By Fujino Omori and NIRITSU. Released in Japan as “Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka?: Familia Chronicle: Episode Lyu” by Softbank Creative. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia.

Given that the DanMachi series has, of late, been getting pretty dark, and even Sword Oratoria is going to some dark places when it’s not busy showing Lefiya being jealous, the average reader would not have been surprised to see this new spinoff, focusing on Lyu Leon, to be a description of her tragic past and the horrible deaths of everyone she knew and loved. Fortunately, we don’t get that. While Lyu’s past certainly affects her throughout this book, and the second half delves into the immediate aftermath of her revenge, this is an altogether more lighthearted affair. A tale told in two parts, the first half deals with Lyu and Syr disguising themselves and entering a fabulous casino to try to rescue a young woman gambled away by her father. The second story, as I hinted, deals with how Lyu ended up working at the Benevolent Mistress, as well as giving some backstory for two of the other waitresses. It’s a breezy, fun read.

The first story was my favorite, because come on, CASINO CAPER! Lyu and Syr listen to some schmuck of a dad’s story about his gambling addiction and how he ended up losing his daughter. Because Lyu burns with a sense of righteousness despite herself, she decides to rescue the girl. Because Syr is Syr, she tags along as well. Actually, Syr gets the most awesome moments of the story. I suspect the author had heard about the fan rumors that Syr was secretly Freya in disguise, and while not quite true, Syr certainly has a strong connection to Freya, and seeing her destroy the denizens of the casino in poker is worth the price of the entire book. We also get to see Lyu’s attempt to adopt a cool billionaire disguise, and how quickly it falls by the wayside as soon as she sees something that invokes her fury.

As for the other story, because it’s dealing with the tragic backstories of not only Lyu, who is found by Syr near death after finishing up her revenge against those who slaughtered her Familia, but also two of the other waitresses, Runoa and Chloe, who turn out to have been teenage bounty hunters/assassins in their youth. Both are ready to call it quits, but there’s one last job that has to be done: killing Lyu on behalf of the mysterious group paying them. The moment that you see they’re going to try to do this at the pub late at night, you know you’re in for some fun fights, amazing property damage, and seeing Mia go off on everyone present. Mia, like Syr, is tied in to the Freya family (you get the feeling they started the pub with just the two of them), and the pub itself seems more like a “home for wayward girls” after this story.

For those wondering if this is a Bell-free book, nope, he shows up in the casino, and plays a small role in the chaos that follows. But for the most part this book does exactly what it set out to do: expand on Lyu’s character and have a really good time. I’d like to see more in the series focusing on other supporting characters some day.

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. Translated by Andrew Gaippe.

First off, let’s take a moment to make fun of me for my last review. Yes, I thought that the author was going to leave everything up in the air and unresolved and move on. Whoopsie. This book starts off where the last one ended, with Bell hated by most of the city, and then takes off at breakneck speed and doesn’t stop. If you read DanMachi for the epic battle scenes, you’re absolutely in luck, as these make up most of the entire last half of the book. And there’s a lot of “scenes we’d like to see” here as well, as we get Aiz fighting Lyu (Aiz wins), Aiz fighting Bell (Wiene wins), Welf and Mikoto vs. Tiona and Tione (Welf and Mikoto win, but by dirty tricks), Lili vs. Finn (Lili wins), and most importantly, Bell fighting Asterios, the minotaur creature who has haunted his memories and dreams ever since the very, very beginning of the series. Who wins? Well…

The thing the book emphasizes over and over again is that there is no easy out here. The monsters are not just magically going to convince people that some of them aren’t always killers, though Wiene makes a good shot at it. The book does not end with any agreements for them to live on the surface in peace and harmony, it ends with them back in the dungeon hiding from everyone. But, on the bright side, they’re all back in the dungeon rather than getting slowly killed off on the surface. As for the adventurers, I’m not sure whether this will deeply affect them going forward. Things are not helped by Hermes, who is a right bastard who’s trying to force Bell into a role and is absolutely shot down in a way that will make you cheer. I hope Hestia kicks him in the nads next time she sees him. Fortunately, Bell is adept enough to choose his own path and by the end of the book has greater resolve to grow stronger, and this time for more reasons than just “Aiz Wallenstein”.

This is once again a pretty serious book, though there are a few “every girl loves Bell” jokes, leading to the biggest laugh of the book, which is Aiz contemplating Bell’s true nature. (Speaking of Aiz, if Sword Oratoria ever gets to these scenes from her perspective, it’s going to be fantastic.) I mentioned Lili winning in a fight vs. Finn, but of course it’s in a fight of intellect – honestly, I have to agree with Finn, he and Lili would be an amazing match, and I would fear the Prum race if their’ kids turned out anything like they are. But she’s in love with Bell. As is Eina, who at least is able to admit it to herself now. To me, though, this book hinges on two scenes that will, I hope, take it to a new level going forward – Bell’s fight with Aiz, and Bell’s fight with Asterios. The former is all about empathy, but the latter is just straight up action and love of battle.

The book ends with Bell wanting to go back in the dungeon, and so I think we’ll be there most of the next book (yes, I said that before). Till then, you should absolutely read this. I think Books 9-11 have been the highlight of the entire series, and can’t be missed by fans.

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

Jealousy tends to be pervasive in the DanMachi series. Some of it stems from people being jealous of Bell’s power and the time he took to achieve it – Aiz falls into this category best. But sometimes it’s simply “I am in love with this person and have not confessed but am simply pining for them, and how DARE they look at that other person and not me?”. It’s very common, very ugly, and very realistic. That said, authors who write it into their series almost always expect readers to be amused by the antics of the jealous person, and in reality I tend to find that the reader ends up thoroughly pissed off instead. I’m not just talking about others here – Hestia’s jealousy of anyone coming near Bell is one of her biggest faults, and I don’t like the author hammering on it. The same applies to Lefiya in this side series. Unfortunately, this volume has few fights and a lot of jealousy.

Most of this 5th volume of Sword Oratoria aligns with the 5th volume of the main series, meaning we’re on the 18th Floor and having a rest. Loki’s team is coming back from their attempt on the 59th floor from the last book; Bell and company are coming down from their own disastrous mission. Aiz takes something of a backseat here, though there is some interesting discussion of her background and possible origins now that the Loki team can use Bell as a walking Wikipedia, as he’s read and memorized the most detailed and unexpurgated version of the myths and legends they all know. There’s also an amusing reminder that most of the elves we’ve dealt with in this series are not your typical sort, and that the proud, haughty elf is meant to be the norm. And of course we get the “backside” to all the DanMachi scenes from Book 5, including Hestia’s arrival (though the Loki cast leaves before the rest of that book happens.)

But most of what the reader will focus on is Lefiya’s insane jealousy of Bell, which goes up to eleven in this book and also gets them into big trouble when she chases after him in such a rage that they both get lost in the middle of the vast floor forest. These scenes are meant to show Lefiya that Bell is not the evil lothario she might expect him to be – inde3ed, like Aiz, she’s started to boggle in disbelief at how skilled he has gotten in such a short time. They also do work together well when pressured to, and Lefiya is able to forego her jealousy in a crisis. Still, I’m going to be honest, Lefiya’s obsession with Aiz is bad for her character. I thin k the author knows this, which is why she’s playing up Lefiya’s relationship with Filvis as well, which is far healthier and more grounded in mutual admiration and respect.

I think this is overall a volume with more positives than negatives, and of course there is also development of Sword Oratoria’s main plot with the Evils. If you are a Danmachi reader who dislikes “girl is jealous of other girls getting along with her crush” stories, though, be advised this volume wallows in it.