Before, I officially start I’d like to shout out my friend Christina for getting into the school and program she wanted to get into, you go girl!.
So school ended for me 2 weeks ago. It was nice to catch up on all the series that I’ve neglected for the past couple months. I was finally able to finish Durarara, Aldnoah Zero, Log Horizon, and Tokyo Ghoul. I even got to re-watch Code Geass, which is still really good and I feel is a must watch for all anime fans. I also started and finished the ever so popular Entourage series from HBO which is by the way, so freaking incredible, I think I’m going to write about Entourage next, that’s just how much I enjoyed it. But after catching up, I found myself at a loss for what to watch next. So I scrolled through Crunchyroll, looking for what is new, and I found Is It Wrong To Try to Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon. At first I thought this title was hilarious, I had a nice little chuckle to myself about it, so I picked it up right away and all in one siting, I finished the first half of the series, and I am ecstatic to watch the second half when it comes out.
For those who don’t know, this is a fantasy, action, adventure, comedy, romance, dungeon crawling series. I guess it’s also kind of a…harem series. The only way I could enjoy this series more would be if that it was not a harem series because I simply find that kind of stuff not very tasteful. You see, fan service has never been a big sell for me. However, I enjoyed this series enough to watch more of it, simply because it is good. It’s not bad, it’s not great, it’s good. If I were to give it a grade, it’d probably be something like a B- or a B. Alright, let’s dive in.
Why do I like it?
Did somebody say shounen?
It appeals to me as a young man because it is a shounen series. This show is so hardcore shounen it’s nuts. The main character starts off weak but has a special trait unique to him and although he starts out as an underdog he rises in status. The protagonist Bell, is so hardcore shounen it hurts. He is ignorant to the truth and relies on his own instincts and through struggles of being weak and wanting to get stronger, he achieves his lofty goals. Bell relies on friendship and the help of others (even when he shouldn’t) and proves that friendship is a force worth recognizing. And of course there is a love interest, or multiple love interests because this series falls under the harem genre. I grew up on shounen anime/manga so personally, I love this kind of stuff. Honour, friendship, loyalty, trust, and a need to get better through toughing out all the hard times, well, that shit just appeals to me. Never doubt a shounen heart.
Dungeon crawling is always fun
Dungeon crawling and typical RPG elements are the basis of this show. It’s basically videos games, rather it’s reality for these characters. MOB’s even disappear when they die and leave drops. The adventurers (players) even have a measurable and visible status report written on their backs that let’s them know whether they’ve improved or not. Dungeon crawling is super popular in anime/manga. For example: Sword Art Online, Log Horizon, Magi (which I absolutely adore), and the .hack//series, have elements of dungeon crawling, beating up monsters, leveling up, and finding rare drops/items. If you enjoy MMO’s, Pick Up Dungeon (which is what I’m referring to as the series) should be a fun series to pick up.
My one gripe
The size of her breasts, the unnecessary jiggle, and that silly string underneath her boobs…
I just don’t enjoy fan service. Personally, it takes away from the quality of the story, it simply distracts me. And although I know that fan service itself, is almost a genre in anime and manga, I just can’t accept it. SAO, which I loved also had fan service and was a harem and that was my one gripe with that as well. The clueless male protagonist kills me, like honestly, what guy is oblivious to five different girls who want to get intimate with him. It just angers me! As a single guy, who can’t find a good girl, it angers me! Maybe I’m just insecure. I’m such a loser…why won’t someone just love me back…sigh…
The bottom line
A series you can sink your teeth into
If you are into the things I’m into, this is a series for you! If you’re one of those hipster anime fans who think that Naruto, Dragon Ball, and One Piece are crap, then this isn’t for you because this series is fun and you hate fun and don’t take things as they are. Let me tell you guys something. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with cliche. Cliche is good, there’s a reason why certain themes have been redone so many times, it’s when they are not done well, that’s when we have a problem. I look at the Fast and Furious film franchise. It’s all cliche, but it’s all done well. Compared to Michael Bay’s Transformers, which does cliche wrongly. So go on, enjoy this series, it’s a lot of fun if you allow it to be. As I write this review there are 6 episodes, so there isn’t much to catch up to! If you have any thoughts, leave a comment, let me know. I always love reading the comments of my 0 subscribers.
