Recommended
DanMachi is back for its 2nd split-cour session of Season 4 that continues to reel in the love-hate relationship of the audience, being followers but not converters towards novelist Fujino Omori's dungeon harem series. That, with the 2nd half, raised the stakes even further into the balancing game act of hope and despair with death flags placed all over wherever Bell Cranel and Co. will go in the deep troughs of the Dungeon's Deep Floors. For the 2nd half of Season 4, titled the Deep Chapter: Calamity Arc, the prophecy of despair continues with the adaptation of one single volume: the lone Volume 14 of theLN, featuring Bell Cranel and the Astraea Familia's Ryuu Lion on the objective to get home after being trapped and separated from the Hestia Familia in the hopes of subjugating Ryuu's nemesis Familia: the anti-Orario faction Evilus-led Rudra Familia. Both the Astraea and Rudra families have always been at loggerheads with one another, until the latter familia devised a plan to eradicate the entire former familia in the Dungeon, that failed and saw the accidental summoning of the Juggernaut that started a killing spree, leaving only Jura and Ryuu as the only survivors from their perspective familias.
For context, the dragon-like Juggernaut spawns as a part of the dungeon's defense mechanism every time the Dungeon suffers from excessive damage, wherever necessary (except the upper floors because of Ouranos's influence). While it has tremendous strength and speed with razor-sharp claws and armor that can reflect magic, it also has poor defenses to physical attacks, and its strength varies depending on which floor it emerges, with deeper floors producing stronger monsters. Rather than having a magic stone like most monsters, it is designed to disintegrate after a certain period of time. And this is where both Jura and Ryuu's revenge story continues with the Dungeon's utter devastation of utilizing the Juggernaut for total destruction upon enemies, fuelled by anger and hatred to kill one another until the last man/woman standing. As usual, Bell and the Hestia Familia are there to understand why Ryuu the Gale Wind was branded as a murderer, and though they've come far in Part 1, the despair that awaits both Bell and Ryuu, trapped down the rabbit hole towards the infamous 37th Floor that's nicknamed the White Palace, nothing awaits them of the tragedy even just for mere survival of the fittest, with strong monsters and little to no hope of ever getting out alive. Sure, they can try their best, but the numerous death flags chase after each and everyone involved in this endeavour, which if you've known DanMachi's standard by now, will be increasingly brutal with high stakes of life and death.
As such, Part 2 sees both Bell and Ryuu bonded together, fighting through adversity to force their way through against strong monsters while looking for a way out in the White Palace, the part of the Dungeon that's only a hearsay, because most typical adventurers would just simply die with even the most prepared of ammunitions and resources that they have. And even for a Level 4 standard, it's basically overkill for both the compassionate Hero and the Gale Wind elf to be easily overwhelmed by even against monsters with insta-kill abilities. Both of them hold the weight of their own world, the sins and expectations to reach back towards the surface in one piece, so the objective of getting it out alive is as desperate as it is heartfelt to see the both of them grow alongside one another with the ever-so-lucid dream that they could make it out to tell the story. Also, though the Rabbit's Foot himself lives up to the standard of the series of "picking up girls" in the Dungeon, out of all of them, Ryuu has got to be the closest thus far as she is a woman of few words, only speaking when she needs to and guiding the Juggernaut Hero himself along to the tunes of her combat. I'd even go as far as to sail the Bell x Ryuu ship, because it's so heartfelt of their treacherous journey, and to come this far, if there was ever a suitable partner for Bell, forget Ais Wallenstein, forget the big boobs Goddess Hestia herself, Ryuu checks his boxes of the never-giving-up spirit and camaraderie.
J.C.Staff's production still holds up the same as Part 1, though I did see a bit more complaints that there were more static shots, and even at this point, I'm not surprised for the par of the course that this will happen intermittently. All that's worth for in the franchise are heart-wrenching, gut-punching moments that matter, and DanMachi has never failed to deliver its best that is constantly improving over time. Saori Hayami and sajou no hana swapped places with Part 2's OST, and though I've also come to expect that the OPs in the franchise get more generic with age, the EDs however, get better and more profound with symbolism. Whereas Saori Hayami's OP trains the audience to prepare for disaster, sajou no hana's ED, is quite frankly, the best out of the entire franchise, symbolizing hope for the future amidst crushing defeat and the adversaries of death. I especially love the lead-in towards the soothing chorus, along with the accompanying visuals that make for a killer combo, showing that even at death's throes, there is a glimmer of hope shining upon everyone.
If you've been with the DanMachi franchise for long, the build-up since Spring 2015 that's almost 8 years now and the series's 10th year running, it's a series that like many contemplaries, has its up and downs. But if competing with the modern juggernauts like the Shonen market, DanMachi is fantasy anime at its finest, continuing to push boundaries and shooting for the skies with novelist Fujino Omori's brillance at concocting a series that progresses, looks back and paints a rather big world together, even down to the most minute of details.
If you like it, you will ABSOLUTELY love the ending from the season's 2nd part, and vice versa if the series is bad or mid for you, there's no obligation if you've been here for the franchise either since Day One or came in from recommendations over the years.
But if you ask me, DanMachi taken now as a whole, is described in words of one: stellar, marvellous, and most certainly, outstanding entertainment at its peak. Come one, come forth for Season 5 if they decide to have it in the future. I'm ready for more.
