Today we have an anime that asks the seminal question “Is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon?“… and the answer is… Wrong? So wrong it’s RIGHT! (DVD)

This is a very fun and mostly light-hearted feel-good series which follows the adventures of Bell Crenel as he goes from weak nobody who can’t even get accepted into an adventuring guild (Familia) to a renowned hero loved and respected by a widening circle of friends and admirers. The good news is it’s only 13 episodes and has a solid story and reaches a satisfying conclusion. The bad news is that the sequel we’re all waiting for stops following Bell’s adventures and switches to another (albeit central) character all together. I’ll wait to see it before saying more, but after this excellent anime, I was hoping for more Bell and friends.

Let’s see… maybe you want some more detail… This is a fantasy anime… everything takes place in a single town dominated by a giant tower and a massive dungeon. The main source of wealth and resources comes from what can be extracted from the dungeon, and so adventurers (alone or in parties) routinely enter the dungeon to kill monsters and bring back whatever they can. Most adventurers join a guild (or Familia) and these Familia specialize in things like making weapons or fighting. They are usually founded by a deity who oversees the members as if they were the god’s children and expend some effort protecting and nurturing them.

Bell is the lone member of Hestia’s Familia (after being rejected by all the other gods). He starts with no experience, training or equipment and through his hard work and determination (and a good bit of luck and an accident of birth) he works his way up to a solid adventurer. Along the way he meets and befriends a number of people, ranging from local restaurant employees and members of other Familia to a “supporter” who becomes his first partner in battle and a famous weapon-smith who becomes his second.

Bell is the main character and is generally likable. He does have an annoying level of naivete which gets exploited painfully in a couple of episodes, but this is central to the story as it also explains why so many characters feel a need to protect him. Hestia has an equally important role effectively as Bell’s patron god and protector. Perhaps most interesting is the way a character we rarely see plays such a major role. In the first episode, Bell is saved by an adventurer of mythic stature and thereafter, he pursues a single goal almost exclusively: to become as good as his new idol. It’s odd for an adult, but fits with Bell’s fourteen year old character well enough. I just mention it because many anime have the protagonist chasing an idol pattern, but few make it such a large focus.

Anyway, this is a very good anime. I’m looking forward to the next chapter in this very likable world full of interesting and fun characters. Give it a look, won’t you?