Ready for another Danmachi review? Most LN readers would probably agree that today’s episode was a little rushed, but it is still an awesome adaptation in itself. We finally get to see the head of the guild, Royman, though he was unnamed in the anime. They also slightly changed his character. In the novel, he was a really fat and rude individual who insults his employees, but in this episode, he is just an old and serious-looking guild master. And for me, that’s not a bad change at all.
Hestia Familia has received a direct mission from the guild, and it is every bit as strange as it sounds. The scenes after their briefing remained nearly true to the novel, though with two exceptions. First, there was no mention of Bell feeling many watchful gazes even before they enter the dungeon, referring to both Hermes and Ikelos familias following him. And second, Hestia was not entirely alone when she met Ouranos. In the novel, Miach Familia provided escort before she was whisked away to the secret tunnel.
The trip to the 20th dungeon is slightly rushed if you have read the novel. But even for me who did, the anime adaptation still portrayed the essential feeling of urgency in their quest. And that is much better in this case. There was no dilly-dallying, though it would have been fun to see the same struggles the party had faced in the novel, especially the amount of monsters they’ve had to face.
Moving on, the party finally reached their destination, and it is just as epic as in the novel. The fight scene with Lyd is definitely short, but hot damn it is one of the better fight scene this season. Bell truly struggled against the lizardman, and you can see it in his expression. And not just him, but the party as a whole. Of course, the desperation of fighting a horde of monsters is more pronounce in the novel, but that emotion is still present here. Another thing I liked was the variety of monsters shown here, much more than what was mentioned in the source. And for me, that already makes this episode much better than the entire season 2 itself.
There are some slight changes here as well. For one, Bell charged Argonaut while standing still while in the novel, he charged it while running towards Lyd, displaying just how strong Bell had become. Also, they removed Bell’s monologue where he acknowledge Lyd’s skills as equal or even higher than the level 5 Amazon, Phryne, whom Bell had fought before.
I really wished they could have kept these two tidbits since it would have added more flavor, but what they did here is still good and awesome. We finally learned that some monsters possess intelligence, and not all of them are mindless killers. For the first time, man and monster shook hands. And Bell’s horrified expression when Lyd offered his hand was the most perfect adaptation I’ve seen in the entire series. The doubt, that fear and paranoia that it was all an act, it was drawn perfectly.
Danmachi season 3 just keeps on getting better and better, and this episode proves it. A solid 9/10 for me.