DanMachi, you have me scratching my head. It takes you less than 20 minutes of air time to wrap up a 4 episode built, fortune changing battle – and then you spend the next 20 discussing Hestia’s Homebuilding. And what’s more – it was a very enjoyable Fixer-Upper-At-Your-Enemy’s-Expense episode. Just…a bit puzzling pace. Let’s take a peek (>_>).
I do want to take a brief moment to talk about Lili leaving the Somas. There have been quite a few of these small scenes that show how much the deities actually love their children (even if some, like Apollo, are a bit warped). It’s been a constant throughout the show and adds surprising depth in the interactions. I guess the basis of this show is the Familia stories, but it’s still well done.
I’ve seen comments elsewhere describing this episode as KonaSuba like, and I think that’s a great comparison. Everyone knew that the recruiting effort was going too well – no way was familia Hestia going to be multi leveled or anything of the sort. The entire premise of the show is being the underdog. However, I didn’t expect to have Hestia’s debt exposed (<_<) in such dramatic fashion (also we might have known how much Bell’s knife was, but now we have a concrete number…200 million…yikes. I’m assuming that’s about $2 million USD, given that the currency probably mirrors the Yen). So for the episode’s first half of failed recruiting – pretty funny, a bit cringey, but well executed.
Part Two of this episode is the rarest of the onsen troupes – the reverse peak! Everyone gets to hear Bell say how much he loves them and have a little doki doki moment…okay. (By the way, the indoor bath and Welf’s workshop are pretty great – nice work Bestia!). Finally, we have some ominous things happening with chained up fox girl – this poor imprisoned fox has been getting seconds of screen time since the movie came out (which, by the way, was pretty good – Artemis contending for second best girl).
And hey, they got an actual graphic designer to fix their logo!
All said and done, nothing really changed much this episode – everyone was feeling good till some red demon foreshadowing happened. I like getting a comedic, lighthearted episode here – I get the feeling the next ones won’t be so pleasant. I’m guessing some of Bell’s debts are going to come due – which he won’t mind, since he’s got a hero complex the size of the Dungeon itself. After the shaky war games, this was a nice bounce back episode to get us into whatever is coming next (last time I made uneducated guesses, I was called out in the comments, so I’m restraining myself this time! My non-manga reading is showing too much!)
Well, technically Danmachi is a Light Novel, and the Anime has accomplished the feat of outrunning the Manga adaptation…
That being said, you’ve more or less hit the nail on the nose, regarding how this arc is going to play out. Bell, after all, has the Chronic Hero Syndrome, Mikoto was told “something” and we cut away to the mysterious Fox Girl. There are at least three stories at play about to collide with one another (Bell, Mikoto, and the Fox) with more on the way.
If they gave this arc seven episodes, I suspect it’s because this is one of the most intricate stories Danmachi has attempted within the context of the anime adaptation. And at least three-quarters of a hypothetical Sword Oratoria Season 2 would likely tie very tightly into the second half of Danmachi Season 2.
Note: this isn’t the most complex Danmachi arc in the entire series, but later Danmachi arcs are around 3 volumes long as opposed to a single volume long.
Having seen the next episode and hearing this isn’t the most complex arc…I am now pumped beyond belief for a potential SO2.