Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon, also known as DanMachi, has returned to the air after the first half of Season 4 ended on a cliffhanger. The last time viewers saw Hestia Familia's party, they were on an expedition through the dungeon. They began looking for their companion Ryuu Lion, who was apparently also in the dungeon after completing the quest assigned to them. Ryuu had been accused of murdering a vendor on the 18th Floor, and the other residents and adventurers were after her for vengeance and a reward.
Bell and the rest of his party suspected something was wrong and decided to join the search in the hopes of assisting their friend and discovering the truth. While Bell went in search of Ryuu, the rest of his party remained behind to keep an eye on a group of suspicious adventurers. Unfortunately, some of the adventurers who were secretly part of the Evilus organization had set up Ryuu. While Bell and Ryuu were focused on their leader and the unstoppable monster known as the Juggernaut, the rest of the Hestia Familia was suddenly attacked by Amphisbaena, the Floor Boss who respawned two weeks earlier than expected.
A Remarkably Perilous Boss Battle
As soon as the monster spawned, it went after the Hestia Familia, with some members even suspecting that it is specifically targeting them. When it locates them, it unleashes a barrage of attacks that, while not injuring anyone in the party, completely entraps them in a "cave of despair" and closes all possible escape routes. As if that wasn't bad enough, Bell isn't near his party right now, so the group is missing its most important member, which is devastating to morale.
Fortunately, Welf is able to inspire his Familia by reminding them that they cannot always rely on Bell because doing so will make their entire Familia look bad and that this is the perfect opportunity to show everyone, including Bell, how strong they truly are. The party then proceeds to give it all in the ensuing fight, demonstrating its strength in the process.
Aisha, who was the last party member with the highest level and greatest strength, assumed leadership, and the other explorers followed. Even Haruhime contributes by giving Welf, Ouka, Mikoto, and Daphne a boost in strength with her Level Boost spell so they can survive the monster. The monster's own skills, particularly its crimson mist breath attack that dispels any magic it comes into contact with, made it regrettably nearly impossible for their attacks to succeed. Even with their confidence restored, the group was in pretty dire straits due to its blue flame attack, which has the power to even ignite water.
Episode 1 Establishes a Strong Story
Even though things appeared bleak, Liliruca is the only reason they were all able to survive. Due to her inherent skills and the training she received from Daphne, Lili has served as the main strategist for the party since the beginning of the season and has thus far been successful in that role. She has Mikoto use her gravity magic to both restrain the monster's movements and force the weakened ceiling to collapse onto it because she realizes that the monster is just as vulnerable to the falling debris it causes as they are. They all took full advantage of the fact that this attack left Amphisbaena utterly open to attack in addition to dealing massive damage to it.
While the party did inflict significant damage on the Floor Boss, it quickly escaped the debris it was trapped under by commanding the other monsters on the floor to assist in its release. Thankfully, Cassandra, the clairvoyant that no one believes, had already regained their composure and made sure to heal all of the party members. The episode ends just as the second round of the fight between the Hestia Familia and Amphisbaena is about to begin.
While it might be a little disappointing to not yet know how this fight ends just yet, it's important to remember that this episode was nothing short of spectacular. Unlike most other episodes in this series, Bell played a very minor role in the overall story, with him and Ryuu only being given a couple of minutes of screentime. This left most of the episode free to explore his party, which has been given very little spotlight over the past few seasons. DanMachi might have Bell as its main protagonist and developed him a lot and quite well, but it has definitely dropped the ball in those regards when it comes to the rest of the Hestia Familia. This season has done a lot to right those wrongs, but this episode finally made their development a focus. Hopefully the rest of the season is just as good at doing so.
