The second season of Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? is 12 episodes long, plus an OVA. The series is based on the light novel series and is set in a town where gods have their “familia”, basically their followers. These adventurers usually try to explore the dungeon beneath the town. The protagonist is Bell Cranel, who is the sole member of Hestia’s familia. Hestia herself is quite energetic.
The season starts off with trouble for the pair as they draw the attention of Apollo. While expected, this is a feel-good segment where Hestia and Bell are bullied and made fun of. However, it all becomes okay when the friendships and allies that they had made in the previous season steps up to help them and in turn, finally start to make Hestia’s familia more reputable.
Bell is a typical male protagonist with a harem. He naturally attracts others, even though he may be unaware of their affections. While he isn’t completely overpowered, there are plenty of times where he must rely on other people, there are moments where he succeeds due to his sheer beliefs. He’s famous in the town for leveling up quickly. Hestia on the other hand is supposed to be a lovable goddess but she can come off as annoying and childish. If it is anything to do with Bell, she can be overly irrational. She lacks a lot of common sense, and her one tracked mind can be an annoyance in one scene, but then she will display wisdom in another.
The season packs in several story arcs and since it is only 12 episodes long, then you’d know that each arc is rushed. There isn’t enough time to properly develop the plot in each arc, let alone develop the characters and properly justify their motivations. All we usually get is that Bell has the urge to help someone he has met, or to protect his own familia. That isn’t to say that it is not a good enough reason, but the character personalities aren’t more than just surface level.
The season highlights the squabbles between the gods and their familia. Despite being gods, they are generally petty and isn’t much that separates them from the adventurers except showcasing some kind of magic every so often. The season shows how broken the system is with the constant fighting and backstabbing. The other focus of the season is expanding Hestia’ familia with more members. The season ends unspectacularly with another run of the mill trouble caused by Hestia. Again, it is wrapped up too quickly, within two episodes in fact. It’s anticlimactic, although there was one nice-ish scene towards the end which elicit at least a tiny bit of emotion from the viewer.
The animation looks to be solid at first glance but there are a lot of shortcuts taken from reusing scenes to minimizing the onscreen movement. This is particularly noticeable during combat where despite all that is going on, it is incredibly boring. There aren’t any stakes at all. No matter how badly a hit Bell will get, you know that he will overcome and win. Sometimes he will just awaken another power, or he uses his trusty (and overused) firebolt which seems to be his signature get out of jail free card. As a result, it is hard to get invested in the characters.
Naturally, there is plenty of fan service with Hestia herself designed purely for it. There are all the other female characters that fawn over Bell or will nonchalantly show off their assets. The OVA accentuates all this as it is a swimsuit / beach episode with most of the main female characters. It is extremely silly in tone and goes for a cheesy humor. Some will hate it; some will like it. It is a tad bit over the top though and tries to go at it too hard.
Overall, the second season is average, and it is as forgettable as the first season. None of the characters stand out and the season feels flat. The biggest problem is that the arcs are covered too quickly so that there is little build up and little reason for the viewer to care about. The season, and series, lacks a proper story hook so it is surprising that this managed to get anything extra after the first season.
