain is decimated. Ryuu did this? Fortunately, there is a survivor who can relay what happened. Jura Halmar is traumatized as he explains how Ryuu did some flashy stuffs. Bors recognizes Jura as a wanted man who was once part of Evilus. Jura admits that but ever since he has been living an honest life. Could it be Ryuu is out to kill the remnants and all those connected to it? Speaking of the devil, here she comes to finish off Jura. All the adventurers can’t do jack sh*t as she easily owns them. All that’s left is Bell and the only one who can save Jura’s life. Ryuu tells him to get out of the way or she’ll cut him down too. Oh Bell, are you still trying to be calm and go for conversation? Knowing Bell, I bet he is…
Episode 9
Bell asks if she killed Jean. She claims she has killed no one. Just like that, Bell is relieved and believes in her. Confronting Jura, he notices his wounds are old ones and a very combustible blaze rock he dropped. This is when Jura stops his act and reveals his true nature. Yup, he is still the big baddie alright. He is going to kill them as he summons a huge snake monster named Lambton. We also see that Turk is his comrade and he too summons Lambton to get rid of Lily’s group. They have to run and ditch their mission to follow Turk. Don’t want to die, right? As Bell and Ryuu fight Lambton, he wonders if Jura is a high level beast tamer since he could control a deep level monster that could easily burrow through various levels. Ryuu’s memories says he is not so Jura reveals this magic item those guys from Knossos made for him that could easily control any monsters. Ryuu has fought such before and knows how to defeat this one after observing its movements. Destroying the magic item controlling it would only make it go berserk further in its natural state so they have to use this method. In the meantime, we need to turn Jura into a more despicable character as he reveals all his setup. Knowing Ryuu was persisting on his tail, he used Turk to deal with her. This includes killing Jean who is their own guy for the distraction. In fact those other dead adventurers were their own men. The blaze rock was used to make it look like Ryuu was such a brutal killer. After this big reveal, Ryuu and Bell can now destroy Lambton. The same victory for Lily’s group as they cooperate their tactics and powers to destroy the snake. However Cassandra still feels uneasy. This victory feels too easy to be anything close to that disaster she dreamt. Well, she’s right. Jura admits he was just a distraction. Because Turk and his guys have now set those blaze rocks all over the place. Boom! Jura can think nothing but revenge on Ryuu and has researched and planned this for 5 long years. Now it’s the time to see that despair on her face! She really wants to kill him but Bell isn’t going to let her taint her hands. With a strange sound echoing throughout the place, Ryuu now falls into despair as she is reminded of that tragedy that will happen again.
Episode 10
Ouranos can even feel it has awakened and the tragedy will happen again. Can anybody please stop being so vague and just show us what it is?! Oh, here’s a preview. A group of unlucky adventurers get sliced in half!!! OMFG!!! You can’t outrun this thing! Worse, their screams resonate throughout the caves and it must be damn eerie to hear them die like that. Jura continues to explain that when his Familia was fighting against hers, he set a trap to get rid of them once and for all. This included setting up the entire place with blaze rocks and blowing it up. But still, Astrea Familia will not die. But this led to the appearance of that monster that begin the massacre tragedy. Ouranos nicely explains to us that the dungeon has the capability of restoring itself back when it receives too much damage. But when that damage exceeds what it can repair, a self-preservation instinct is triggered to prioritize eliminating whoever is causing that damage. There are no records of this because Ouranos doesn’t want the public to panic and hence it was all covered. He only told Xenos in exchange for their help to prevent such a thing from happening again. Well, looks like not this time. Jura has spent the last 5 years researching this monster and learnt a hell lot. His goal is to tame it even if it means causing another tragedy. Yeah, he thinks his magic item will do the trick now. Jura adds Ryuu should know how horrifying this monster is because she fought it first-hand. She sacrificed her comrades just to desperately keep herself alive. Ryuu is at breaking point telling him to STFU. Must be true then. Well, the tragedy has arrived as Bors’ group after many getting sliced in half, impaled or thrown so hard all their bones broke, don’t you dare underestimate this scrawny monster AKA Juggernaut. See the adventurers dying one by one like ants. Now time for Bell to step up to the game. He fights Juggernaut and it is unlike any floor boss he has fought. Despite its lack of armour, it is damn fast and agile. Bell does his fireball but it backfires since it has some barrier. True tragedy begins as Juggernaut slices off Bell’s arm! And then one big whack to break his bones. Bell lying there motionless. Everybody stares in disbelief. Awkward silence. BELL IS DEAD????!!!!!
Episode 11
Don’t worry. Bell is still alive. Thank the scarf in playing that plot convenience, I mean pivotal role. So as Ryuu does a bit of healing, other adventurers get killed from left to right. Bors and the survivors try to blast it but it reflects and burns them all. How the f*ck is Bors the only one still alive? Cue for Bell’s body to be blown into the river from the impact. But hell, Ryuu has to get back fighting Juggernaut. And this guy is still standing there and watching instead of running away?! See, Ryuu gets gravely injured. Meanwhile Marie saves Bell by using her mermaid blood to attach back his arm and heal his wounds. Son of a gun, it actually works because now Bell is resurrected as he returns to the surface. Just in time because Ryuu is about to get killed. Round 2, fight! Bell tries to fight close quarter combat. He manages to stab it but realizes it has no core. Then he uses his fire bolt and you’d think he is stupid enough to do the same mistake. Turns out he lets his dagger absorb the flames and then hit it right back at Juggernaut. Should be the killer move, right? Well, Juggernaut is still standing. Jura uses this chance to put his magic item to enslave Juggernaut. Now it’s his. Go kill those f*ckers! Too bad Juggernaut doesn’t listen and slices Jura in half! So much about taming. Because a Lambton heard Jura’s order, it attacks Ryuu. Bell rushes to save her but they get devoured. Juggernaut doesn’t want to lose its prey so it also follows down to the lower levels. Meanwhile at Lily’s side, a huge earthquake rocks the place. Say hi to Amphisbaena again. Yes Cassandra, the nightmare isn’t over yet. Bell and Ryuu are still alive as he cuts open a hole in the dead Lambton’s stomach. Where are we? Judging from the different wall colours, this is definitely one of the lower levels. White Palace they call it, huh? What was Eina saying about this scary place again?
Episode 12
Lily and co try to get to the exit but Amphisbaena cuts of all their exits. Now they’re trapped in like a cage. Is this the dream Cassandra has been lamenting about? Meanwhile we see how Bell is doing. Injured left and right. Ryuu too. Feeling very afraid. Need to get out of here. Oh wait. Here comes Juggernaut!!! Aisha realizes the group’s morale is low. If only Bell was here. Yeah, since when you started relying on him? Thankfully Welf putting it as they don’t want to end up having a reputation that they always rely on Bell. They need Bell to be proud of them sometimes. Hence everybody goes to take on this double headed sea dragon. All the fighters are doing their stuffs to take it down but Amphisbaena has got a few tricky moves that keep them at bay. Before Lily goes into despair about her own uselessness, she soon takes control of the situation by analysing what’s going on before commanding what her comrades are supposed to do. This is what a commander should be doing, right? Eventually Mikoto’s powerful move has the roof cave in on Amphisbaena and trapping it. Now everyone can go in for the kill. Cassandra continues to be useless (even Haruhime proves herself by boosting stats of others) and regretting about her vision until Daphne has to smack her out of it and do her healing job. Sure, everybody is scared and in despair. But can’t give up until the end, right? Took her a while but Cassandra is back in the healing business.
Episode 13
Suddenly Bell gets the strength to run like hell! Oh, but his fire bolts did the trick to cave in the ceiling on Juggernaut. Wow. It’s over? Lucky. I guess Bell and Ryuu need to talk. The latter wants him to leave her behind since she will only slow him down. Don’t look know but there’s this skull sheep monster attacking him. Bell uses up a lot of strength and takes a lot of damage before taking it out. That is even considered lucky. Ryuu continues to assert to leave her behind but Bell screams he won’t because since she has been down here before, she is useful to get out. And just like that she is willing to live longer. Meanwhile Luvis and Dormal learnt from escaped adventurers that Hestia Familia is stranded and it’s hell down there. This is also heard by Tsubaki Collbrande, the captain of Hephaistos Familia and she wants to know the details. Whatever the case, she and her crazy babes are going straight down there to check things out. Ryuu mentions they need to get into a small room to rest. Just when they think they spot other adventurers nearby, too bad it’s just their bones. Worse, more skull sheep attack. Bell getting desperate as he fires his fire bolts. Once again the same trick of caving in the ceiling made them flee. Convenient move? At this point Bell is broken like hell and he thinks they’re going to die. Ryuu’s turn to slap some senses into him and say they’ll take 5 minute intervals to rest and keep guard. We return to Lily’s side still fighting Amphisbaena. The monster makes a daring move by swimming up the waterfall and then jump back down to cause a tidal wave and have them lose their footing. Then they realize Mikoto is not around. Yeah, she got hit by an ice slab and is sinking. Monster fish eating her too. Amphisbaena fires up and because Cassandra spacing out over this prolonged despair, Haruhime pushes her away and gets burnt. Casualties piling up now! Does this fire you up to f*cking kill that floor boss?!
Episode 14
Ryuu has to fight a few pesky sheep and even in her injured form, she can still fight. What choice does she have? Thankfully, Bell wakes up in time to defeat the last of them. Change shift. Now it’s Bell’s turn to watch while Ryuu rests. She needs all the rest she can get as she dreams about her time in Astrea Familia and her captain, Alise Lovell. Now we return to Lily’s side fighting a seemingly losing battle. Just when you thought they are done for because everything they pull off seem useless, then it is cue to pull off a miracle. Yes, Mikoto is still alive as she chants something to pull off some great attack. Similarly, Haruhime didn’t get burnt alive as she blesses Aisha with power. Together with Ouka they strike down the monster boss. Finally. So as everyone is going to take a breather after a hard fought battle, the cage is starting to crumble. They see Turk and his men trying to flee and think of following them. However there is debate whether they should escape this place or go save Bell. Cassandra tries to talk about her prophecy which may save their lives but Daphne has had enough of her BS. She doesn’t believe in all those crap. Heart breaking? Daphne then changes her mind and leads everyone to where Cassandra wants. Daphne clears the air she doesn’t believe in her visions but rather in Cassandra. Now is not the time to cry. Thanks to this, they manage to get to safety as the cage completely crumbles while they watch Turk and his men fall to their deaths. Daphne thanks Cassandra’s decision that saved their lives. Since it has come to this, they are going to rescue Bell.
Episode 15
A short dream AKA flashback from Ryuu as she dreams right before the tragedy that hit Astrea Familia. Alise had info about Rudra Familia that Jura at a certain floor in the dungeon and their plan was to swoop in and take them out. Looking back in hindsight, it was indeed a trap set by Jura. Back to Lily’s side, her party is fighting more monsters in their bid to look for Bell. Sure, they might not be tough, but they can’t waste time in fighting endless waves. At this rate they might run out of energy. To their surprise, monsters from lower floors start to appear. They fight them all off and surprisingly find Bors. Did he bring them with him when he ran away? The gang is shocked to hear all the adventurers got killed and Bors as the lone survivor. Even more devastating Bors says Bell is dead. Lily losing her sh*t and can’t accept this. Bors explains what he saw with his eyes how Bell got killed by Juggernaut. So does this mean this rescue mission is for naught? As they rest in a dead end, with the party’s morale low, Aisha wants Bors to explain in detail what he really saw. Because he didn’t see Bell’s corpse and the last he saw was Ryuu trying to heal Bell, this small flimsy hope is the excuse they need to have faith that Bell is still alive and proceed with this rescue mission. Bors doesn’t want to go back down there so Aisha tells him off to show some gratitude to those who saved his ass. As they rest, Welf realizes their chances of fighting their way out is slim. If only he could make more magic weapons. Remembering Hephaistos’ words, Welf throws away his pride and wants everyone to put their lives in his hands. He is going to forge some magic weapons here. As long as he has a hammer, hearth and some materials, he can do it. Some are sceptical but since Welf is confident he can, everyone agrees to protect him as he forges since he will be in a vulnerable state. Okay. Let’s get us some magic weapons.
Episode 16
Alise initiating a debate with her Familia on what justice is. After the many arguments, she gives her ‘wisdom’ that instead of trying to find the right answer, they’ll focus on weeding out fake justice and hence justice is something they hide. As Welf begins his forging, the rest become a shield to protect him from advancing monsters. Oh boy, did Welf hit a brick wall because this adamantite ore is really hard to forge… Back to Bell and Ryuu, they are discussing the probably options they have and the other floors. Ryuu suggests stripping the corpse of the dead adventurers of their items if they need to traverse the floors. WTF Bell trying to be some holy kid thinking it is desecration?! You want to live or not?! Of course he soon comes to that realization because they’re still alive and need to get back out that way. Ryuu finds a map (although incomplete as the area is very large) in one of them and it will prove to be a great help to get them to the connecting tunnels. There are also personal messages from the dead so they’re bent on taking this back to the surface too. Meanwhile status report on Welf… Uhm, the ore still not taking shape. He starts to lose focus and wonders if this was the right choice. Then his inner versions question him what he is doing this for. For his friends. Uhm, isn’t that what he was doing all along or did I miss something? And just like that Welf powers up to create the mother of all magic blades. Just in time to test it because the monsters just break through the defence. With Cassandra’s help to amplify magic, Welf easily burns all the monsters. It’s about time. Time to get back in rescuing Bell.
Episode 17
Another snippet showing Ryuu getting into an argument with Kaguya about their version of justice. She got upset when Kaguya told her off she might be the strongest but mentally and emotionally the weakest in the group. Heed her advice, there will be a time when she must make a decision to save someone and that she cannot save everybody. Ryuu and Bell continue to fight more monsters. Bell getting demotivated since he feels useless after Ryuu points out his inefficient way of fighting. Of course she gives him some encouragement he can do it. Then she gives him drink a potion that will take away his pain. Uhm, looks mouldy… She thinks it’s a bit old but still effective. She thinks! Down the hatch. Tastes horrible but it works. Now Bell is super motivated to get through this. As Lily’s group continues their expedition, they arrive at a place where there are lots of dead adventurer bodies. They move on and Aisha thought she heard a voice from Marie warning them not to proceed. Must be her imagination. Finally arriving at the spot where Bors last seen Bell, he is baffled that all the corpses are missing. They examine a place and find a huge hole. It could be that Bell is now in deeper floors. Worse timing, eel monsters surround the place. Some spit out accessories and hence solving the mystery of the missing bodies. I guess dinner wasn’t enough. At this rate, they are going to tire themselves. It couldn’t get any worse as more monsters rush in. But wait, they’re fighting the eels? Then Lily recognizes them. They’re Xenos! About time they show up to help Bell’s party in trouble as promised. Ryuu gives Bell drink another of those effective but yucky potions. She is supposed to drink half herself but after noting the indirect kiss, she puts it away. Is Bell aghast because she won’t share the ‘pain’? Anyway, they continue their journey as Ryuu talks about certain monsters he must be wary about. When they reach a certain area with different texture, Ryuu recognizes this is one of the inner circles. Now that they know where they are, they can plan where they’re heading next. While Bell is now buoyed with hope, however Ryuu is more sceptical. She thinks the dungeon won’t let them both out alive. She wonders how much she can grow Bell before she dies or sacrifices herself.
Episode 18
As Ryuu was still upset about Kaguya’s thinking on sacrifice, Alise came to offer her piece of advice about ideals and the meaning of being a hero. Haruhime and Wiene emotionally reunite. Can we cut this for later because a bloody battle is still raging on. Tsubaki’s group have arrived and now more slaughtering can happen. Marie then calls out to Lyd. She tells him how she saw Bell fell to deeper flaws and a monster is chasing him. Lyd then signals his Xenos as they all charge out to go save Bell. This leaves the rest to clean up the remaining monsters. Lily then learns what the Xenos are doing and since they can carve a path if they so wish to go save Bell, Lily tells her group and the rest that they’re going to the lower floors. It doesn’t matter the odds because it’s something they have to do. That’s right, Bors. You’re coming along on this crazy adventure. Now we see Bell kicking monsters’ ass. Ryuu believes the pressure may have pushed him to new heights. As they rest, Ryuu reveals that Fels told her about Juggernaut. Ryuu thinks she is from the guild and hence they might know about its existence. As condition for such info, Ryuu cannot reveal it to others and she will be left alone. Speaking of Juggernaut, it’s attacking and devouring other monsters. My, bloodthirsty aren’t we? Ryuu and Bell are surrounded by more monsters but call it luck whatever, those damn poisonous Peluda monsters shoot their poison quills to take out some of them before Bell burns them. However a quill hits Bell’s arm. In pain, he then uses Welf’s unicorn’s horn dagger to absorb and remove all the poison! Resting again, Ryuu thinks why the adventurers backtracked instead of moving forward in the map. Did they stumble upon something that they retreated? As they continue their journey, now they enter a place where Ryuu recognizes as the Colosseum.
Episode 19
Still not happy with this ideal vs reality debate, now it’s Layla’s turn to offer her advice to Ryuu about the importance of info. Turn knowledge into wisdom and it might help save someone’s life. Now we return to the Colosseum as Ryuu explains how this place infinitely spawns monsters. When one dies, another pops up in its place to fight. So yeah, they’re not going to fight all that but have to get across if they want to get to the next floor. In order to do that, they need to camouflage. Using the hide of a skull sheep and dousing themselves with the heart of a Barbarian to cover their scent, they sneak quietly across the bridge filled with Peluda into the Colosseum. They witness the monsters fighting each other perpetually to the death. But that would be too boring if nothing happens so they get caught and with their cover blown, the monsters now turn their attention to fight the invaders. As they fight their way through, Ryuu finally does her sacrificial move. She blasts Bell across the bridge and then destroys it. She wants him to escape himself, believing he can do it now that she will no longer be a burden. She goes back to fight the monsters and resigns to her fate, hoping that she will finally be judged by Alise. But as we all know, Bell is not one who is going to leave anybody behind. So he takes the roundabout route to return to blast those monsters away in bold attempt to rescue her. Wow, his fire bolt is sparkling white?! Boom! Huge explosion! I wonder if this is enough to destroy the entire Colosseum.
Episode 20
Time to see what happened to Astrea Familia. They survived a devastating blaze rock bombing by Rudra Familia and of course Jura is not happy he took a long time to plan this and yet none of those b*tches got scathed. But that is where Juggernaut pops up and starts killing one by one the Astrea Familia. How do you like your girls being eaten, shredded and torn apart?! Eventually the last ones standing are Alise, Kaguya and Layla. Ryuu too but she is in shock. Alise needs Ryuu to survive since her magic is the only thing that can destroy this monster. Hopefully, her ideals will come true one day. And so Ryuu watch helplessly as her last comrades die while she chants her magic at Juggernaut. But it was all for naught as it escapes. Uhm, so it didn’t return to kill Ryuu? Well, a regretful Ryuu escapes to the surface. Enough time to heal and then return to pay tribute to the fallen but alas, their bodies have been eaten by monsters. Helpless and lost, now she exists to get revenge. This is not justice. Just plain hatred. Her first step is to leave Astrea Familia and on pretence to leave Orario. Astrea agreed and excommunicated her although she remained her blessing with her. Ryuu’s bloodbath begins as she hunts down all those connected to Evilus. None were shown any mercy. Until she found Jura. In a blind she thought she killed him but only much later she found out he lived. Back to being depressed and lost, she can’t believe she has survived despite trying to find a place to die. Is this her punishment? At that time Syr helped her get back on her feet. Back in present time, Bell and Ryuu survive and it seems there is a path beneath the Colosseum. Ryuu wants an explanation why he didn’t let her die. Because he would do the same in her shoes. Despite her pleas to let this guilty criminal die and no amount of justice would she deserve to live, Bell thinks otherwise because she also has saved so many lives. He continues to believe in her because that justice in her still lives on. A stray Barbarian knocks out Bell. Ryuu’s trauma could have activated again had not Bell get up and kill it. Phew. Almost had her there. Then they see a water source as they recuperate and heal up.
Episode 21
Ryuu still wants to know why Bell did what he did to save her. Because he doesn’t want to let anyone die. Wow Ryuu, and you think he had some calculative ulterior motive. I thought you knew him?! At least he is not that kind of sleazebag. Anyway this has her revealing the truth about Astrea Familia’s fate. Bell’s answer is that obviously her Familia wants her to live or their deaths would be in vain. Now to troll us with some sort of fanservice because in order to warm up more efficiently, they have to hug each other and do body contact. Can we all hold out our dirty thought?! Sorry, I already failed… So the duo huddle close together. Looking like the lovebirds they are, huh? Well, cherish this special moment. I bet it’ll be their secret… Once done, they continue their journey. They thought they hit a dead end but noticing a different rock structure, Bell easily destroys it and now they find themselves back on the proper dungeon floor. Noticing this is one of the inner circles, Ryuu realizes they can get out of this level. Just one more step. They also feel weird because despite sensing monsters, there are none around. They’ll soon learn why. Because look who’s back? Juggernaut has been waiting for them here! Worse, it is now a chimera, replacing destroyed body parts with other monsters it has eaten. Don’t be too happy its movements are slow because now it has new abilities like shooting spikes! Bell pushes Ryuu out of the way and gets a near fatal damage. Ryuu manages to drag him into a small crevice as Juggernaut desperately tries to get them. Oh look. Who’s hiding here? The other monsters! Looks funny but it’s not! This is truly between a rock and a hard place! Luckily Ryuu uses them as bait as Juggernaut’s spikes impale them. Then they play dead and Juggernaut thinks so and leaves. The duo are so relieved that they are close to home as Ryuu requests another hug from Bell before sleeping like a baby. Bell is now determined to get them out even if his body is screaming in pain all over. That’s good because it means he is alive. Hope he doesn’t turn into a masochist!
Episode 22
Time to settle things and not run away. Because Bell returns to finish off Juggernaut. Meanwhile Ryuu dreams of her dead comrades. She thinks of going with them but Alise tells her not to or she’ll regret it. She says her justice is screaming to help save Bell. It proves her justice is alive and well. It has always been like her to stick to her guns to do the right thing because that is her justice. A tearful Ryuu had always wanted to apologize and expected them to admonish her for being useless. But she realizes they wouldn’t blame her and it was herself who couldn’t forgive. This punishment was just to ease the pain in her heart. Since she wants to return with Bell, off she goes. Goodbye. Now we see Bell and Ryuu fighting together to bring this monster down. Even more unbelievable Ryuu summoning her dead friends for help?! WTF???!!! Even if she admits this is pure fantasy garbage! Hell yeah, whatever!!! Just kill this motherf*cker!!! Ryuu deals the fatal blow and now we can all rest. The Xenos pals find them, let them conveniently drink Marie’s blood to heal up before leaving so that Lily’s group can get all emotional with this miracle reunion. Ryuu wakes up in hospital on the surface. So worried about Bell, she rushes to see him in this flimsy hospital gown. He’s fine. Oops! Nip slip! WTF Hestia and Lily slap him???!!! I’ll be damned if the guy who fought against Juggernaut died via women’s slap!!! Lily and co thank Ryuu from their heart although she thanks Bell for saving her. Eventually everybody gets credited because their small role is what got them through. They also relay the news that Ryuu’s other persona is officially dead. I’m guessing this will allow her to start on a clean slate. Thank Bors for giving that second rate emotional acting to the guild as he tells them how Ryuu sacrificed her life to take down Rudra Familia behind this. Though, they won’t be giving him any bounty reward! Once Bell and Ryuu are discharged, they meet up. Lovely dress there, Ryuu. She notes when Astrea told her to give up on justice to seek revenge, she thought she was excommunicated. In actual fact, it was to save her who would’ve fallen apart had she not sought that path. But it is thanks to Bell that she arose back on her feet. He told her she still had justice inside. Bell is glad she is smiling from the heart and looks pretty. Uhm, real smooth there. See, now you made her run away and confused. Yeah, the elf who fought Juggernaut getting the most critical damage in her heart here! Bell oh Bell…
Surviving Dungeon Disaster
Always believe in hope! Never give up! Ah yes, those classic tropes will always be the ones that saves the day if you don’t play the friendship card. Oh wait, there’s a bit of that too. But anyway, a nice little happy ending for everybody. At least for our characters concerned as they made it out alive literally all in one piece. Yeah, it was one heck of an adventure so are we ready to do again same time, same place, next season? From the looks of it, there should be. After all, there are lots more stuffs to uncover. But for now after all that harrowing experience we have been through, we all deserve to take a little breather. Rest up. We’ll need all that and even more for the next raid.
I have to admit that this season doesn’t disappoint and it was highly interesting. Yeah, maybe I unconsciously put my hopes lower before watching this series so obviously when the outcome differs a lot for the better, that’s how I unwittingly reap the bonuses. One big reason is that it stays true to its roots as this season is one big dungeon crawling adventure. Yup, you could say that about 90% of the entire series took place inside the dungeon. But sorry, no picking up chicks. Uhm, but can I technically consider Bell x Ryuu moments to be that? Oh, almost forgot. Can picking up a mermaid be counted too?
Though, I was wondering what the first mini arc was about. Oh you know, fighting that seemingly green moss monster. I don’t see how it plays anything prominent to the story. Not at least for this season as it may be pivotal in future chapters. Anyway, I figure this was needed as some sort of ‘practice’ by Hestia Familia because if they’re going to tackle the deeper dungeons, hence this ‘test’ to see if they are worthy by taking on a seemingly intelligent and cunning monster. So yeah, this first half could just be the warm up for the rest of this season which is of course mainly about Ryuu. Or at least something to do with her. Therefore I am guessing that this season is to flesh out Ryuu’s character and past, to have her find some closure on her trauma and perhaps join Hestia Familia. Hey, it’s a possibility, right! Considering the huge amount of screen time that we have seen them spent together especially in the second half.
Those episodes towards the end might seem a little draggy as they flesh out Ryuu’s character and past and at this point it might have gotten a little boring because well, you’re still fighting dungeon monsters. It’s like we’ve been over intoxicated with such dungeon crawling drunkenness that the excitement effect is starting to slip away. But nevertheless, watching Bell and the other characters fight formidable monsters was quite exciting itself. Such big bosses, you got to pull all your stops with powerful magic combos and not pull any punches. It is probably what this series needed and a time to show us that they are capable of such tough battles. They are the main characters after all. Got to show us how much they’ve grown and levelled up.
So in one way, it feels a bit weird because for the second half of this series, Bell has been separated from his party members and this feels like he has been away for the longest time from them in terms of screen time context. My other guess that this is necessary so that it is to prove that the rest of Hestia Familia isn’t all about Bell. Uh huh. Must show us that the likes of Welf, Lily, Mikoto and the rest are able to stand on their own and not always depend on Bell who is probably the poster boy of Hestia Familia. Had they continued to be dependent on him, they might as well rename this party to Bell Familia. Heh. So yeah, even if individually they might not be as strong and powerful like Bell, but at least in a group they are very formidable. Hence the fight with Amphisbaena was to showcase that growth. Yeah, it wouldn’t be fun to see them get 100% perfect score and hence all that drama and tension of them being hopeless before eventually emerging victorious, I guess it was all part and parcel to prove that their victory was sweet and worth it. Yeah, even veterans like yours truly sometimes fell for the mind trick that they could actually die! Made me forgot the script always says they will win in the end. Now that Bell has an even more apt nickname, Rabbit’s Foot, this is the perfect excuse for him to reach even greater heights no matter how impossible it is. That’s right. Such a lucky kid. That played a big role in slaying Juggernaut, right? Oh right. Hope! Justice! Gotta remember those important stuffs.
Even the seemingly flimsy written (as I would like to put it) Juggernaut as an overpowered creature that is the much needed wake up call to shake up anybody who thinks they can rest on their laurels for having good or overpowered skills. I have a few mind boggling questions about this creature but I would be more confused if I tried to find more answers. My guts told me that. Anyway, one of them being if this creature was like some auto generated defence to expel intruders when the going gets tough, shouldn’t the dungeon just use Juggernaut all the time? I mean, 99% of adventures will definitely die encountering it, right? The most effective sentinel to keep intruders out! So why is the dungeon not employing this if it wants adventurers to stay out of it? Am I missing something? Now that it can be destroyed, not looking so tough anymore, huh? I wonder if the dungeon will learn from this and send and even more vicious creature. What is even more fearsome than Juggernaut? Why, 2 Juggernauts! Double the hell, no!
As for the characters, Hestia Familia gets thrown more of the limelight and of course Bell gets most of it as we have already seen, his moments with Ryuu in the later half. His new nickname is apt because as main character, he is going to get all the luck to ride out of this mess. You think he is this close to death (damn, sometimes even fooling me), but alas he has cheated death many times. After coming this far, for him to die is just not even thinkable. Bell dead is not even an option! Too bad this means not even Juggernaut can do the job and I believe Bell will be the first one to destroy it somehow. So yeah, because of that, he can stay true to his ideals and virtues of saving everyone he loves. That includes you too, Ryuu. As mentioned, she gets her dues this season. It’s all for her to find closure on her past and move on and she couldn’t have done it without Bell’s help. So, considering joining Bell’s groupie?
And of course the rest of Hestia Familia as I have pointed out, they too have grown in many ways like Welf levelling up as a blacksmith and Lily stepping up to the role of commander in the absence of Bell. Even Haruhime is no longer the weakling and despite she is still the weakest, she has proven to be helpful when the time calls for it. The rest of the extended family of Hestia Familia, I figure they should just join Hestia Familia like Aisha the brute woman. If there’s one annoying character, it would be Cassandra because of her penchant to wallow in despair about her cryptic dream. It is so ambiguous and up for anyone’s interpretation. Yet she chose to decipher it as a bad omen. When it seemingly happens, she goes into misery quoting which line of that omen has come true. And when it’s not, she heaves a sigh of relieved. And then it happens, it could’ve been this line that meant the disaster! Oh my! You don’t even know a thing about it so stop being a gloomy girl and help out! Thank goodness they made it out alive or else I would have to blame entirely the team’s demise on her. Tsubaki’s group came in late as help so personally it felt strange because by the time they do so, nothing really mattered. Like as though they’re just there to pick up Ryuu. Bell has his groupie so got to prove that Ryuu has hers or she’ll be stuck with that Alise vision thingy. Now that Ryuu is free, will she consider joining Hestia Familia or will she be like Aisha and just be part of the extended family. Like Daphne, Cassandra, Ouka and Chigusa. Yeah, the ‘internship’ was pretty fun, right?
There are many other characters from this series that are sorely missed out and one of them is Aiz. Ah yes, with the crisis that our main characters are facing, there is no time for this Loki Familia to even have a decent limelight. Almost close to non-existent. In a way, it is good because we won’t get distracted. It is also to prove that Bell can stand on his own and if she was around to help and cover his ass, we are naturally inclined to think that it was Aiz’s skills that saved the day rather than Bell. So yeah, in exchange to have Bell prove to us he is now a superb warrior, Aiz’s absence was needed. Yeah, not even a single cameo at the end. Can’t ruin Ryuu’s moment. Even Hestia is sorely missing as she cannot go down with the humans. Sorry Hestia fans, boob time is so sparing here. Even Xenos’ cameo appearance felt like they’re just here to say hi. Then bye. Heh. At least not forgotten. At this point with this series having so many characters (Eina, Syr, Freya, etc), for better or worse, only very small cameo appearances so as not to distract us from the main important story. Thus sadly it is not their season.
While the action sequences don’t disappoint this season, I have to say that this one seems to ‘hurt’ a little more. Especially during Juggernaut’s massacre. Yes, it got really violent, bloody and gory ever since this monster started slicing people in half! I guess it is to show and warn us how dangerous this being is. So in that sense watching these unfortunate adventurers getting their limbs torn off and all, somehow it made me winced a bit too. I don’t know why, I’ve seen such similarly gory and violent series like Shingeki No Kyojin and I should be able to stomach them all. Is it perhaps I didn’t expect this one to be that gory? And that itself had a psychological effect on me subsequently as I see Bell taking on damage after damage. Wow. Never felt hurt like so real! Yikes.
This season’s first opening theme, Tentou by Sajou No Hana is your typical moderate pop rock outfit. Sounds generic and rather okay to me. Not that I’m hard up to listen to it. The second opener feels strange. Firstly, oh heck I didn’t realize it was Saori Hayami singing Shikou! Though, this isn’t the first time she is singing as I recently heard her doing so in RWBY: Hyousetsu Teikoku. Secondly, she sings somewhat softly and that the piano drilling and pounding at certain times were louder and drowned out her voice. Even when the song gets more and more dramatic, she still maintains that soft singing voice. Weird. I never thought Saori Hayami would go into singing because heck, how did I also miss her voice as she also sang the first ending theme, Guide. This piece is more of a slow ballad so I should have been able to pick out her voice as she maintains that same soft singing. On a trivial note, the ending credits animation feels like they’re trying to do that hand holding couple meme. Are we trying to hold hands with Hestia?! Sajou No Hana sings the second ending theme, Kirikizu, another dramatic pop ballad.
Overall, this season is indeed interesting and blows away the disappointment that was the second (fighting Familia Wars? Where’s the dungeon crawling?) and the third (back to some dungeon crawling but this time meeting friendly monsters) as well as side stories (we got one from Aiz’s view and thankfully no more than that). It develops the necessary characters nicely and the action bits are exciting to watch. So while it still isn’t a masterpiece in my books, I can still say that it is one of the better series and sequels of the season. Next time you smart adventurers want to go adventuring in deeper floors, may I suggest to bring the biggest and most badass drilling machine made out of mithril-cum-adamantite to just freaking drill your way through the bottom instead of finding the proper path? Hey, the dungeon repairs itself, right? Saves time, saves effort. I’m such a genius. Do you need Bruce Willis and his Armageddon team of drillers to teach you that? Or does that only work on comets?
Chua Tek Ming~*Anime Power*~ !LiVe FoR AnImE, aNiMe FoR LiFe! 