By Fujino Omori and Suzuhito Yasuda. Released in Japan as “Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka?” by Softbank Creative. Released in North America by Yen On.

My initial review of this title was a bit lukewarm, mostly expressing surprise that I didn’t immediately hate it given the premise and ‘light novels with long titles’ cliches. After reading the second volume, I’ve had to change my mind. This isn’t merely adequate, it’s quite good. Yes, there are still a few issues with Bell as the typical harem hero, and Hestia can be a bit annoying at times, as you’d expect from a series like this. Yet as with the first book, both seem to recognize their flaws and try to grow from them. Actually, I’d argue Hestia’s biggest issue is how little she’s been in these books given she’s the heroine, and also apparently the next big meme now that the anime is appearing in Japan.

Instead, this volume has as its main female lead Lilly, who is a hobbit (yes, I know it’s translated differently, but come on, she’s a hobbit) with a tragic backstory, who fills the role of supporter in Bell’s party, since this is not one of those worlds where you have infinite inventory. This also serves as another look at how this ‘game world’ would work in a semi-real-life setting, as supporters are basically the lower class poor here, sneered at and abused by adventurers who regard them as little better than pack mules. Needless to say, Bell is different, but Lilly is so beaten down by the cruelty of everyone else in her sphere that it takes her the entire book to realize that.

I did have issues with Bell’s response to “Why did you save Lilly?” at the end. “Because you’re a girl,” was the first thing that came to mind, which is annoying, as “Because I felt empathy for your situation and could have been like you if things had gone a different way” is far more accurate. There *is* still a major harem aspect to this book, don’t get me wrong. Lilly clearly falls for Bell a bit here; Hestia is going on “dates” with him; Eina admits to herself that she has feelings for Bell; Aiz, the object of his intense adoration, spends much of the book in a depressed funk as he ran away from her in a panic; and of course Freya wants to hug him and squeeze him and call him George. Indeed, the other issue I think I have with the book is that the nature of Bell’s ‘skill’ makes him get far too good at things too fast. This is lampshaded by others, but still, I’d like to have seen more actual work put into it given we already have a glut of perfect fantasy heroes at the moment (hi, Kirito).

The main reason I think this works as a novel is that you don’t get the sense, as you often do with series like these, that the world vanishes once Bell walks out of the picture. These characters have lives and ambitions that don’t all revolve around Bell, and certain teases from the first book are followed up on here. (I was very happy that a character who I thought was a red herring in the first book turned out to be me being right here in the second.) When I finished the first I thought “Well, I guess I might as well get the second volume.” After finishing the second, I’m really looking forward to the third. Though I’d still pitch this more to fans of fantasy than fans of harems.

By Fujino Omori and Suzuhito Yasuda. Released in Japan as “Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka?” by Softbank Creative. Released in North America by Yen On.

For those who see that title and roll their eyes, the commonly agreed on abbreviation, from the Japanese title, is ‘DanMachi’. We’ve seen a few of the cliched light novels with titles as long as their content in manga and anime format before, but this is really the first time we’ve seen one as a light novel. As you’d expect, the longer the title the more likely that this is a romantic harem comedy, and that’s true here. It’s also a fantasy, though, one closely connected to the world of role-playing games (though it’s not players trapped in a game, for once). I think that the fantasy gamers will likely find it easier to appreciate this title than the harem comedy fans, though both will find things to like and dislike. One thing I think everyone will agree on is that the cover blurb is pretty misleading: Bell stops being a ‘damsel in distress’ almost immediately.

That is where we start, however. Bell is our narrator for most of the book, though it does switch off when the author wants to tell scenes without his presence to a third person style. He’s young and naive, wanting to become an adventurer in order to meet girls and get a harem, but he mostly wants that because this is what his grandfather (now deceased) taught him was the way of all things. In reality, he can’t catch a clue when it’s thrust in his face, really. The other protagonist is his sponsoring god, in this world where gods have come down to the real world and form gangs of adventurers to entertain themselves. Hestia has only one adventurer – Bell – but it’s clear that she just needs to mature. It’s also clear that she’s head over heels for Bell, and is somewhat frustrated at his lack of interest. As the book goes on we see more women – the big sister trying to convince Bell not to be stupid, the young waitress with an immediate crush on him, another goddess who wants him mostly to amuse herself – but it’s apparent from the start who the ‘lead girl’ is.

The fantasy aspect fares better, though I don’t really game so it’s possible I’m missing stuff. Bell fights increasingly tough monsters, and when he defeats them gets gems to exchange for money, or ‘drop items’ that might be useful. It honestly takes a little while to get used to the fact that this is meant to be a real world – adventurers have their ‘stats’ printed on their back in runes, for goodness’ sake. But the fights are well-written and go fast, and there’s a nice feeling of suspense to them. The book read very quickly and smoothly, which was nice, and lacks a lot of the self-important narrating we’ve seen in other books this year. There’s also a surprising lack of fanservice – surprising as the color artwork inside the front cover is filled with it. Hestia gets the nickname ‘loli big boobs’, which is unfortunate, but other than that the emphasis here is on the story for the most part.

I may have made this sound more interesting than it is – there’s nothing here that really gets me fired up for another volume. But it’s pleasant enough, and a nice quick read. Harem fans will be annoyed at the obliviousness of the hero and the possessiveness of the heroine, because they always are. Fantasy fans might be entertained by the ‘RPG in real life’ aspect, though, and may want to give it a shot. And fans of the Durarara!! light novels or the Yozakura Quartet manga will recognize the artist. It’s also available digitally, and an anime is due out soon.