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

Episode 2

Into the dungeon they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned with armor and undine cloth they go, with many apologies to Edna St. Vincent Millay for my mangling of her poem A Dirge Without Music. But it's hard not to bear Millay's words in mind as Bell's party makes their initial foray into the lower floors, because we've spent the last three seasons hearing about how much more dangerous things get the further down the dungeon you go, and even Bell's meteoric rise to Level 4 can't fully promise that this mission will go well – especially when Cassandra's dreams begin to come true. It really is a cruel curse she suffers under: we see her try to tell multiple people about her visions, but because of who she is, no one takes her seriously until it's already too late.

It does take at least half of the episode to get to that point, though. It's hardly wasted – seeing how the group fits together is important and it's nice to see Lilly and Daphne form a friendship, because the prickly prum is so generally distrustful of others that she rarely allows anyone, much less anyone from another familia, past her barriers. We also get an understanding of how Bell's leadership style has evolved to encompass the strengths of the rest of the party – he's a leader unburdened by ego, which allows him to take everything into consideration, leaving specific parts of the job to those who are better at it than he is. He's unquestionably the strongest (barring Aisha), but he's not an ass about it, and his newfound confidence and maturity helps him to overcome some of his insecurities. We can hear it in the way that Yoshitsugu Matsuoka delivers his lines – he's much calmer now, but still unquestionably young and still growing into himself. It may be hard sometimes to believe just how little time Bell's been at this adventurer thing, but if you pay attention, the boy we first met many seasons ago is still there.

Some other people, however, may not be. Novel readers will already have picked up on a major piece of foreshadowing, and Eina's offhand remark about more and more people going missing in the lower levels and Luvis being down there almost immediately bear terrible fruit when he shows up, badly wounded, near the Great Falls. He's clearly had a run-in with what turns out to be the least jolly green giant ever, and the mild terrors of giant fish trying to eat Haruhime and Mikoto quickly pale in the face of Luvis' horrible injuries and his urging Bell's party to just run. Normally you'd think that a wounded adventurer would trust a party containing both Bell and Aisha to take care of the monster; that Luvis has seen both of them and clearly doesn't is bad news. These lower levels are no joke.

But they sure do look pretty! I've always loved the landscapes in this series, and the scenes of the Great Falls are breathtaking even before the giant monster fish emerge. The sound of the water really adds to the atmosphere, providing a sense of immersion that's necessary to the danger that Luvis brings with him; we need to feel like we're in the same place as the characters to feel the same danger and fear that they do. That alongside little details like Cassandra walking as close to the wall as she can with her hand firmly on it do a wonderful job of setting the scene, while Aisha playing Lilly like a fiddle adds a bit of lightness to the overwhelming feeling of tension that permeates the expedition. Most of this episode may be set up, but it's good set up, never quite lulling us into a false sense of security but still making sure that the last few minutes are strikingly more horrible than what came before, even as it's carefully leading up to it.

Bell and his party are well and truly going down into the darkness now. But they are not resigned to any grim fate that may bring.

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Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? IV is currently streaming on HIDIVE.