Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? III Episode 2: Coexistence and Lili’s Foot in Mouth Disease

DanMachi III Episode 2 Introduction

DanMachi III/IIWTTTPUGIAD Episode 2, “Monster | One Wing,” brought us some god-tier politics. Literally — as in politics among the gods, which is something that DanMachi has always enjoyed doing. In addition, we got to see how Lili recovered from foot in mouth disease (and boy, did she have a bad case of it!). But we’ll get to that in a minute.

Welcome to the collaboration review between Irina (from I Drink and Watch Anime) and this site. Before we get into the review, do you have any opening thoughts, Irina?

I realize that everyone let me know last week that IIWTTTPUGIAD looks just as good as it ever did but I continue to think it’s looking a bit better. Or rather a bit more detailed. Like no radical changes to character models or anything, they just look a bit crisper and they have a touch of texture to their skins and lots of folds in their clothing…

I dunno  maybe I’m cuckoo banana plants. But if I have some type of disease that makes me think anime looks better than it actually does, I’m k with just living with the symptoms. 

I see a difference, too. And “cuckoo banana plants?” That’s a brand of cuckoo I’ve never heard of before!

DanMachi III Episode 2 Raises the Stakes

New Villains Dix and Ikelos

The first episode gave us a general idea of the stakes: Bell found Wiene, a monster (specifically, a Vouivre). The big deal is that Wiene can talk, and monsters aren’t supposed to do that.  

In this episode, we learned that the group of hunters Bell met in the first episode had a leader whose name was Dix. (Haha it sounds like d*cks and I have a feeling he’ll turn out to be one… ) Apparently Dix and his minions capture and sell monsters. Their god’s named Ikelos. You can tell he’s very evil because he has the crazy-evil laugh, as opposed to the more measured, moderately evil chuckle. He also wears the standard uniform of all great gods!

And for the record? The 12 year old boy inside my brain burst out laughing at the first mention of “Dix.”

The Theme Comes into Focus

This episode also gave us an important insight into the scope of the issue. So far, we’ve only seen Wiene talking. Bell decided to mount an expedition back into the dungeon where they’d found Wiene. When he and Welf found the spot, they encountered a mysterious, hooded figure who asked, “Do you believe we can coexist?”

Bell and Welf didn’t really understand until the figure unfurled her wings and flew away. Apparently, Wiene isn’t the only monster who can talk. 

At first, Bell and Welf didn’t know what to make of the cloaked figure. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

So monsters talking is one thing, but why do they speak Japanese? Why haven’t they evolved their own language? The only logical reason (well other than the plot demands it) is if they at some point had a social advantage in dealing with humans. Like possibly trading with them or having some sort of an alliance. Or of course if humans invaded their tribes. But those humans would have had to 1) not kill all the monsters they see and 2) bother to teach them the language. 

So if this isn’t simply a detail for plot convenience, which it could be, it could be pointing to a forgotten shared history between Humans and Monsters. The classic twist would be that monsters are in fact man made, but that’s kinda boring. I’m hoping we’ll discover the ruins of an ancient Human/monster city. Just think of the implications for the gods!

Ikelos Accosts Bell

Unfortunately, Dix had asked his god to talk to Bell. Now, you know Bell. He can’t keep a secret to save his life, so when Ikelos found him and asked if the talking monster’s face was pretty, Bell‘s expression gave him away. Fortunately, and this is where DanMachi’s trademark god-on-god politicking came into play. Hermes showed up. I’ve always liked him. I can tell a lot about the gods in this show by their familia, and Hermes’ familia has some of my favorite characters outside of the core cast. For example, his captain is Asfi Al Andromeda, and we even got to see a quick shot of her in this episode!

Anyway, Hermes told Bell he could be on his way, because Hermes wanted to have a private chat with Ikelos. Irina, correct me if I’m wrong, but I got a sense that Hermes was a lot more powerful than Ikelos, and Ikelos knew it. 

Ikelos’ attitude seemed to suggest he knew who was more powerful. Yet, there was an insolent streak there, too. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

I don’t know much about the IIWTTTPUGIAD pantheon, but in the Greek pantheon, Hermes is one of the more powerful and influential characters. If I remember Ikleos was one of the minor dream deities, a servant of Morpheus maybe. No more powerful than a muse in any case and certainly no match for Hermes.

He was in The Matrix? Oh, not that Morpheus… See my mind went straight to Sandman. Oh, not that Morpheus, either! (Checking my batting average, I see it’s, oh… zero…)

God Political Intrigue in DanMachi III Episode 2

Basically, Hermes tried to warn Ikelos off, but he said that as long as his familia kept him entertained, he wouldn’t interfere. So now we know the gods are involved in whatever’s going on, which probably isn’t a huge revelation in this show.

They are, but which gods? Hermes certainly doesn’t seem to know exactly what’s going on and neither did Ikelos. Their involvement might be more s observers. Also, Hermes said these were odd monsters. So monsters who can talk are considered unusual by the gods as well. It’s one thing for Hestia to be out of the loop, but Hermes is rarely taken by surprise. That doesn’t seem quite right. 

Lili Contracts Foot in Mouth Disease

The last thing I’d like to talk about from this episode is how Lili kicked off a crisis that felt a little too close to home. Lili’s a bright Pallum, and she’s figured out they’re becoming involved in something that’s wildly dangerous. She comes out and says that Wiene can’t stay; and that they can’t count on the “softhearted Bell” to make the right decision for their familia. 

Not for an instant did I suspect Lili was being cruel. She was honestly concerned for her familia. But talk about unintended consequences… Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Of course, Wiene heard them, and fled the house in tears. To her credit, Lili felt terrible. She hadn’t wanted to hurt Wiene; she just didn’t want Wiene to hurt her friends. They all searched for Wiene, Lili included, until they found her. She had rescued a little girl from being crushed by a falling crate. But because she had wings and was obviously a monster, the good citizens of the town went berserk. They began to stone the poor weeping Vouivre. Bell tried to dash to her aid, but Welf restrained him, worried about the fallout. Bell shrugged him off, but the slight pause had given Lili time to disguise herself as an elf. Telling them to meet in the secret room in the cellar, she rescued Wiene, with no one the wiser. 

That’s the part I found too close to home. I see it too often on the news. Same mindless violence. Same mindless judgement. 

Irina, do you think it was heavy-handed, even if it did get across the scope of the problem Bell faces?

At Least the Theme’s Clear

Let’s face it, IIWTTTPUGIAD is not a subtle show, it never was. It’s always been very straightforward and blunt with its thesis. That’s not a bad thing. Yes, the episode was super heavy handed, but that’s sort of what I expect from this show and it really didn’t bother me much. It did make me laugh in the moments that were supposed to be tragic because it was laying it on so thick. I like laughing though. It all worked out.

Wiene didn’t know anything about prejudice or social norms. She just wanted to stay with her friends. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

They all met in the basement Lili had mentioned. It was the basement of the church where Hestia Famila had begun, when it was just Hestia and Bell. It’s a nostalgic spot, and maybe that’s why it felt so emotional. Wiene asked Bell if it was really wrong for her to be with them. Her eyes pleaded for him to reassure her. But he had no answer for her.

What’d you think of the episode, Irina? 

I was pretty fond of the Dungeon expedition once more. And generally I liked the episode. So far I’m liking this season more than the last. 

Okay — so far, so good! We got to see Asfi again this episode! But still no Eina Tulle…

Reviews of the Other Episodes

• Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? III Episode 1 – Dungeons and Wyverns
• Is It Wrong to Try To Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? III Episode 2: Coexistence And Lili’s Foot In Mouth Disease
• Is It Wrong to Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? III Episode 3 – The Mission To Level 20
• Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? III Episode 4 – Told You He Was A Dix
• Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? III Episode 5 – Gros Isn’t Wrong
• Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? III Episode 6 – A Man Named Modaka
• Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? III Episode 7 – Bell Takes on Wiene and the World
• Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? III Episode 8 – An Enemy of Humanity
• Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? III Episode 9 — Regrets And Introspection
• Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? III Episode 10 – Wild Bell Chase
• Is It Wrong To Try to Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? III Episode 11 — A Polite Betrayal
• Is It Wrong To Try to Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? III Episode 12 – Full Circle