The fourth season of Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? is split into halves, with eleven episodes each making for a total of 22. The first arc returns the characters back to what they are supposed to be doing, and that is exploring the dungeon. the Hestia familia is given a mission where they must explore deep into the dungeon to obtain certain items. Since the familia is still so small, they enlist the help of their friends and allies to join them. It is a new and unfamiliar floor for the characters, which means new monsters, new environments, and new dangers. This is probably the peak of what the series could be, as it is interesting and fun. It even creates quite a bit of intrigue and suspense when a new mysterious and dangerous monster shows up that is a real threat to the party.
While basic as a premise, it leads the characters into a tense situation. It ends up being one of the best sections of the anime so far. The fight scenes start off well but then for some reason, it turns into a slideshow which is a bit disappointing. The one annoying thing with Bell is that he seems to get constant power ups and despite all the attempts of the anime trying to justify it, it feels that he gets these with little effort. He obtains them too easily, to the point of where it feels like he is being given it. When he turns up to save the day with some amazing power, it feels cheap and lazy. Nevertheless, the climactic showdown between Bell and the monster was well done.
Since the arc takes place in the dungeon where the gods are not allowed to enter, Hestia doesn’t have much screentime. This isn’t necessary a bad thing given that she mostly fawns over Bell whenever she appears. The frequent fan service is still there though but it doesn’t try to be bold about it. The characters are starting to come to their own, but the cast has been expanding at the same time. So now, it can start to feel unwieldy when the anime collects all of them together. The first arc is over in a quarter of the season and with a short break, the next one commences. This time, also taking place in the dungeon, it has a somewhat generic and predictable series of events.
Midway through the season, the anime takes on a surprisingly dark turn. While there had been sprays of blood every so often during the battles, this took it to another level. It tried to instill a sense of despair and hopelessness to the situation but because it was so unlike the tone of everything else, it kind of missed the mark. That and the fact that it was guaranteed that it isn’t going to be hopeless for long, given Bell’s tendency to overcome any obstacle he faces. There is usually a short lead time of unleashing some burst of power through sheer determination and belief to get him out of any sticky situation.
While it is supposed to showcase the party fighting for their lives in a hopeless situation, a lot of their achievements and survival is down to sheer luck. Despite the battles later being some of the best in the series by taking the time to have their characters use their abilities to fight giant bosses, it seems to lack some oomph. There are contrived moments because a character will use some brand-new power we haven’t seen before which will pull them through.
There are some scenes with good feelings as the characters cover for each other and never gives up. It is these moments where the series shows that it can have the potential to be great. It’s just that unfortunately, these scenes are few and far between. As the familia gets trapped within the dungeon, there are many elements and inner workings of it that we weren’t aware of earlier. This is due to the poor truncated adaptation of earlier seasons skipping these vital pieces of information. It can be confusing from time to time as the dungeon would do something that you wouldn’t expect but overall, it’s more interesting.
The best parts of the anime, and it does it to fantastic effect on two occasions, are when it is one powerful and terrible monster attacking the characters. These scenes finally and truly show how scary and formidable the dungeon can be. The other attempts in which it says it is dangerous with powerful enemies, only to throw numerous ones against the characters that they could take down in one hit, is pointless and only serves to weaken the reputation. Even when Bell is apparently critically injured, he can still easily take down a “deep floor” monster that apparently sends shivers down adventurer’s spines, in one slash. It really takes all the momentum out of the story.
Overall, the fourth season is much improved compared to previous seasons. It’s not going to stand above many other anime, but it finally feels like it is going in the right direction. The first arc sets the tone for the dungeon being a dangerous and unpredictable place to be. While the second arc presents some much-needed character development. Even if the second arc takes up most of the season and at times, felt like it would never end, it was worthwhile. The season finale is decent and reinforces that this season had the best character development out of all its episodes. As a result, Lion falling for Bell is completely justified and you’ll even cheer for them given that they now have a solid foundation.