Is It Wrong to Pick Up Girls in the Dungeon?  You thrilled with season 1, kept the hype going with the spinoff, did okay with the movie, and derailed in season 2.  But now – the faithful have been rewarded with this phoenix of a 3rd season.  From a meme to a dream, DanMachi 3 provided a great story, surprisingly thought provoking problems, an excellent cast, and – astonishingly – above average animation.  Let’s take a look at where DanMachi scored and the few places it fell short.

A word on my grading criteria.  For me, each show has 50 points to earn and 50 points to lose. Points are earned by going above and beyond the norm – showing me something I hadn’t seen or making me feel something unexpected.  Something that makes me applaud.  Points are lost when I feel a component of the show was below average or less than acceptable in terms of animation, storyline, etc.  Something that takes away from the show as a whole.

Let’s take a look!

The Good

The positives!

Supporting characters	+5%	The “other” Hestia familia members were on point this season.  No major missteps or out of character moments – everyone (fox girl included) did their roles well and were a net plus.
Fights	+15%	There were several major, plot-moving fights.  These were incredible.  Episodes 8 and 11 (even 12) were the best of stan service – everything we could have hoped for conceptually, with the animation to match.
Plot	+15%	The overall story was well executed (especially compared to the narrative mess of the sophomore season).  The battle of the families – talent vs technique was a joy.  I certainly didn’t expect this level of writing from DanMachi.
Humor	+5%	The jokes really hit well this season.  Ais having to watch Bell meet half his harem (and some unexpected additions) had me in stitches.  I didn’t feel like there were any misfires like last season’s giant frog – DanMachi struck just the right balance of serious tension and light-hearted character moments.
Ending	+5%	I’ve realized that I judge shows a lot on how they end.  This season’s last scene of Bell and Ais watching the sunrise, having put their disagreements behind them – that gets points from me.

Good: +45%

The Neutral

What parts of DanMachi were neither good enough to win points, but not bad enough to be penalized?

 

Supporting Monsters	+0	I thought they were fine.  Possibly too many of them, but some key ones were focused on.  The self-sacrifice of the gargoyle was nice too.  There wasn’t enough of a contribution here to add points and not enough downside to subtract.
Minotaur Rival	+0	This was an interesting development, but I’m not 100% sold on it until I see it pan out in the future.  Asterius felt a bit overpowered but had some amazing fight scenes – I guess it balances out.

Neutral: +0

The Bad

What did DanMachi do poorly to lose points?

 

Bad Guys	-5%	While there were some sympathetic elements to him, Dix was a pretty weak villain (I’m including his deity as well).  Not horrid – just not the best baddie I’ve seen.  Which is understandable, since the major “enemy” this cour was the idea of monsters itself, so you couldn’t have a person overshadow that.
Skirmishes	-2%	Small skirmishes were not as well animated as they could have been.  One fight in particular had an innovative use of multiple moving persons with the motion lined background, but overall – this was one small area that could have been better.

Bad: -7%

Final Thoughts

As evidenced by its very high score (88, with an average anime scoring 50), DanMachi 3 was everything I hoped for and more.  I would have been happy with a mediocre season and average fights.  Instead, we got Bell vs Ais in a stellar scene, a whole different dimension to the Dungeon’s monsters…and Hestia being a proper commander???  Who saw that coming?! (the light novel readers, probably). 

Overall, this season was a resounding success!

Thanks for joining me!  Not sure what show I’ll be doing next season, but stay tuned!

Total: 88/100 (Excellent)