Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka IV: Shin Shou - Meikyuu-hen

//review for If you haven't watched it:// It was pretty good I guess, lots of quality improvements from the other seasons. It kept the same level of 'goodness'(?) as season 3. You'll set your expectations after seeing the first 5 episodes. I don't want to say anymore but if you enjoy what danmachi has been so far then watch this 100%. If you more so prefer season 3 over the 2 previous ones, you'll like this a lot.//Review for those that have watch it or want to know more in depth:// Get ready for the heaviest and best that danmachi has to offer yet in my opinion. Once again, I've learned over the years that you shoudln't set your expectations too high, Ill mention it in the review but please watch this while having no expectations, it'll make the experience massively more enjoyable and your expectations will be very very easily met. If you still want to read, this will be a review for the whole 22 episodes across both parts and holy shit. You could say I was completely blown away by this season. Every time I come back to danmachi I wonder why, such a seemingly mid anime and yet this is the most perfect example of why you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. From the title and whatnot you expect it to be some shitty cringe harem anime and yet each time you watch a new season you're completely proven wrong. I don't know how they do it that the next season is always better than the previous and that is ESPECIALLY the case with this season. I really liked the story direction of S3 and would already give it a solid 8-9/10 but this just took it to the next level. I think this is the first time i've considered danmachi to be a perfect 10. It started so bland and and had no weight to it to the point I couldn't even concentrate on watching it. The pacing felt a little off and it wasn't quite sitting with me. But 1/4 into the season (ep 5/6) the tone just completely changed; it made a full 180. The story telling became super immersive and I was glued. I feel like the creators of danmachi mastered a way to lower your expectations to the bottom so that they can be instantly overcome as you're bombarded by amazement The rest of the 1st part was mega action packed and gruesome as fuck. It took such a dark turn which made the anime have so much more weight to it. Despite being a goofy anime, one thing it does well is how serious it is and that sense of tension. That 2nd part of the season felt like such a brutal and unforgiving desperation for survival and that tension and seriousness is what I love about the anime. Not only did the story in season 2 become almost perfectly told, it was packed with amazing movie like animation and fight scenes and yet the general story flow was just as strong if not better. Don't even get me started on the sound design. Sound is the most underrated aspect of anything. The story mostly focused on Bell & Ryu and their struggle for survival in the 2nd part and their voice actors knocked it completely out of the park. I expected as much from kiritos voice actor but damn ryu. You could feel the emotion, despair and desperation in her voice despite her being a calm and quite character which is what separates regular voice acting from peak perfection voice acting like we see here, it added so much more depth to the experience as well as to her charatcer. It just seemed so real. The sound effects as usual were top notch and the music paired so incredibly well with each scene. In that sense, it's very comparable to the exemplary way that SAO did it in alicization and war of the underworld. If you're someone who enjoyed the lighthearted, loud=funny comedy that the anime provided previously then unfortunately you will find almost none of it in this season but for those who are looking for a great story and massive character development accompanied by great action, music and pacing then you will find this to be top notch. A definite 10/10 that needs to be watched, my excitment for danmachi has risen quite a lot but so did my expectations for future seasons moving on. Maybe it was since i always liked ryu as a side character but after this seasons she's definitely my favourite character. the massive character development and lore focused around her was very cool and intriguing to see and uncover. Danmachi has taken a very good turn in direction since season 3, straying more away from shallow comedy and romance and leaning more into a fantastic and in-depth story direction. it's going to be hard to top this season.

If you're still here by the time you're reading this short and sweet review, there's no need to actually do a recap on the prior seasons, to which if otherwise, please go back and watch the 3 seasons, then come back to this one. The ever so popular LN that is Fujino Omori's DanMachi that's coming back for its 4th season, and potentially the largest since this was first announced to be a 2-cour series (which later became a split-cour), drives the audience back to Volumes 12 and 13 of the LN (for the 1st half) where the Hestia Familia under Bell Cranel and his gangof adventurers from all across various Familias, join forces to tackle the Dungeon's new unknown: the Lower Floors which contain this signature point called the Great Fall, that encapsulates this huge waterfall that's estimated to be 400 meters wide and twice that in length, marking its beginning which lasts from the 25th until the 27th Floor. And this is said to be the most dangerous floors that adventurers must be at least Level 4 before they can explore this side of the Dungeon, or otherwise it's one-hit KOs, and survival is only barely scraped by the least of coincidence and luck. The only things to note in Season 4 going forward, is that aside from the LN author himself helping to supervise on the pacing of this 2-cour long story, just about the only new character that's introduced so far is yet another Xenos creature: Marie the mermaid, which like Wiene in Season 3, is yet another female that follows Bell Cranel's never-ending "salute" of picking up girls in the dungeon, though her use case isn't really that much known yet aside from falling in love with Bell after saving her from a strong monster. So, take it as you will about the usual DanMachi trope that's already a mainstay from the very beginning. Regardless, everything that I've mentioned in prior seasons can be taken here with J.C.Staff's already great production, plus the OST, with sajou no hana's OP and Saori Hayami's ED for the 1st half, which all are pretty good. I mean, if you're enjoying DanMachi or vice versa, it's a no-brainer for anyone who is still keeping up with the anime to go ahead and continue the progress.

A comeback season indeed. I've been a fan of the anime since its tv debut but to be honest, most of the episodes aren't that memorable that is also I guess the reason why it was still an underrated show for me. But this season was wonderful. Bringing back the protagonist into the dungeon with a new bunch of skilled friends. I totally enjoyed the flow of the story from this season. Creative visuals of monsters/antagonists, the new addition of characters with cool designs, and interesting plots. Before the ending, I am consecutive on giving the first ten episodes a rating of 9/10 but I realized thatthis season deserves a perfect score since it brings back the same kind of feeling that I felt during the first season, with a much better anticipating for the second part of the season.

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