English Dub Review: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? “(Bell Cranel) The Fool”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Dix Perdix meets a swift end by Asterius, the Xenos. Bell claims Wiene as his target and runs after a rampaging Wiene. The Loki familia ignores his claim and tries to go after them when more Xenos appear. They keep the family busy since they have orders to capture the Xenos alive. Then Asterius faces off against the Loki familia, but Hermes lends a hand, and the Xenos escape. Meanwhile, the Hestia familia tries not to get involved because they don’t know how the other adventurers perceived Bell’s actions and they find a safe place to lay low.

After chasing Wiene to the colosseum where other adventurers strike Wiene with a large lightning spell and one of Dix’s comrades stabs Wiene with his spear. The ground crumbles below them as Bell falls with Wiene and they share one last moment before her stone cracks and she disintegrates. Then Fels uses a magic spell to bring Weine back from the dead. Afterward, the Xenos meet Bell and Fels underground and Fels gives his thoughts to Bell on being a fool. Later Bell is on the surface and sees Eina who doesn’t believe the rumors of his actions.

Our Take:

This week’s episode has a good amount of action and displays the consequences of Bell’s claim on Wiene. Take for example the damaged buildings and injured adventurers from his Firebolt spell. Dix and the goon that stabbed Wiene receiving their just deserts from the Xenos was cathartic to see that they won’t be walking away from the situation that they caused.

Asterius battling the Loki familia was a good show to demonstrate how powerful the two sides are. From Asterius’ brute strength and later use of the thunder sword to paralyze the members of the Loki familia to Ais making short work of the Xenos using her wind spell. Despite the rescue from the Hermes familia that ended the fight in a draw, both sides did suffer injures. Admittedly it makes me anticipate the next encounter between Asterius and the Loki familia.

Wiene and Bell’s last conversation before her magic stone cracked worked well to tug at the audience’s heartstrings. Bell’s horror as her hand crumbles to dust when she reached for him was painful. Wiene’s hope that someone would save her and seeing Bell save her was heartbreaking as well. Her voice actor, Cat Thomas did a really great job in that scene. In addition, the montage of her experience with Bell and the Hestia familia emphasized the sadness of their parting.

Until Fels revives her with his magic, which was a few gods comment on how it borders on the divine. Wiene’s revival was beautiful, but it’s obvious considering how much of the episode was leftover and the fact that her forehead stone is still intact. The song in time with Fels’ spell worked well to create the mood of the scene. The irony for the skeleton mage to revive someone after 800 years of unsuccessful attempts wasn’t lost either. Fels’s words on his efforts being worth it after all to save Wiene was a nice touch to his character.

Speaking of Fels, his conversation with Bell on being a fool and hypocrites having the makings of a hero was good. In contrast to Dix’s conversation with Bell, Fels has seen how previous adventurers wouldn’t risk themselves as Bell did for the Xenos. Therefore Fels regards Bell’s actions as a thing worth cherishing in the world. It was a good conversation for Bell in his journey to becoming a hero.

Overall the episode is a decent conclusion to the fighting, but what remains is the consequences of Bell’s actions. How his actions are going to be perceived by the other families the next day makes for an effective problem for Bell to deal with in the next episode. Not to mention the rousing suspicion towards the dungeon and the monster and human tension as well.