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

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

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? III anime series cover art
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? III

Season Overview

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? III (Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka III / ダンジョンに出会いを求めるのは間違っているだろうかIII), or simply DanMachi III, is the third season of DanMachi. This season takes place within the city of Orario once again, which I wasn’t expecting.

I remember the end of DanMachi II involving someone leaving Orario and maybe even Bell chasing after them. So with that in mind, I figured that this season would follow that and take place elsewhere in the world. That’s not what happened though, so maybe I just misremembered the ending of season 2.

What DanMachi III is actually about are sentient monsters, known as Xenos, that have begun appearing within the dungeon. While the Xenos have human-like intelligence and emotions, their external appearance means that they will never be accepted on the surface. But at the same time, they have no place within the dungeon either.

Monsters don’t recognize the Xenos as their kin. Adventurers slay the Xenos as if they were normal monsters. And there are even hunters who capture the Xenos and sell them on the black market.

One of my main concerns with this season’s premise was how the Xenos would affect the future of the series if they were accepted in the end. After all, how could adventurers continue to slay monsters in the dungeon while knowing that those monsters might not be so different from themselves?

I’m not going to spoil how the season ends. But I will say that throughout the season, it does attempt to address this concern a few times — not that I found those attempts very convincing.

New Characters (Xenos)

Of all the Xenos who were introduced into the series, five of them stand out as being the most important. These are Wiene, Lyd, Ray, Gros, and Asterius.

Wiene is the most important Xenos as well as the first one we’re introduced to. She’s a vouivre, which is basically a wyvern, or dragon-kin. I’m not sure if this is the case for all vouivre, but Wiene only has a single wing. Wiene is important to the story because she’s the first of the Xenos to befriend Bell and the Hestia Familia.

Wiene from the anime series DanMachi III
Wiene

Lyd is the leader of the Xenos group that lives within the dungeon. He’s a Lizardman who’s proficient at fighting with human weapons. That weapon proficiency isn’t unique to Lyd, but not all of the Xenos are so quick to adopt human customs such as weapon carrying. Of all the Xenos, Lyd is the one who most wants to be able to live alongside humans.

Ray is the most minor of these five Xenos. She’s a siren, which is basically the same as a harpy as far as fantasy series are concerned despite their mythological origins being different. She works as the second in command of the Xenos behind Lyd.

Gros, a gargoyle, is the leader of the anti-human faction within the Xenos group. He doesn’t believe that Xenos and humans will ever be able to get along and instead calls for the Xenos to fight rather than attempt to make peace. Gros also notably doesn’t use human weapons in combat.

Lastly, we have the minotaur Asterius. According to Lyd, Asterius is the strongest of the Xenos, and this checks out based on what we see of him. Not only does Asterius wield human weapons, but he also uses a magic weapon at one point, making him the only Xenos to do so.

Comparison to Previous Seasons

My rating of DanMachi III is in a bit of an awkward place in relation to the previous two seasons. I think it’s definitely better than DanMachi II. However, I don’t actually remember the original season of DanMachi all that much. And by “all that much” I mean at all. I couldn’t really tell you what happened in season 1 at this point.

In my defense, I reviewed DanMachi almost three years ago, and it’s been even longer since I actually watched it. And over the years, I’ve watched and written about hundreds of other anime. So things get a bit hazy after a while.

However, that haziness has caused a problem. While I rated DanMachi III above DanMachi II, I rated it below DanMachi despite it probably being better. Why did I do this? Because I gave DanMachi a 7, and I don’t really think DanMachi III is 7 material. However, I’m not going to lower my score of DanMachi unless I rewatch it, which is unlikely to happen.

Bell and Lyd shaking hands from the anime series DanMachi III
Bell and Lyd shaking hands

Basically, what I mean to say is that DanMachi III is probably the best season of DanMachi despite what the ratings at the end of my DanMachi season reviews may imply. But why is that the case? What does DanMachi III do that the previous seasons don’t?

To answer that, let’s take a look at DanMachi II. The second season covered two arcs, only one of which I usually remember. The first arc was that forgettable tournament arc against a god who I don’t remember. Me forgetting that arc isn’t because I’ve watched a lot of anime since it like with season 1. It’s because it’s a forgettable arc.

The second arc was the Ishtar Familia arc. While I wouldn’t call this one forgettable, I wouldn’t call it good either. I remember wishing it would just end so we could go back to the dungeon the whole time.

DanMachi III solves both problems I have with DanMachi II. It focuses on just one arc that I don’t see myself forgetting in the near future. And it actually takes place within the dungeon, which I think is one of the primary draws of this series for a lot of people. Orario isn’t that exciting of a setting — the dungeon is.

Also, DanMachi III had some very good action and animation at the end. I don’t remember DanMachi II having much of that.

Conclusion

Overall, I think Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? III is a 6/10 It’s probably a high 6, but I wouldn’t put it in 7 territory. And as I mentioned, if I rewatched season 1 today, I probably wouldn’t have that as a 7 either.

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My review of DanMachi IV is available now.

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