Oh, the animes I have watched. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? By far takes the cake as one of the most creative in the fantasy genre.
As you watch, you learn that in the world they live in, Gods and Goddesses have come down from Heaven to live with the humans and experience their way of life. Working hard to get a meal, suffering, and dying as well. By bestowing upon their followers a blessing, they gain the power to fight monsters.
The series continues with an old man telling his grandson, Bell Cranel about how he has to venture into dungeons and pick up women and how to be strong enough to impress them.
It’s then that it cuts to Bell Cranel running for his life from a giant Minotaur, and he is ultimately saved by a woman known as Azia Wallenstein…for whom he falls head over heels.
That is what kicks off the series, with him trying to become a great adventurer so she will recognize him and fall in love. But like many series along this fantasy line, it also is a “harem anime” with every girl he meets crushing on him something fierce. This creates a lot of tension for the character, and he’s as dumb as bricks (like most male protagonists in this situation).
However, despite this, the show remains entertaining as it focuses a lot on Bell’s growth as a person who wants to become a Hero and impress the ladies. Anyone who gets a blessing from a Divine being gets a “status” which records their Strength, Intelligence, Speed, Endurance, and all the other stats you would see in your standard Role-Playing Game (RPG). As he progresses through the story, it becomes apparently clear that he’s growing too fast, thanks to an extremely rare skill.
As he continues his adventures into the dungeons to collect magic stones to make some money, he is met with a lot of hostility and very unlikely comrades; although at times this creates more problems than it does well. Like a true hero, he continues on not thinking about it and not giving up on the friends he makes throughout the series.
In short, as he grows stronger his situation compares to that of an RPG character that you or someone you know has probably played. You start out as a Level 1 rookie and in the end become some overly-powered, sword-wielding badass with enough power to one-shot even the strongest enemy boss.
Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon is a re-imagining of old-school fantasy, with a little bit of gaming and a little bit of harem for something that works really well and leaves me wanting more. I hope they honestly make another season so I can keep following this great anime. But in all honesty, it probably won’t happen.
Regardless, I totally think it’s worth checking it out.
An autistic gamer with opinions on games who also enjoys making dumb videos on the internet!