Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 2

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Light Novel #2

by Fujino Omori

"Piacere di conoscervi, ragazzo dai capelli bianchi." A chiamare Bell è stata Lili, una ragazza che si presenta come una supporter. I due procedono alla grande nella conquista del dungeon, nonostante lui nutra qualche sospetto sulla ragazza che l'ha quasi costretto a fare coppia. Un party temporaneo. Nel frattempo, è brutto dirlo, ma non smettono di circolare certe voci sulla Familia Soma, a cui Lili è affiliata. E forse colpa del Soma, l'Alcolico Divino che si dice rapisca anche cuore delle persone? "Dea, io..." "Tranquillo, hai occhio nel giudicare le persone dell'altro sesso. Come noi dei. Ne sono sicura." Il racconto di un clan vissuto da un ragazzo e trascritto da una dea, o in altre parole il loro... "Familia Myth". Ecco il secondo capitolo della pluripremiata light novel.

Genres: Light Novel, Fantasy, Manga, Adventure, Action, Comedy, Anime

256 pages, ebook

First published February 13, 2013

About the author

OOMORI Fujino
Name (in native language): 大森藤ノ
Associated Names:
OHMORI Fujino
OMORI Fujino
ŌMORI Fujino

Reviews

[Fabrice Gaudreau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okai, since this book is direct follow up in the series I won't repeat everything I said in my first review but I can at least say that as the story goes, more characters come into place and are brilliantly introduced, not overwhelming in the sens that it's hard to follow but just the right pace.

The translation still lack a bit in this one but I don't know if I got used to it or if it's a little better.

If I could I would have gave this book a 4.5 ratting

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of people in this volume are dumb as shit. A major plot point involves a thief running around stealing stuff from adventurers. The thief is assumed to be a "prum" (I think a copyright-friendly hobbit?) due to their short stature, with some characters believing the prum to be male for no reason at all. Our hero Bell has recently partnered with the dog-girl Lilly, who is clearly very interested in his Hestia Knife, and scenes of third-person narration make it pretty fuckin' clear that Lilly is suspicious. Bet you can't guess who the thief is? What's silly is the assumption of the thief's race is based entirely on her height. She always wears a hood. People believe a prum is stealing from them, they hunt down the robed figure, but it turns out to be a dog-girl rather than a prum, so everything's gucci. What the fuck? "Ah, I didn't see the thief's face, but I didn't think he would be a dog-girl, which you are, so surely you must not be the thief!" Bell's known to be dense, so it's no surprise he'd be fooled, but even the mysterious elf waitress Lyu (whom we have reason to believe used to be a great adventurer) falls for it? But Syr doesn't fall for it? But after she winkingly acknowledges Lilly's mischief the novel continues for about one-hundred more pages before revealing the """twist"""? Wack as hell. And Lilly turns out to be using a magic spell which disguises herself as a dog-girl by generating ears and a tail, but that doesn't really mean anything since no one can see her face under the hood when she's robbing people, and the text hardly mentions her tail when she's "caught" stealing. Like, if someone sees a tailless thief, and they catch Lilly who now suddenly has a tail, it would make sense to dismiss her as a suspect. But her tail is mentioned I think only twice in the volume, when Bell first meets her and later when her "Cinder Ella" spell is mentioned in a scene of third-person narration. Lilly also seems to grow her bangs with the magic, which would work better than the ear thing, so that's fine.

I was mostly enjoying the volume, but it was hard to suspend my disbelief for how nonsensical the issue of the thief's identity was handled, so I was tempted to use this as an excuse to slap the volume with a "three star" rating to iron out my bell-curve a bit. Well, as it happens, this dumb thieving whore gets her ass kicked up and down the Dungeon by an angry former mark of hers, and she's left to be eaten by a bunch of giant ants. I felt this was mostly deserved, I smirked at it, I enjoyed the whole thing, and I felt Lilly was put through the ringer enough that I could tolerate the inevitable "redemption" she will face because Bell's a punk-ass bitch and will definitely allow her into his Familia, because that's just how light-novels work. The passage concerning Lilly's upbringing, her life flashing before her eyes as it were, does a mixed job at evoking sympathy: she was born into Soma Familia, her parents died when she was young, the Familia forced her to taste the (not literally) addictive Soma wine, and she had to start earning money to buy more wine, and later seek her freedom, but the in-fighting of Soma Familia made it hard for her to succeed, so she turned to thieving, which pissed off everyone she stole from (no shit), and pissed off her fellow Familia members (no shit), so they ruined her life even after she tried to escape (which is kinda dickish), but she still continued to fuck other adventurers over (which is still cuntish). It makes sense she'd turn to thievery after her parents died, so whatever. It kinda makes sense for her to hate adventurers so much, but there's a clear bias since she was specifically getting fucked over by Soma Familia members first, from which she based her anti-adventurer stance and leaned into stealing before trying to play the supporter role with non-Soma adventurers. It's just disgusting she was stealing for entirely selfish reasons, and continued to fuck with our mentally-immature protagonist for so long, but I suppose we can view her getting her ass kicked as a "trial by fire" to allow her to "reset" and be seen as a hero going forward. So, yay!, I guess.

But, yeah, I basically enjoyed this volume mostly for the scene of a little girl getting the shit beaten out of her. I phrase it this way to make it seem "edgier" on purpose, but Lilly could have been an adult man going through the same events and I would have felt the same. Whether or not it was Omori's intent, Lilly was written as a clear antagonist. Gedo and the Soma guys were clearly worse people, but Lilly was still a bad person. I don't really want to say "she's learned her lesson" by getting kicked in the face, but... I mean, she kinda has. That is, she has the revelation of her loneliness, which allows her to accept her desire for Bell's friendship, when she's basically on her death-bed surrounded by the killer ants. And she needed to be ant-bait to have this revelation. So she needed to get kicked in the face and thrown around the Dungeon. Simple as.

In continuing to adapt JRPG elements to a non-game universe, Omori expands Oraria's lore with the "supporter" role. According to the author's afterword, the point of supporters is to make up for the fact that adventurers in his universe can't just magically hold infinite items in a Bag, as is standard for e.g. Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy. So he comes up with supporters, people who are designated with carrying the excess magic stones and drop items for a party of adventurers. Non-combatants, supports are dedicated entirely to carrying bigass items sacks on their back and carving magic stones out of fallen monsters' corpses. Lilly, the main one featured in this volume, has a Skill that eases the burden of a heavy item sack, and she has special gloves to defend against acid or anything that could potentially harm her hands as she plucks out magic stones. Pretty neat way to expand on the party system without just giving everyone Doraemon dimensional pockets. And the invention of supporters comes with a boon for story-writing: since they can't fight, more dickish adventurers might see them as a nuisance less deserving of money from a Dungeon crawl, so surely there will be supporters who hate adventurers, so here's Lilly!

In a weird translation goof, Yen Press refer to the author as "Fujino Ohmori" in the signature of his afterword, whereas the front cover spells his family name as "Omori." These are equally valid ways of romanizing the name, I'm sure (with "Oomori" being possible as well, I'd imagine), so the real issue is a lack of consistency between parts of the book. I'm too lazy to dig up Volume One to see if a similar goof took place there as well, but I'll be generous and leave it unsolved.

Yasuda is pretty good at drawing inhumanely slender thighs, and Lilly benefits from this skill in the volume's cover art. The foldout color insert pages also have a panty-shot, which is okay. Omori shows us that Aiz is becoming more interested in Bell, so it's a bit of a shame Yasuda doesn't give us a full illustration of Bell sleeping on Aiz's lap.

[Tani · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my review of the first book, I had mentioned that there were a lot of stylistic and editing issues. Thankfully, those have pretty much been cleared up in this second volume. The writing flows much more smoothly, and if there were any issues with editing, I didn't notice them enough to comment.

However, while I enjoyed this volume, I still felt it was a little lacking. I think this might be an issue of having watched the anime. A lot of the story in this volume revolves around the mystery of Lilly. Since I already know all about Lilly, I think that took away some of my motivation to read. I also can't claim that I really like Lilly, so that didn't really help. I still enjoyed the story, but it definitely took me longer to read than it needed to, simply because I didn't feel at all motivated to pick it up every day.

[Wilker Sousa · Rating 5 out of 5]

<3

[Julian Patton · Rating 3 out of 5]

After actually finishing it. It still isn't as good as the first book, but its definitely better than I thought it was at first.

[MC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't like how there is little punishment (in this book, at least) for some of the characters given their actions. Other than that, good stuff.

[Gary Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Trouble with Prums

The momentum of the opening volume slows in this sophomore effort due to the introduction of the loathsome Lilly. For a pint-sized prum, she sure takes up a lot of space in this story.

Yeah, yeah, I know Lilly had a hard-knock life. But a bad childhood does not excuse bad behavior. And Lilly's behavior transcends mere badness and attains new heights in ignominy.

What saved the book was Eina playing a halfling Miss Marple and investigating the mysterious Soma familia. The revelations are startling and added a new layer of worldbuilding. Orario looks so appealing in the anime, but the books reveal its dark underside and the desperation of some of its residents.

Conversely, Loki Familia did come across as a fun frat house with its members chatting over wine in a reception room resembling a nineteenth-century men's club. My favorite scene of the book was Eina's visit to Loki's posh headquarters. The shock and suspicion of a Guild receptionist visiting a familia's home left me wondering what tensions are tugging between the Guild and Loki Familia.

Soma Familia struck me as a commentary on cults, cult leaders, and drug addiction. Soma is almost certainly named after the drug Soma in Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World. The mad desire for another sip of that wine drives and devolves this familia's members into turning against and exploiting their own people--e.g., Lilly--who in turn hurt others. The god Soma's misusing his familia as fundraisers and then entrapping them with addiction makes him and his dysfunctional familia a cancer on Orario.

I filed away the background information on Eina that was revealed when she met her childhood friend Riviera in the grocery store. They hail from the same small town, but Riviera was royalty and Eina a commoner, though they were friends and Riviera was close to Eina's mother. Orario appears to be the great leveler as both women have independently achieved measures of success, Eina in the Guild and Riviera in Loki Familia and partnering with Aiz in dungeon clearing.

What about Bell? He's here and acting as annoyingly silly as he does in the anime. Running from Aiz like the scared rabbit he's often likened to. Why, why does he do that? His mature thoughts are often in conflict with his immature actions. Okay, yes, he is "barely fourteen," after all.

I did appreciate learning the secret of how Lilly manages to effortlessly carry that tremendous backpack. And I relished reading the full story of Freya, the grimoire, and the firebolt magical defense skill Bell acquires herein. The books do fill in gaps and give greater depth to the anime. I'm planning on a take-it-from-the-top rewatch after enjoying the books.

Fujino Omori is really into giving street names and directions but without the visual of a map it's all in vain for me.

Good information and foreshadowing on the Monster Rex floor bosses that await adventurers in the depths of the dungeon.

Getting ahead of ourselves? The glossy illustration of Hestia warning Lilly is a scene not in this book. They won't meet in person until volume 3.

My three-star rating is because the last quarter of the book slipped irredeemably into maudlin melodrama. After effectively convincing us readers to hate Lilly, now we're supposed to pity her? Sorry, that's a hard no. Omori did his job too well in the build-up. And I mean, maybe if Lilly had only abandoned Bell, but to leave chum to attract more orcs? No, forgiveness is not an option.

I was seething and smacking my forehead through the "Reset" chapter. Bell, you wide-eyed babe in the woods, forgive if you must... but don't ever forget. And watch your back, huh?

[Tarl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit, I loved the anime for this light novel series, and I am finding the light novels to be even better than the anime.

Likable characters who grow as people, an interesting setting, and an actually believable economic and political system for a city where a giant self-resetting dungeon exists. What more could you want? I admit, Bell's naivety does get annoying at times, especially when he is being taken advantage of, but it is also part of what makes him charming and likable. In an era where people want more and more grimdark fantasy, the author continues to find a way to add darker elements without having the story devolve into that genre.

Another thing that I like is that even though Bell is growing in power incredibly fast, he isn't a Mary Sue. He gets through everything by luck, his friends, or his own growing skills. Yes, at the climax of this novel, he does seem to be over powered, but it is only because he was prepared for it, rather than some super power he may have had. (like other light novels)

The side plot with the Soma Familia was also fascinating, and added an extra level to the world building. Here we see one of the possibilities for the gods living among humans. What if they just don't care, and keep doing their own thing. What would their followers do? What would happen if something like Soma's wine was introduced? The possibilities are scary.

In the end, this was a pretty good light novel. I enjoyed it and readily bought the next in line. If you are looking for a lighter kind of fantasy novel, this would be for you!

[K Vimal Raj · Rating 5 out of 5]

eventhough it is translated work., it is good ...

[Brandon Varnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Original review here: http://pokemaster12.blogspot.com/2015...

Starting where the first volume left off, volume 2 of Danmachi furthers the series by introducing a new member to the caste of females interested in Bell, and it also further explains the world at large.

I found this volume to be much more engaging than volume 1. This might have been because we didn’t get as much of Bell’s POV as we do in the first volume, but I think another reason might just be that this story felt a lot more straightforward. In it, we have a clear problem that eventually gets solved by Bell. In volume 1, there really wasn’t any problem. It was just a story about Bell Cranel getting more powerful, having several girls fall in love with him, and him being a clueless idiot.

Supporter - a term used to describe someone who supports an adventurer by gathering the crystals and drop items that monsters, that way the adventurer can focus on fighting and not worry about being weighed down. The concept of having someone who supports the adventurer in this way is interesting, and I can’t deny that I enjoyed the supporter character that was introduced.

I wonder, maybe it’s just me, but I feel like the writing style has also improved a good deal. Even Bell’s first person POV doesn’t bother me like it used to. The sentences aren’t as choppy and feel much more fluid. I wonder if this is a way of showing Bell Cranel’s growing maturity, or if this is simply the case of the translator improving.

Either way, I felt like this volume was much better than the previous one. The story had a more involved plot, the writing seemed much better, and the characters continued to be engaging all the way to the end.

If there is one thing about this volume that I didn’t like, then it’s Bell Cranel’s continued ignorance towards women. I mean, okay, I get that the “clueless idiot when it comes to romance” is a major trope in Japanese pop culture. I understand. But, there comes a point when the main character’s denseness towards the opposite gender stops being cute and becomes annoying.

Bell Cranel’s denseness is annoying. It’s especially annoying because it is so blatantly obvious that these girls like Bell that even an idiot should get it. Seriously, when multiple women hug you to their chest, there are not many things that this can be mistaken for. The fact that Bell still doesn’t understand why all these women are suddenly acting super affectionate really bugs me. One girl even flat out said that she was falling for him in the previous volume, and he STILL doesn’t get it. How freaking stupid can one person be? That’s not denseness. That’s willfully making a character ignorant for the sake of harem comedy plot. I really hope the author eventually fixes this, because while I like the story as a whole, this issue is one of the biggest turn offs for me.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

While definitely stronger than the first novel in the series, Dungeon still suffers from what feels like added-in harem attributes (everyone loves Bell - ladies, he's fourteen) and some very awkward phrasing when discussing women's bodies. On the upside, the Lilly storyline is quite touching, and Bell genuinely is a nice character. Omori also adds in two Celtic and one Hindu god, further expanding the world's pantheons. It pains me to say it, but I do think the anime adaptation is a little better, eliminating the tacked-on harem aspects and deepening the Bell/Hestia relationship, but this is still a fun light fantasy read.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read the manga and seen the anime before getting around to the LN there doesn't seem to be a whole lot new here. Though considering the detail in volume 1, I am sure there was something that was added from this. Here's the thing -- it doesn't matter, I love Danmachi. I really enjoy the world and the story and (most of) the characters.

In this one Bell forms a party with a Supporter who isn't always on the up-and-up, but because of who he is and the help of his friends he's able to turn things around.

Verdict: A solid entry for danmachi. If you're interested in the series, give this one a read.

[Gene Metschulat · Rating 5 out of 5]

During this quarantine period, I decided to start reading light novels based off anime I watched so again I have future knowledge of this series and just got around the reading the first 6 books even though I read every other book in the series. The anime skips a lot throughout these books and I’m glad I get to see the true relation between characters when they start to blend together! Again omori has an incredible writing style and brings out bells childish ambitions so well in this book. I cannot recommend this series enough

[Seri_chervant · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sembra scritto da un uomo di mezza età arrapato🤣. Mi fa spaccare dal ridere per i motivi sbagliati. Lo continuerò solo per il meme. La traduzione e l'editing lasciano a desiderare. L'anime è meglio.

[Doug Bolden · Rating 4 out of 5]

My primary complaint about the first volume—the focus on bad dialogue, sexual obliviousness, and breast size over the potential of fascinating world-building this fictional story-inside-a-game where the gods turn characters into actual JRPG characters—is about half-fixed, here. There are still moments where the novel is more concerned with everyone tripping over their feet to fall in love with the main character but the world is starting to take shape. The [literal] impact of the gods on the world is more described and the gods themselves are less played out like immortal children and more like actually otherworldly beings that might just be a threat with the games and machinations they play. We get to see more about the way the Dungeon works, the way the relationships between the gods work, and the way the commerce in a city dedicated to Dungeon adventures works. I enjoyed all that quite a bit.

We also get some time dedicated to the socio-economic realities of a world where a certain class of people have the ability to level up past "commoner" and how they would impact those around them. I mean, in your traditional JRPG, you play level whatever people fighting increasingly tough monsters while going around looting people's homes for equipment and you have to wonder: why does this NPC have a Platinum Shield in their bedroom and how do they manage having to fight Arch Goblin Mages every time they go to the hotsprings half a mile from their city gates? It isn't quite getting into that sort of thing, but it does touch upon the general skill-set difference that would be inherent in such a world.

The central mystery of Bell's new "supporter" (a character who helps out an adventurer by carrying gear and stuff but generally not on the same level) also helps to add in some new plot elements that aren't just general horniness. Don't worry, horny fans, the horniness (and breast size) quotient is still in play, but it is slowly being worked around into more of a balanced-with-the-story placement. Which I quite enjoyed. Onto book 3.

[Paulo "paper books only" · Rating 3 out of 5]

This episode focus on two things.
First and foremost on the meeting between our protagonist and his supporter Liliy. Basically a supporter is someone who follows around the adventurers and gather the magic stones. In the end the supporter receives a fair share of the cake... unless the adventurers beat the supporters and refuse to give them anything - that's the life of Lily.

She tries to steal Bell and clueless Bell lets her because he is trying to "save" her.... another anime character who due to is good, innocent, white heart saves someone from being a jerk and a criminal. I think this could have been done in other way because I doubt in reality there are many people like that... I know this is not reality but as a novel, anime, tv series (whatever) you have to relate to the characters or else you don't enjoy the show... Well, this is not always like this. I enjoy evil characters and I am not evil so... what do I know.

Nevertheless, a good novel, it focus more on Bell and his evolution. He learns magic and it's rapidly evolving. We get some glimpses of his goddess, Ais & the guild girl and also very interestingly some background story.

suffice to say I am buying the next volume...

[Nat Cabrera · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this second installment. I had higher expectations, however, I still enjoyed it. What I like the most, is the world setting -it keeps on reminding me of fantasy video game, and it is great! The characters are awesome, and I am really proud of Bell and the growth he had between this book and the last. Nevertheless, I was hoping to get to know the rest of the characters a little better; specially Hestia. I'm conflicted because on one hand, I found this book entertaining and easy -and fast- to read, but on the other, this second installment felt slow concerning the development and speed of the plot itself. For a sequel, I consider it lacks adventure, emotion and cliffhangers. I enjoyed my read, yet, I wasn't desperate to know what was going to happen next. I'll give the third book a shot, though; I still think the series has a good premise and it can get a lot better. So, overall, it was a delightful read, even though it felt a bit monotonous.

[Paige Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second in the Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon series. In this book, Bell Cranel meets a new person Liliruca, or Lili. Lili is a small girl who's familia is a bunch of theives that live under a drunken god. She makes a living by stealing. However, Bell doesn't care about that part of her, all he cares about is that she is safe and is a good supporter for him while in the dungeon. Lili ends up betraying him a few times, however bell never wavers and continues to trust her to stay by his side even tho she betrayed him. I feel this shows that Bell continues to grow stronger as he meets more people and grows more knowledable about the world he is in. As the book progresses Lili see's that Bell is in-fact a kind person, different from all the other people she met in and outside the dungeon. Bell not only is changing himself, but also the way others look at him.

[Rinke · Rating 5 out of 5]

The little problem I had with the first part was solved! the pacing of the action throughout the book is so much better! It is a nice blend of fast paced action and the more relaxing interacting between the adventurers and the regular citizens of the city.

The world building keeps getting better, I particularly like the focus on supporters in this volume. the persons behind the hero's making everything possible. We meet Lily such a supporter and it creates quite the interesting point of view. We all know Bell is quite innocent in his thinking and view of the world. So that is a nice contrast what makes their interactions really interesting.

All in all it reads like it's nothing I flew through the pages. And I already have my eye on the third part can't wait to get to it.

[randa d · Rating 3 out of 5]

3rd person annoying

Story not bad. Have to keep re!ending myself that emotionally maturity of Bell & Hestia are both around elementary school age. I was able to get through the story. Most aggravating think g was Lilly's speech pattern talking about herself & Bell in third person. There was a brief period where she didn't so I thought it was just her con artist act. Was hoping it would stop by end of the book but apparently that's not the case...

[Al · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great light novel

I enjoyed this story. It gives more life to the anime. I also was finally able to understand that Ais was interested in Bell. In the anime she seemed to not care. There was a new scene that was not in the anime. I will probably read the next story right away.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prum Problems

Reading the second book, I have realized how much more fleshed out they make the story versus the anime. I highly recommend the series if you enjoyed the show. On a side note, I wish there was a game that let you take on the role of a Supporter. I thought this when watching the show and have a renewed interest after reading the book.

[Tomcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick and fun book.

A good sequence from the first light novel. Again nice characters and a quick story. This book will be enjoy by RPG fans, the author managed to include this characteristics nicely in the story.

[Wint · Rating 5 out of 5]

This new character has suspense.... i knew it. But for sum reason, Bell saves this character that character that LITERALLY BETRAYS HIM. Why? "Just becuz ur a girl" is the worst excuse I can even think of, this is RIDICULOUS.

[Douglas Hull · Rating 5 out of 5]

More reasons to read

A wealth of information on Bell and Lilly . From the first time they meet to the time of realizing that they are a team. The pain Lilly has been receiving has garden her to The adventurer as a whole. So she refused Bell's reaching out to her.

[Syveren · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a light novel, it’s not gonna win any prizes for writing. But the format allows for a better development of scenes and characters than the show. More information in general, which I enjoy.

Interested to see where the whole series goes.

[Lawrence Caldwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume was much more entertaining than volume 1. Not a whole lot more to say. Go read it!

[DJay · Rating 4 out of 5]

All I know is this, the if you liked the first one, you'll like this one. nuff said.

[Dania · Rating 5 out of 5]

it really adorable hero wishing character. I can't wait to see how much he grows thought the series.

[Maxina Storibrook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Story!

I absolutely love this story! The characters and situations are wonderful. The only problems I have with it are the switching perspectives and grammatical errors.