English Dub Review: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? “Colosseum | Arena”

Overview:

Their luck couldn’t last forever; Bell and Ryu must cross the Colosseum, where monsters constantly respawn. In the end, they may face an impossible choice…

Our Take:

This episode gave me goosebumps, which I mean in a good way. In a move that will surprise nobody, Ryu sacrifices herself so that Bell can escape. The monsters will not stop respawning in this colosseum and they had a good plan at first but it fell apart pretty quickly. But if you know anything about Bell you know that he won’t just leave someone behind. The scene where Bell comes to the rescue is juxtaposed with a flashback of Ryu’s where she asks about someone making their ideals a reality. The person she was talking to said “We call that type of person a ‘hero'” right as Bell comes to the rescue.

I know we’ve been in this arc for a long time but it’s gotten a lot better for me personally. As you know I am a huge Ais fan but Ryu might be up there now. Honestly, I’m going to vent a bit here so apologies in advance. How can Ais still be the “main girl” after this? They haven’t had any meaningful interactions since the first season. Some training time here and there I suppose but nothing that stands out. If Bell and Ryu survive this, and conventional wisdom tells me they will, then how could that not deepen their bond? I’m not saying all male and female interactions with the protagonist need to lead to romance but this is marketed a bit like a harem anime so forgive me if that’s where my brain goes. Anyways… a good episode and I look forward to seeing how they get out of this awful situation.