@AbigailWilliams2020

I also found it very strange that only Ais remembered Bell due to her emotional attachment to him because objectively speaking there are other girls who have the same or more attachment to Bell than Ais, for example Liliruca and Harumihe, for these 2 Bell is their life, they literally live around him. Other girls like Aisha, Cassandra, and Eina don't live their lives around Bell, but he is just as important to them as he is to Ais.

So why could only Ais remember him? the most obvious answer is that she could do it because she's the co-star, i.e. because of the plot. But I have thought of another possible explanation, but I warn you that it is very corny, it is this: Ais's love for Bell is stronger than any other girl's because she is the only one who is sure that her feelings are reciprocated, since she has never been rejected by Bell either directly or indirectly. The other girls like: Liliruca, Haruhime, Cassandra and Aisha know that their romantic feelings are one-sided and this generates a weaker love under the premise that mutual love is always stronger.

Eina's case is particular because she is the only one who hasn't been rejected by Bell yet, not even indirectly, yes, she knows from the first volume that Bell is in love with Ais but that doesn't mean that he can't fall in love with her, anyway. In fact, in a short story in volume 16, we saw that she wanted to ask Bell out on a date, so she trusts her chances. So this "founded" hope of mutual love along with her diary would explain why she too was able to break the charm.

Though maybe I'm going in too deep and the only reason for this is plot convenience lol.

That doesn't make sense, the other girls know about Bell's feelings for Ais and have continued to attempt to appeal to Bell's love and block him from having proper relationships with other women

It's far more likely that Ais was able to recognize Bell because she's the main heroine and Oomori wanted to bring up the fact but with Bell and Ais' development that doesn't really work

Ais's love has to be stronger, more intense, of higher quality than that of Bell's other girls, based on the fact that only she could moderately resist the charm without any help. One would have to ask why this is so, it cannot be because of Bell's importance to Ais because, as I said, Bell is as or more important to other girls as ihe is to Ais, so if we ask ourselves, how is Ais's love different from other girl's? the only difference I see is that this is the only one that is totally reciprocated, so that's where her greatest strength may come from.

It is true that some girls have not given up and hinder Bell's relationships in the vain hope of obtaining his love. Liliruca is the most representative of this group, but she knows that her love is unilateral, that Bell is not in love with her, in fact she is one of the few who has already received a direct rejection, I mean that Bell already told her that she is a little sister to him. For these reasons, I theorize that Lili's romantic (not interpersonal) love is weak, she obviously does not love him unconditionally because if that were the case, she would not care if he loved Ais, but since that represents a tragedy for her, it is obvious that she wants a mutual love and given the certainty that she will not get it, she does not have a strong romantic love and the same applies to all the others who already know that they will not get Bell as a man, like Haruhime for example.

It's just a theory of course, but there has to be something that differentiates/strengthens Ais's love over the others' and that's what comes to mind.

It is also true that this serves for Omori to make it clear that Ais is the main heroine, but both ideas can coexist because they are not contradictory.

As for the current development of the relationship between Ais and Bell, it's just about petting, holding hands and sleeping together. By actions it is not very significant because all that could be done with a friend, but by omissions the development is total, or what do you think that Bell has not had sex with Freya despite the fact that he had her naked in his bed? and all for loyalty to Ais. What we don't do also says a lot about how we are and what we feel!

In addition, this whole arc serves as a preamble for the future relationship they will have because the right conditions have already been given for it. I would accept that you complain about a null development if after finishing the conflict with Freya, they stay in the same terms in which they are for some stupid thing like that Bell has to be level 6 to have some romantic approach with Ais, but let's hope that doesn't happen.

That's a terrible argument, just because Lili dislikes that Bell likes Ais doesn't make her own feelings less important. Girls fighting for a guy's affection isn't anything new in Japanese fantasy. "Ais' love" doesn't even exist anyway since she doesn't recognize it herself

There's no development when there's no romantic intent, not to mention when the other party has no idea it happened, as of now it's just a friend relationship like you point out. Bell controlling himself has nothing to do with romantic development and he isn't the type to have sex like that anyway

Honestly there isn't really a great way to explain this without making exceptions for Ais

@Leinad91

I think you have to remember that Omori isn’t all that great of a writer and it would make sense that, even though he wanted Ais to be the one to save Bell from mental destruction, he didn’t set it up properly. Or a better way to say it, he didn’t create a strong enough reason for her to be the one to remember and for it to make sense to the fan base. SO 12 could be an argument since Bell did indirectly save her but it still isn’t a strong enough argument/reason.

I know you want to believe that there had to be a good reason behind it but in reality there was nothing really set up for it. The only thing this scene really showed us (IMO) was the true intentions of the author.

None the less, I really liked the scene and for me personally, it was imperative that Ais be the one to save him from the mental destruction. If she wasn’t the one to do so and it was some other girl, there would have been even more heat on Ais’ character. It would be even less believable that for some reason Bell and Ais would ultimately be together when he has far more deeper moments with the other girls. This moment doesn’t cure all of it but at least you see the authors intentions I guess.🤷‍♂️

Judging Ais to have stronger love than other girls just because she is the first one that responded to Bell's plea is too much of a stretch to me indeed. It's an obvious plot convenience, but I could come up with 2 simpler reasons to justify it:

1. It was still early when Bell visited those people close to him (since he visited them first) and they have yet to start raising doubts about the fabricated world. Weeks had passed when Bell met Ais, and most people (including Ais) were starting to have enough doubts by then. Therefore, if Bell were to go back to other people close to him, they might also give a different response. It's just that the one Bell happen to visit at that time is Ais.

2. When those people close to Bell (Takemikazuchi, Miach, Hestia Familia) first saw Bell, they were overcame by other emotions (fear, confusion, hostility etc.) because a member of the almighty Freya familia that they're not supposed to know personally came straight for them, so much that they didn't have the chance to raise doubts. Cassandra actually noticed something due to her prophetic dreams, but was too fearful to voice it. Ais, being the natural airhead she is, didn't have such concerns and just blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.

Would these sound like more logical explanations? Even if the story settings is shounen-like, doesn't means that we have to chalk everything up to the corny power of love or friendship.

I think another reasonable reason for it as well is that Ais being the one to do it “hits” differently for Bell. What I mean is that the one he is in love with responded to his cry for help and this meant the absolute world to Bell. I’m not saying that the others remembering wouldn’t have had an impact on him at all. I’m just saying that Ais being the one to remember really did affect Bell in a big way (I mean he dropped down to his knees and started crying tears of joy).

I just thought of this reason because of what Hestia said to herself while meeting with Ais. That Ais not remembering Bell could most likely hurt him far more than anything else and that would ultimately stop Liaris Freese from working and pushing Bell into Freya’s arms.

Also, I noticed that Bell and Ais’ scene was kind of a reference to the beginning of the story (instead of Hestia taking Bells hand when he is all alone, it was Ais this time around) and than also referencing the original title of the story.

The tricky part about coming up with viable theory is that it needs to fit the narrative of the story.

If Bell's friends indeed might have remembered him had they been approached later then yes the first option might be viable. However, given what the narrative is try to achieve, some special between Bell and Ais, it is unlikely that the would have had a break through. There is also the thing were the longer someone lives a lie the more real it becomes.

The problem with the because Ais airheadedness is it is out of character for her.

Granted I haven't read vol. 16 or 17, and I'm not going to.

AbigailWilliams wrote: I think another reasonable reason for it as well is that Ais being the one to do it “hits” differently for Bell. What I mean is that the one he is in love with responded to his cry for help and this meant the absolute world to Bell. I’m not saying that the others remembering wouldn’t have had an impact on him at all. I’m just saying that Ais being the one to remember really did affect Bell in a big way

That not actually a reason, at least not an in universe one. Narratively it's meant to be that way, but it doesn't explain why only Ais was so profound affected by Bell that she was the only one to break through.

and than also referencing the original title of the story.

Is it Wrong to Hope For an Encounter in a Dungeon?

@Freako Geeko

Your 2 alternatives are not possible because you are forgetting how Freya's charm works, it was set to "erase" all memories of the those enchanted that could destroy Freya's "garden" and this effect lasted as long as they were charmed, not just when they were.

Remember that Hermes realized that he was charmed but whenever he reflected and remembered or deduced things harmful to Freya's "garden", his memory was "reset", so he decided to keep his deductions in the minds of his dependents, because he knew he would continue to lose his memories.

The same applies to all of Bell's friends, if they reflected a lot about their surroundings and remember or deduce something dangerous to Freya's "garden", their mind would immediately "reset", therefore it doesn't matter if Bell met with them at the beginning or the end, it would make no difference because Freya had taken action on it.

So, no matter how airheaded Ais is, she should have "lost" her memories because they were very dangerous for Freya, so much so that thanks to them, Freya's "garden" collapsed in Bell's mind.

So my question was not how Ais's stronger resistance to the charm benefits the plot, as Abigail Williams explained, but why does Ais have more resistance than all the other girls who also have a crush on Bell?

Surely there is no reason beyond the convenience of the plot, but if we do the mental exercise of trying to find one, the only one I find is that Ais's love for Bell (although for now it is just love of a friend) is much more stronger than any other girl's. Of course this is total cheesy.