All posts by Freako Geeko

"Strong" or "weak" is highly situational and subjective. When one says a certain character is "stronger", it could be "having greater physical strength", "scoring higher in an arbitrary combat rating", "being able to win in a fight against another certain individual" or whatsoever, so it is largely meaningless unless you define it in clearer terms.

However, if we define it as "being able to win in 1v1 combat", I don't disagree with the statement that Bell is currently among the "weakest" first-class adventurers. Although Bell is always getting extra stats when he lvl up, the effect is actually much less than what many might think (though it has never been consistent). For example, Aisha stated that Bell's Agi is at high lv4 and other stats at mid lv4 when he just lvl up. This makes sense as we all know that effect of stats at higher lvl is exponentially more powerful than those at lower lvl, so stats at lv1 and 2 probably have (comparatively) little effect at lv5. As such, I doubt Bell would be able to match a lv6 in raw physical performance.

Moreover, the stat advantage Bell has is largely negated by the fact that most first-class adventurers have some skills or magic that greatly raise their raw combat capabilities (e.g. Ais' Ariel and Avenger, Amazon sisters' Berserk and Backdraft/Intense Heat, Ottar's Hildis Vini and Vana Arganture, Finn's Hell Finegas etc.). Yes, Bell has Ox Slayer and Vanadis Tevere, but they are ultra-situational, so he has basically nothing to boost himself in almost all circumstances (plot armor doesn't count!).

Finally, it comes to combat experiences. All other first-class adventurers are veterans that fought for years (even the previous record holder Ais spent 6 years to reach lv5), but Bell is still a rookie that has only been active for a bit more than half a year. Anyone who practiced martial arts or served in the military would know that is an insurmountable difference.

For the reasons above, I think the statement that Bell is now at the bottom of the food chain isn't wrong. I'd say that Bell would lose most 1-on-1 duels against other first-class adventurers as of Vol.18 -- except for high-stake situations that would trigger his plot armor lol.

@Leinad91 I do agree with your point; despite many details are in fact kept vague, some rabid fanboys bought into their own head-canon so much that they won't accept any differing opinions. They made huge extrapolations from an unreliable quote, base their opinions on silly slippery slope arguments, yet they treat their opinions as gospel truths despite the fact that hardly anyone but themselves believe in them. Those who had argued with these toxic people must've felt their own intelligence insulted.

By the way, you might want to check the meaning of "abysmal" again lol.

Soloing Udaeus alone may not be enough for Bell, since Ais had been accumulating excelia for 3 whole years beforehand, and her solo fight is just the last push.

If Bell were to fight Udaeus head on like Ais, he would had a hard time -- even with his enhanced stats, he is still inferior to lv5 Ais with both Avenger and Aerial active. However, since Udaeus is an immobile monster, Bell could just cheat his way through by charging up a full 5min Argonaut blast (+limit off) before stepping in and obliterate Udaeus in 1 shot. Such an attack is enough to destroy a lv5 Black Goliath when Bell was lv2, a lv6 Udaeus should be a piece of cake for lv5 Bell in that case.

If there's still any doubt, Ottar finished Udaeus with a single strike empowered by his magic Hildis Vini during his solo run. During the war game, we already know that a non-limit-off version of full charge Argo Vesta is just as powerful. It raises a question that if Bell is able to obtain a lot of high quality excelia that way though, since it's rather easy in comparison to Ais' battle.

JC is practically a factory farm, which mass produces mediocre works. Maybe the industry should thank them for taking up many jobs that nobody wants (slim budget, tight schedule etc.) Asking them to reduce the quantity and improve the quality is probably difficult, because that's their business model.

While it helps a lot, big budget doesn't guarantee a good adaptation either -- the production team of SAO Alicization final probably have a huge budget to blow, yet they produced a piece of turd.

The condition that guaranteed to produce an impressive work, is that the production team truly love the piece of work they are adapting. These guys know the series inside out, and are highly motivated to make it great. Mushoku Tensei is a prime example -- they literally founded a studio just to adapt the series. Re:Zero as well, they would rather work extra to stretch the run time of every episode than to cut content. For 86, despite facing overwhelming production woes, they didn't sacrifice on quality and even made the awe-inspiring last 2 episodes. Of course, this happens rarely, but the results are almost always legendary when it happens.

LNs are inherently much harder to adapt than mangas, since there are almost no images to serve as references and the studios have to cook up scenes themselves. Moreover, they tend to be more dialogue- and monologue- heavy (especially when written in first person perspective), which translates poorly into visual medium.

Among these, psychological monologues and expositions are the hardest to adapt, as it would bore the hell out of people if just adapted on screen as is (again, see Tensura S2 part 2). The directors have to resort to some really creative visual storytelling to cover that. Most adaptations screwed them up and very few excelled, IMO the epitome of adaptations that did them well would be 86, Mushoku Tensei and No Game No Life.

How well does Danmachi goes in this aspect? Not good, but it's the norm. Doesn't mean it's acceptable though.

And Bell is legitimately powered by Liaris Freese, while experiencing the unprecedented hell. He's literally beaten to near death by multiple first class adventurers, healed back just to repeat the process, all the way from dawn to dusk, almost every single day. Lefiya's regimen can hardly compare. The fact that Lefiya has a growth rate on a similar scale without an EXP boost skill is ridiculous enough.

What's the norm? Ais spent one full year to gain 2700+ pts at lv1, when she worked hard enough to make the executive trio worry. Same goes to Allen, he spent one full year on the brutal Folkvangr to reach lv2. lv1 is supposed to be easier to grow compared to lv4, and their growth rate is considered "unprecedented" prior to Bell. So is Lefiya's regimen 10 times harder, since her growth rate within that 2 weeks is effectively 10 times faster?

I thought this thread is discussing whether Lefiya has a chance to beat Bell in a fair fight... Seems like it has really went off topic.

On a side note, I too find Lefiya's stat growth incredulous. Bell, who's beaten to the brink of death multiple times per day when he was in Freya Familia, got the total growth of 2600 pts over about 3-4 weeks. In other words, Lefiya's growth rate (1100 over 2 weeks) is comparable to Bell, who underwent a much harsher regimen, even when she doesn't have any EXP booster skills.

Having participated in the final battle in Knossos isn't an acceptable excuse either. Mikoto, who overcame moss huge, Amphisbaena and went to the deep floors during the expedition, got a mere 400+. As a lv2, it's no less tough than what Lefiya has been through in Knossos. In conclusion, if such a growh isn't plot convenience or favoritism, nothing is.

To simplify, we just look at the well established facts.

• Adventurer's power grow exponentially as they lvl up. The power difference between each level seems to be consistent.

• Adventurers gain a significant boost in power the moment they lvl up, regardless of their current stats.

• Within the same lvl, there are significant power differences between a newbie (stat 0) and a maxed stats, regardless of the lvl.

As such, I assume there will be two components at work as they lvl up: a flat bonus (say, 500pts) and different stat multipliers at each lvl. Please note that the numbers below are arbitrarily given and by no means definite. For example, a mid lv3 human would have AGI stats like this:

Lv1: (700+500)*1

Lv2: (700+500)*2

Lv3: 500*4

Total: 1200+2400+2000=5600

And when he lvl up to lv4, it becomes:

Lv1: (700+500)*1

Lv2: (700+500)*2

Lv3: (700+500)*4

Lv4: 100*8

Total: 1200+2400+4800+800=9200

Thus explaining all phenomena mentioned above. Of course, this is a gross simplification and wild guess. If we were to take more situations into consideration, we might even have to introduce things like exponent functions or different racial multipliers for each stats into the formula. There's simply not enough reliable information to solve such equation.

IMO trying to derive a precise formula is going to be a fool's errand, because there are too many variables and inconsistencies littered throughout the series. Even at the same level and similar stats, there are race differences and even individual difference. For example, Gareth without falna (lv0) was strong enough to send lv1 Finn and Riveria flying with a single punch. Also, when adventurers clash, they are powered by various skills and magics, so it's nigh-impossible to determine how much difference is due to stats alone.

As much as I want to commend you for trying to figure out a precise formula from the vague descriptions given in story, there's a fatal flaw in your calculation. The power of adventurers increase exponentially as they level up, but your formula would suggest a linear growth, which would lead to severe diminishing return.

For example, your formula suggests that a lv2 is more than 240% stronger than a lv1 (2400/700), but a lv6 is merely 25% stronger than a lv5 (10000/8100), which is obviously not true. If we use melee fighters as reference, we've observed in many occasions that an adventurer can take on multiple opponents 1 level lower than them (like a lv4 can fight several lv3s at the same time) regardless of his current level. If the difference is 2 levels, they could fight 10 or more at the same time. In the most extreme cases, first class adventurers were squashing armies numbering tens of thousands like they were puny ants. The growth is clearly exponential.

"C+" at best. There are several weird rendition of scenes that make things look strange or illogical, and they f**ked up multiple crucial scenes. The biggest offenders being these 3:

• The Juggernaut. It is supposed be a bipedal velociraptor-like monster that hop around the cave and cleave through adventurers with speed faster than iguazus. The anime reduced it into a generic big ass crawling lizard.

• Cassandra. It seems like the production team just hated her. When fighting Amphisbaena, most of the scenes she's actively healing and supporting the party was removed, and she was shown doing nothing except whining most of the time. In the novel, Haruhime pushed Cassandra and Lily away because were hurt after Amphisbaena's falling attack and unable to avoid in time, but the anime, an unscathed Cassandra was standing there like an idiot when fired upon (while Lily was trying to get her to move), forcing Haruhime to push her away. In short, Cassandra is supposed to be the MVP that saved the day, but the anime turned her into a whiny deadweight that sabotaged the party for no good reasons.

• It looks like Ryuu blew up the bridge for no good reasons. She was desperately holding back the chasing monsters in the novel, but there's nothing behind her in the anime, making people wonder why won't she just run together with Bell.

There are some other less severe but still frustrating faults, like when Bell and Ryuu stood there and did nothing when Jura was doing his half-an-episode motive rant. Yes, such dialogue exists in the novel, but putting that on screen that way is infuriating to watch (at least make them do something or cut short the dialogue?). Different medium requires different presentation. All in all, I just can't give a passing mark.

P.S: The above rating is given as an adaptation i.e. how well it adapts the source material. If I were to ignore the source material and rate it as a standalone anime, it would be "B".

Asking Lili to fight with a melee weapon? Do you want her dead ^_- ? It's stated in her backstory that she tried to fight monsters and earn money as an adventurer, but she was so talentless that she couldn't even break even (due to the cost of maintenance) and almost got herself killed multiple times. That's why she settled as a supporter.

Lili is the commander and supporter of the team, hence her job is to stay out of combat and observe the battlefield. The moment she gets involved in direct combat means the party is in deep trouble. She can't deal much damage with her pitiful stats, and an unbreakable magic sword won't be an upgrade as she has neither skills nor stats to support it. In fact, she's better off with disposable magic swords where their output aren't affected by stats.

Also, a crossbow is possibly an ideal weapon for her position -- it is discrete (doesn't draw aggro), easy to use, and could possibly launch other objects than bolts (like magic swords or magic tools). Moreover, her Sciurus Walnut has quality approaching first class weapons thanks to materials secretly provided by Finn, so she's good for now.

Even if they're at the same level, a speed-based melee fighter is perhaps the worst bane for a mage like Lefiya. They will close in the distance in no time, and a rookie fighter like Lefiya is going to be hopeless in melee. Bell will completely outclass Lefiya in both stats and technique when that happens.

Even in a ranged battle (highly unlikely due to Bell's speed and agility), Lefiya's advantage is still questionable at best. For the time she chants her spell, Bell can either repeatedly bombard her with Firebolt, or cook up a charged shot that's just as powerful with Argonaut.

The real life equivalent of Jagamarukun, Japanese croquette, is sold for about ￥100-150. Also, if we consider Hostess of Fertility a mid-upper class cafe/restaurant, a cafe like that around Tokyo would sell their pasta for about ￥900-1500. If we take the middle ground, 1 valis is roughly equal to ￥4, or 3 cents. Note that this comparison sourced from a YouTuber. Poor Hestia is only paid less than 1 dollar per hour lol.

What I don't get is the absurd price of weapons. It just doesn't seem to compare to the amount of effort. If we go by the calculation above, Welf, a mid-class smith, sold Kougou to Ouka for 700,000 valis (US$21,000) for a few days work, and that's a discounted price.

The top players? Tsubaki made the Rolan series in a week that cost around 500M+ (US$15M) in total. Seriously, being a blacksmith sounds like a better way to get rich compared to an adventurer, especially in terms of job safety and profitability. In comparison, a Cadmus Hide from a rare monster resided in the 51st floor, where it takes a group of first class adventurers more than a week to reach, could only be sold for 12M (US$360k) after haggling.

The Chinese community seems hardly bothered by Lefiya as well, in fact many find her funny and make memes out of her. The fact that she appears in DanMemo so much even earned her the nickname "Game Heroine".

From what I see, her hatedom seems to be much more prominent in the English community. Same goes to Ais.

Looks pretty good. The clothing is more mature and elaborate, which does a good job to signify her growth after the death of Filvis. I kinda prefer the old look though, but not for any sophisticated reason -- it's just my personal preference of long, flowy straight hair, darn the practicality lol. That said, if I'm a female combatant, I would not hesitate to shave my head into a buzzcut.

Basically, Bell can charge any forms of offensive energy, but anything that leaves Bell's hand after charging becomes an attack immediately. However, since Argo Vesta is taking advantage of the magic conductivity of Hestia Knife (made of mithril), it should be possible to charge other magic attacks as well, by having others hitting the Hestia Knife with magic. For example, hitting it with Arcs Ray and charge it might be a good idea (Argo Lumina?)

I postulate that it might be even possible to charge multiple magics simultaneously, provided all of them hit the Hestia Knife at the same time (and doesn't hit Bell himself). Imagine Bell charging Riveria and Lefiya's magic together with Firebolt on Hestia Knife... I wonder would the knife hold up?

200mils is nothing much for a familia as powerful as hers. As a comparison, Loki Familia spent over 600mils for a single expedition. Also, remember that she bought several hundred of slaves and a friggin villa without a second thought in Familia Chronicle.

On a side note, being forced to live like a common citizen sounds more like a bonus than a punishment to her. She created the Syr persona to ease her boredom anyway.

So-called Ais' appearance might also be the brief flashback that Bell had during chapter 9 (or SS).

According to the novel description, the Juggernaut is about 3m tall and its tail is over 4m long. That measurement is pretty close to an Allosaurus -- pretty big, but not as big as the one shown in anime. The one in the anime looks even bigger than a T-rex, so big that I wonder how would the following iconic scenes make sense:

• Bell repelling its claws via Hestia Knife and Goliath Muffler (a monster this size should just send people flying)

• It jump down into the hole dug by lambton (how does it even fit into the hole?)

• Ryuu's final magic-kamikaze-dogfight (imagining the scene just feels...weird)

The worst offence is that it moves like a crawling lizard. It totally ruined the image.

I'm actually disappointed with the rendition of the Juggernaut as the production team doesn't seem to have an accurate grasp of the monster's combat style. According to the descriptions in the novel, it's supposed to be a bipedal velociraptor-like monster that attacks by jumping around like a ricocheting bullet, but it's just a generic big ass crawling lizard in the anime. Faster than iguazu? Nah, doesn't look like it at all. But again, that's just another novel reader problem. It probably won't matter much for anime watchers.

However, the pacing of EP10 is weird. It's supposed to be a very tense situation, but the dragged out scenes just made most tension fizzle out, making people wonder if they're only having a casual chat.

Adapting a single LN volume into an entire cour isn't news -- 86 did it for its Vol.1 and the result is splendid. Tensura did it for its Vol.5 and Vol.6 and it's fine. It should be noted however that texts translate very differently in anime: action scenes that take up an entire page to describe happen in a few seconds on screen, whereas dialogues that take up the same amount of texts would take minutes. Therefore, there's no fixed "optimal" number of episodes per volume for LN adaptation. To me, Danmachi Vol.14 do have enough content to fill an entire cour as there are quite a lot of backstories and dialogues to show. What I hope is they don't screw up with the pacing.