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Sword Oratoria: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side
Episode 3

by Rebecca Silverman,

How would you rate episode 3 of
Sword Oratoria: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side ?
Community score: 4.0

Things are starting to move in Orario, and it's the gods who are doing the moving. That probably shouldn't come as a surprise, not just because many of us knew that the whole Monsterphilia fiasco was coming, but also because the gods of the two major pantheons featured in Sword Oratoria are fairly infamous in terms of messing with their human followers. Loki, the Norse pantheon's primary trickster god, is definitely one of the better known meddlers in the affairs of others, and even if she's primarily concerned with the lives of her familia, she's certainly not above playing along with others.

In this episode, that turns out to be Freya, the goddess with her eye on Bell. We find out that Loki was not only completely aware that Freya was going to release the monsters Ganesha Familia had gathered for their show, but she was also okay with it, which is honestly the most faithful that this character has been to her mythological roots in DanMachi period. But it also raises an interesting possibility – Freya and Loki are both Norse gods, and in this case, they're technically allying against a Greek god (Hestia) by playing with her child. When the gods all meet, Demeter and Dionysus, both Greek deities, seem to arrive at a similar meeting of the minds – Demeter knows Dionysus is up to something shady and doesn't appear inclined to stop it. Is there inter-pantheon rivalry between the Greeks and the Norse? Would Freya have pulled a similar stunt if Bell belonged to Thor Familia, for example? Given that Dionysus used Freya's disruption to stage his own, knowing that the whole mess would be laid at her feet (at least by Loki), it feels like there could be some divine rivalry going on.

All of that almost makes up for how irritating Loki has turned out to be as a character. While there's not a recurrence of her groping her female familia members this week, her whining at Aiz to get an indirect kiss via potato snack is almost as annoying as Lefiya's similarly thwarted dreams and her howling and moaning in bed because Loki snatched Aiz's company away from her. We get it; Aiz is super duper awesome, even if her spinoff has done little to give her more than the personality of a brick. If there's a major failing in the show thus far, it's this focus on Lefiya's obsession with Aiz that's really starting to bring the whole thing down.

Fortunately, there does seem to be some light at the end of that particular tunnel. Lefiya's worship partly stems from the fact that she feels more like a burden than a familia member, and she wants to get to a place where she isn't always waiting for Aiz to swoop in and save the day. We know from episode one that she's no weakling; it's just when compared to her stronger, higher-level companions that she looks like a beginner. The fight against the (ugly, terrifying) flower monsters this week allows Lefiya to snap out of her self-pity and truly prove herself in combat. She is inspired by Aiz's actions, but also by the realization that if she doesn't get over her doubt, she'll never be anything more than the girl Aiz keeps saving. There's a parallel to Bell here – Lefiya thinks about Bete's words to Bell before she stands up – and the implication that Aiz can inspire others to be their best is an interesting. It will work better once Aiz is developed more as a character, but showing Lefiya being actively inspired by Aiz to prove herself is a wonderful moment that really shows how good this show could be if it just shifted its focus.

While the fight scenes aren't as dynamic as the ones from the main series, there's still a lot to enjoy during the battle this week, including the thoughtful (and logical) detail that Aiz wears shorts under her miniskirt. It may seem like a little thing, but it also makes perfect sense; if you're going to be active, you don't want to worry about your skirt flipping up or ripping off – especially if you're spending the day with Loki. Tiona and Tione fare less well in their action scenes, with their clothes barely moving as they fight, but the flower monsters are impressively awful; I think it's the human teeth inside the blossoms that make them particularly unsettling.

Sword Oratoria is starting to make moves in the right direction, and hopefully Lefiya's confidence has been inspired to the point where we can shift the focus away from her worshipful crush on Aiz. Dionysus clearly has some wicked plans for the city (please let there be a reference to Maenads!), and whether or not the Greek pantheon is onboard with them, it should be interesting to see things unfold.

Rating: B

Sword Oratoria: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side is currently streaming on Amazon's Anime Strike.


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