DanMachi wraps up the second half of season 4 in typical DanMachi fashion…well except the absence of a minotaur fight! How was the conclusion after the fantastic two previous episodes? Do we have a new best girl? Let’s dive in!
There’s quite a bit to unpack in these two, so let’s address some of the larger issues throughout the last pair (of episodes that is, not Bell and Ryu lol). There is A LOT that happens here, plot wise…and “plot” wise if you know what I mean. Let’s deal with the latter first. This is DanMachi after all, so the focus is on Ryu’s developing emotions for Mr. Bell – through a liberal helping of service. Let’s look at this in context though: Bell just defied all odds and saved her despite Ryu’s seeking of a good death. I’m going to give a pass to some emotional confusion here. The whole “skinship” avoiding of freezing to death is a cute respite before the inevitable final battle, so I didn’t mind terribly. More importantly…Ryu wears underwear underneath those bloomers?! That’s kind of crazy, but I digress.
The first half of “Daydream” is cute, but the second half is very not. I am VERY uncomfortable with depictions of dying slowly (see “Fumetsu no Anata e” episode 1) – that’s one of my least favorite things to watch. No denying that DanMachi did a good job here though: the juxtaposition of the two different embraces hits hard. These last three episodes have been way more emotional than I’ve come to expect from my favorite adventure show, and while I respect the quality of writing, storytelling, and characterization….I just want all my favorite characters to be happy, darn it. No question though – DanMachi has definitely grown up, despite staying true to its service-oriented name.
Of course, this is a hero show, and our boy Bell isn’t going out lying down – that’s what we’re here to see! Before that, let’s discuss the Juggernaut. I noticed it in the flashback of the Astrea familia fight, but the Juggernaut has definitely been weakened from the repeated battles. Astrea destroyed what looked like its outer shield, and Bell’s first fight took out quite a bit of its body. But – and this is where you see the difference in good writing and great writing – the Juggernaut has adapted and adjusted brilliantly: it’s cleared the other monsters on the floor and assimilated some of their features. This is fantastic – I love conflicts where both sides are dynamic and realistically striving to improve instead of sitting around waiting for their opponent. It also makes the battle different from the first season’s finale, which is quite necessary as our stranded heroes are definitely weaker right now.
And this brings us to the final episode “Luvia”. Which is PACKED. My goodness, they filled this episode to the brim. There’s really two parts, so let’s start with the final battle vs. the Juggernaut. In a strange way, this fight wasn’t so much about defeating the insurmountable enemy as it was defeating the past. Which…I guess is fine, we already had the large set-piece battle at the end of the previous season, but I’ll admit it caught me off guard. I really didn’t hate it though, as Ryu learned from her past mistakes and adapted to overcome. Having her dead friends projected as her spirits was a little unsettling, but even she admitted it was just a convenient fantasy, so I’ll let it slide. Really though, this was a pretty quick fight all things considered – for such a massive enemy, I guess maybe I was expecting a bit more? I guess there were several episodes (and a whole familia) already dedicated to fighting the Juggernaut, so maybe it was time to put it to bed. The mechanics were interesting and the finishing moves were hype, so I guess I’m pretty happy. Is it as good as the minotaur finales? Probably not, but I definitely liked it better than last cour’s ending scenes. I’ll say it was passable – even a pretty good fight – just not the best of the show.
That brings us to what I’ll call the after-story of the season. Wiene and the Xenos are….really not that useful, just kind of a potion delivery service. I do like that there are allies that now lurk in the dungeon though – it’s an interesting additional mechanic to bail out Bell and co. when they get into impossible situations (see: miss mermaid from earlier in the season).
Okay, I know people will criticize the Ryu infirmary scene for being unnecessary service (and yeah, it was a little unnecessary), but I kind of buy it – they just spent 4 days fighting for their lives. Ryu comes to and the person who she’s trying hardest in the world to keep alive isn’t there? Yeah, it’s 1000% believable that Ryu is going through whatever is necessary to get to Bell and make sure he’s okay. I mean – that’s the face of relief after some serious trauma right there – I can’t be mad at that.
Okay, and I cried laughing when the nurse scolded Lili and Hestia for slapping the poor injured patient – legit, Bell didn’t do anything wrong there! The little side stories are great here – Boris is doing Boris things and all the staff has to work doubles for sneaking off into the dungeon. You love to see it. I’m interested to see if this lifts Ryu’s lifetime Dungeon ban….joining Hestia familia maybe?! I’m VERY down with that.
Finally, the date. Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. I know I’ve been complaining about the distinct lack of Ais this season, but uh…..like, if Ais doesn’t get it together, there is a serious contender over here. For someone who has spent the entire show without pants, embarrassed Ryu in a cute dress is definitely a surprise attack. Super effective. Also, Bell got game – I would expect nothing less from Zeus’ grandson! Get em! All in all – yeah, that was a good way to end the season, full marks.
This has gotten a bit long, so I’ll save my final thoughts for the season wrap-up but suffice it to say: this was a pretty good ending to a surprisingly good season. Maybe a few things could have been done differently, but I’m certainly not horribly disappointed like I feared I’d be after those earlier episodes. Look for my final review coming up soon, but I’m signing off the season one happy DanMachi camper!
If Bell is going to get together with Ais in the end, what was the point of adding ryu to the harem? No offense to Ryu, her falling in love with Bell makes sense but it is annoying that we got another one sided romance on out hands.
I agree – this whole arc is VERY personal when compared to the previous storylines. Even Haruhime’s arc was way less….intimate. It makes me wonder what the endgame is. I’ve heard this is only about half way through the story, so I guess we’ll see!