Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Season 4 Part 1 Review

This October Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (hereafter referred to as DanMachi) returns to the air with its fifth season, so what better time than now to start getting caught up with the previous instalments? Well now you’re in luck, as MVM Entertainment has just begun releasing Season 4 on home video – but is it worth a watch? Let’s find out!

Our story picks up not long after the end of Season 3. Bell has finished recovering after his fight with Asterius at the end of that arc and has now reached Level 4. He still has mixed feelings about the events surrounding the Xenos (the sentient monsters we came to know in that arc), but now it’s time to look to the future and new adventures.

With Hestia Familia having grown and Bell levelling up, they’re now responsible for taking on mandatory quests from the Guild involving exploring lower levels of the Dungeon. It’s one such request that Bell’s group are given in our first episode, leading him to gather help from other Familias and take his first steps into the lower levels.

Hestia Familia regulars Bell, Lili, Welf, Haruhime and Makoto are joined by Daphne and Cassandra from Miach Familia, as well as Chigusa and Oka from Takemikazuchi Familia (who Makoto originally belonged to) and Aisha, who wants to come along to make sure no harm comes to Haruhime. With this many powerhouse adventurers in the mix, the request from the guild should be relatively easy to accomplish. However, you never know what you’ll find in the depths of the dungeon and as the group take their first steps onto Floor 25, they soon encounter a dangerous monster that is far stronger than those you’d expect to find down here…

Having spent an entire season more or less aboveground, it’s refreshing to see DanMachi return to its roots and send Bell back into the depths of the dungeon where he faces off against powerful enemies. And the benefits of travelling with a bigger party means we get to see everyone else fight as well, showing off how strong they’ve become lately.

This half of Season 4 covers Volumes 12 and 13 of the original light novel series, which gives it plenty of time to adapt the arc without needing to rush through anything. And that’s more important than ever, given the amount happening. Not only do the group have the mysterious powerful monster to deal with, but Bell soon ends up separated from the others which means they have to fend for themselves without the leader they’d usually rely on.

It’s not often that DanMachi chooses to change perspective from Bell, at least not within the anime, so having these large periods where he’s not the main focus proves interesting in its own right. Particularly after Season 3 which emphasized Bell working through his feelings for the Xenos, which meant even if the other characters had some development, they were sidelined more than usual. As the series has grown it has become largely an ensemble piece with a lot of different characters that viewers and readers alike have come to love, which I think Season 4 handles well.

The staff for this season remain largely unchanged from previous adaptations with the same studio, director, composer and wonderful selection of voice actors. As we’ve come to expect from the previous three seasons, this looks and sounds fantastic. For an arc with so many battle scenes in particular, I was pleased to see the quality hold up across these episodes. It’s a real feast for the eyes. The opening song for this half of the season is “Tento” by Sajou no Hana, while the ending theme is “Guide” by Saori Hayami, and both are quite fitting in tone for the events of this half.

As mentioned earlier, Season 4 Part 1 has been brought to the UK thanks to MVM Entertainment who have released it on Blu-ray. The set includes the first 11 episodes as well as an Episode 0 recap and a selection of trailers as extras. It also includes the English dub for the series alongside the original Japanese audio. There’s no collector’s edition at the time of writing due to the US not having one, which is a shame given Seasons 2 and 3 both received one.

Part 2 which contains the rest of Season 4 is due for release on October 7th, so not long to wait to see this one through to the end. The series is also available to stream on HIDIVE if you really can’t wait to find out what happens.

Overall, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Season 4 Part 1 showcases some of the best of the series as we plunge into the depths of the dungeon on an adventure like no other. With a cliffhanger ending, you’re sure to be eager to find out what’s next in store for our hero…

Our review copy was provided by the publisher MVM.