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

It’s been almost twelve years since the first volume of DanMachi came out in North America, and I think we can forgive the reader for forgetting the original premise of the series, as well as the reason for the title. Bell Cranel arrives in Orario to become an adventurer. He does this so that he can meet girls and get a harem. Now,, to be fair, this is mostly planted in him by his pervy grandfather, but still. Now, twenty volumes and unfathomable amounts of spinoffs later, Bell is an adventurer. He’s met plenty of girls. And, if you look at those girls, you know that he definitely has a harem. Even if he’s ignoring that fact. But this series has always been about getting Bell to see the bigger picture, and for this volume we get the biggest picture of all. Bell is needed because the heroes of old, the really strong ones, are all dead. And now there’s another world-shattering crisis, and they need not only Bell, but every other hero on deck.

Bell has returned from the School District, and he and his Familia are ready to go back into the dungeons… especially as they have a cute new intern, Nina. Who it turns out also has amazing healing capabilities – the one thing they’re short on for these long dungeon crawls. She’s perfect! Unfortunately, the shmuck who runs the guilds does something dumb again, and as a result the School District has pulled all its students back from internships and announced it’s cutting Orario off. This interests the Gods, who love giant messes, and so they make a deal to turn the whole fight between school and adventurers into a tournament arc, best of five, to see who wins. Meanwhile, Bell disguises himself as a student again and goes to talk with Leon… who turns out to be a Level 7 powerhouse, and probably the guy who’s going to be fighting Bell in the tournament. Welp.

Maybe it’s because it’s been two years since the last main volume of the series, but I liked this one a bit more. For those wondering how many volumes it would take for Syr to stop being every God’s punching bag and go back to flirting with Bell and teasing the others, the answer is “one” – she’s almost moved into Bell’s mansion. I do also like how, even though the romance is not really the focus of this series anymore, the author never lets it drop – Lyu has confessed, but knows what Bell’s answer will be, so begs him not to say anything. Nina and Eina realize they’re both in love with the same guy, and kind of bond over it. And above everyone is Aiz, who expresses affection to Bell through aggressive training, and gets very jealous when she hears Lyu has been training him as well. Resolve Bell and Aiz, and everyone else will come after it. Erm, assuming Aiz isn’t dead…

Yes, that’s right, cliffhanger! We don’t hear exactly what happened, but that’s what Sword Oratorio 15 is for, I’m guessing. Which is fortunately out in two months, rather than two years. Good stuff. Also, dragons! Wait, dragons are bad in this series…