A CHRONICLE OF STORIES BIG AND SMALL!The vast metropolis of Orario sits atop an underground labyrinth known as the Dungeon. It is a city of adventurers—people who put everything on the line to keep the endless swarms of monsters at bay and to explore the unknown. It is a place where heroes are made and legends are born. Of course, plenty of stories in Orario are far less epic in scale, and a surprising number of them revolve around a young boy whose dreams brought him to the doorstep of the Labyrinth City, where he met a certain goddess…

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Minor Myths and Legends has story by Fujino Ōmori and art by Nilitsu and Suzuhito Yasuda, with English translation by Jake Humphrey. Published by Yen On (March 18, 2025). Rated T.

Rebecca Silverman
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If you've heard rumors of things that happened at some point in the Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? mythos but haven't found them in novel, manga, game, or anime, there's a good chance that you'll find them here. Minor Myths and Legends is a collection of many of the little shorts penned by Fujino Ōmori as bonuses for buying DanMachi at a specific store or in the special edition, and while a lot of these don't substantially add to the overall plot, it's nice to finally have the chance to read them. Organized by novel volume, the collection is divided chronologically, with snippets that don't fit in a specific place put together at the end, including a story promoting Omori's series Wistoria: Wand and Sword, where Bell and Hestia find a copy of it in their familia's library.

The strongest stories are all tied to the events of novel seventeen, which is the start of season five of the anime. Each of these vignettes (none more than three pages) give us the perspective of someone affected by Freya's brainwashing, and it's interesting to see how they perceive the Bell-shaped holes in their lives without fully understanding them. (Tiona's is particularly enlightening, since the main series doesn't do nearly as much with her crush as some of the others'.) Similarly, a story in the miscellaneous section from Astrea's point of view is very well done, and, I'd argue, the strongest entry in the book. Astrea has primarily been known through her absence and Lyu's past, so to get a glimpse inside her heart around the volume seventeen or eighteen mark feels like a true glance behind the curtain.

Other stories that make sense but aren't especially enlightening happen around the Xenos storylines, with one of the longest pieces in the volume coming in the form of Fels' observation diary of how Wiene is being treated by Hestia Familia, which includes their spot-on evaluations of each of the familia members. We also get a storiette about Tione's reaction to one of Finn's actions vis à vis Lilly, which makes perfect (if horrifying) sense, and the more interesting moment when Goibniu gives Finn some information about Lilly – Finn's response indicates that he may not have given up just because he got a negative reply.

Illustrations are primarily black and white versions of each novel's cover repurposed as title pages for the sections, although there are some very nice illustrations from Nilitsu sprinkled throughout; I almost like them better than the regular series art. Omori tells us that there's a second volume coming consisting of Familia Chronicle and Sword Oratoria pieces, and even if this wasn't earth-shattering, I'm curious to read more of these snippets.