With an absurdly long title such as “Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?” your first inclination is to think that the show is trying too hard to pander from just the title alone. With Romance, Fantasy, Action, and Comedy spliced in with an element of Harem, your anticipation going into this will probably sink into apathy. But fret not, my dear friends, this anime, shortly titled DanMachi, actually has much more to offer than your prototypical otaku bait anime. If you think a story is essential in anime, that fits this description.

I mean the classic stereotype of a protagonist relatable to your average Japanese teenager when I say otaku bait: A sexy loli girl with a sexy petite body who sticks with the protagonist and a plot that owes itself to another shonen show’s popularity. In which case, the shonen show DanMachi wants to emulate is Sword Art Online. In DanMachi, a boy named Bell-kun craves to become a great adventurer to prove himself to be a strong warrior in the eyes of so many people by leveling up his attributes to accomplish this feat. Does that sound familiar? Thought so. However, DanMachi is set in an actual fantasy world, not an MMO. So it is a fantasy interpretation of Sword Art in some fashion.

For those who might be discouraged by this comparison I mentioned, I assure you that DanMachi isn’t just another clone for Sword Art Online. For one thing, the plot itself is not of the same magnitude as Sword Art Online. DanMachi’s story is somewhat barebones and can easily be summed up in a sentence or two: “Boy wants to be an adventurer to overcome difficulties in life. With the help of his sexy Goddess sidekick, he will be able to achieve this goal.” That’s pretty all there is to it. By the time I was halfway through it, I had hoped that there was more to it than just this fundamental premise.

That’s the only big gripe DanMachi has going for that keeps it from being great. Still, with all that is said and done, there are many admirable qualities to the show that can add to an outstanding experience. The first one to mention is the characters Bell-kun and Hestia. Individually and together, they add a lot of great hilarious and impactful moments to their dialogue and actions. It becomes evident from the excellent chemistry they both create whenever they are together on-screen, whether they are fighting various monsters together or happily having a lovey-dovey date together, at least from Hestia’s perspective. Bell-kun himself may seem like a weakling of an adventurer with a soft, calm voice, but he proves himself worthy of rivaling some of the better shonen protagonists you typically see. It also helps that he has a very likable personality that puts him in a comfortable position for us to root for him in his journey.

Then we have the one and only goddess herself, Hestia-chan. What can you say about the bootylicious, big-chested, and genki archetypical loli that hasn’t been said already? I will tell you one thing that can be added to those three categories: Awesome. Why should this title be mentioned in the same breath as her name, you may ask? Most of it has to do with how her personality ranges in hilarious and adorable ways that make her very expressive. These expressions make you feel an attachment to her when she acts serious, humorous, or flirty with Bell-kun. Not to mention that her voice actress, Inori Minase, gives it her all in creating a wonderful character with her remarkably expressive voice. It also provides a delicate balance between her wild and joyful nature and Bell-kun’s quiet and gentle personality, making their camaraderie even more exciting and hilarious to watch.

Besides our two main leads, the rest of the characters are, unfortunately, not up to par with these two. The only supporting role that I can remember liking was Lili, only because she at least had something that made her distinctive from the rest of the cast. That something being that overly large backpack of hers that doubles her small size, go figure. The rest of the supporting cast can be encapsulated into one word: boring. It all comes down to how the writers put minimal effort into making the supporting cast at least somewhat enjoyable so that it doesn’t seem like the only thing carrying the show is our two main leads. They come down to making semi-funny jokes and getting involved in fight scenes with Bell-kun or Hestia, which are very well done to DanMachi’s credit.

Here is where another of DanMachi’s strong points starts to bloom. You’d be right if you thought shonen action shows fighting has gotten tedious in recent years. However, DanMachi manages to set the bar up pretty high with the amount of great tenacity and flair it gives to the action sequences with the monsters and other characters. What helps is how great the animation flows through these sequences with excellent fluid movements with the characters and how they use their weapons in combat. There are the occasional “cutting corners” in animation, but not to the point where it becomes jarring. Even outside of the action, the animation leaves a strong impression with how well detailed it shows off its medium-sized budget.

Not only does the animation work wonders, but the art design also leaves a solid impression in DanMachi. Not just with the character design but also in creating the world itself. The world is your general fantasy world with a few new things added that you may or may not have seen before. The backgrounds have a subtle elegance to their artistic influence, from the massive scope of the mountains to the urban-style design of the city that our main characters live in. Character designs are pretty colorful and eloquent in how beautiful they look, especially Hestia. Even if you have no taste in petite girls, Hestia will undoubtedly raise a few eyebrows and maybe a few other things.

DanMachi was indeed a surprise for me to experience this Spring. Where it lacks from a story and mostly character standpoint, it succeeds in providing a fun action/hybrid anime with its stellar art and animation department and a great duo from Hestia and Bell-kun with their fantastic chemistry. It managed to tickle my action and ecchi bone enough for me to say that it was a worthwhile adventure to take part in. As far as experiences go, this is one where the journey itself is the fun part, while the end of it makes you want to yearn for more. For me, at least, I want more Hestia-chan in the future. Please?

Grade: B