It is fair to say that I am one of those critics that had no big problem with DanMachi when it first aired in 2015. It was flawed, no doubt, but it was a harmless, fun adventure show that brought about one of the greatest waifu-bait cuties ever to grace the medium; and I will hear no denying that sentiment from here on out!

After nearly five years, we finally get more of DanMachi to continue the story of our two favorite lovable companions going on more adventures and meeting new characters on the way. If you remember my review of the previous season, you’d see that I gave it a solid score considering the type of anime: Harem anime with a dim-witted protagonist. However, Bell is a dim-witted protagonist that at least has some heart to him and especially with his interactions with the boob goddess herself, Hestia. That made DanMachi a lot better than most of its similar contemporaries. My one big wish for the sequel was to expand their relationship more and have it be a more significant focus on the narrative.

What I did get was more of that, but not enough. I wanted more of it because everyone outside of Hestia and Bell’s relationship is merely decent to just downright dull. None of the other female characters have anything to them that makes them stand out or memorable. Lili is the only one other than Hestia with any semblance of charisma only because she does become more integral to Bell’s story. She does have her fair share of funny moments sprinkled throughout the show. For every other character, I could not put my finger on what I was supposed to latch to. Their personal story arcs aren’t exactly anything special or become downright dramatic to the point where it gets nauseating the more I try to think about it. From a moral or writing standpoint, I would not classify them as terrible characters. It’s just that the sequel did not do much to carry me through whatever struggle or situation they happened to be in.

I have noticed that Hestia does draw some ire among the anime community. A lot will point out how annoying she can be whenever she tries her best to cling to Bell whenever she has the opportunity to do so. Other characters like Hestia did strike me as annoying to the point where I didn’t want to sit through whatever tedious antics they conjured up. With Hestia, I find that her special was her eye-catching design and her bright personality that shines through Minase Inori’s fantastic performance. Would I say that Inori could only play Hestia? Probably not. But, I think she sells this character with her much-needed charisma that makes Hestia’s advances more charming than anything else.

I’ve said before that DanMachi’s plot is nothing special. I would say it’s not very good in many aspects. I often forget what the main overarching story is supposed to be other than, “Main character and companion go on RPG adventures A, B, and C.” There isn’t much to it other than that. The sequel tries its best to give us plot arcs that jump up the melodrama to tug at your heartstrings a little. I don’t think it was very successful as it felt a bit contrived once I thought about it. I will give credit for the 2nd half of the season because it gave us a familia that bikini-clothed girls mainly populate. So if you weren’t already turned off by the boob goddess sulking up the screen by her gelatinous milk jugs, you would not be swayed by this season by a long shot. I appreciated the gesture, even if the plot itself wasn’t very memorable.

The animation quality is about the same as season one. Thankfully. We have been getting a lot of lousy studio changes in other anime that switch up the animation or character designs that make it jarring to go back and forth. The J.C. Staff usually never disappoints by consistently giving quality art and animation direction, even if it isn’t spellbinding like most other big-budget anime studios.

DanMachi is one anime that I always stick up for regardless of its many detractors. However, it is one of those situations where I can not argue why those people have their issues. It is dumb in its execution to be a standout RPG/Fantasy anime in a time when there are already enough of those to the point of suffocation. Honestly, without the relationship between Bell and Hestia, I do think I would be on that side of the camp. Regardless, anyone who says anything about Hestia is just wrong in every word. Just stop. Please? Thank you.

Grade: B-