I guess for those who have followed my blog awhile it has become pretty clear that I have a few pet-favourite anime that I bring up fairly regularly. Natsume Yuujinchou, March Comes in Like a Lion, Darker Than Black, Soul Eater, and then there’s DanMachi. I’m not sure I’m going to really convey what I want to say in this post but I’m really going to try to answer this question.
I’d love to answer a question from you so fill in the survey or DM on twitter.
Why do you like DanMachi so much?
Anon
This one is really hard to put into words. It is like trying to explain why you love chocolate ice-cream and inevitably you end up falling back on adjectives like sweet and creamy and melt-in-your-mouth; all of which could be equally attributed to vanilla ice-cream instead. Yet it really must be chocolate ice-cream. Preferably chocolate ice-cream with brownie pieces mixed in and chocolate fudge on top. Maybe topped with milo.
When it comes to DanMachi there’s no single reason why I enjoy it as much as I do. Certainly there are some great individual moments and scenes within the first season that really captured me in the moment but individually they aren’t enough to really make it an anime that I talk about as often as I do. Visually it looks fine but it isn’t out of this world. The characters are fun but again, there’s better. The mix of action and comedy and the general fantasy setting isn’t exactly novel either. So why is it that I like DanMachi to the point where I binge watch it with regularity, have thoroughly enjoyed reading the light novels, and am super excited to be watching season 2?
There’s a few things I think that have always made DanMachi stand out to me and while I’ll accept there’s other anime that do similar or possibly even better, it is probably the combination of these elements that really sell the show to me.
Firstly, the comedy aspects are not the tongue in cheek, self-aware and smug kind of comedy elements. Sure there’s fan-service a plenty in season one, and the obvious moments of ‘humour’ as Hestia and Bell run away from the other goddesses, but there’s some genuinely amusing moments that are played straight and lighten the atmosphere as intended without feeling like you are getting a direct nudge and wink from the writer who wants you to applaud him for being really clever.
I particularly enjoy the opening after Bell is rescued by Ais and he runs through the town covered in blood without a single concern for nearly dying because he wants his adviser to tell him about the girl who rescued him. Likewise Bell’s timing when asking for armour made by Welf Crozzo just as Welf was arguing with the shop keeper about hiding his work was a pleasantly delivered scene that made me smile. The exaggerated reactions of Bell to Hestia’s overtures also tend to fall on the wryly amusing side rather than the obnoxious (most of the time). Even Ais’ training session, where she tries to figure out how to explain things to Bell has a few moments that bring genuine smiles.
Affiliate Link – Tapestry
And this kind of ties in with the second reason I really love DanMachi. The cast of characters work together in a way that makes them better than they are individually. Bell by himself is probably a pretty dull protagonist. He fits the nice guy trope so well and the shounen ‘I want to be the strongest’ simultaneously. Throw in the harem leads general obliviousness and lack of romantic experience and you have a character who by any definition should be at best forgettable. Yet Bell proves himself reasonably interesting by himself and when paired with Hestia or Lily or Ais or Welf or any of the other cast members the scenes manage to come to life.
This cast has a real chemistry and while most characters end up defined by their relationship to Bell, that actually works in the show’s favour as we have a large cast but it never feels overly cluttered or difficult to follow who is who or what is going on.
That the human characters are all pretty ordinary and yet fun enough also works in DanMachi’s favour as this anime brings us a whole plethora of divine characters who seem to excel in being ridiculously eccentric. This nice contrast between mortal and immortal characters actually helps make the whole world building feel a little more real.
The final reason that I think DanMachi really captured me is that when we get to the life-threatening action, the action is very good. If we were to compare this to some of the more generic isekai battle sequences, they just cannot stand up. And I know DanMachi isn’t actually isekai, however all of its trappings kind of make it feel like it should be. Whether it is watching Bell discover his firebolt magic and going on a rampage in the dungeon, seeing Lily betray him and leave him behind only for Bell to track her down and dramatically rescue her, Bell facing off with the Minotaur or the final battle against the floor boss, DanMachi knows how to bring its top form to scenes where it really matters.
Again, it isn’t as though other anime don’t have similar characteristics, but somehow the combination of elements in season one DanMachi just really worked for me and I’m very glad I watched it. The title initially put me off as I thought ‘Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls in A Dungeon’ was the stupidest title I’d ever heard (though these days I’ve heard plenty worse) but I’m so very glad I got over that and gave it a try.
Over to you: Do you like DanMachi and if yes what is it that you love about it? Of course if you want to ask me a question please DM me on Twitter or complete the survey.
Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James
You made me interested in trying danmachi. It was nice to read this as your statements feels personal, rather than attempting to convince us to why its good its more akin to why you love it and I love to read that. Even for shows I don´t like. I skipped this anime since I prefer slice of life and stuff over shounen, and that it is an isekai. Not that I want to hate isekai, I think the formula has potential for writers to make something amazing but most authors falls back on the same tropes and meta humor.
If I happen to watch it and loves it, you have my thanks.
This one isn’t actually isekai, though a lot of the same tropes are there. But no travelling between worlds as a set up, just fantasy. There are a lot of game mechanics at work in the world building though so in that respect it is pretty similar to a lot of isekai.
Aah. My mistake then. Well that changes things. So it is a standard Fantasy in that case. People usually compares it to other isekai so I can understand why I assumed that. Saw another comment on sao too and imo I have the problem with the first season/arc. I especially gotta raise the score, music is amazing in that the world of sword art online.
oof my grammar there. Meant to say. In my opinion I have no problem with the first arc/season….
You know, in my opinion, Bell really established his character with the whole Bell/Lili dynamic during their first few meetings. To be betrayed by her but then rescue her. . .and then suffer more betrayal but still defend her. . .if I had to pick one word to describe Bell, it would be big-hearted (sorry, magnanimous just doesn’t convey enough meaning, here). Brave, yes; loyal, yes; not-the-sharpest-tool-in-the-shed, yes. But these are just attributes: his defining characteristic is being big-hearted, and it was his interactions with Lili that first allowed us to measure that depth to him.
Big-hearted is definitely a good descriptor for Bell.
There are people that don’t like DanMachi!?!?!? I am not prepared as I never assumed I would need to justify it.
For me, something about it clicked. I loved the idea of the gods living as mortals and assisting adventurers. I loved the characters and the world. Everything fell into place and I’ve never looked back. I was probably destined to love it from the start, so I’m not much help her, unless you just want to talk about how wonderful it is…
I did read nine volumes of the manga before watching the anime which helps because there’s a lot more details.
As much as I loved season one of the anime, I definitely feel reading the light novel just increased my enjoyment of the story. As you said, there’s just more worldbuilding and character details (of course I only read the light novels because I felt like we weren’t going to get any more of the anime).
I only got a couple episodes in when I gave up on it. Maybe I’ll give it another shot. It may turn out to be another “3gatsu”.
Probably not if the start didn’t grab yo. DanMachi doesn’t try to be deep and meaningful, it is just good fun but if it didn’t strike you that’s fair enough.
Well, you already know I like it, and I have a post for season 1 coming up on my blog at the end of this month. But I think reason 2: the way that this cast works so well together is for me the main reason I love this one so much. And in some ways it also at times reminds me of Sword Art Online, so there is that as well 😊 Now…off to watch this week’s episode ! 😊
Yes, the first season of Sword Art Online I just really had fun with the characters and their journey. After that things went a bit downhill but season one still remains just fun to watch.