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



Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (ダンジョンに出会いを求めるのは間違っているだろうか, Danjon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darō ka, literally "Is It Wrong to Try to Meet Someone New in a Dungeon?"), also known as DanMachi (ダンまち), is a light novel series that started in 2013, being adapted into an anime series starting in 2015. The anime consists of two TV series (with a third being delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic), two OAVs (one after each TV series), and the 2019 movie Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?: Arrow of the Orion.

Once upon a time, the gods descended to the "Lower World" where the mortals live, in search of entertainment. They agreed to give up their godly powers in exchange for living with mortals. The one power that they keep is the ability to gift mortals with the ability to become adventurers, able to descend into the local Dungeon to slay monsters. The people who accept this gift become part of the "Familia" of that god or goddess.

The main story is about Bell Cranel, an idealistic -- one might say naive -- young man who is (at the beginning of the story) the only member of the Hestia Familia. He has just begun to adventure... and at the beginning is saved from peril by the swordswoman Ais Wallenstein. This leaves him with a desire to catch up to her level of ability. In his journey to becoming a hero, he meets and befriends many people: Eina Tulle, his advisor in the Guild of adventurers; Syr Flover and Ryū Lion, waitresses at a local inn, one of whom is much more than she seems; Liliruca ("Lili") Arde, the Supporter who carries his supplies and provides ranged attacks; Welf Crozzo, the smith/adventurer who can make magic swords; and others who help him in his self-imposed task.

''Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria'' is a side-story in the same universe with many of the same characters (and a few of the same scenes repeated). Ais Wallenstein is the protagonist of this story of the adventurers of the Loki Familia... and she has somebody to catch up to, as well.


 * A-Cup Angst: In Sword Oratoria, it's made quite clear that Tiona Hiryute and goddess Loki suffer from having flat chests, to the point of doing breast-expansion exercises during a Familia meeting.
 * Big Breasts, Big Deal:
 * Hestia, possessor of the second-largest set in the entire series, is in the "When you've got it, you should flaunt it!" camp. Her in-universe nickname is "Loli Big-Boobs".
 * Tione Hiryute, sister to Tiona, is well-endowed, and on at least once occasion gives her sister Marshmallow Hell in order to get her to stop talking.
 * Blade of Fearsome Size:
 * Minotaurs already carry and use large weapons, but the one that was chosen to fight Bell was given - and trained to use - an even larger greatsword.
 * Inverted by Bell, who uses a knife instead of a sword.
 * Butt Monkey: Asti, the human leader of Hermes's Familia. Hermes puts her through all sorts of embarrassing predicaments.
 * Can't Argue with Elves: Averted in episode 12 of the first season, when Bell makes his point with an Ironic Echo.
 * Divine Assistance: The "give heroes gifts" subtype of the trope. The gods aren't allowed to use their godly powers in the Lower World, but Hephaistios is still able to craft magical blades even with her powers sealed... and does so at Hestia's request so that Hestia can assist Bell in his dungeon delving. The Hestia Blade is a living blade that works only for members of the Hestia Familia; for everyone else, it's essentially a dull piece of metal.
 * Divine Parentage: It isn't supposed to be possible, but two characters may have it. (not that it helps), and  (which is more of a hindrance than a help).
 * Eye Awaken: Bad enough that there had been a murder in episode 4 of Sword Oratoria, and that somebody wants the episode's MacGuffin badly enough to kill for it - but when our heroines discover the MacGuffin is alive and its eyes open, things go From Bad to Worse.
 * Fantasy Kitchen Sink: As to be expected when the setting includes Greek, Norse, and Shinto gods.
 * Fictional Document: A fairy tale called "Argonaut", which is about a boy who grows up to become a hero. It's a favorite story of both Bell Cranel (who wants to be a hero) and Tiona Hiryute (who loves fairy tales).
 * Fire-Forged Friends:
 * Bell and Lili - despite the fact that she was using him to become rich enough to and then left him to die in the dungeon, he was willing to risk his own life for her when she was near death. She never willingly left him after that.
 * Bell, Lili, and Welf - strangers to each other when they formed their Party of adventurers (with Lili and Welf not getting along with each other very well), friends after surviving the journey forced upon them to level 18 of the Dungeon..
 * Focal Character: It sure looked like the elf mage Lefiya Viridis was going to be the protagonist of Sword Oratoria, until it became obvious that she was the deuteragonist of the side-story.
 * Groper Girl: Loki in Sword Oratoria, to the point of it being a Running Gag.
 * Hero of Another Story: Ais Wallenstein in the main story, Bell Cranel in Sword Oratoria.
 * Instant Runes:
 * If an Elf mage needs to chant a spell in order to cast it, she (or he) will have Instant Runes appear during the casting. It's shown that if the caster fails to concentrate on keeping the runes manifested until the spell is completed, the spell fails.
 * Lefiya also copies Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha's "magic circle as gun barrel" effect with her most powerful attack in the sidestory Sword Oratoria.
 * Outdoor Bath Peeping:
 * While at a "safe" (and to all appearances outdoor) level in the Dungeon in episode 12 of the first season, Bell is tricked into going to a spot where he could see almost all of the female cast members present bathing in a stream. The women notice, and react in various different ways depending on their own personalities.
 * Bell happens to see another female bathing in The Movie. The scene, commented on immediately afterwards by other characters, turns out to be a hint that all is not as it seems.
 * RPG Mechanics Verse: The Dungeon is based on video game dungeons - monsters spawn from its walls, and the very environment has a rudimentary intelligence (similar to a video game AI). Also, the adventurer characters have levels and character statistics which are updated on-screen from time to time... and they get new copies of their character sheets upon each update.
 * Rule 63: Loki and Hephaistios are female in this setting.
 * Save Your Deity: Bell has to rescue Hestia twice during the first season: once from a rampaging monster (which involved a Bridal Carry), and later from a kidnapping. Then he has to rescue her again (with another Bridal Carry) during the first OAV.
 * Sobriquet: Every adventurer gets one upon becoming a Level 2 adventurer, although they aren't all mentioned in the stories. Bell is "Little Rookie", Ais is "Sword Princess", Lefiya is "Thousand Elf".
 * Unwanted Harem: Bell, being a Celibate Hero, doesn't even realize he has one. But Hestia, Lili, Syr, and possibly Ais know... and Hestia's the jealous type.
 * White-Haired Pretty Boy: Bell, complete with the effeminate good looks and the red eyes. Subverted in that he's very definitely a hero.
 * Zettai Ryouiki: Ais's usual outfit is Rank A. (So is Lefiya's, but she wears a long overskirt over it as part of her usual Elegant Not-Really-Gothic Lolita outfit.)