Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (ダンジョンに出会いを求めるのは間違っているだろうか, Danjon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darō ka), also known as DanMachi, is a 2015 television anime series based on Fujino Ōmori’s light novel of the same name. It was adapted into an anime by studio J.C.Staff with director Yoshiki Yamakawa, writer Hideki Shirane and publisher Hakuhodo DY MAP (Showgate). The series first broadcast in Japan on April 2015 as part of the Spring season.
Brief Unboxing Redux Note:
I first received and unboxed Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? back in April 2017 over on my Normanic Vault blog via Blogger. This post here is a remaster, but mostly a remake (or redux no pun intended) & revisit with better photos, updated information and any added extras. Enjoy!
Background:
“Some adventurers delve into the sprawling labyrinths beneath the city of Orario to find fame and fortune. Others come to test their skills against the legions of monsters lurking in the darkness below. However, Bell Cranel’s grandfather told him a different reason: it’s a great place to rescue (and subsequently meet) girls! Now that Bell’s a dungeon delver himself, the ladies he’s encountering aren’t the helpless damsels in distress he’d imagined, and one of them, the beautiful swordswoman Ais Wallenstein, keeps rescuing Bell instead.
As embarrassing as that is, it’s nothing compared to what happens when goddesses get involved. Freya, Hephaistos, and Loki, with their powerful Familias, are intimidating enough, but there’s one goddess whose relationship with Bell is certain to spark trouble. After all, Bell is the ONLY member of the goddess Hestia’s Familia, and she’s not sure if she wants to share him with anyone!”
Plot Synopsis via Sentai Filmworks, March 2017.
With Isekai growing in popularity for the best and worst reasons, the fantasy genre continues to thrive and one of those titles was Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? aka DanMachi, and it’s very interesting. The name is very odd but the anime is worth a watch and the story gets better with the future seasons (and a fourth season was confirmed at the time of this post).
DanMachi was acquired for distribution by Sentai Filmworks and was streamed on Crunchyroll for simulcast. I watched the show for the first time via simulcast and enjoyed it. The anime did well enough that the light novels got picked up for English release through Yen Press which is also handy. There’s also a theatrical film (Arrow of the Orion) and a spin-off series (Sword Oratoria) that were also produced in recent years by J.C.Staff.
Sentai Filmworks released the series as part of their premium limited edition line-up and went all-out with their packagaing. Meanwhile it was sub-licensed in the United Kingdom by Animatsu, who were founded by members of Manga Entertainment. That company eventually merged with Manga Entertainment (now known as Funimation UK) with the franchise now all over the place between them and MVM Entertainment.
Limited Edition Contents:
Sentai Filmworks started offering special premium limited edition releases roughly around 2014-2015 period and did well enough to offer more for specific titles over the years. They were expensive, but often get discounted on sales for really good value especially if you live in North America where customs don’t exist.
This release of DanMachi was one of the select number of shows that was packaged outside of the usual shaped box sets. It’s presented as a large square rigid box with everything housed inside it, with strings to remove the cases and items without issue. Inside the box you have two DVD cases, a hardcover Grimoire Journal and an 84-page hardcover booklet on one side, followed by a card box that contains a poster and Hestia’s ribbon. Inside the DVD cases are the Blu-ray & DVD discs as well as an lenticular card and seven Static Clings.
The premium limited edition was priced at SRP $139.98 and took a fair while to sell out from what I remember. I pre-ordered the set through United Publications after WOWHD cancelled my order due to wanting to change address, and had to pay close to SRP which wasn’t great to be honest, especially when the currency exchange got worse the year prior.
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Square Box packaging with two DVD cases
- Information on the back cover of Box
- Hardcover Grimoire Journal
- 84-page Hardcover Booklet
- Lenticular Card
- 7 Static Clings
- Poster
- Hestia Ribbon
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Sentai Filmworks
Released: 28th March 2017
The limited edition release for DanMachi contains episodes 1-13 across two Blu-ray discs and three DVD discs. Sentai Filmworks encoded and authored all of these discs. For those wondering where the OVA episode is, that was licensed and released after this set, and is available to own separately.
The audio options available include Japanese with English subtitles and the Sentai English dub. The yellow subtitles are locked during playback, and the disc regions are geo restricted to United States for Blu-ray players (if you own a UK/European PlayStation or Xbox console, you can play it without issue) and region restricted to Region 1 for DVD players.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 16:9 aspect ratio |
| Region | A |
| Geo Locked Region | United States |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | Yes |
| Discs | 2 (1 BD-25, 1 BD-50) |
DVD Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English Dolby Digital 2.0 Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 |
| Video | Standard Definition in NTSC format 16:9 aspect ratio |
| Region | 1 |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | Yes |
| Discs | 3 |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
Disc 2:
- Clean Opening Animation “Hey World”
- Clean Closing Animation “Right Light Rise”
- Sentai Filmworks Trailers
DVD On-Disc Extra Features:
Disc 1:
- Clean Opening Animation “Hey World”
- Clean Closing Animation “Right Light Rise”
- Sentai Filmworks Trailers
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? was licensed and released on home video by Sentai Filmworks. This releases came out a few years ago and is no longer available to own, but the standard edition is available to own on Blu-ray. You can stream the series on HIDIVE if you live in the UK, Ireland, US & Canada regions.
The Normanic Vault 
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